New to mechanical keyboards, help me choose one! MX Browns?

[Chango99]

Hi all,

New user here and I've been looking at mechanical keyboards for the past few days.

I spend a lot of time on the computer and can type at the very least 100WPM+ on any standard membrane keyboard. Give me a membrane keyboard and I can type reasonably well on it and can pretty much touch type on any of them. I only had some problems with a laptop's chiclet island style keyboard. Too many mistakes on those, but it might have been a BIOS issue that later got fixed.

Anyway, seeing as how I am a typist, I was wondering if I should switch to mechanical. I never found the price tag reasonable. 100$ for a keyboard? Why? I can already type well on a cheap 10$ keyboard. Is it really THAT much of a difference?

To carry on, I have been looking at Cherry MX Brown keyboards because I also don't want too much sound and I want to game on these keyboards. I play games like RTS and FPS's, if that helps. So, as brown's a good choice for me?

The ones that I have been looking at are the Das Keyboard Professional S Silent and the Filco Majestouch. The Das Keyboard seems to be winning me over because it is free shipping, no taxes, I can return for full refund, and I believe I can get an education discount on the original 135$, which will put the das keyboard anywhere from 91$ to 110$ or so. Filco's, on the other hand, have the two versions, the non NKRO one and the NKRO one. Even with the cheaper non-NKRO option, after shipping and taxes, total comes out to be ~129$, not the 109$ stated. So with the NKRO, that is 155.56$ total.

Seems like I should just go with the Das keyboard right? Any interjections on this? Only thing I'm seeing that the Filco has over the Das is that it looks simpler/better slightly. The Das has that hump on the right and I prefer the status indicators on the Filco. The hump is also a bit useless for me on the Das, as I don't want a hub on my keyboard. I have a laptop, and 3 ports was not enough for me, but myself a 4 port hub, but then I built myself a desktop as a main computer. It has like 8 USB ports (2 been USB 3.0), so that means I have no use for a hub anymore -_- wasted my money. Only used it for like 2 weeks. Plus, I don't really want to be transferring data on the hub since it won't be full speed.

Anyway, what to do? No cheaper options right? I like backlit keyboards, but Deck keyboards are too costly...

[nanu]

I'm quite discriminating on sound emissions. Mechanical keyboards aren't much quieter than membrane keyboards, unless they use topre switches (or silenced topre switches). Chiclet/scissor-switch boards are probably the quietest, depending on construction.

Coming from rubberdomes that require more force, you'll initially be making just as much typing sound by bottoming out on Cherry browns. Only time/you can tell whether or not you will adjust with grace to not bottom out at some point (making Browns slightly quieter) but I imagine most fast typists find Browns too soft (and more linear than tactile), and tend to prefer the slightly less lightweight Cherry blues.

Somehow I would recommend simplified/xm ALPS for you if you wanted not to lose much in the transition of key feel, but saying this is perhaps being mean

[Mechanical Atom]

you sound a lot like me a couple weeks ago, there's a reason why mechanical keyboards fell away from the limelight, they were too expensive. Even now they're expensive and if you go cheap on a new one you're wasting your money.

If you want to buy a new keyboard you will spend at least $100 for a quality one, I'm also a typer like yourself that pushes 100+ WPM easily. Take it from me you will never feel so fast on a keyboard as you do on a mechanical. Now my preference is the Cherry Blue, its the best for typing and RTS, the only issue is the sound, however that doesn't bug me or many others who are fans of the Cherry Blue, the keys always seem ready to go before you can even think about it.

Now if you want a cheap option to see if you really want to spend the money (like I did) then find yourself an older keyboard for $10-$40, here's some links if you haven't found them yet:

Cherry Switches:
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Cherry+switches+and+boards

ALPS Switches:
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=ALPS+switches

If you go to the discussion tab on each you can get some more clues at vintage boards that will offer a lot of the same performance as a new board if you find a good deal.

-Fellow mechanical noob

[trievalot]

see here
http://geekhack.org/member.php?u=2185

(Don't be a ****. Buy a Topre.)

[microsoft windows]

Even though the mechanisms in brown Cherry keyswitches don't make much noise, the keyboards themselves can be very loud since it's easy to bottom out on a brown Cherry switch. It'll be the keys going "Thunk" on the plate instead of the "click" of some other mechanisms.


Also keep in mind that brown Cherry switches are not really tactile. They're low-force switches.

If you're looking for switches with the tactile feel, I'd look into the IBM Model M's or some old keyboards with white or blue ALPS switches.

[Zalusithix]

As many have mentioned, you'll most likely be bottoming out on the browns. Coming from a rubber dome keyboard, you'll be doing that for awhile no matter what variation of the Cherry switch you get. From there, it really depends on your ability to adapt. I find the browns to be fairly tactile, and as such, I rarely bottom out during normal typing. I have the ability to toggle a psuedo-click if I want though, which helps with feedback.

When it comes to gaming, I think the browns would be better for FPS as you're going to be bottoming out anyhow a great deal of the time. In that case, you'd rather have just one thing making noise (bottoming out) instead of two things (click and bottom out) per action. On RTS games, some here have voiced a preference for the blues for an audible confirmation of an action where they don't have to look to confirm it went through. If your hands move like a Korean StarCraft player, however, I imagine the browns would be a better fit since you wouldn't have to worry about the actuation/reset difference.

As for specific keyboard recommendations, I'll leave that to people who actually use standard keyboards on a regular basis.

[Nonmouse]

Also keep in mind that brown Cherry switches are not really tactile.

This would be incorrect:



I can quite easily feel the activation point on my keyboard- it's not as blatant as on blues or clears or buckling springs, but it is definitely there.

They're low-force switches.

Correct.  This, however, does not in any way contradict that browns are tactile.

[microsoft windows]

I've used brown Cherry keyboards before. They feel nice and smooth and, like Cherry said, are low-force switches. They weren't really too tactile though. Nothing like white ALPS or Buckling Springs.

[Superfluous Parentheses]

Just addressing the price/quality issue: a new Unicomp buckling spring board will set you back $60. IMHO that's really good value for money, except that shipping is expensive outside the US.

But those boards are pretty heavy to type on (you get used to it, at least I did, but it's not ideal) and make a LOT of noise.

You can probably find a cherry blue or brown board second hand for a lot less than that, and a new one for about the same price ($60 ~ $80) if you're willing to try a "no-name" brand.

These are all US prices, by the way. For some reason, anything but old IBMs and Black Alps are much harder to get in Europe.

Edit: if you can find one, you may want to try a Key Tronic Ergoforce/Designer. They're relatively cheap (and really cheap second hand) but good rubber dome boards.

[microsoft windows]

Just about all Keytronics are good. Especially the old ones. Those things were nice, solid keyboards.

[Brodie337]

I find that the longer you use the Browns, the more you notice the tactile bump. I found it very very hard to feel it coming from the Monterey switches, where the tactile 'bump' is loud, sharp and in your face.

[microsoft windows]

I used typewriters when I was young. If I want tactile, I use my white ALPS and my IBM.

[EverythingIBM]

I used typewriters when I was young. If I want tactile, I use my white ALPS and my IBM.

I don't really care much for tactile, I just like the keys to be able to have a very short refractory point. The model F springs so far are the ones that enable me to type the fastest -- since they come back up so fast. Most keys take time to refresh and really bog down your fingers.

We had some typewriters when I was a kid -- but they were already considered vintage.

[yukita]

Hi All, currently I'm using White Alps (which is brand new old stock AT keyboard)... wonder how the white alps and blue switch Filco compared?

[Nonmouse]

I've used brown Cherry keyboards before. They feel nice and smooth and, like Cherry said, are low-force switches. They weren't really too tactile though. Nothing like white ALPS or Buckling Springs.

As I said, they aren't as blatant as blue or white (clear) Cherries or buckling spring IBMs- or various tactile or clicky ALPs (blacks and whites, most notably), which I neglected to mention before.  

They are, however, most certainly tactile.

[hyperlinked]

I spend a lot of time on the computer and can type at the very least 100WPM+ on any standard membrane keyboard.

Anyway, seeing as how I am a typist, I was wondering if I should switch to mechanical. I never found the price tag reasonable. 100$ for a keyboard? Why? I can already type well on a cheap 10$ keyboard. Is it really THAT much of a difference?

Your reasoning is backwards. It's because you type that fast that you really should consider a mechanical. It won't improve your typing speed much if you're really a good typist because good typists can adapt to just about anything. Where it may make a significant difference is in the health of your hands. The faster you type, the more likely you are to develop repetitive stress injuries.

Reasonable? Hell yes! How much are your hands worth?

A low force mechanical keyboard might help you reduce your risks of injury. I also do 100+WPM easy on any keyboard I can get my hands on. The only thing keeping my hands healthy enough to keep doing 100+WPM with the amount of time I spend on the computer are my Cherry Brown switches.

Now, this doesn't mean that you'll eventually develop hand problems on a rubber dome board and you could even develop hand problems as the result of using a mechanical, but in general, the (usually) lower force and better responsiveness of a mechanical is most likely going to help you stay healthy.

[aegrotatio]

You can also give a Key Tronic keyboard a try (not the new flat ones but the traditional sculpted ones).  The "Ergo" branded ones have variable-weighted keys but I don't know what the fuss is about.  Key Tronics are rubber dome (possibly the best) and are reasonably light.  They're a pleasure for touch-typing.