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geekhack Community => New Members => Topic started by: cTek on Fri, 01 July 2016, 20:05:00
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Hello,
cTek is what I go by, and I've recently been interested in keyboards. Why? I'm going to be honest I have no idea, but everything about them is intriguing. I'm not very "tech"-savy I guess you could say. I've recently been looking into buying a mechanical keyboard but 90% of them are very expensive and from some videos on youtube, you can buy a $5-20 dollar older keyboard and get literally the same effect without having to spend $100 on something that glows and talks to you.
Willing to browse around and throw my two-sense in, really looking for overall more information on what I'm looking for because I feel like I'm in a very broad situation & need help narrowing my search.
Thanks for the welcomes ahead of time!
P.S: I'm not using this for any sort of crazy gaming, this is more for personal satisfaction & learning more than anything.
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Welcome to Geekhack!
I wouldn't really know where to start.
Do you want to build a keyboard? Or buy one ready made?
Are you interested in cheap but reliable older (some might say "vintage") keyboards? Or a newer keyboard?
Something with a standard layout? Or a bit more exotic?
A full size keyboard? A TKL keyboard (with the numpad)? Or a 60% keyboard, perhaps, without function keys or a numpad? Or even a 40% (which omits the number keys too)?
There are so many choices.
Depending on where you are, something like a non-backlit US ANSI TKL keyboard with Cherry MX switches would probably be a good place to start with a minimal modern keyboard.
If you want something a bit older, you could look for a Model M (or an SSK, which is the TKL version albeit usually somewhat more expensive), or perhaps something with Alps switches.
Either way keyboards are available for under $100. The CoolerMaster QFR, for example, is often $80 or so, and a reasonable Model M can be had for about the same (but might need a little work to clean it up, and they almost always clean up very well).