What kind of key board is the most reliable?

[PenIsland]

I want a key board that is reliable, and at least looks decent. I don't mind the price because I hope on keeping this keyboard for awhile, as long as it is not outrageous. Here are a few keyboards I have heard are good:

Razer
Logitech
Ducky
Microsoft
and HP

What are some opinions?

[kill will]

If i knew nothing about keyboards and wanted a reliable, decent looking, awesome keyboard

I would get a unicomp space saver.

[kidchunks]

as long as it is not outrageous.

Define outrageous, I'm willing to pay $200+ on a board and so would many other GHers here. Some say thats outrageous!

[PenIsland]

If i knew nothing about keyboards and wanted a reliable, decent looking, awesome keyboard

I would get a unicomp space saver.

I looked at a few unicomp brand keyboards, but they seem a little bland. I'm not looking for a boring looking keyboard, but I'm not exactly looking for all those fancy lights that are on some gaming key boards.

[PenIsland]

Define outrageous, I'm willing to pay $200+ on a board and so would many other GHers here. Some say thats outrageous!

Something that's 200+ that doesn't even come with any special features or add-ons, such as a USB or NKRO adapters.

[Nadger]

Are you going to be gaming on this keyboard, or is it for typing, or both?
Do you require a numpad?
Do you require a quiet keyboard?
Do you need it to be backlit?
What country do you live in?

Your list of good keyboards needs refinement and specification.

Razer - most of their keyboards are overpriced for what you get.  The Blackwidow is the only Razer keyboard i would say is fairly priced.  Some of their keyboards have a glossy finish, which is a fingerprint, scratch and dust magnet.  Some of their keyboards have rubber coated keys which has shown to wear off over time leaving the board quite ugly.

Logitech - They do not have a keyboard that uses a mechanical switch.  This would eliminate them from your list as you specified reliable.  They are also overpriced.

Ducky - There have been reports of questionable build quality, but compared to the others on your list, they would be considered high quality.

Microsoft and HP should also not be on your list as they are not mechanical either.

Once you answer the above questions, we can help you find high quality boards.

[PenIsland]

Are you going to be gaming on this keyboard, or is it for typing, or both?
Do you require a numpad?
Do you require a quiet keyboard?
Do you need it to be backlit?
What country do you live in?

Your list of good keyboards needs refinement and specification.

Razer - most of their keyboards are overpriced for what you get.  The Blackwidow is the only Razer keyboard i would say is fairly priced.  Some of their keyboards have a glossy finish, which is a fingerprint, scratch and dust magnet.  Some of their keyboards have rubber coated keys which has shown to wear off over time leaving the board quite ugly.

Logitech - They do not have a keyboard that uses a mechanical switch.  This would eliminate them from your list as you specified reliable.  They are also overpriced.

Ducky - There have been reports of questionable build quality, but compared to the others on your list, they would be considered high quality.

Microsoft and HP should also not be on your list as they are not mechanical either.

Once you answer the above questions, we can help you find high quality boards.

I live in the bay area. I do alot of web browsing, and I don't mind the clicking of the keys on mechanical keyboards. I actually enjoy the feeling of typing with one. I do not need a num pad or back light. I occasionaly play a game on my computer, but that is only a few times a month. I am more of a casual gamer. It seems that out of the list of keyboards that were suggested to me, that the Ducky seems to be a fair keyboardm because it has the least downsides.

[PenIsland]

Are you going to be gaming on this keyboard, or is it for typing, or both?
Do you require a numpad?
Do you require a quiet keyboard?
Do you need it to be backlit?
What country do you live in?

Your list of good keyboards needs refinement and specification.

Razer - most of their keyboards are overpriced for what you get.  The Blackwidow is the only Razer keyboard i would say is fairly priced.  Some of their keyboards have a glossy finish, which is a fingerprint, scratch and dust magnet.  Some of their keyboards have rubber coated keys which has shown to wear off over time leaving the board quite ugly.

Logitech - They do not have a keyboard that uses a mechanical switch.  This would eliminate them from your list as you specified reliable.  They are also overpriced.

Ducky - There have been reports of questionable build quality, but compared to the others on your list, they would be considered high quality.

Microsoft and HP should also not be on your list as they are not mechanical either.

Once you answer the above questions, we can help you find high quality boards.

Although I am curious now that ask for a better specified list, what list of keyboard brands would you suggest besides Ducky? What are more downsides on other mechanical keyboards? You seem to know a lot, so I will try to make you my go to person for this for now.  

[Oqsy]

Black Unicomp Customizer with the "metallic" keys.  
http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/customizer.html
You can get PS/2 or USB for $69, it's a steal for a buckling spring keyboard NIB.

[PenIsland]

Black Unicomp Customizer with the "metallic" keys.  
http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/customizer.html
You can get PS/2 or USB for $69, it's a steal for a buckling spring keyboard NIB.

Wow, this looks great! It's pretty much what I have been looking for. But I am also curious to know about other keyboards as well, so I will wait on that for a bit. Thanks for the post though!

[Nadger]

Well I would suggest topre or cherry blue switch based on your answers

Honestly If you dont mind paying for top quality, and dont game much, a topre realforce variable weight would be perfect.  Or if you do WSAD cluster games you can get the uniform 55g model

Topre - http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards

Or if you want the same luxury of the topre switch but want it compact...

HHKB - http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=pfu_keyboards,hhkbpro2
Excellent quality but the compact layout takes some getting used to.   Also these come in 45g weight, so a bit lighter than the uniform 55g topres.


Or if you dont want to pay quite that much but still want proven very high quality board there is:

Das - http://www.daskeyboard.com/products/  - Downside is you gotta wipe this thing down often due to the glossy finish and take good care of it, because scratches will show easier then matte finish boards.

Deck - http://www.deckkeyboards.com/  I would only go with tactile as linear is not as nice to type on.  The font is a little ugly imo, but decks come with really nice keycaps that will last forever.

Filcos are hard to find in the US now but have proven themselves.

---------------------------------

The following boards we dont know enough about yet to really say how high quality they are yet.

Ducky - http://stores.ebay.com/Ducky-Keyboard  The broken tab ripster talked about is concerning, but only occurs if you dismantle the board, and accidentally break it.  It is a design flaw, but for most end users, its not a flaw they will likely run into.  Until recently we had no easy way of getting duckys here.  So we have not had much time to test them

Razer Black Widow - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50002202&IsNodeId=1&Description=Blackwidow&name=RAZER - Still too new to really tell if it holds up.  Its glossy finish like the das makes it look sleek but is a finger print, dust and scratch magnet if you are not careful.  The rubber finish on the keys wears off on their Lycosa board, but we dont know if the black widow found a way to prevent that yet.

Leopold - http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=13258 - Still too new to say, but first reports look promising.

--------

You can also buy doubleshot keycaps like the deck has afterwards that will fit onto most cherry mx boards, through one of the DoubleShot threads here.  Those keycaps dont really wear out.

If you want one without a numpad, and want the tactile response from the keys that eliminates Das and Deck.

[woody]

HHKB - http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=pfu_keyboards,hhkbpro2
Excellent quality but the compact layout takes some getting used to.   Also these only come in [STRIKE]variable[/STRIKE] uniform weight so they are not great for WSAD cluster games.

Corrected. The Realforce come mostly in variable weight.

[vegaman]

If you are looking for proven keyboard brands they are (in alpha order):

Das S
Deck
Filco
IBM
PFU Happy Hacking
Topre RealForce

You missed Cherry :tongue1:

Seems most people prefer plate-mounted and Cherry still uses PCB-mounted.... don't think that's enough to exclude them though really.

But I guess they are much less common, and NKRO ones more-so, so you'll probably end up going with one of the above mentioned.

[ch_123]

Excellent quality but the compact layout takes some getting used to. Also these only come in variable weight so they are not great for WSAD cluster games.

HHKB is all 45g.

To answer the post question, in an approximate ranking based on manufacturer specs, and people's experiences with them -

Hall effect keyboards
Beam Spring keyboards
Model Fs
Mechanical Linear keyboards
Topres
Model Ms
Cherry Tactile/Clicky
Alps Tactile/Clicky

Admittedly, only the bottom four are of relevance here.

[7bit]

I want a key board that is reliable, and at least looks decent. I don't mind the price because I hope on keeping this keyboard for awhile, as long as it is not outrageous. Here are a few keyboards I have heard are good:

Razer
Logitech
Ducky
Microsoft
and HP

What are some opinions?

These above are for wimps!

Buy Marquardt!

Imagine to put the keybaord face down to a concrete floor, just a sheet of paper underneath to avoid scratches at the keys.

Now step upon it.

It still works? Good!

Now make a drop-test. Throw the keybaord out of a Window in 5th floor down into the street!

It still works? No? Then it was no Marquardt board!

[dec.net]

Those ridiculously overbuilt Marquardt boards are currently available on ebay.de for €19,90 Buy-it-now by the way... Don't know about shipping to the US however.

Chris

[Nicole_WWE]

you list didn't has filco
that is my like
^^

[ch_123]

These above are for wimps!

Buy Marquardt!

Imagine to put the keybaord face down to a concrete floor, just a sheet of paper underneath to avoid scratches at the keys.

Now step upon it.

It still works? Good!

Now make a drop-test. Throw the keybaord out of a Window in 5th floor down into the street!

It still works? No? Then it was no Marquardt board!

I think this is more the fact that they put them into a thick shell moreso than anything else. The keyboard aspect of them isn't much different from any other linear keyboard.