Filco Majestouch 2 or Ducky Premier or Ducky Shine 3?

[Strider]

Hi,

I'm in the market for my first mechanical keyboard and can't make up my mind about which one I should get. Some people say that Filco's build quality is on par with Duckys, others say that Filco's a notch better.

I can get the full size Filco MJ2 with brown switches shipped from Amazon.co.uk to Portugal for 123£, whereas Ducky Shine 3 TKL with blue backlight would cost me ~128£, shipped from Overclockers.co.uk (currently out of stock). Ducky Premier should hit UK stores this week, and I suspect its price tag will be close to the ones I mentioned. So, no real winner in this category.

I would go for the Filco, but then I think I'll be missing those awesome thick PBT dye-sub keycaps on the Premier. I know Filcos are great, build quality wise, but those pad printed ABS keycaps spoil the whole picture for me. If I go with Filco, then I'll have to spend more money in the near future to get some nice thick PBT ISO keyset.

On the other hand, I think: if the full size Ducky Premier has those expensive dye-sub PBT keycaps and costs the same as Filco or the Ducky Shine III tenkeyless, then where the hell did they cut costs? Is build quality and components of the rest of the board affected by this? I haven't seen any reviews of it online yet, unfortunately.

There's also the rumour that Ducky will sell those colorful caps of the Premier separately later on in blank or engraved. If this were true, I think I could get the Filco and sleep in peace, but then again it would be substantially more expensive.

Can you shed some light on this one?

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

The Filco probably has a slight edge over Ducky in terms of quality, although there is nothing wrong with either.  Both are highly recommended around here.

The Premier is probably about the same price as the Shine because it has PBT keycaps but no backlighting (and more keycaps than the TKL Shine).

Something else to consider is that the Ducky (Shine at least, maybe the Premier) has a removable USB cable, whereas the Filco does not.

[epzy]

"There's also the rumour that Ducky will sell those colorful caps of the Premier separately later on in blank or engraved. If this were true, I think I could get the Filco and sleep in peace, but then again it would be substantially more expensive."

This is 100% true. Ducky has said so themselves on their UK Facebook page, and it's also confirmed by teraset.net.

And btw, you can't go wrong with either. I've had a G2pro, Shine 3 and two Majestouch 2's - and you can't really notice the difference in terms of quality to be honest. They just have different feautures which you will have to decide which ones you like the most.

Filco + nice keycaps is my recommandation, though - I really like mine. IMO, only go for the Shine 3 if you absolutely want the LEDs etc. Only get the Premier if you really want the nice keycaps it comes with, but then again you can buy a Filco Majestouch 2 and get the keycaps from the Premier later.

[Darkleaf84]

Hey since we're on the topic of filco's and PBT keycaps, I literally got my MJ-2 2 days ago from ncix.com. Where would one go to get a full 104 keycap set thats PBT that would fit cherry mx switches?

[boradori007]

another vote for filco

[epzy]

Hey since we're on the topic of filco's and PBT keycaps, I literally got my MJ-2 2 days ago from ncix.com. Where would one go to get a full 104 keycap set thats PBT that would fit cherry mx switches?

http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/deals/granite-set-pbt-dye-sub-dsa/

That's one option. There are loaaads of options. Vortex PBT's from mechanicalkeyboards.com, Classifieds here, IMSTO.cn, Tao Bao, feng (vendor here), banggood.com, keyboardwow.com (?) etc etc.

[Pacifist]

Hey since we're on the topic of filco's and PBT keycaps, I literally got my MJ-2 2 days ago from ncix.com. Where would one go to get a full 104 keycap set thats PBT that would fit cherry mx switches?

vortex

[Strider]

I might go with Filco, but my concern is that it may be a bit overpriced for what it offers. I don't want to be paying a premium just for the brand, considering that some CoolerMaster keyboards are also manufactured by Costar and should offer a similar build quality for much less. Perhaps the differences in build quality and feel between Ducky and Filco are due mainly to the different stabilizers used, Cherry vs Costar, respectively, I don't know.

With Ducky Shine, I'm paying more or less the same as Filco for almost the same build quality and many more features and better keycaps, despite being ABS too. Even if the Premier costs me more than both, it'll end up being much cheaper than getting a Filco now and some PBT keycaps later. I have to consider which keyboard is more balanced and not just the overall build quality.

As you are talking about PBT keycaps, where could I get a set of those with dye-sub legends in Europe (UK layout)? 

[PolaBurrr]

I might go with Filco, but my concern is that it may be a bit overpriced for what it offers. I don't want to be paying a premium just for the brand, considering that some CoolerMaster keyboards are also manufactured by Costar and should offer a similar build quality for much less. Perhaps the differences in build quality and feel between Ducky and Filco are due mainly to the different stabilizers used, Cherry vs Costar, respectively, I don't know.

With Ducky Shine, I'm paying more or less the same as Filco for almost the same build quality and many more features and better keycaps, despite being ABS too. Even if the Premier costs me more than both, it'll end up being much cheaper than getting a Filco now and some PBT keycaps later. I have to consider which keyboard is more balanced and not just the overall build quality.

As you are talking about PBT keycaps, where could I get a set of those with dye-sub legends in Europe (UK layout)?

it's simply law of diminishing returns. You pay slightly more the filco than a ducky, and you eek out that extra 10% in build quality and sturdiness. You pay almost twice as much as a qfr and you get 50% (yes, 50%, even though qfr is still pretty good) more quality.  If I were you, I would go with the filco, and leave yourself room to upgrade in the aspects that are upgradeable, i.e. keycaps, sexy cable, alu case, etc... If you get a Ducky, your upgrade options are more limited (for example no aftermarket alu case) and you cannot upgrade build quality as a whole.

[tbc]

for the amount you need to pay for an upgraded filco, you could nearly have a GON.

the smart choice is to figure out if you will be happy using the premier's keycaps.  if you ARE, then buy the premier for it's keycaps, save up your money for a GON, and then transfer the caps to the GON.

i keep saying GON because it's a very easy way to get an assembled custom keyboard.

basically, if you want something nice, just BUY the nice thing outright.  buying a mediocre keyboard (relatively) and then trying to upgrade that is ridiculous.  that strategy only makes sense for the realforce and the digilog case because there aren't any custom topre kits (assembled or otherwise).

[PolaBurrr]

for the amount you need to pay for an upgraded filco, you could nearly have a GON.

the smart choice is to figure out if you will be happy using the premier's keycaps.  if you ARE, then buy the premier for it's keycaps, save up your money for a GON, and then transfer the caps to the GON.

i keep saying GON because it's a very easy way to get an assembled custom keyboard.

basically, if you want something nice, just BUY the nice thing outright.  buying a mediocre keyboard (relatively) and then trying to upgrade that is ridiculous.  that strategy only makes sense for the realforce and the digilog case because there aren't any custom topre kits (assembled or otherwise).

Well, I don't really have a sense of op's standard of satisfaction, so if he is happy with the filco, then great! He has saved his wallet. If not, I meant that there is still an upgrade path that you can take and stop whenever you want.

[Strider]

If I go with Filco, I don't plan to upgrade anything, except for the bad keycaps, but I'm after the best quality overall for the money. I think I might end up getting both Filco and the Premier for the nice PBT keycaps. The question is which one I should get first. Premier will cost me 120£ shipped from Kustom PCs, so I think it may be a better deal than the Filco for 123£.

@tbc
So, Premier only for the keycaps? Its retail price is "only" 100£, so it makes me think that I'm only paying for the nice keycaps and that the board and case quality is only OK compared to Filco. But those thick keycaps should contribute to the overall sturdiness of the keyboard and give a much nicer feel when typing.

Now I also don't know if I should go with browns or blues. I think Browns are a safer choice for one that has never had any contact with Cherry MX switches, but, at the same time, that clicky sound from the Blues really excites me.  Which one has more tactile feedback? Browns, right?

 

[Battou62]

It should really come down to which stabilizer you prefer. I have a Ducky and Filco, and I would give the nod to the Ducky for build quality/sturdiness. One the costar stabs are are lubed I give the nod to the Filco for overall typing experience.

[Strider]

That's exactly my thought after reading so much about both keyboards on the web. I think the differences people encounter when typing on them are primarily related to the different stabs used, but, in all honesty, I can't judge for myself because I've never come into contact with either one. But the alphabetical keys don't have stabs at all, right?

[epzy]

But the alphabetical keys don't have stabs at all, right?

Correct.