A Mechanical Virgin with educated questions

[Kiwi_321]

G'day guys,

I've been researching into mechanical keyboards for a good week or two now. This site has been a fantastic help .

Nonetheless I'm looking for some final pointers before I buy, which I simply couldnt find answers to without asking... (I'll number them for ease of answering)

I've had my heart set on the Filco Majestouch 2 Tenkeyless; Brown switches. I have read that people say changing the keys to PTB greatly increased their experience.

So from this, questions have arisen:

1. Firstly, I have a choice between a standard Majestouch 2 / Ninja / and the Multicam. As I understand it, the Ninja is actually a Majestouch 2. Just wondering if the Multicam is as well? I am drawn towards the Multicam for the Fn Key (multimedia), however drawn away from the Camo-look. Just wondering if anyone knows if a) Is it indeed a Majestouch 2; b) Is it possible to set multimedia keys to a KB without a Fn key; and c) Have there been any announcements from Filco releasing a KB that has a Fn key, but isnt in camo theme?

2. I'm a big StarCraft 2 player. I've changed my mouse for my wrist, and want to change my KB for a better actuation feeling when I press keys . Just wondering if choosing Brown switches is a good one? My KB will also be used a lot for University work/essays. I am worried the actuation point might be too low to press. I know I won't like Blacks (too strong), I fear Blues will be too loud..Should I seriously consider Reds or will they be very similar to Browns regardless?  (I understand everyone is different, but any comment related to this will be helpful  )

3. Finally, in relation to PTB keys etc.. Should I be seriously considering finding another brand of KB if I am reluctant to fork out another $40 to $50 on a set of PTB keys?


Yeah, I know a lot of this is very subjective. However any help will be fantastic. This site has already taught me a lot so I hope my questions do not bother you guys in return!

Cheers,
James

[Quarzac]

1. The ninja is a majestouch 2 with letters printed on the front faces of the keys. I believe the Camo is also a majestouch 2. You can set multimedia keys using AutoHotKey. And I don't think any new Filcos have been announced.
2. If you want a board where you can actually feel like actuation point that is not loud, browns or clears are the way to go. I found browns to be too light, but I haven't tried clears. Honestly, from the sound of it, blues would treat you well.
3. I don't know if PBT keys are really worth the hype. Don't let the lack of them dissuade you from buying a particular board.

[Lolcakes]

1. b) My audio player is foobar2000, as it is a light, clutter free, stable open source player. For foobar I have set up the following controls - Right Ctrl + Insert / Home for next / previous song. Right Ctro + page up / down for volume control. Right Ctrl + end for Pause/Unpause. Right Ctrl + Delete for Skip 10 sec forward. For me this functionality negates the need of media keys, in addition I find my own hot key setup easier to access while in game (Yes you can perform all of these actions while playin SC2)

2. I play SC2 a lot as well. I dont think any of the switches will put you in a disadvantage due to the switch type. I play with MX blue and I am loving it, even though I am considering reds now because I am addicted to keyboards. There are professional players using all kinds of switches, eg: Fruitdealer uses Brown, Boxer uses Blues. My suggestion to you is get the switch you think you would enjoy all around, for everything you do on your computer and i am sure that it will work great for you in SC

1. Get the one that esthetically pleases you more. I dislike the looks of the camo one myself.

[pitashen]

brown is a good all purpose choice. as your first mechanical keyboard, you shouldn't regret.

leopold has thicker keycaps than filco, something to consider.

I personally would prefer PBT as well, for acoustic purpose. However, keycaps is something that you can wait, I wouldn't worry too much about it for now if I were you.

[c0rbin]

My post probably one of the posts you read about PBT keys greatly improving the feel over ABS.

It really is true. I have a Majestouch-2 TKL w/ brown switches and the ABS keycaps that it came with felt thin and cheap. PBT is a huge improvement and doesn't even cost significantly more if  you sell your old ABS caps in the classifieds section. I spent $7 total on the upgrade.

[slueth]

I would get a noppoo choc mini if you wanted better keycaps with the board, they also have the function row close to the numeral.  Probably the best buy imo.  If you want a chirp on each keypress get the blues else get the browns.  If you are gonna buy a filco, you can just change the keycaps when you have the money.

[Kiwi_321]

Cheers for the feedback guys.
I've got a couple of suggestions to go with Blues, and one saying Brown is a good all-purpose. So long as no one comes in after this saying "Blue will be better than Brown for SC2 / all purpose" i will likely go browns.

c0rbin noted I could sell the Filco ABS caps in the Classifieds section. Just wondering how long you guys rekon it would take to sell them? Are Filco ABS caps in much demand at all when they come as standard?

Also, so long as I can use AutoHotKey to program my own multimedia keys to the top F5-8 keys, Im happy with that.

[spolia optima]

G80-series Cherry brand keyboards come with PBT or POM caps standard, they're also PCB mounted which is a plus if you have RSI.
Check out the G80-3000 and G80-1865 if you're interested.
This is coming from a long-time keyboard enthusiast/addict with more than a few hundred keyboards. My taste is pretty refined