geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: pandalf on Sat, 25 July 2015, 10:01:36
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Hey guys,
I have finaly decided to upgrade to a mechanical keyboard. I'm mostly looking for a durable keyboard that will last me quite some time. However in my country there's a very limited choice of switches and mechanical keyboards. I will use my keyboard mostly for typing and some gaming (around 3-4 hours of CS:GO per week). There are 3 choices with adequate price and switch type for me. I'm looking for the best price/performance and durability.
1. CM Storm QuickFire XT
Things I like:
Cherry MX Blue Switches
Traditional Layout
Removable / replaceable cable
Things I don't like:
Shorter warranty - 2 Years
Price: 80 Euros (~88 USD)
2. Ttesports Poseidon Z
Things I like:
Longer Warranty - 5 Years
Good Layout
Backlight (I won't use it most of the time)
Things I don't like:
Blue Kailh Switches (probably less durable?)
Price: 75 Euros (~82 USD)
3. Rapoo V500 (http://www.vpro-gaming.com/v500.php)
Things I like:
It's really cheap
Manufacturer rates it at 60 million key strokes
Things I don't like:
Yellow Kailh switches (Can't find much information about them)
It's probably quite a risky buy
Things I will get used to:
Tenkeyless Layout - I'll probably get used to it because my desk space is kinda limited
Price: 45 Euros (~49 USD)
Is the Rapoo any good? I'm kinda leaning towards it because it's quite cheaper than the rest. However I'm looking for something durable and if the "Rapoo V500" is bad i'll wait a bit and go for the other choices.
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Don't rate a keyboard based on their warranties and their rated lifespan.
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If those are your options, I'd go with the CM Storm. I don't own one, but they are popular and highly-rated. I use mx greens, which are stiffer blues, and I don't have any problems gaming or typing with them .
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Out of the 3 the CM storm without a doubt.
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I would agree with the others; I would use the Cooler Master board over the rest
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What do you think of the Poseidon Z? I know most people dislike Kailh switches but the 5 year warranty really makes me consider it as a option because I won't swap my keyboard anytime soon. Thanks to everyone for their answers.
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What do you think of the Poseidon Z? I know most people dislike Kailh switches but the 5 year warranty really makes me consider it as a option because I won't swap my keyboard anytime soon. Thanks to everyone for their answers.
While I haven't been looking, I don't believe I've seen anyone prefer khailh switches over cherry MX
However I have read about people preferring the gateron switches to cherry mx
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How about a 20+ year old IBM buckling spring keyboard with NO warranty at all?
Hmm.
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What do you think of the Poseidon Z? I know most people dislike Kailh switches but the 5 year warranty really makes me consider it as a option because I won't swap my keyboard anytime soon. Thanks to everyone for their answers.
On paper, the five year warranty does sound very attractive (especially to me, since it's practically unheard of for any peripheral to have 5 years of fault-free operation under my ownership)...but what I'm not sure about is whether the reality of the situation will live up to the promise.
If a problem develops in the warranty period and you contact them about it, will they:
a) actually take care of it;
b) ignore you;
c) ask you questions until you say something that they can construe as having voided the warranty;
d) redirect you to different representatives/customer service types until you have to go do something else or just can't take it anymore, and then make you start all over when you call back later;
e) allow you to return the keyboard, but then, invariably, find some signs that something warranty-voiding happened and send the keyboard back to you (at your expense);
f) allow you to return the keyboard, but insist that you send it somewhere so far away (at your expense one or both ways) that you could have just bought a higher class of keyboard to begin with thanks to the shipping costs;
g) allow you to return the keyboard, and then send you back one that someone else returned, in the hopes that the second person's problem either wasn't real or will be something that you either don't notice or don't care about;
h) allow you to return the keyboard, and then send you back a new one...with an entirely different but no less serious problem.
i) tell you, if the problem is happening a few years down the line, that they actually don't have any more keyboards of your model and switch choice available, so if you want a replacement, you'll have to accept one with a switch you don't like or from some newer but inferior model;
j) inform you that the region that you've moved to during your period of ownership isn't one where they offer support;
k) tell you that your warranty is actually invalid because they don't recognize your proof of purchase, or you bought it from the wrong place, or you bought it from a perfectly fine place but didn't notice some small print stating that you were actually buying from some third party who doesn't count as an authorized reseller;
or
l) (any of the many possible ways of screwing you over that I haven't listed already)
?
...unless you know that the answer is (a), do you really think that it's a good idea to treat the warranty as a major selling point?
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Thanks for the detailed information. Tomorrow I'll go to a store and try cherry blues and browns and I'll finally make my decision. Thanks to everyone for their opinions. :)