A dad falling down a rabbit hole

[toadkiller]

So my 14 year old games, a lot. He plays smite the most but dabbles in a lot of other games but is ranking up in smite. Id love to support him by buying him a kick ass keyboard and mouse. So I started doing a little research and oh mechanical keyboards, what are those and now I am blurry eyed and have no clue what to start him out with and holy heck is this a rabbit hole. I now finding myself interested in getting one.  I am still leaning on buying a keyboard, premade for him for xmas so I know it works.  SO Ill be researching more, but would love some ideas if anyone wants to shoot them my way.  I am leaning towards something tkl, look I learned something already, for him.

The one that I like for myself, well I love the blue and white colors but have no idea of the brand or anything is the Red Scarf II+ Ver.c 68-key Custom Keyboard Kit on massdrop. I am intrigued by putting it together but never have really used a solder gun.  Anyway it is good to be here and I have a feeling I should have never started looking into this.. )

[xondat]

Welcome, you've only seen the first tunnel of many for the rabbit hole...

Which TKLs are you looking at? Any switch preference yet, or did you need some advice?

The Red Scarf on Massdrop is an odd one, I was talking to a few others about it yesterday and the design is pretty "lazy". If you want a custom board, there are lots that are way ahead of the RS such as the Clueboard, or you could go full custom with a 60% build... There are so many options. )

[toadkiller]

Great info about the massdrop board. I am just drawn to the colors and have no idea about anything else about that board. Im glad you said something. The main thing I am looking for is something for gaming for my son. I was thinking brown but only because that seemed like a good middle ground. He doesnt know he wants a cool keyboard like this yet, hah,  and I want it as an xmas present for him so I cant really get his preference.
Before I decided it would probably be good to get him a TKL I settled on the ducky shine 5. However now I need suggestions for a tkl. SO yes Id love advice, thanks! The only tkl I have really looked at is the Masterkeys Pro S.  He mostly plays smite so I think he uses function keys some. He also likes order and symmetry so was trying to find something that he would enjoy looking at.

[xondat]

MX Red, MX Brown or MX Blue is usually what people start with. Quite light to activate, and probably the most popular. Reds are a linear press, so its straight down. Browns have a small bump, and Blues have the same small bump but also an audible click at the same time.

I think as starter TKLs, Cooler Master or Ducky are the two to start with. You could also check out WASD Keyboards - I had one of these and they're good in comparison.

[Badwrench]

Welcome aboard.  This is a great community with a ton of useful information to get you going.  Just stay away from artisans and CNC'd korean boards and your wallet should be fine. 

For your son, I would recommend something in the tkl or 68% range.  If noise of the switch is an issue, stay away from mx blues or greens as they can be quite noisy.  The redscarf that you are looking at is a great option in that you get the rough size of a 60% board, but still have the arrow cluster which I use often.  One very good option for getting a very inexpensive but very usable board is the Magicforce 68.  This one uses cherry mx black clones which are a moderately stiff linear switch and may be a very good place to start.  If you want to spend a little more, the board can be purchased with Gateron or Cherry switches.  The gateron browns might be a good way to go and can be had for about $60.  The layout of this is pretty good and the build quality is as well.  The stock keycaps leave a lot to be desired, but that is usually the case with most stock boards.  A cheap set of pbt doubleshots would take the feeling of the board much higher.  Something like this Balck and red set.  The Magicforce is also nice in that it uses standard sized keycaps. 

I hope this helps a little and gets you looking at some different options.   

[blackriver]

Welcome, Im pretty new at this whole thing as well and I can tell you it definitley is a rabbit hole, but a good one at that. TKL is a great mix between too little and too much, I love mine. The best thing to do is test out different switches to get a good feel for them. You can get one of the Cherry switch testers for about $20 and that will allow you to try out all the cherrys, or you can go to store x that sells a few mechanical keyboards and you will probably be able to try cherry browns, reds and blues. Best of luck!

[toadkiller]

Holy cow, down the rabbit hole and I spent all day reading and looking at pics. Think I have settled on a Leopold FC750R for him. But I am sure by tomorrow Ill question my pick and look some more.

I made the mistake of telling my wife about mechanical boards.  Now she is in love with this one and wants it now. Sheesh! http://i.imgur.com/vC2dUZz.png

[Belfong]

My advice is go for something really cheap because I can guarantee you that this is not going to be your last keyboard. So why not start cheap because you are going to buy and try them all anyway. Oh yes, you had better get acquainted with your local postman too with the amount of stuff you will be shipping and trading later.

[romevi]

From one dad to another: don't do it! 

But if you have to, I'd suggest what others did above and get something cheap, first. Are you set on that form-factor? Maybe you can try the Poker 3 or something with a switch you'd like. Those run around the $100 range and are easy to source. Once you get a taste of it, though, you want more!

But yes, the Leopold is another great choice.

[toadkiller]

I am not set on the form factor, I like the idea of tkl but my first keyboard that I picked out that I had thought Id get for him was the ducky 5. So not set but I am thinking he will like the minimalistic but fuctional style of the tkl better then bright lights.  I jsut need to figure out what switch to get him since I cant get him to try them out because it will be a surprise. I was leaning towards brown, seemed like a safe pick but he just games. I dont think he has ever typed on a keyboard I kid but it isnt much.

[jdcarpe]

Welcome to Geekhack! I hope you stick around, as there are quite a few of us dads here.

My recommendation for a keyboard for your son would be a TKL (your instincts were correct), with red or black linear switches and RGB backlighting. Linear switches are thought to be best for gaming, since there is no reset delay, or hysteresis. And gamers love RBG backlighting, or so we are told by the marketing hype by brands like Razer and Corsair (stay away from both, if you can, due to quality issues). Something like the MK Disco from MechanicalKeyboards.com would probably fit the bill quite nicely.

[toadkiller]

Well dang now I am rethinking my choice and looking at the disco.  He probably would like the lights. Now I want a mechanical board and my wife does also. I remember throwing old keyboards away when I was the IT guy at a university...stupid IBM boards just make a huge noise when typing and nobody wants them...

[mike52787]

Well dang now I am rethinking my choice and looking at the disco.  He probably would like the lights. Now I want a mechanical board and my wife does also. I remember throwing old keyboards away when I was the IT guy at a university...stupid IBM boards just make a huge noise when typing and nobody wants them...

I wasnt aware that noone wanted model m's! ) If you dont want your model m's, you can throw them away in the trunk of my car Anyway, welcome!

[xtrafrood]

Leopold is a great brand. One of the sturdiest for sure. Welcome aboard!

My dad was terrified of computers to the point of buying into MSN WebTV back when I was in high school lol, so I think what you're doing is frickin' awesome

[Belfong]

stupid IBM boards just make a huge noise when typing and nobody wants them...

I hope you didn't throw away any IBM tkl board (also known as Space Saver, SSK). That would be like throwing away a diamond.