Das Keyboard Ultimate - Cherry MX Blue or brown?

[guywithtwohands]

EDIT: I decided to go with the Cherry MX Brown switches.

Hello there.

A couple of weeks ago I purchased my first mechanical keyboard, a Steelseries 6G v2 Red Edition.  Now this has all been good and such, a definite improvement over my previous Logitech G510, but I seem to be making a fair bit of typos on these Cherry MX Red switches due to their very light weight. The odd placement of the '*-key (as shown here) is also bothering me a little bit, although it's nothing too terrible.

I have been considering purchasing a keyboard with blue switches and have pretty much settled on the Das Keyboard Ultimate. I do a fair bit of gaming and I'm thinking the blues may not be perfect for this, and apparently the brown switches are sort of an "in-between" thing. My concern with the blue switches is that I think they may be too hard to doubletap. The noise is not much of an issue.

I play a bit of various genres. Starcraft II, some FPS games (but this is nothing serious, so not a thing to take into much consideration), some single player RPGs and in the very near future, a lot of Guild Wars 2.

I will be typing papers for school and such.

So my question is; should I get a Das Keyboard and if so, blue or brown switches? Or should I stay with my Steelseries seeing as I've only had it for a few weeks?

[longweight]

I would get a Filco not the Das, the Das has a very shiny bezel which is a nightmare to keep clean!

As for the switch I would choose brown, I love my board with browns at home for typing and gaming. It is a very good middle ground.

[guywithtwohands]

I would get a Filco not the Das, the Das has a very shiny bezel which is a nightmare to keep clean!

As for the switch I would choose brown, I love my board with browns at home for typing and gaming. It is a very good middle ground.

Hi, thanks for you reply. Which Filco would you recommend? I know about the glossy, shiny bezel of the Das, and it's the only thing about it that I don't particularly like the idea of.

[longweight]

Do you need ISO (EU) or ANSI (US) layout?

[guywithtwohands]

Do you need ISO (EU) or ANSI (US) layout?

EU.

[longweight]

http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_details.asp?PRODUCT=932

[guywithtwohands]

http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_details.asp?PRODUCT=932

Thanks for your suggestion, but I think I'll pass on the Filco.

EDIT: Or maybe not!

[Christown]

I'd also recommend a Filco and my switch suggestion would be blues.

[guywithtwohands]

I'd also recommend a Filco and my switch suggestion would be blues.

Why the blues exactly?

[Christown]

Well it's my opinion, I prefer blues over brown. It would be better if you could test both to see which you like better as it's a personal preference kinda thing.

[Djuzuh]

Because it makes noise, and is more tactile.

[cirE]

I'm a Starcraft II player as well, and I have absolutely no problem playing with MX Blues. I own an original Majestouch with Blues, and a Majestouch-2 with Browns, and I find myself only using only the older Majestouch because I much prefer MX Blues for everything except maybe FPS games.

[rknize]

Since you think the light key weight is an issue with the reds, I would not suggest browns.  They have the same weight with a bit of tactility added.  Blues might be the ticket, as long as you don't mind the noise.

[guywithtwohands]

I'm a Starcraft II player as well, and I have absolutely no problem playing with MX Blues. I own an original Majestouch with Blues, and a Majestouch-2 with Browns, and I find myself only using only the older Majestouch because I much prefer MX Blues for everything except maybe FPS games.

For Starcraft II I would also think blues would be quite fine. How do you feel about them in games where you move a character using the keyboard? RPGs for example or FPS games.

Since you think the light key weight is an issue with the reds, I would not suggest browns.  They have the same weight with a bit of tactility added.  Blues might be the ticket, as long as you don't mind the noise.

Well, it's not that I simply don't like the light key weight, but I see your point. I was thinking the tactile feel might be what I want. With that said, the cherry MX browns also seem a bit more attractive for games played in first/third person - or simply any game where you move a character using the keyboard. It sounds like it might be a more fluid experience.

[guywithtwohands]

Looks like this may have gotten buried. Does anyone have experience playing games on Cherry MX Blue switches? I know they are supposedly fine for RTS, but what about FPS, single player RPGs, MMOs and the likes?

[SerenadedAbyss]

Looks like this may have gotten buried. Does anyone have experience playing games on Cherry MX Blue switches? I know they are supposedly fine for RTS, but what about FPS, single player RPGs, MMOs and the likes?

I have played Tribes Ascend, Tera (mmorpg) and portal 2 with my leopold blue switch and I have only have had issues with riding the actuation point and not letting it reset by lifting my fingers up all the way. But I have no issues overall using but I gravitate towards my brown switch rosewill for everything. I find the blue switch for my way of playing a bit too tactile. But at least the clickyness is cool.

[guywithtwohands]

Looks like this may have gotten buried. Does anyone have experience playing games on Cherry MX Blue switches? I know they are supposedly fine for RTS, but what about FPS, single player RPGs, MMOs and the likes?

I have played Tribes Ascend, Tera (mmorpg) and portal 2 with my leopold blue switch and I have only have had issues with riding the actuation point and not letting it reset by lifting my fingers up all the way. But I have no issues overall using but I gravitate towards my brown switch rosewill for everything. I find the blue switch for my way of playing a bit too tactile. But at least the clickyness is cool.

Thanks for your reply. My impression is also that blue switches may be too tactile for these type of games. Have you tried the cherry MX red switch? If so, how would you say it compares to the brown? Based on what I'm reading, the amount of pressure needed is quite similar, but the brown has that tactile feel - which might be what I want.

[Hyde]

I own both Filco and Das and I do admit I like the Filco better.  Initially I think the shiny Das look super nice and didn't think the dust would bug me, but after trying the Filco then I realize how much easier to keep it looking clean with a matte keyboard.

As for Blue vs Brown I'd say go with brown, somehow I like it better for gaming and typing.  Maybe because I like light switch so for me I like Red > Brown > Blue > Black.

I'd say try it out first but I highly recommend either Brown or Red. (For both typing and gaming)

[guywithtwohands]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I went with the Cherry MX browns. Let's hope they serve me well . I'll try to report back in here with results.

[guywithtwohands]

Well, I received my Das Ultimate Model S Silent today and have been using it for a few hours.

First impression is that the keys feel really nice for typing, but unfortunately the backspace key is a little squeaky (and also felt kind of stiff at first, but that seems to be gone now). Will have to get around to fixing that sometime.

When it comes to games (both FPS, RTS and MMOs), I feel that they do the job quite nicely as well. Coming from a board with red switches, the pressure needed to depress a key feels similar, but the tactility of the cherry MX brown do make them feel different. It is something you have to get used to.

The glossy bezel doesn't bother me at all so far, but we'll see...

So overall, it's looking like it'll be a nice experience - except for that squeaky key, but that shouldn't be too hard to fix.

[daerid]

super easy, just gotta pop it off and put some lithium grease on the inserts. the sound after your done is most satisfying

[Typhaeon]

I didn't need to grease the inserts on any board with a squeaking problem on stabilized keys.  All I needed to do was pop them off the switch (but not stabilizers) and reseat them.