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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: JC_III on Fri, 04 November 2011, 16:36:42

Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: JC_III on Fri, 04 November 2011, 16:36:42: I'm looking to get a new Mechanical Keyboard. But I can't make up my mind on one. I've never owned one so it's a hard decision. I type some papers up for school but I mostly play RTS,MMO, and some FPS games. I keep leaning towards a brown switch keyboard I keep hearing good things about them and for people like me that are making the switch to Mechanical Brown switches are a good choice. Now the dilemma I have is that which one do I get? Filco, Das, Leopold, Ducky and I think I missed some other brands as well. Any help would grateful and appreciated.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: NumberJ on Fri, 04 November 2011, 16:49:47: Any of those choices would be pretty solid. I'm pretty sure that they're all of similar quality, so it doesn't matter that much which one you choose (unless you prefer the Costar stabilizers over Cherry stabilizers, but if you've never owned a mechanical keyboard you wouldn't know the difference anyway).

I would go for the Leopold since they're readily available and cheaper than the Filco. Ducky has had some build quality problems in the past, but apparently those have already been cleared up. If that's the case then the Ducky should be quite solid too.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: JC_III on Fri, 04 November 2011, 16:54:46: What about a Zowie Keyboard? Has anyone ever owned this brand of Keyboard? It has the feature to lock the windows key just in case I accidentally hit it.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: JC_III on Fri, 04 November 2011, 17:17:23: Quote from: ripster;445812
The choice of badboy punks everywhere - the Zowie!
(Attachment) 30856[/ATTACH]

Classic...... So Ripster which brown switch keyboard would you recommend?
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: 7bit on Fri, 04 November 2011, 17:22:33: Quote from: JC_III;445784
I'm looking to get a new Mechanical Keyboard. But I can't make up my mind on one. I've never owned one so it's a hard decision. I type some papers up for school but I mostly play RTS,MMO, and some FPS games. I keep leaning towards a brown switch keyboard I keep hearing good things about them and for people like me that are making the switch to Mechanical Brown switches are a good choice. Now the dilemma I have is that which one do I get? Filco, Das, Leopold, Ducky and I think I missed some other brands as well. Any help would grateful and appreciated.

There is only one keyboard!

The Phantom (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?23572-Phantom-Custom-Keyboard-Group-Buy-%28Order-Only%29&p=445820#post445820)
[/size][/b]
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: pitashen on Fri, 04 November 2011, 17:26:16: Blind urself and pick either Filco or Leopold.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: 7bit on Fri, 04 November 2011, 17:35:32: Quote from: pitashen;445833
Blind urself and pick either Filco or Leopold.

Get the Filco for the case and replace the rest by a Phantom!
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: JC_III on Fri, 04 November 2011, 17:39:14: Quote from: pitashen;445833
Blind urself and pick either Filco or Leopold.

I would pick the Leopold but they are out of stock and I'm not getting a tenkeyless one. I think I'll try the Ducky one it's only $80. I dunno if I can shell out $160 for the Filco.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: Internetlad on Fri, 04 November 2011, 17:39:30: i'm working on my first "modern" board and i'm heavily leaning towards leopold.

But hey, what do I know, I'm a bear.
I suck the heads off fish.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: N8N on Fri, 04 November 2011, 18:13:25: Quote from: JC_III;445845
I would pick the Leopold but they are out of stock and I'm not getting a tenkeyless one. I think I'll try the Ducky one it's only $80. I dunno if I can shell out $160 for the Filco.

Filco is $150@ Amazon (browns) also there's a WASD semi-custom for $120 which is IMHO just as good, although I prefer the styling of the Filco case (really only an aesthetic consideration though.)

Not saying that the Ducky is bad - I have no experience with them. just throwing options out there. I do have a WASD and really like it.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: JC_III on Fri, 04 November 2011, 18:21:07: http://www.vendio.com/stores/E-sports-Gaming-equipments/item/mechanical-keyboard-noppoo/noppoo-pro-mechanical-gaming-k/lid=18974424

Well I saw this one this doesn't look to bad as well. I also saw a review here on Geekhack.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: TheProfosist on Fri, 04 November 2011, 19:06:36: I would say look at a WASD or Rosewill if the Leopolds are out of stock.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: N8N on Fri, 04 November 2011, 19:13:50: I have a Noppoo Choc Pro as well. It's got a few little quirks but is otherwise almost identical in appearance and feel to a Filco. Basically, they make the keyboard NKRO over USB which is a feature that nobody else has, but I don't know if anyone has got it to work with a Mac yet, and the Caps Lock LED doesn't work under Linux (I assume both are related to the NKRO over USB. The Linux thing I think is really a failing of at least Ubuntu/Debian and maybe other Linux distros as well.) Other than that it's a good board if you like browns and stick to Windows and Linux (and the caps lock thing doesn't bother you.)

The keycaps on the Noppoo are some of the nicest feeling that I've tried, but the wonky font annoyed me enough that I replaced them with some from WASD. I'm actually using that one at home... still trying to get used to browns. I'm using clears at work because they're quieter; I don't bottom out on them. Maybe someday I will get to the point that I can take the browns to work, but it's not looking likely at this point.

If you think that the Noppoo would be an option for you drop me a message; I've got too many keyboards and while I like this one it wouldn't bother me too much to let it go.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: JC_III on Sat, 05 November 2011, 19:04:52: Well I've narrowed it down to 3 keyboards... I said I wouldn't own a tenkeyless one but I folded. I'm always traveling since I'm in the military so a tenkeyless one would make perfect sense. Noppo, Poker, and a Filco. They all offer something unique in terms of keyboard layout. I really like the Filco Multicam tenkyless and everyone on GH swears by Filco quality. Thinking I might get the Filco in Brown switch and get either noppo or poker in Red switch later.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: AgentZen on Sun, 06 November 2011, 07:30:58: JC_III,

What is Multicam? The Camo color?

I just bought a Filco with brown switches. It is clear that it's a quality piece of equipment; the board it self is even more solid then it looks. HOWEVER, i wanted to make sure you hear my gripes, maybe you can learn from them. $160 is a lot of money to spend when you don't know 1. What kind of switches you will prefer. and 2. The customization you may do later to the key switches. The good thing is if you order from Amazon, they have a fantastic return policy, and you should be able to return the board for a refund if you don't care for the brown switches. Also consider that at WASD keyboards, you can spec out a full custom keyboard for a very similar price and get all the same features + fully customizable keys - from color to lazer engraved, even get key dampeners. all for a similar price, maybe less than the Filco... Lots to consider. Don't rush if you don't have to!

This was the keyboard I ordered and I'm probably going to return it for blue switches :P
(http://i.imgur.com/OVjxX.jpg)
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: JC_III on Tue, 08 November 2011, 22:52:11: Well I do like the Filco camo version but I went with a Noppo Choc Mini. My thing is right now is I'll try the brown switches out and later I'll get a Poker with red switches to try them both out and if I like one over the other then I'll commit to a Filco with the switch that I like the best and sell the other two boards.
Title: Looking To Get A New Keyboard
Post by: Magna224 on Wed, 09 November 2011, 11:26:29: I very much enjoy my Noppoo Choc Mini. The print wore off ridiculously fast but I have heard that they have since remedied this problem. It feels great to type on, has arrow keys (which the poker does not), Fn layer, long cord (seems to be a problem among many 8X key boards) and the rollover is a nice perk.