Looking to buy a new mechanical keyboard

[Adude]

I am looking to buy a new keyboard, a mechanical one. The rubber-dome ones seem to be low-quality and all...
Anyway, I am looking a keyboard I could use for extensive typing (programming and writing), which also would be alright for gaming (mostly FPS games). I've been looking at the new Corsair keyboards, but they have red switches which suck for typing and would only be good to me for an hour or two a day.
Other things that I need is media keys (or F-keys) which would allow me to switch songs/mute sound/increase/decrease volume/etc.. Back-lit would be cool too, because I miss keys when typing in the dark and I can't use a lamp for reason I won't mention.
The price range... Well the lower the price, the better, but I can't go as far, as Razer BlackWidow Ultimate. I could go up to 100 bucks I guess, and for that I demand quality.

[N8N]

how about a POS board?  The Cherry G80-8200 has programmable, relegendable keys.  "rawko" sells them for a little over $20 + shipping on eFlay.  only come in browns and clears though and no backlight.  But it would be a good way to get started w/o spending a lot of $$$.

I do have one w/ browns for sale, but I don't really like browns that much.  I'd go for clears.

[redpill]

Do they need to be dedicated media keys? Or is using a modifier with F keys sufficient? (i.e., Cntrl-F5 for Mute).

[Adude]

Thanks for the suggestion, though I don't like the design of that keyboard, it seems very odd. I'm looking for more of a standard design, no strange curves or anything like that.


redpill: yes, F-keys are okay, as I mentioned in my first post.

[redpill]

Backlit will be tough at that price point for a mechanical.

[Adude]

Okay, what if we exclude the backlit then, and leave the other criteria?

[redpill]

SteelSeries 6gv2 can be had under $100, but it has black switches which I assume you wouldn't like if you don't like reds.

What about this?  http://www.svc.com/u9-plus.html

Quality may not be the absolute best, but it has better switch options for typing, media keys, USB ports, etc.

[Adude]

Browns/blues should be my choice, I guess. The bad part is that I have nowhere to try typing on such a keyboard around here.

Thanks for the suggestion, although I'm looking for quality. I'm low on budged and can buy something new every few years or so. Not that I don't want to spend money, but I don't have it.

And speaking of ports on the keyboard - I don't care about them, I won't use them.

[george__]

Uh - You Canadian? I bought from DIrectCanada a DAS keyboard for ~$130 with air shipping.

[redpill]

Well the thing is that people are comparing it to boards that are 25%-50% more expensive, so it may not quite have the same fit and finish as those boards, but at the end of the day, it has the exact same switches on it as a $150+ Filco.  I think it's probably your best bet at $100 unless you can find something used in the classifieds or on ebay.

[Adude]

Okay, what if we would increase the price range up to 130 bucks?

And no, I'm not Canadian, I live in the middle of Europe.

[redpill]

Okay, what if we would increase the price range up to 130 bucks?

And no, I'm not Canadian, I live in the middle of Europe.

If you can wait a couple months, the Ducky Shine is coming, but I don't think official pricing has been announced so it may be tight on the $130 mark.  But you would get the backlit feature again.

If you can't wait, there'd be something like a Razor Blackwidow Ultimate, but it's had some mixed reviews on build quality.  You could also look at Solutor's review on the Qpad MK-80 and XArmor options here, both are backlit: http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:19423 and you may be able to find them locally wherever you are in Europe.

[Adude]

Can't say I was able to find any reviews of that keyboard, ripster. Any information you could give me excluding seller's promotions?