Ducky or Filco? and where from?

[fbl2g]

Hey lads,

Lurker of a few months, have decided to come out of hiding as its finally time to buy my first mechanical keyboard. To begin with, let me say thanks for the amazing amount of information you guys have posted over this site. I was originally set out to buy the steelseries 6Gv2 and I'm so glad that i didn't.

The main reason behind this purchase was originally for gaming (the full n-key rollover is oh-so attractive) but as i looked further into the subject i realized that I'll also be wanting to take this keyboard to work (i work in management for a call centre and if I'm not writing notes all day, I'll be writing emails).

So, with this in mind, i came to the following conclusions:

1.) Switches will most likely have to be browns, as they are a good mix for gaming/typing but also I dont really want to piss anyone at the office off (not that i think they would notice).

2.) i'd really prefer if the keyboard had available/came with non-standard keycaps - preferably blanks (if colors are available this would be a huge plus for me)

3.) I'd prefer that the keyboard was tenkeyless as i don't use the numpad at all and will be transporting this keyboard around a lot

With this in mind, I almost thought I had my mind set on the filco majestouch tenkeyless, with the only problem being the lack of replaceable colored keys (bar the wasd).. that was, of course, until this morning where the ducky 1087 caught my eye. It looks like a keyboard I would much prefer to use, and also comes stock with the different WASD keys (and i'm not sure if i've read this correctly, but the gaming cluster has different switches to the rest of the keyboard? hallelujah!)

So, i guess my questions are:

1.) Being in Australia, the only local site I can find which stocks these keyboards is auspcmarket (thanks for the wiki guide ) but they don't stock the ducky, and are pretty expensive comparing to international sellers ($20+ for the wasd keycaps on the filco? :<). What are the best international sites to buy from, and are there any Australians here who have experience buying from said sites?

2.) Have i made the right choices with the ducky/filco? or is there another keyboard i'm missing out on. I spotted the happy hacker but decided that it would be too tough to get use to the different positioned control key considering how much i use it in gaming.

3.) With either choice, where will I be able to (safely) buy colored keycaps for either board from? is there a huge difference in the shapes/sizes of the keys, and are certain keys from other keyboards transferable (for example: can i get custom keys designed for the ducky and put them onto the filco?)

Really sorry if this information has been repeated on the forums (im sure it has been) but i'm having trouble finding it and putting it into perspective for my situation.

Thanks in advance

p.s. Sorry for the lack of grammar/punctuation, have had to rush this coz I'm late for lunch with the missus.

[ynih]

For a full a tenkeyless, I would have to echo Ripster's thoughts and that a Filco would be your best bet.  Since it's available to you, and it's an original that has gotten the keyboard right after so long.

[fbl2g]

cheers for the advice. only problem I'm having now is I had settled on getting a tenkeyless with cherry blacks but auspcmarket have advised that they aren't in production atm.. is it worth hunting one of these down internationally (its primary use will be fps gaming) or will the difference between blacks/browns not be too noticeable?

sorry for bugging with questions like these ones, I keep reading very conflicting information about the difference, especcially when it comes to gaming on these boards.

thanks in advance

[Minskleip]

I believe you can get Das as well.  It took them 4 iterations of their keyboard before they got the Das S right.

I like number 2.

[gun_sl1nger]

Hey lads,

Lurker of a few months, have decided to come out of hiding as its finally time to buy my first mechanical keyboard. To begin with, let me say thanks for the amazing amount of information you guys have posted over this site. I was originally set out to buy the steelseries 6Gv2 and I'm so glad that i didn't.

The main reason behind this purchase was originally for gaming (the full n-key rollover is oh-so attractive) but as i looked further into the subject i realized that I'll also be wanting to take this keyboard to work (i work in management for a call centre and if I'm not writing notes all day, I'll be writing emails).

So, with this in mind, i came to the following conclusions:

1.) Switches will most likely have to be browns, as they are a good mix for gaming/typing but also I dont really want to piss anyone at the office off (not that i think they would notice).

2.) i'd really prefer if the keyboard had available/came with non-standard keycaps - preferably blanks (if colors are available this would be a huge plus for me)

3.) I'd prefer that the keyboard was tenkeyless as i don't use the numpad at all and will be transporting this keyboard around a lot

With this in mind, I almost thought I had my mind set on the filco majestouch tenkeyless, with the only problem being the lack of replaceable colored keys (bar the wasd).. that was, of course, until this morning where the ducky 1087 caught my eye. It looks like a keyboard I would much prefer to use, and also comes stock with the different WASD keys (and i'm not sure if i've read this correctly, but the gaming cluster has different switches to the rest of the keyboard? hallelujah!)

So, i guess my questions are:

1.) Being in Australia, the only local site I can find which stocks these keyboards is auspcmarket (thanks for the wiki guide ) but they don't stock the ducky, and are pretty expensive comparing to international sellers ($20+ for the wasd keycaps on the filco? :<). What are the best international sites to buy from, and are there any Australians here who have experience buying from said sites?

2.) Have i made the right choices with the ducky/filco? or is there another keyboard i'm missing out on. I spotted the happy hacker but decided that it would be too tough to get use to the different positioned control key considering how much i use it in gaming.

3.) With either choice, where will I be able to (safely) buy colored keycaps for either board from? is there a huge difference in the shapes/sizes of the keys, and are certain keys from other keyboards transferable (for example: can i get custom keys designed for the ducky and put them onto the filco?)

Really sorry if this information has been repeated on the forums (im sure it has been) but i'm having trouble finding it and putting it into perspective for my situation.

Thanks in advance

p.s. Sorry for the lack of grammar/punctuation, have had to rush this coz I'm late for lunch with the missus.

I live in Sydney (Hills District) and work at Liverpool Hospital Radiology.  I just ordered a Filco 10keyless blue, plus I have a Deck 82 (black switches) and a couple of HHKB Pro 2 boards if you would like to try them out before buying? Let me know (PM for email address/details). Probably better than jut buying blind.

sl1nger.

[xcen]

To me, the choice should be between features and quality.

No doubt, Ducky has more features that might be useful to some, useless to some.

Filco on the other hand, has a better quality keyboard.

So the choice is yours.

[fbl2g]

Thanks for the very kind offer sl1nger, unfortunately i'm over in perth, so it would be a fair trek to test a few keyboards!

Which leaves me at this:

not sure if this is 100% accurate, but from what i can tell the browns will be fine for gaming. My main concern was the double tap issue which you get with the cherry blue's, but i've read in a few places now that this isn't an issue with the browns.

If someone can confirm this, i'll be ordering my filco tenkeyless w/ browns tonight :>

Thanks for all of your help lads

[bakageta]

I have absolutely no issues with quick repeated taps on browns, the activation / release points are different from blues so it shouldn't be an issue. I definitely recommend browns over blacks, it's easier to know exactly when a brown activates for me, and I find blacks very tiring to type on.

[fbl2g]

Ordered my filco tenkeyless w/ browns yesterday morning, will let you guys know how things go.

Thanks to all for the advice.