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Author Topic: Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus  (Read 2483 times)

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Offline avelle

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  • Posts: 4
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:08:53 »
Hi guys, ever since I stumbled across this article at Coding Horror several weeks ago, I've been looking into making the switch to mechanical. The problem is that there are so many different switches to choose from, it can be a bit overwhelming. I originally browsed over to Razer's site looking for a new board and noticed they offered mechanicals. The BlackWidow Ultimate visually looks very attractive, but unfortunately further research into it reveals issues with keycap wear and the sticky spacebar/alt key situation.

I have been browsing around geekhack for the better part of last week attempting to increase my knowledge but I find myself unable to pull the trigger on a purchase. I considered LED backlighting as I thought it would be kind of a neat thing to have (blue LEDs would match my Razer DeathAdder), but I'm a highly capable typist so it would be a matter of form over function. I'm a professional programmer by day and avid gamer at night who primarily plays MMO's and RPG's with the occasional FPS/RTS sprinkled in. I've heard Deck makes a nice board for backlighting but don't care for the appearance. I suppose it looks too "old school" for me. Right now I'm favoring Das and Filco, but my primary concern is what type of Cherry switch would be best for my needs. So I turn to the gurus, the geekhack community, what do you think?

edit: I should mention that I'm not particularly concerned about the sound either way, my primary concern is the comfort level and feel of the board. I also need the keypad, so no ten keyless boards for me!
« Last Edit: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:12:11 by avelle »
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Offline noodles256

  • Posts: 1980
  • le legendary
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:12:43 »
wlcm 2 gh.

Cherry Blues and Browns are some of the top prefered switches around these parts. Razer has a bad rep around these kind of sites. Do you need the numpad on the side of the keyboard? if not I would recommend getting a tenkeyless and in that case, Filco will probably be your best option.
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Offline noodles256

  • Posts: 1980
  • le legendary
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:16:56 »
the bad rep was started by the solutor if I wasn't mistaken because of his undying love of Xarmor

I loved my blackwidow when I had it and had no problems with it.

I seem to keep singing that tune a lot these days
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Offline BucklingSpring

  • Posts: 1613
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:23:06 »
If price and look is not an issue, Deck offers very good products. You can get them in MX Black (Linear) or MX Clear (non clicky tactile).
I own one of each and they are rock solid. Not as pretty and as feature rich as the BlackWidow Ultimate but much more reliable on the long run.

http://www.deckkeyboards.com/
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In memory of smallfry 1996-2013
Boards I own, click ->
More
Ducky x2 (9008G2 Pro PBT/MX Green and Mini MX Red), Matias x2 (QP and Mini QP Dampened ALPS), Topre RealForce x4 (87U 55g/Digilog case, 103U-UW & 104UG High-Profile x2), Filco Majestouch x2 (TKL MX Blue & V2 AI 104 MX Blue), IBM-M x2 (BS & RD), Unicomp-M x5 (BS black on black x2, BS Ivory x2, QT Ultra-Classic), Deck x4 (Legend MX Black & MX Clear, Hassium & Francium w/ MX Brown), DAS III (MX Blue), KBT Pure Pro 60% (MX Red), NMB-RT8256CW+ x2 (black space invader), XArmor U9BL-S (MX Brown) given for free to someone I hate, CM X2 (Trigger/MX Green + Storm TKL/NovaTouch), TVS GOLD (MX Blue) and a many many more (NMB, DELL, MS, ATT, KeyTronic, Etc...)

Offline avelle

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 4
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:25:23 »
Quote from: ripster;351064
Welcome to Geekhack.

That article brought in many new members:


You might want to start with reading the Geekhack Mechanical Keyboard Guide and listing what your needs are.  Programming?  Gaming?  Typing?  Your favorite keyboard?

I think the Razer bad rap is undeserved given the enormous volume they ship.  If the key sticks get some sandpaper and scrape off the molding crud.

Hi ripster, I'll try to be more clear in my needs. I've been using the Microsoft Natural Elite for the better part of the last decade. I found the split and the contour to be very comfortable but I don't think it's a necessity. The key placement is a bit different than more traditional keyboards so that will take some getting used to, but my board at work has the traditional layout so I'm fine readjusting. To reiterate, I do a lot of programming and gaming, and as such typing speed and comfort is my primary concern. The vast majority of my gaming is in MMO's, so I do a lot of chatting and make frequent use of the numbers and wasd. I would like to maintain the keypad on the side as I prefer a full layout to the ten keyless.
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Offline avelle

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 4
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:30:47 »
Quote from: ripster;351072
Filco browns would be a safe bet (on Amazon).  Leopold Full Size keyboards will be cheaper and probably available from Elitekeyboards in the near future.

I was looking at the Filco Majestouch 2 Brown as someone else on a gaming forum I frequent suggested Browns over Blues, but I wasn't able to get a response on why. Can you elaborate on why you would suggest Brown over Blues? Are the Blues uncomfortable for gaming/typing?
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Offline DaemonRaccoon

  • Posts: 333
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:32:08 »
Nah, the Blues make a lot of noise, its a constant click storm.
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122-Key Model F 6110345 1985-03-01 | Model M SSK 1391472 1991-01-22 | Rosewill RK-9000 v1 | KBC Poker X | Filco FKBN87M/PWE2

Offline BucklingSpring

  • Posts: 1613
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:34:21 »
Quote from: avelle;351074
I was looking at the Filco Majestouch 2 Brown as someone else on a gaming forum I frequent suggested Browns over Blues, but I wasn't able to get a response on why. Can you elaborate on why you would suggest Brown over Blues? Are the Blues uncomfortable for gaming/typing?


Do you like light touch keys?

Blue and Red are very popular amongst gamers.
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In memory of smallfry 1996-2013
Boards I own, click ->
More
Ducky x2 (9008G2 Pro PBT/MX Green and Mini MX Red), Matias x2 (QP and Mini QP Dampened ALPS), Topre RealForce x4 (87U 55g/Digilog case, 103U-UW & 104UG High-Profile x2), Filco Majestouch x2 (TKL MX Blue & V2 AI 104 MX Blue), IBM-M x2 (BS & RD), Unicomp-M x5 (BS black on black x2, BS Ivory x2, QT Ultra-Classic), Deck x4 (Legend MX Black & MX Clear, Hassium & Francium w/ MX Brown), DAS III (MX Blue), KBT Pure Pro 60% (MX Red), NMB-RT8256CW+ x2 (black space invader), XArmor U9BL-S (MX Brown) given for free to someone I hate, CM X2 (Trigger/MX Green + Storm TKL/NovaTouch), TVS GOLD (MX Blue) and a many many more (NMB, DELL, MS, ATT, KeyTronic, Etc...)

Offline avelle

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 4
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 21:37:35 »
Quote from: BucklingSpring;351077
Do you like light touch keys?

Blue and Red are very popular amongst gamers.

I'm not sure I know what would qualify as light touch keys. I've used rubber dome boards my whole life (as far as I'm aware). I do have fairly large hands (I'm 6'3) and my fingertips are always lightly resting on the keys so I have a bit of concern that I may accidentally actuate a key without intending to. Is that what you're referring to?
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Offline daerid

  • Posts: 4276
  • Location: Denver, CO
    • Rossipedia
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 22:23:08 »
Quote from: avelle;351078
I'm not sure I know what would qualify as light touch keys. I've used rubber dome boards my whole life (as far as I'm aware). I do have fairly large hands (I'm 6'3) and my fingertips are always lightly resting on the keys so I have a bit of concern that I may accidentally actuate a key without intending to. Is that what you're referring to?

I've done the same thing my whole life as well. And even on my keyboard with MX Reds (widely regarded as the lightest keyswitch), I rarely if ever have accidentally actuated a key. I wouldn't worry about it.

PS: Showing some gaming love for Browns ovuh heeah!!
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Offline The Solutor

  • Posts: 2262
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #10 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 22:31:35 »
Quote from: noodles256;351066
the bad rep was started by the solutor if I wasn't mistaken because of his undying love of Xarmor

 
Dude.

Solutor is not ripster.

Solutor gives good reps to the working things and bad reps to the not working ones, biased comments are not part of his dna.
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The problem with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are true  (Abraham Lincoln)

Offline looserboy

  • Posts: 73
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #11 on: Tue, 24 May 2011, 22:57:56 »
try some my switches :D its great for beginners on mechanical keyboards :D
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Cherry: G80 MX11900blacks  - G80 MX1800 blacks - G80 MX1502 blacks all cards  - G81 MY 8005 ins. cards - G81 MY 3000 modded to 20g (HowTo)
NMB SPACEINVADER white
Noppo: Choc Pro browns  - Choc Mini reds
IBM: Model F IBM: Model M SSK IBM: Model M

Offline Human

  • Posts: 596
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 25 May 2011, 03:21:56 »
Quote from: noodles256;351066
the bad rep was started by the solutor if I wasn't mistaken because of his undying love of Xarmor

I loved my blackwidow when I had it and had no problems with it.

I seem to keep singing that tune a lot these days

I think you do mistaken.
I should be the one who posted and ''whined'' about lots of built quality problems with Razer BW.
This account is created in January where as Solutor is on March.
In fact, this account is created for that purpose(whining on Razer BWU).

P/S: I am the number one Razer hater in the world(or at least GH). Most of my posts are to whine about Razer.
http://geekhack.org/search.php?searchid=25932&pp=&page=2
« Last Edit: Wed, 25 May 2011, 03:30:23 by Human »
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Offline noodles256

  • Posts: 1980
  • le legendary
Looking to convert to mechanical, but need advice from the gurus
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 25 May 2011, 03:31:29 »
Quote from: Human;351176
I think you do mistaken.
I should be the one who posted and ''whined'' about lots of built quality problems with Razer BW.
This account is created in January where as Solutor is on March.
In fact, this account is created for that purpose(whining on Razer BWU).

P/S: I am the number one Razer hater in the world(or at least GH). Most of my posts are to whine about Razer.
http://geekhack.org/search.php?searchid=25932&pp=&page=2

are you human or dancer?
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AF | Ducky YOTD |
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