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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Yondu on Tue, 06 August 2013, 15:22:09

Title: Can't decide!
Post by: Yondu on Tue, 06 August 2013, 15:22:09

Hey all,

I'm looking to invest in my first mechanical keyboard, I pretty much know what I'm looking for in terms of features and I'm hoping you might be able to help me narrow my search please?

I'm looking for something with the following:

MX Black switches
PS/2 connection
Blank keys
Media buttons
PBT keycaps

What I'm undecided about is:

Number pad (The extra space would be nice but not sure if I would miss it)
Possibly backlit - this might sound odd considering I want blank keys, I'm hoping to still get a glow around the keys, will I?

I'm UK based so want a UK board, I'd also want to fit red WASD caps.

So, anything that hits all the criteria?  Am I daft looking for a backlit board with blank caps?

Thanks in advance!

Title: Re: Can't decide!
Post by: jameslr on Tue, 06 August 2013, 15:34:31

I don't think many boards ship with blank caps, but you can certainly buy them. You should just find your board in the right switches with the features you want. Caps can be found later. Don't make that a requirement of the board unless you're strapped for cash, but it looks like KeyboardCo sells blank Filco sets for 20 quid. That's also what I'd recommend. Unless you absolutely have to have backlights. Get a Filco MJ2 TKL.

Edit - I think the Filco Ninja has side-printed caps. Would that work for you? It has the clean aesthetic of blank caps with legends on the side. I'm confident you don't want blanks for your first mechanical unless you're really that sure of yourself on a keyboard.

Edit 2: Also check out the WASDkeyboards V2 They're pretty nice and if you can wait a bit - they're coming out with a backlit TKL with MX Clear called V2 Code. Should be nice.

Title: Re: Can't decide!
Post by: rowdy on Tue, 06 August 2013, 17:35:15

Not sure you'll find a keyboard with all those characteristics, so start thinking about which criteria you can relax.

There are few mechs with (separate?) media keys.  Few come with blank keycaps.  Few (bus increasing) come with PBT keycaps.  The overlap between these is almost non-existant.

Title: Re: Can't decide!
Post by: Yondu on Tue, 06 August 2013, 18:10:31

I do like the Filco boards and I can do without the blank caps (as pointed out, I could get the Ninja board or blank caps at a later date).

I like some of the US Filcos, I assume you can't just swap out a few keys to make it UK spec?