Author Topic: Taking the Mechanical Plunge (Read 2432 times)

TheSamGod · « **on:** Sun, 25 September 2011, 18:19:13 »

Hello Geekhack,

I've been reading up on mechanical keyboards, thought myself ready to invest in one but before I did I thought best to register on the forum and get some final advice.

A little bit about me, Student based in the UK, Into gaming mostly - RPG's, Writes essays on occasion, Newbie to Geekhack.

After watching the same GIF. of the MX Cherrys and the personality test, quiet linear would suit me best, with my eye towards MX red's instead of Blacks.

At first I was drawn to Ducky but I dislike the USA keyboard layout as I prefer using "ESDF" instead of "WASD" while gaming as it opens more hotkeys and it allows my pinky to Spam "\" for what I use most. Ducky used USA int Layout, so, I'm thinking of a Filco Majestouch but I'm not sure the difference between that and the Majestouch-2?

As for features I looking at NKR and really like the look of the Filco Ninja model with the lettering printed on the side.
Backlighting would be a plus but I'm not particularly bothered over that, but I have gotten used to using my keyboard for Media Functions as well.

From all what I've been reading my dream keyboard would be that of a Filco Ninja Majestouch-2, NKR, Cherry Red's, Uk Layout, Full-size w Media Capibilitys and I have no idea if anything like that exists and if it dose it could be even harder to get a hold of and be waiting a while.

Keyboards I have found that I could purchase at this point in time:

Ducky DK9000G2 - English - USA Int Layout - Cherry Blacks = £120
Filco Majestouch - Uk Layout - Cherry Blacks = £120
Filco Majestouch-2 - USA Layout - Cherry Red's = £170
Filco Ninja Majestouch-2 - USA Layout - Cherry Blacks = £120

Thanks in advance for advice.

(FYI. Desprerate need of a new mouse, the Razer Copperhead has a terrible double-click bug from wear and tear, I wouldn't recommend...ever!)

Quarzac · « **Reply #1 on:** Sun, 25 September 2011, 18:21:35 »

On the mouse front, I'd recommend a Logitech G500. I've been using one for a while, and it's a great mouse.

demik · « **Reply #2 on:** Sun, 25 September 2011, 18:24:56 »

g9x as your new mouse!

TheSamGod · « **Reply #3 on:** Sun, 25 September 2011, 18:28:12 »

On the Mouse front I been thinking the R.A.T 7 Albino looks good as dose the Roccat Kone+, Razer Imperator, Steelseries Sensei and the Corsair M90.
I'll get around to buying a mouse soon...really it should come before buying a new keyboard as my microsoft keyboard is working fine...

Surnia · « **Reply #4 on:** Sun, 25 September 2011, 19:06:37 »

Aha, You're taking the same path as me, but about a few months behind xD My copperhead developed that double click wear and I just upgraded it a few months ago to the CM sentinel. its horrendously bright (but all the lights can be shut off), BUT it can adjust DPI like the copperhead (you can set all the intervals too, up to 5600!), independent X-Y adjustment (if that matters to you), and it displays it on a tiny OLED screen under your palm. It does have a bit more of a noticeable hump than the Copperhead where the palm was, but other than that it works just as well.

*edit* also forgot to mention, the Sentinel's about $45 here in Canada, so its one of the lowest priced mice with decent levels of adjustability.

As to the keyboard, thanks to Geekhack I just picked up a Das S Silent, because they had them at the local store. Cherry Browns, and I'm liking them so far (the throw's a bit longer than I'm used to, I was using Scissor switch before and its taking a bit to get used to the slightly longer actuation).

If you're willing to look into it as well, WASD also has the option to switch the gaming cluster to ESDF if you decide to alter the colouring of those keys (they also do any switch you want, aside from clears...)

TheSamGod · « **Reply #5 on:** Sun, 25 September 2011, 19:19:38 »

I Looked at the CM Sentinel's which are £45 here, and It's good to hear a review, I'm already dealing with one blinding LED off my CM Sniper Computer case, maybe CM Executives thought there wasn't enough ridiculously bright LED's in the world and saw it as their mission to supply the world....I dunno, the copperhead is a mate's mouse as he upgraded to a X8 (Which IS BEAUTIFUL, fits perfect I might add) and I got a free upgrade to a buggy mouse with green LED's and side buttons for browsing back and forth.

I want a Mouse that will suit my Keyboard (Silly I know) so I'm wanting to decide on that first...

I cannot touch type sadly so I'm wondering if I took a nose dive into blank keys I might find myself learning to swim...with being in the uk it's horrible not having a single decent computing store around, bless Maplin, it tries, it's even better than PC world, but it still only stocks Inno 3D 460's as it's highest GPU :/

Kamikaze K · « **Reply #6 on:** Sun, 25 September 2011, 20:22:00 »

Hey there!

I know you've said that you really don't want a US layout but I thought I'd chime in and chuck in the upcoming Ducky Shine into the equation. It's based on their DK9008G2 boards with media keys and also backlighting. Though one of the back light options apart from lighting the whole keyboard was just to light up the WASD keys and arrows... So that might not suit but I thought I'd let you know. At the moment it's one of the few backlit Mech boards out there... others are the Razer Blackwidow range and the DECK's. I'm currently waiting for the Shine to come out so I can decide between that and the Filco Ninja or Filco Multicam.

daerid · « **Reply #7 on:** Sun, 25 September 2011, 20:26:23 »

I have a Filco Ninja Tenkeyless w/ Blacks. For gaming, it rocks

TheSamGod · « **Reply #8 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 16:40:29 »

I'm debating to just go for Blacks got a feeling I'm being too picky, I checked out the Ducky Shine and it's a really cool keyboard but I don't have much of an Idea where I could get one.

Edit: http://www.vendio.com/stores/E-sports-Gaming-equipments/item/mechanical-keyboard-ducky/new-ducky-shining-pre-order-ar/lid=19244191 Aaaaah do want now but apparently on the site there are no Red's ;_;

hcry4 · « **Reply #9 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 16:44:33 »

Quote from: TheSamGod;421721

I'm debating to just go for Blacks got a feeling I'm being too picky, I checked out the Ducky Shine and it's a really cool keyboard but I don't have much of an Idea where I could get one.

You know what they say..."once you go blacks, you'll run to a corner crying in the fetal position wishing you chose one of the other lighter switches."

TheSamGod · « **Reply #10 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 16:48:05 »

Think I should possibly re-consider Blacks? I'm going off guess work as I've never even touched a mechanical keyboard in my life sadly....

What would be you recommendation?

hcry4 · « **Reply #11 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 16:56:05 »

I was just joking really. However, if you don't think the browns are too light and think that you would like linear, then definitely go with reds.

Edit: Sorry, that was another user that had experience with browns. Regardless, I recommend reds over blacks, if you don't mind the supply/demand price premium.

TheSamGod · « **Reply #12 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 17:00:25 »

I think I'm going to hunt every night till I find a Shiny Ducky and throw a paypal order at it! (haha I made a semi-accurate non-prompted pun about pokemon

)

Edit: Just checked out WASD as well and I'm shocked at the customisation of it all...I'm actually a little lost on what to build the keyboard as if I were too...

dorkvader · « **Reply #13 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 17:45:15 »

I found the gallery to be a good place to start. The one with blue A-Z keys, and black surrounding looks almost exactly like mine, though mine was red arrow keys instead of green.

I think I'll get a "retro" set, sometime, as well.

TheSamGod · « **Reply #14 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 18:19:00 »

If I could design my own keyboard I would be spending months drafting it which would annoy me. Just been reading about Corsair K90 uses red's, is backlit, Macro Keys, sadly USA layout but it currently looks too good to be true, I'll wait it out to read some reviews before I jump more into it, probably best to do the same with the shine's...

duncan · « **Reply #15 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 22:23:11 »

Quote from: TheSamGod;421758

Just been reading about Corsair K90

Make sure you read the thread about the K90 here on GH. Search for "Corsair".

False_Dmitry_II · « **Reply #16 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 22:30:28 »

I don't think they are only having american layouts though. Thought I saw some very iso pictures somewhere, but that might have been for CM stuff.

As far as mice, the roccat kone plus is quite awesome. Or it would be, had it not been having that scroll wheel problem where it just jumps all over the place when you try to use it. Look for roccat kone glitch on youtube and you should find it. It sucks, because now I'm stuck with it because these things aren't sold in America, so I bought mine out of Israel and am now essentially (recent gaming) mouseless.

The G9x only if you do claw grip at all, otherwise don't even think about it.

There was also some reason I decided not to go for one of the RATs, I think it was because of the couple of seconds it takes it to get its bearings if you pick it up. Maybe that's gone now, but it wasn't that long ago that I was looking.

For me it eventually came down to the roccat kone +, the sidewinder x8, and the gigabyte ghost. I think that corsair one looks nice too, but I don't think it's even out yet and definitely wasn't a player when I was looking.

Kamikaze K · « **Reply #17 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 22:52:18 »

I'm really looking forward to trying out the Shine's. I'm checking the Web retailer's site constantly and it looks like they'll be taking orders in a day or so. Unfortunately (but fortunately for me) they only accpet Australian orders at the moment... I'm trying to decide between Cherry Blue's or the Brown's (the age old debate). I'm using the BWU at the moment with Blue's. I'm thinking that the Browns could be too light for me... I know that Brown's a very poplular here. Sound on the Blue's really isn't an issue.

On another note you should be aware that the Corsair's are using a combo of mech switches and dome.... mech for the main keys and dome for the F1-12 and Macro's... Thats a big clincher for me.

duncan · « **Reply #18 on:** Mon, 26 September 2011, 23:09:19 »

Quote from: Kamikaze K;421853

'm trying to decide between Cherry Blue's or the Brown's

For what my 2 cents are worth if you are torn between blues and browns go blue.

Browns are a compromise and as a result offend few people but actively please few as well.
Blues are unashamedly what they are so if you think you might want to try them then go for it.
The worst is you sell them on at a loss of maybe $20 which is a very cheap way to learn something IMO.

TheSamGod · « **Reply #19 on:** Wed, 28 September 2011, 17:02:23 »

I'm questioning If the fact some of the Corsair buttons being Rubber dome is a problem, their using reds for the main board, to has some great features and it's only the macro's and F, keys which I think is pretty reasonable (not going to macro if you use the board for typing which is where the most wear and tear is at). I'm not going to go though the 18 macro keys on the board and when to compare the lifeline of the F'keys to that of the main board with cherry's it's probably work out in terms of usage.

Corsair K90 looks like it's going to be on my shopping list

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Author Topic: Taking the Mechanical Plunge (Read 2432 times)