geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: KungFuPanda on Tue, 07 August 2012, 09:07:02
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I am now finally in need of a new keyboard, but before I go deciding which brand/model to choose from, I want to get some opinions on various brands. I've heard that this community praises Filcos, but they are also very expensive. And then there's Ducky's, which I have heard mixed feelings about. Some of the more recent threads aren't exactly liking them but in the past I've heard that they were also a highly reputable/high quality keyboard. There's also the more mainstream Cooler Master, Razer, Steelseries, Rosewill keyboards, but it seems to me people don't put them in the same sentence as Filcos or even the Ducky's.
As for price, anywhere around $150 is reasonable to me. Anyone have any suggestions or comments on any brands, especially the Ducky's since I know a place which sells them for a much more reasonable price than on the internet.
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More specifics would help. Do you want a 104key or 87key board or something else? Do you want backlighting?
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Backlighting would be nice but not necessary. Leaning towards 104 key at the moment.
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Then I'd snag a Rosewill from NewEgg when they drop another sale. Some people complain that the USB connector on the KB gets mangled, personally I think they don't treat their stuff right. Some people complain about the logo, for the price difference is it really that big a deal?
Rosewill KBs are manufactured by the same ODM as Filco - Costar.
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Make sure you don't get a keyboard without a Windows key!
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What about different brands. Has Ducky's quality gone down lately? Or are they just not in the same level as Filcos?
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If I'm recalling correctly Ducky had a particular model that is known for crap quality control. 1087 I think, but I'll let you do the digging. The 9k series has a reasonable rep if you really want a Ducky :)
CM's 87 key boards are the same ODM as Filco, their 104 key boards are not and the back lit boards are on the lower end of the quality spectrum for lit boards.
Razer and Steelseries... well really don't here much about them except that some people get them as first boards (and then move on).
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How is the rosewill kb nowadays? Seems like the reviews on NewEgg show that their recent revision is lacking.
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i've had mine for a month or so I think. I got it mainly to try out reds. I have to say that the keyboard feels solid. I had a black widow before so I guess that might skew things lol. But overall I love the feel of it and the red switches. HOnestly it feels like a steal at $65 + free webcam. I actually read a lot about the USB connector issues. Sawdust on here posted a picture of the actual connector and you can see that the build is truly lacking for that specific part. I taped the cable up trying to minimize the movment of it near the connector. It's kinda weird but it just might work in the long run.
[attachimg=1]
btw are you looking to game or mainly type?
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I'm looking mainly to type and occasionally game so at the moment I'm looking towards brown switches. Seems like the usb connection problem on the rosewills are a really common problem. I might just avoid that, but what about the Cooler Master quick fire rapid keyboards. They're similar price. Are there any known problems with those?
Also is there a way to not have to type the verification and question for each post?
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Once you have made enough posts, you won't have to do that anymore.
As far as keyboards go, from someone that has tried dozens of different brands and models... really when it comes down to it, MX is MX and they all have a muchness about them. Sure there is some varying degrees of build quality, and many (anything oem'd by iOne (Razer, Adesso, QPad, Xarmor, Max, Tessoro, CMStorm Pro/Trigger, etc.) pretty much) that I would stay away from unless extremely cheap deal. But there are some minor difference in build quality between say Leopold/Keycool, Ducky, Filco and the other costar oem boards like CMStorm Rapid, Thermaltake Meka G1, Ozone Strike, Rosewill, WASD, etc... so really between any of those go with whatever has the slightly different features you prefer that has the best price at the moment. Also there are some nice PCB mount boards which don't compare quite the same against their plate mount brethren like Cherry G80, Plum 96, KBC/Vortex, as they have a different feeling, and may feel 'cheap' to some due to a more what I will call natural feeling due to lack of plate.
Any board can have a manufacture defect, and people that happen to get them make the most noise about it than people who get a perfect board, so always take complaint you read on internet with some salt. There are some that have a much higher QA FAIL rate than others but still.
My main point is when it comes down to it, many boards have such a minor difference in +/- build quality with such a huge price premium over another that I just don't see a point in spending so much more for such a subtle difference in most cases.
Do some feature comparisons between some boards, thin down your contender list and give a check back if you like before purchase. It's easier to get a consensus from us with a few choices instead of everything under the sun.