Making Final Decision on My First Mechanical!!!

[sethgoose]

Need some final input, though. This is a tad long.. sorry.

I am a former fairly hardcore gamer that is now returning back to action. I just completed a new PC build and am awaiting BF3 to hit in a couple weeks. Initially after completing the build, I wanted to find an okay, but not great keyboard to accompany my gaming. That is until I discovered mechanical keyboards (thanks in large part to you guys). I've probably put in about 20 hours of study time on the decision, and as of right now, I'm leaning towards the browns. The Filco Ninja to be exact.

I have been debating heavily between the blacks, browns, and reds. I literally tossed and turned all night last night thinking about it. I tend to over-think a lot of my decisions

I would LOVE to have the Blues.. but my uses would be limited. Can't really use them at work due to the noise, and I will primarily game at home. Whatever board I get, I plan to bring to work with me on some days so I can feel productive, lol. It will see it's fair share of typing, but it will primarily be a gaming board.

Based on this info, I am leaning towards the browns, as mentioned before. However, this morning the thought hit me that with the price I am willing to pay for the Filco ($150), I could get two different and cheaper mechanical boards for relatively the same price. Potential combos would be the new Razer Blackwidow Stealth (when it's back in stock) and the new Corsair K60 (when it is in stock). Stealth + Steelseries 6gv2, etc. The potential options would be:

Two of these:
1) Razer Blackwidow Stealth (brown) $80
2) SteelSeries 6Gv2 (black) $100
3) Corsair K60 (red) $110
4) Razer Blackwidow (blue) $80
Others???

OR

Filco Ninja (brown) $150

The idea would be to have one as more of a primary gaming board and the other as a typing/work board. However, I'm not sure how hard it would be to dance between two boards? Would there be an adjustment period each time I went from one to another? Or should I just stick with one and get good with it?

My only reserves about getting two is that the SteelSeries would be my gaming board, whereas the others would be my work board.. and none of them really look professional... So I would probably never actually take them to work! Don't really want to lug in a gaming board into the office. Plus I would prefer it to be tenkeyless to help with portability. Which is why I really like the Filco. But I also like the macro ability on the Stealth, but not sure how much I would actually use it? I'm pretty torn about what to do right now. Maybe someone has some guidance/experience that can relate with my situation.

Thanks for reading to the end.. sorry if I bored you

P.S. I won't just be playing FPS. I can't wait for Star Wars, SkyRidge, Guild Wars 2, Diablo III, etc!!

[Lanx]

looks like you have a switch preference issue, trouble is, you don't even know your own preference yet. there's no good "in-between" with cherry switches once you get down to the nitty gritty really, i can't offer advice as you really have to try and buy for youself, but judge by your post (and i've seen a lot like yours) you'll just end up buying a few different boards anyway... pretty much guaranteed, so don't loose sleep over which board you'll buy first... the thing is it's really gonna be the first of many lol.

[reaper]

If I were you, I'd get a Filco Ninja black for gaming at home (get reds if you feel that black switches are too heavy/stiff).  For work, I'd get a Leopold browns in either tenkeyless or full-size, that's up to you, of course.  This is purely my own personal preferences.  YMMV

Good luck and welcome to Geekhack. =)

[duncan]

If I were you, I'd get a Filco Ninja black for gaming at home (get reds if you feel that black switches are too heavy/stiff).  For work, I'd get a Leopold browns in either tenkeyless or full-size, that's up to you, of course.  This is purely my own personal preferences.  YMMV

Good luck and welcome to Geekhack. =)

+!

For your home gaming you would most likely find either the blacks or reds to be superior to the browns. I would tend to suggest reds unless you have heavy hands - in either case consider an o-ring mod as you will be bottoming out these switches a lot.

If you are a PC builder you already know that the components are always trade-offs (better GPU means more heat and therefore louder fans so which is best for gaming? each person has to make their own decisions) compared to the price, lifespan and resale for 'mistakes' your keyboards (note the plural) will be some of the cheapest parts of your system so just jump in and start trying and you'll find what is best for you and your fingers.

"You can check-in any time you like but you can never leave."

[mr626]

Of the ones you've listed, the Filco would be my choice.

Personally, I can't stand all those 'gamer' ones. The Corsair board doesn't even use mechanical switches for the whole board, from what I've read.

[Tony]

Don't buy two cheap craps. Buy a Filco brown first.

Then, I leave you to decide which second board you will buy.

[sethgoose]

Thanks for the help guys. Think I'm definitely going to go for a Filco. Now just to make the final decision as to which. As much as I'd love to go with the blacks based on all the things I've heard, I'm afraid my hands would get tired. My pinky used to get tired hitting shift every other spell in WoW (and that was on a laptop keyboard), so I know the blacks will probably give me fits crouching in FPS. Wish there was a place close by to check some out...

I think the safest bet for me right now is probably the browns. Will give me a bit of each world to decide where to make the leap next. Although I do hate going middle of the road as that makes the next decision tough as well, lol. Sometimes it's best to start at one extreme and make your way to the other

Did anyone have problems with fatigue on the blacks?

[duncan]

Did anyone have problems with fatigue on the blacks?

Not sure if fatigue is the right word for what my blacks do for me but they do get tiresome to use sometimes. For me (not for everyone) reds are a 'better black'. But if you are going Filco then reds are hard to get so...

I think going brown may well be the safest choice but you are right that then you need to get ones at each extreme as well to tell which direction you should be moving in.

You can see why some people opt out of all this and go Torpe (but then the key weight, silent/not, etc becomes a new wallet emptying matrix of choice and experimenting).

[dorkvader]

Don't buy two cheap craps. Buy a Filco brown first.

Then, I leave you to decide which second board you will buy.

I would recommend the WASD as a filco alternative. It's also got some coll options for customization. I really like my WASD in brown, though I sometimes feel that blacks or reds would be slightly better for gaming, I feel like it would only be a small difference.

[tr4656]

Brown is a safe bet but reds are good for gaming and feel good too.