Good budget board w/Gateron Blacks?

[ander]

Hey guys – Can any of you recommend a 104-108 or TKL board with Gateron Blacks that's solid, but not a lot of dough? I found these tonight:

James Donkey 104 Keys Mechanical gaming keyboard with Gateron Switch





They seem like a good deal (the DS caps are nice!). And I could overlook the goofy name. But are there any out there that don't look so much like Star Wars props?

Thanks!

[MperorM]

If you really want to cheap out, I bought the LINGBAO JIGUANSHI from aliexpress half a year ago. The keyboard came with gateron switches, and really impressed me with its quality considering it cost me 30 $ including shipping.

However a few months later, the Q button has started not registering light keypresses. I think I may just have gotten unlucky, but considering I used it for half a year and it only cost me this little, I am very happy with the purchase.

Chyro did a review of the keyboard, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r40q0U_qLiU

[ander]

If you really want to cheap out, I bought the LINGBAO JIGUANSHI from aliexpress half a year ago... [Chyros] did a review of the keyboard, you can watch it here...[/url]

Thanks, and nothing personal, but that may be a bit too cheap.

And while all of Chyros's reviews are fun and worthwhile, that particular board had Gateron Blues, which seem notorious for being noisy. (I think he called it the noisiest board he'd ever used—and he's had just about all of them.)

Someone posted an unboxing video on YouTube of a board with Gateron Blacks, but, frustratingly, did everything but type on it. Obviously he hasn't hung around here much.  :?)

[MperorM]

you can order it with both gateron blacks and blues.


And yeah, if not for chyro I would be a whole lot of pounds richer ^_^

[ander]

...And yeah, if not for chyro I would be a whole lot of pounds richer ^_^

Yes, he's a dear but impoverishing guy.

There are these Magicforce 108s on Amazon at $70 shipped; they remind me of those icy-white Mac keyboards that were big a few years ago. Is it just my imagination, though, or has the F8 backlight stopped working on that one?:





Oops. Not a good sign.  :?|

[MperorM]

link is dead

[ander]

link is dead

Sorry, fixed.

They actually look pretty cool. I just wonder about the durability, if one of the LEDs failed right at the photo shoot.

[FoxWolf1]

They actually look pretty cool. I just wonder about the durability, if one of the LEDs failed right at the photo shoot.

Probably not a dead LED but rather the indication for the windows key lock function (a common feature on more gaming-oriented keyboards). From the item description:

WIN KEY lock function with LED status indicator to prevent accidental hitting of the WIN KEY.（Windows keys is enabled when F8 is not illuminated (default). Windows key is disabled when F8 is illuminated. This setting prevents the accident hitting of the windows key while gaming.)

[ander]

Probably not a dead LED but rather the indication for the windows key lock function (a common feature on more gaming-oriented keyboards). From the item description...

Right you are! That's good, because I went ahead and ordered one anyway... I'll post a review when I get it.