Help, Red or Brown

[HRS2K]

hey GH!

I am stuck between getting a red or brown Cherry MX switch and not sure which to get. im a n00b to this and still debating with my self quite a bit.

I currently have a Leopold Blue switch and love it! Not much of a PC gamer mostly on PS3. I do play Diablo 3 and a few others but not often. I travel for work a lot and hotel wifi doesn't do me any good gaming. Any help or direction will be appreciated

[The_Beast]

IMO there isn't a huge difference, they both feel pretty much the same. The bump on browns isn't super noticeable, so I would just pick the one that is cheaper or is more available

[longweight]

I would go with browns, they are the middle point between linear gaming and tactile typing. I love my board with browns at home for gaming and typing. I didn't like reds that much though.

Such a person thing.

[Lethal Squirrel]

Reds are my personal favorite. There is just something so satisfying about the smoothness. They call them "cloud of boobs" for a reason. xD
Browns to me have always seemed boring, and don't really have anything satisfying about them. That's just my take though.

[HRS2K]

Thanks I just happen to love the blues, just bought another 5 mins ago CM Storm QuickFire. but this has been an addiction. This is for a KBC Poker board i am looking into.

[aeta]

I have both red and brown, and I would suggest browns unless you do significantly more gaming than typing.

[Harlequin]

I've tried almost every switch. Blue, Brown, Black, Red, Clear and some of modified ones.

This is only my opinion. You have to know that everyone has different preferences.

For gaming(RTS) - Blue, Brown
For gaming(FPS) - Black, Red
For gaming(MMO) - Brown, Red
For typing - Red, Brown

[Christown]

Like others have said it's a personal preference, I'll give you my opinion.

Personally as a person who also loves blues for everything, when it comes to brown or red, I prefer red. Brown to me just seems like a red switch that is gritty kind of like there is a few grains of sand inside the switch hence why they get called "dirty reds" by some people. The red and it's light smooth feel is very nice for gaming and typing alike.

[alaricljs]

Well, you are the only person I have ever heard refer to them as dirty reds...

I use browns exclusively.   I have not yet tried reds but will as soon as some items get delivered.  I don't think I'll be into linear tho.

[HRS2K]

Well, you are the only person I have ever heard refer to them as dirty reds...

I use browns exclusively.   I have not yet tried reds but will as soon as some items get delivered.  I don't think I'll be into linear tho.

My problem is how is it going to feel coming from blue switches I know it's preference but some input does help. I have been leaning toward brown. Also another question. Where can 1 get a KBC Poker board?

[Lethal Squirrel]

I agree with Christown. When I first got my filco with browns, I literally thought there was dust or something in the switches.

Coming from blues to browns, browns feel boring, so do reds at first though. They're are both kind of a relief from the chatteriness of blues. Reds feel much smoother and more satisfying imo. Blues used to be my favorite, and now it's very close between reds and blues.

You can get a poker from the classifieds. They used to be on ebay too, but now they are completely gone. You could go with a pure, they are almost the same, exept the pure is backlit and has a different layout. they're both the same size though.

[xJaPx]

its all personal preference.  As fun as blues are, they are extremely loud.  Maybe not during the day, but when your whole house is sleeping and your slamming away at your blue board, people notice lol.

Me being new as well, I can say just go with what ever you like best.  I've finally tried all the switches, and landed on red and brown boards.  I like the tactility for typing on the browns, and the linear feeling for gaming, but again thats just me. 

[Xerobasix]

I've only been using a mechanical for about 2 months and I own both browns and blues.  I started with browns and then bought a board with blues about two weeks ago.  At first I though I really liked the blues because of the clicking and slight extra force required, but when I went back to the browns it was like the blues taught me how to use them.  Now the blues feel almost too heavy and clicky but they don't feel that different.  I'd only suggest the browns if you really didn't like the clickiness of the blues but you did like the tactility.

That said, my next board will be a Filco with reds. <insert grain(s) of salt here>

[wiredPANDA]

I've been through the gambit.  Browns -> Reds -> Clears.   Used a buddy's Blues at work for awhile, to test it out, too.  I'm still prone to my Brown board, but the more I use my Red, the more I'm starting to enjoy typing on it.  My original problem with the Red was that I was bottoming out so hard that the typing experience was ruined.  Now that I'm not bottoming out, as much, it's slowly starting to become an awesome switch.

I can see the argument that the Browns are a "dirty red", but to me it's just enough tactility to make the difference in the typing experience.

I like the bigger bump in the Clears, but the springs are way to stiff for my preference.  It won't be long until my Leopold with Clears gets modded to ergo-clear.

...Edit:
And check out MechanicalKeyboards.com if you're looking for a Pure or Race.  I don't think they have any Poker in stock, but you can check classifieds for those.  They tend to have group buys for Pokers fairly regularly.

[IvanIvanovich]

Since you already have the best tactile switch in blues, I would say go for the red to try linear. I'm pretty much with chris and lethal on my feelings toward browns though.

Also regarding the Pure... I have started to see some of the cheaper non backlight versions out in the wild so keep your eyes open. If you are set on a Poker and want it in reds good luck.

[derb2k2]

i'd say go with the reds. It's still so great to type on reds and the clack sound is satisfying. Blues are best for typing though, and i think you don't do much gaming or play FPS's much. I got red because I play lots of Quake Live and couldn't play with blues.

[Lethal Squirrel]

Agreed! you can't beat the clacks of red switches! watch this video!

feature=channel&list=UL

[viowastaken]

It's going to boil down to your own personal preference, but for me I prefer brown over all the others. By a mile, and for all purposes. I type close to 10WPM faster than with any other cherry switch on browns, and they feel the nicest playing all games I play, whether it be FPS or RTS.

IMO you really will have to try them both until you can make a decision. I've seen all sorts of personal suggestions from others that I disagreed strongly with.

[viowastaken]

For gaming(RTS) - Blue, Brown

Most RTS progamers who use mechanical keyboards use reds or browns. That's not saying as much, as there is on inherent objective advantage to any of them. However if you want to go with a statistically safer choice, I'd say browns/reds are where it's at.

[Hyde]

Like most people says it all comes down to personal preference, but for me it goes like this:  Red > Brown > Blue > Black

I came from Razer Blackwidow but I didn't like the macro keys (keep hitting wrong key when trying to hit ctrl) so I returned it and got a Das Brown after and loved it.  Then I bought a Filco Ninja Red recently and initially I didn't like typing on the Red too much because it doesn't have the tactile bump so it was a bit hard to tell how far you're suppose to press down.  So for a while I like Brown better for typing and Red for gaming.

BUT as time goes on I think I got used to Red and it grew on me, and now I like red better for typing and gaming.  Moral of the story, Red kinda takes a bit of getting used to.  If you don't like it initially it's ok keep using it and it will grown on you.

Unless you don't want to take the risk then Brown is the "safer" switch.  But in the long run I think Red is better

[Deverica Wolf]

From a recent post I made...

Browns: Slight bump with slightly less resistance than Blues.
Reds: No bump or click and very lite stiffness as you press. Essentially liter Blacks.

Between the two, I love both and think they are equal. They are cousins, for sure. Don't let anyone ever say they are the same because they are not. They are similar, though, and both are better for typing than Blacks or Blues.

Browns are better for accurate typing and I think I prefer them for gaming too; Browns felt like slightly less accurate Blacks when I played first-person shooters - a fair compromise when the Browns are so much better for typing than the Blacks - but I did just as well as Blacks with them. Both did fine do fine for RTSs, too.

The Reds feel like typing on air or butter, but are also more capable of making mistakes compared to the Browns. With the Browns, I seem to type a little slower because of the bump and, thus, more accurately. But Reds may be more fun to type on and I love them so much. They have a very unique feel. Many people have said they prefer them over Topres. For gaming, they rank below Blacks for me due to their liteness. Which one you'd prefer depends on how stiff you like your keys. But with the Reds, you also get a typing keyboard; Blacks really wear out my fingers when I type on them.

So, I would say either get a Brown or Red. They are both wonderful for gaming and typing, and are probably the best two switches for value out there. Maybe get Reds if you find the Brown's bump in your way. Be aware that both are really lite to press but if you give it time your fingers will adjust.

[Deverica Wolf]

IMO there isn't a huge difference, they both feel pretty much the same. The bump on browns isn't super noticeable, so I would just pick the one that is cheaper or is more available

At first I felt that way, but it is untrue, for me anyway. The more I use them, the more I notice the differences. Browns feel like less annoying Blues, while Reds feel like liter Blacks. 

[viowastaken]

IMO there isn't a huge difference, they both feel pretty much the same. The bump on browns isn't super noticeable, so I would just pick the one that is cheaper or is more available

At first I felt that way, but it is untrue, for me anyway. The more I use them, the more I notice the differences. Browns feel like less annoying Blues, while Reds feel like liter Blacks. 

I have had keyboards with blues, browns reds and blacks at the same time and tested back to back to back.

I've typed up to 15 WPM faster with a certain switch type, brown being the fastest and blue/black being close to equally slow. I wasn't very fast with red either, I think it has to do with the fact that I'm not completely comfortable just actuating a tiny bit, I press too far. Anyways, your mileage may vary. Try them all. Typetest them if possible.

[danielucf]

I type pretty hard and almost always bottom out. My first mechanical had MX Blacks, then I tried browns because people were raving about them at the time. I like my first two keyboards with MX Browns (Leopold FC700R, and KBT Pure) but then I got a poker with MX Reds and absolutely loved the feel of reds. Then I put some O-rings on them that I found for sale at Amazon.com for cheap and I liked the way the felt even more with reduced key travel and how much quieter they became. Going from the Pure to a Poker though I didn't like the change so I sold the poker with MX Reds and am now typing on a non back lit KBT Pure that came with PBT keys with O-rings and I absolutely love it.
Going to have my back lit Pure modded to Ergo Clears and will report back.

TLDR: I like reds more than browns because browns barely feel like they have a tactile bump, especially if you type heavy and bottom out.

[immortalz]

I would also like some input guys! I'm still looking for a new mechanical keyboard and also came to the conclusion of either reds or browns!  It will be mostly used for gaming (RTS, MMO, and FPS)

I used to have both blacks and browns but didn't like any of them for gaming and went back to rubber dome. 

What are some good boards with these switches?  I used to have the CM rapid in blues but I honestly hated blues for gaming so I got rid of it.  Should I go back and buy it in reds instead? Or should I just fork out 150$ and get a filco majestouch tkl?   I rather not spend the extra money but if the quality/feel of the keyboard is that much better then I don't mind I guess.

[sth]

Get reds, no scratchy-scratchy.

[rowdy]

On the previous GH, someone (Matias?) suggested that gaming with reds would make your fingers ache from having to hold them above the keys so as not to accidentally press the keys, what with red being so light.  With the stiffer blacks, you can rest your fingers on the keys without really worrying about accidentally pressing them.

Browns I would guess would be more like reds in that respect, albeit with the tactile bump half way down.

As far as noise, I find that I bottom out these blues more often than not, and that is actually louder than the tactile click.  If I type carefully without bottoming out, the click on most keys is a nice tick tick tick sound.  Bottoming out on any mech keyboard is loud, but with not bottoming out I do not get as many comments from family members.

In fact my mouse buttons are probably slightly louder than the tactile click (but not as loud as the keys bottoming out).

[Kuroneko]

That dude must have some very heavy fingers..I rest my fingers on top of the homerow keys on my reds all the time..

[Lord de Seis]

red is nice, but feels a little light. can't remember how browns feel, though. typing on blacks right now and am enjoying it.

[Neo.X]

I have Red, Brown, Blue and Black,  . I actually use Black a lot in office, because it's less noisy.

But I like Red more than Brown, because you can type realy light with Red, and when you get used to it, you can type much faster.

[rowdy]

That dude must have some very heavy fingers..I rest my fingers on top of the homerow keys on my reds all the time..

Before going mechanical I found that I used to do that, while resting my fingers on the keys I would be concentrating on something in-game on-screen, maybe lean forwards a bit to get a better view, and my finger would press the key just enough to move forwards or something.  Without any tactile feedback it was so easy to do.

With the MX blues at least there is a tactile bump, and I haven't experienced this since.

I imagine with MX blacks sufficient additional force is required to press the key that it is much less likely to happen accidentally.

[derb2k2]

That dude must have some very heavy fingers..I rest my fingers on top of the homerow keys on my reds all the time..

Before going mechanical I found that I used to do that, while resting my fingers on the keys I would be concentrating on something in-game on-screen, maybe lean forwards a bit to get a better view, and my finger would press the key just enough to move forwards or something.  Without any tactile feedback it was so easy to do.

With the MX blues at least there is a tactile bump, and I haven't experienced this since.

I imagine with MX blacks sufficient additional force is required to press the key that it is much less likely to happen accidentally.

this had been happening to me when i got it. Somehow though, errors of this kind are almost gone. I guess I jsut had to get acclimated to the reds. ONe can rest their fingers on the keys and they wont actuate. But if you're careless they will easily. Not a problem for me anymore.