First off I would like to commend you for doing considerable research before starting a thread about what keyboard to buy. I will break down your post and try to answer some of the questions you have, or point out some things I disagree with you on.
--I have heard bad things about Ducky's quality. But this may be focusing on different models than the one you are looking at. Overall I can't comment much on duckys
--With Filco's being the "best quality", I'm not so sure about that. I feel that mostly WASD, DAS, Leopold, Rosewill, and Filco are pretty much all on the same level of build quality. This answers your question later on in your post about how you aren't sure of WASD's quality. Yes they are new but from the people that own them I have only heard great things about their quality.
-- No detachable USB cable seems to be a con for you. I've never had a problem with a detachable USB cable yet, and it may very well be a nice option for you to have, but some people out their claim that these cables have a greater chance of breaking and that risk is too high for them to really get behind detachable USB cables. (INB4 RIPSTER)
-- My first board was a Leopold with browns and I do agree that the return policy isn't good at all, and that for that reason it may be better to pick a different keyboard.
-- You forgot to mention Rosewill disgusting logo as one of it's cons :tongue:
So when it comes to what board to buy I feel you really only have one thing left to consider, do you want/need a tenkeyless model? If your answer is no, then I believe that it is a clear cut victory for the WASD. The quality is top notch. I hear the customer support is superb. And like you pointed out, there is so much that you can do to customize your own keyboard to really make it your own.
Before I end I would like to give you a fair warning about Brown switches. I naively purchased Leopold with brown switches for my first board simply because that is what everyone told me to do. I just sold my board after less than a month of light use because I was unsatisfied with the feel. Don't get me wrong, they are a definite upgrade from a rubber dome, but after trying blue and buckling spring switches I can say that they simply can't compare to the feel of the other tactile switches. ( I haven't tried clear switches yet ). The tactility that the brown switches give is so small that instead of feeling nice and crisp like the blues, it feels muddy and almost as if the switch is broken, causing it to experience minor friction during the key press. This ends up giving a muddy feel that is not as pleasing as a nice smooth linear switch, but also not as crisp and enjoyable as a blue switch.
In my opinion you should either go for blues if you want a tactile feel, or you should go with a linear switch if the noise of the blues is an issue. The issue between black and red switches is forever raging on forums like this, but all I can say is that black switches usually have around the same actuation force as rubber domes. So don't buy into the "if you type more than two paragraphs your hands will cramp up and then fall off" propaganda that is spread about the black switches.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the first generation Leopolds are on sale now at EK. This price drop may be great enough for you to overlook their ****ty return policy. But then again, it may not.
