Replacing my Steelseries 7g, need guidance.

[jerkstoresup]

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[kidchunks]

Just need something that feels good, pops back, and preferably doesn't have a numpad.

It seems blue switches would suit you well. The browns (which I love) are quiet unless you bottom out but don't necessarily pop back. The blues gives you that "push up" feel, at least for me.

As for which boards I recommend:
if you want one now!
Filco tenkeyless (armygroup has some left I believe check out the thread for a buying guide)

if you have patience and like to save money
Leopold (elitekeyboards should have some in jan/feb of 2011)

[jerkstoresup]

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[kidchunks]

"Bottoming out" is pushing the key all the way down

Correct!

With the blues you will find bottoming out makes two sounds (click made from the switch and bottoming out).

With browns the click is not noticeable (for me) so all you hear is the bottom out.

Check out the audio section for the sounds of diff switches.

Would that make a difference in deciding? Should I try to correct that?

Not much of a difference, depends on how much force you want to apply to activate the keys with your fingers. Just note that it will take some time before you stop bottoming out. I finally put my model M away and I am back on my browns and it sure does make typing less tiring but bottoming out is inevitable at this time. Gotta retrain them fingers!

[jerkstoresup]

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[mrblond]

If you have a Best Buy close, they may have Razers  Blackwidow in stock. They use cherry blue switches and you can give them a try.

[stuiees]

Don't be afraid if dropping the doh on a Topre. Like you, I have a high level gaming background, we all seem to be heavy fingered. The Topre switch almost welcomes bottoming out as it doesn't feel nearly as harsh as the filco with browns I had. If you have the chance I would recommend trying the blues at bb if you can just to give yourself some frame if reference vs the blacks. Just out of curiosity what game were you competitive in?  I played cs 1.6 mostly but trying to play sc2 now.

[hate]

I prefer the advice of Pros over OCN (or Geekhack) Amateurs myself so I made sure I bookmarked feedback from pros, especially if it's not a paid endorsement.

Often the Pros are a bad source of advice and most will recommend their current setup without any thought or comparison to other products. The world of broodwar is still ruled by cheap ass DT-35s and mini opticals (not that the DT-35 and mini op is bad for bw, but the pros equipment is terribly homogenic). Even the current god of BW 이영호 (Flash) still uses this setup while at the same time being a poster boy for Zowies gear.

[jerkstoresup]

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[Shazb0t]

If you were happy with the 7g, you could always get a Filco tenkeyless with mx blacks.  I play competitive cs:s and blacks work well for me.  A lot of the pro cs scene uses the 6gv2 and 7g.  Blacks do work well for fps, and tenkeyless is a nice addition.

[stuiees]

Nice... I play mostly for fun lately. I havnt been on a team for over a year and only attended 1 LAN tourney with some old teammates this year in 2010.  Still, when I do play I am very particular with my gear and can not just use any mouse/kb combo.  When deciding to get a new kb I had to try a few before finally finding the Topre to suit my personal preference best. But I can certainly see how others might prefer blacks. You have tried blacks, and if you like them; great. If you want something entirely new I would say maybe try the browns. They are a very light switch however and I felt it was hard not to bottom out even while typing (we bottom out all te time playing fps anyway).  This of course because of my own habits, but Id rather my keyboard choice complement my habits rather than altering my habits to conform to the keyboard. Hope that makes some sence and helps.

[jerkstoresup]

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[Shazb0t]

Well in that case, I'll save that 7g from the trash when you find what you're looking for lol.

[gregh]

I'm not a pro gamer by any means but I am fairly competitive. I have the variable force Realforce, not the 55g board and I don't find it bothering me or even noticeable while playing games. I play FPS'ers and MMOs.

So that's something to also consider, since people usually enjoy typing on the variable force more than the 55g board.

[NewbieOneKenobi]

I was given a 7G from Steelseries during my brief pro-gaming stint, and used it ever since. For the purpose of gaming, it was great. But I never liked typing on it. I could never get used to the different feeling that Black MX keys have, and I never felt the "linear" force helped me press keys more efficiently or whatever it's supposed to do. And now the spacebar is sticky; the stabilizer switch on the right is a bit jammed and does not move like it's supposed to.

Need to clean the entire keyboard, but I figure it's time to try something new, and I've been interested in some of the other higher-end mechanical keyboards out there. I've used IBM Model M, various cherry keyboards and others. I'd say Cherry MX Brown is closest to what I'd like a keyboard to feel like, but I can't find one anywhere. I'm interested in Topre capacitive keys, but I've never used one and I'm a little uneasy dropping $230 for the Realforce 86UB when I don't know what it will feel like.

Noise isn't a big deal; I don't play LAN anymore, wear closed-back headphones and won't be using this at work. Just need something that feels good, pops back, and preferably doesn't have a numpad. Should I stick to something I know already or would it be worth trying something new?

Here's what I would do, supposing I wouldn't get distracted from this course.

If possible to get a Model M for cheap (and better still, a Model F, which is much more similar to browns than M is, if I can judge by my Model C), do it. If you've had a Cherry blacks keyboard, in my opinion the keys on the M shouldn't feel so heavy on you (although this may vary depending on your feelings for browns ).

If spending big money for a new unit and no promo, probably get a Topre already.

Otherwise look for opportunities, particularly here in the classifieds section. I got a very nice old board with browns (Compaq-branded 11800-style Cherry with no Windows keys) for 20 GBP.

[donborvio]

I'd rate the MX switches I've personally tried like this:

1. Clears
2. Blues
3. Browns
4. Blacks

I really wanted to like the blacks, but with no "feel" - I'm just pushing on a spring and its pushing back.  

I love the feel, sound, and weight of the clears.  Similar to the blacks, but when they activate - I know it, dammit!  Love it for gaming and typing.  

For pure typing and if you don't mind clicking away, Blues are great too.  Browns were just way too light for me.  I assume Reds would be down with the Blacks.

Haven't had the opportunity to try a Topre, but they seem like a good balance.

[fuzzybaffy]

I'd rate the MX switches I've personally tried like this:

1. Clears
2. Blues
3. Browns
4. Blacks

I really wanted to like the blacks, but with no "feel" - I'm just pushing on a spring and its pushing back.  

I love the feel, sound, and weight of the clears.  Similar to the blacks, but when they activate - I know it, dammit!  Love it for gaming and typing.  

For pure typing and if you don't mind clicking away, Blues are great too.  Browns were just way too light for me.  I assume Reds would be down with the Blacks.

Haven't had the opportunity to try a Topre, but they seem like a good balance.

Do you know what keyboards, beside the Decks, that carry the Cherry clears?

[zirb]

Well it's been a while since this was posted, but the Cherry G80-3000LQC** has the clears.

[noGG]

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,tenkeyless&pid=fc200reab

Leopold FC200RE/AB with Cherry MX Clear switches. I can vouch for Leopold's quality. I bought one of their Cherry MX red TKL keyboards and I love it. Only thing I don't like is it uses Cherry stabilizers instead of Costar stabilizers, which makes the keys with stabilizers feel mushy (shift, backspace, etc.).