Majestouch-2 or QuickFire XT or others... (with italian layout)

[gasdone]

Hi, i want to buy my first mechanical keyboard. I have read a lot on this forum to understand the things and i'll take the Cherry MX Brown because i type a lot and i don't like the clicky sound. I don't want the backlight, i need only a good build quality. I need a full size keyboard. I need the italian (or at least ISO) layout.  Everyone here says that the Filco Majestouch 2 is a guarantee, but i read that the CM Storm QuickFire XT is is very similar, and maybe there are other similar keyboards.

Here where i live, i can buy the Filco Majestouch 2 for 167 € ( 230 $ ) and the CM Storm QuickFire XT for 70 € ( 95 $ ), both browns both full size.

My questions:
- The Filco worths the money?
- Which are the differences?
- Both use costar stabs, right?
- Both use same keycaps dimensions (standard) ?
- The only thing i don't like of the QuickFire is the font of the keycaps, if i buy it i will change them in the future, but I read that also the Filco keycaps aren't so good, so i should change them anyway in the future, right?
- There are other keyboards that i should consider?

Thanks and sorry for my english.

[tp4tissue]

if you at all plan to mod.. ergo clear switches or add lube to brown...  then get the filco, that PCB can take some heat and stay together for soldering..


if you don't plan to do any soldering mods.. get the XT..  the only difference is the XT pcb will NOT handle heat as well as the filco pcb for soldering..

It's not SO bad where it's impossible to solder/desolder the XT,   but... out of 87 switches, you're going to burn out several trace endings..  and if you're savy, this is easily bridged with a strip of wire.. 

but for a n00ber,  the task may seem daunting or off putting.


Other than PCB quality   there is no other difference with respect to the FUNCTION of the keyboard.

[IvanIvanovich]

Unless you are super ****ty at soldering, a single sided PCB is no problem. Both are made at Costar and have an otherwise similar build quality. I would save my money and go with the CM. Also, in regard to keycap... for Italian you should keep your eye on ebay for the Olivetti G80 or G81-3011 (aka KBD 2812)

or other Cherry G80/G81 models that have the last letters of HAI/HAMIT or similar. You aren't going to get better Italian keycaps than those period.

[gasdone]

I'll not melt anything, this is my first mechanical keyboard so i'm quite noob, i just want a keyboard to use
So, i'll pick the QuickFire XT. Thanks (:

[Zeroblade]

Initially I was also rather confused about the MJ2 or a CM Quickfire.

I wanted a full-size board, but all the local shops didn't have the QF Ult or XT, just the QF Rapid and TK.
Amazon had the XT for a decent price, but I still had to ship a 1.2 kilo keyboard halfway across the world, and god knows what I'd have to deal with with the hell that is customs.

And then when I found the MJ2 with yellow caps/cherry blues was just 150 USD locally, I jumped on it. Much better deal, definitely satisfied.

[blackbox]

if you at all plan to mod.. ergo clear switches or add lube to brown...  then get the filco, that PCB can take some heat and stay together for soldering..


if you don't plan to do any soldering mods.. get the XT..  the only difference is the XT pcb will NOT handle heat as well as the filco pcb for soldering..

It's not SO bad where it's impossible to solder/desolder the XT,   but... out of 87 switches, you're going to burn out several trace endings..  and if you're savy, this is easily bridged with a strip of wire.. 

but for a n00ber,  the task may seem daunting or off putting.


Other than PCB quality   there is no other difference with respect to the FUNCTION of the keyboard.

Show Image

I had no problem soldering on my xt. So I agree with Ivanivanovich.

I swapped all the switches to mx greys.

[NumberTwoinQQ]

Initially I was also rather confused about the MJ2 or a CM Quickfire.

I wanted a full-size board, but all the local shops didn't have the QF Ult or XT, just the QF Rapid and TK.
Amazon had the XT for a decent price, but I still had to ship a 1.2 kilo keyboard halfway across the world, and god knows what I'd have to deal with with the hell that is customs.

And then when I found the MJ2 with yellow caps/cherry blues was just 150 USD locally, I jumped on it. Much better deal, definitely satisfied.

Where did you find that mj2?  Thats exactly what i want!

[gasdone]

Initially I was also rather confused about the MJ2 or a CM Quickfire.

I wanted a full-size board, but all the local shops didn't have the QF Ult or XT, just the QF Rapid and TK.
Amazon had the XT for a decent price, but I still had to ship a 1.2 kilo keyboard halfway across the world, and god knows what I'd have to deal with with the hell that is customs.

And then when I found the MJ2 with yellow caps/cherry blues was just 150 USD locally, I jumped on it. Much better deal, definitely satisfied.

It depends where you live... here in italy, you can buy the QF XT from Amazon without ship price, instead the MJ2 does not exist here so is 20$ more for the ship

[Zeroblade]

Where did you find that mj2?  Thats exactly what i want!

It depends where you live... here in italy, you can buy the QF XT from Amazon without ship price, instead the MJ2 does not exist here so is 20$ more for the ship

The MJ2 was in a local games store, the last of its stock (the rest were the Red Linear versions).

And indeed, it's very geographic-dependent. Here most of the PC stores carry Duckys and CM's smaller QuickFires, not the full size ones.  However, another chain carries Filcos, so it comes out so much cheaper than online since there's no shipping involved for the customer.

[Showhand]

Sorry but at this point I am lost. What justifies that price difference between the Filco and the CM?

[tp4tissue]

Sorry but at this point I am lost. What justifies that price difference between the Filco and the CM?

Justify ?  no no no... they're both making out like bandits in terms of profit


think about it this way.. how can 1 keyboard be 2x better..  that could never happen..


now compare a $100 to a $5 keyboard..  how can a keyboard be 20x better...


Don't worry about the price...  that's not the comparison you need to make unless you have to really stretch to afford  one of the 2 items.


The filco has the better pcb.. THAT"S IT... end of story... everything else is identical..

the keycaps has a uv coating on the filco, but that's BS marketing because that stuff rubs off within 2 - 3 weeks of use..

[Showhand]

Sorry but at this point I am lost. What justifies that price difference between the Filco and the CM?

Justify ?  no no no... they're both making out like bandits in terms of profit


think about it this way.. how can 1 keyboard be 2x better..  that could never happen..


now compare a $100 to a $5 keyboard..  how can a keyboard be 20x better...


Don't worry about the price...  that's not the comparison you need to make unless you have to really stretch to afford  one of the 2 items.


The filco has the better pcb.. THAT"S IT... end of story... everything else is identical..

the keycaps has a uv coating on the filco, but that's BS marketing because that stuff rubs off within 2 - 3 weeks of use..

Yes, I understand that this market is about small differences and passion. And I also understand that some people may be ready to spend lot of money for those small differences. But in this case it seems that we are speaking of two identical products... Hence my surprise.

[IvanIvanovich]

Most of the Filco price difference really has to do with the brand name and not much more if people are going to be honest. If you go back like 4+ years when there were less choice they were really top tier, but since then there are several other brands that are easily as good in build quality.