Coming from owning multiple Duckies+Filcos I'd say if LED is not your cup of tea, get a filco and do some detachable mod is perfect deal for you.
CM storm rapid fire line was usually mentioned when it comes to filco/ducky and recognized as a cheapo filco OEM board(since it's also made by costar).
But their inner quality was proved to be a lil bit compromised in comparison.(By the famous video on YouTube).
And also since you're already eyeing on Ducky there's no need to downgrade to QFR already,
But if you don't feel like moding the filco then by all means the QFRs can be a potential good deal.
As of getting the duckies or not. My opinion, which is personal preference and need to be taken with a grain of salt, is that the LED didn't do much for me and I still like my filcos better.
It's just I needed something for late night use and with detachable cables. (Also in my case the repeat rate function did helped my a bit in starcraft 2. If you play zerg you know it)
And when I really got them, the detachable cables are not really looking that great to me coz the design gave me some question mark about its longevity.
I really doubt that the port would survive constant plug/unplugging for constant on the move purpose in the long run.
Everytime I have to be perfect to insert the mini USB or else I risk myself to insert it in an angled direction and would potentially damage the port.
I really like how the new CM QFR-i series and other new boards from CM storm are adopting a 90 degree/L shape USB port directly behind the board, not under it.
But so far they're the only one allowing that option(well not solely, but also the poker and race2, so you see its rather rare). Also, some would criticize them since they're not typical mini USB but micro USB.
Next thing is that coming from a filco camp, I really enjoyed all the costar stabilizers.
swtiching to duckies and it is very noticable to me that the mod keys are kinda sticky and mushy.
I didn't do much comparison after I put the filcos in the box with the ducky on the table. But ocassionally when I take them out for a run, I immediately felt that I still miss that snappy, clean feel on the filcos.
And the next point may only be my personal preference, but I do feel that the filco boards has a more solid feel.
The switches onboard somehow "feel" more consistent(you may argue, it was my impression, not fact or anything)and the different keycaps on filco with the ducky contribute to the typing feel. (of course keycaps are not something you wanna compare since we all upgrade those sooner or later.)
So I guess overall you can see I'm a costar guy. But so far not many decent costar baords are on the market.
iOne seems to also make costar stabilizer boards but many of those brands are either out of my reach or built rather poor.
Razer Blackwidow tournament edtition gets a mention here since I quite like the hardware and the cloth bag is a plus for me. But you know about razer and what their brand names describes generally.
Chance is that if you're exposed to a few razer gears that involves electric parts. You will feel, at some point, this exact feeling: "I'm not buying anything from Razer again."
So, even the board looks quite good with features,(90 degree behind the board mini USB port, cloth bag, compact layout. Game mode and macro, media keys, costar stabilizers..)
Due to its questionable reliability I would never take the risk and bring it to work.
Those above were my thoughts when I was searching for the board that I will carry in my backpack everyday to work.
I ended up pre-ordered a CM storm rapid-i from my local retailers.Since I live outside US.
But I'm really tempting to mod a Filco in the future. possibly when its warranty fully depreciated.
If you're fine with cherry stabilizers then there are also boards like KBT Poker, race 2. HHKB are not typically cherry MX board and way more costy so gets a mere mention.
But if you plan to buy something and station it in the office then you have way more options.
It was a bit frustrating when I was so GASed about race 2, and found out that it is only PCB mounted. For mainly typing, I would prefer a MX brown/blue/Clear switch with plate mounted construction
Also the reason why I'm only talking about TKL and compact boards is bcoz I have a Filco 22 number pad separately. YMMV.
Have fun hunting your new board.
Seriously it is much more fun reseaching and making decisions about buying a board then really enjoying the hardware to me. Coz I can dream non-stop about the incoming piece of hardware. lol.
