Hello.
I am considering making the first time jump from my generic rubber dome keyboard to a mechanical goodness. I have never tried a mechanical, but I hear good things about it. I already have a little fountain pen obsession, so I might as well get a keyboard obsession as well.
I have a dream of becoming a sci-fi fantasy novelist (yes, I mean both sci-fi and fantasy at the same time), but I never find the time to put pen to paper, or fingers to keys, so when I hear about keyboards that satisfaction from the click click sound of typing, I think "That could help!". Or so I tell my self to justify the cost.
Now I am a bit (ok a lot) of a gamer. FPS is my poison, but sometimes its RPGs, flight sims, and the occasional RTS
My current Keyboard is a generic Dell RT7D50 slim rubber dome keyboard that came free several years ago with my old Dell PC. Now I have never had a real key rollover issue. I know certain key combos don't work (Shift+Q+A for instance), but none of them are essential to my games. however NKRO would be nice to have just in case. My current keyboard is already loud, mainly because of its wobbly creaky keys, but theres nobody else in my room to bother and I wear headphones when I want to listen to things, so loud keys arn't an issue. To press down my current keyboard keys more than a milimetre, I have to apply a force great enough to completely bottom the key before the rubber dome starts to collapse, because of this I don't see the attraction of MX reds over browns or blues because I am used to the non-linearity.
So I was looking for a keyboard with the following features:
1) MX blue switches, for that full satisfying clack clack sensation.
2) NKRO is a plus.
3) Not fussed about flashy lights and looks. caps lock indicator is the only light I need! I'll take them if they are offered, but only at the right price.
4) Max price of £59, because it's my first one and I don't have the money (well I do but its student loans...)
5) UK layout preferable.
6) Numpad preferable.
7) Mainly Black in colour (I'd take beige or 90's gray if I could get snappy spring action, but that's out of my price range.)
10) No special macro or media keys needed.
11) readily available replacement key caps are a plus.
(note: any of these features except MX blue switches can be forgotten if the price is right)
With that in mind, I narrowed down a list of main contenders
1) Rosewill rk-9000 (low price and highly recommended)
2) Cherry G80-3000 (Why buy keyboards made by other companies using cherry switches, when you can go straight to the source? cheap, but no NKRO has me worried.)
3) Cooler Master Quickfire Rapid (Highly recomended for first timers, but missing the keypad. also more expensive)
4) Ducky Zero (Seems to do it all, but not so easy to get your hands on here).
It turned out finding the right keyboard, with the right switches, at the right price was rather difficult here in the UK. If it was cheap, it needed international shipping costs, if it didn't it was the wrong switch, and I get the feeling that the price of these keyboards is greater than in the US. The Rosewill wasn't available at all in the UK.
I was going to settle on a very reasonably priced ex-display Cherry G80-3000 despite the fact that it was the weakest looking contender, but then I found tiger imports.
While the pricing is in US dollars, implying international shipping, both the Item prices and shipping costs were very reasonable, and they had a Ducky Zero DK2108 cherry blue, and a Cooler Master Quickfire Rapid TKL cherry blue for $78.00 and $67.00 respectively (or in my money, £51.21 and £43.99). The only catch is they arn't in UK layout.
I am leaning towards the Ducky Zero DK2108 because of the keypad, but the quickfire rapid gets talked about a lot, plus I have never used any of them so I'd like a second oppinion. also If there is a better keyboard out there, or a better supplier then do tell. Also would it be possible to get more UK style key caps? I realize the difference in enter key and the movement of the \ key would require moving a whole switch, but I really need the £ ~# and " symbols to be in the right places.
Oh and sorry if this post is overly long.
