Buying My First Mechanical Keyboard

[Origami_Duck]

Hey everyone, so I'm taking the plunge and buying my first mechanical keyboard after years of using rubber domes. I think I have an idea of what I want but I'm not sure which keyboard best meets my criteria, so if you guys could advise that would be great.

I'm probably going with a Cherry MX board because I don't think I'm ready to pay for a Topre right off the bat. I've managed to track down Brown, Black, and Red switches to try out.
I think I like the feel of the browns the best, but I would really like to try blues (unfortunately I've looked literally everywhere I can think of in my area and there are none to be found.)

I seldom use the num-pad so I'll likely be looking for a TKL board. Finally, back lighting is not essential but would be a huge plus.
I was looking at a KBT Race, but apparently those are not manufactured at the moment (The LE version is being made right now, but I want a black board and would rather not pay extra for white key that I don't want).

So to sum up:
-Cherry Browns
-Black keys/case
-TKL
-Backlit (Optional, but preferred)

Any recommendations?

[swagpiratex]

Wait for the Ducky Shine II to come out. I think Reddit is gonna do a massdrop on them. They should be out sometime this month.

If you can't wait, then try looking at a Leopold at Elitekeyboards.com

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

Ducky Shine II is not TLK

AFAIK there are not too many TKL backlit keyboards, but I welcome corrections.  At least when I started looking only a few months ago I could not find any!

[FoxWolf1]

Just a list meeting your criteria, with no comment on how good/bad any of them are:
-Ducky Year of the Dragon (link)
-Keycool 87 Backlit (link)
-KBT "Oni" Backlit (sorry, you'll have to find your own link for this one)
-If you're willing to consider smaller than the standard TKL size, you can add in the Noppoo Mini, Keycool 84, Deck 82, some other KBT/KBC boards, and probably more.

Also, if you look around a little, I'm sure you can still get a black KBT race.

Happy researching!

[Origami_Duck]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Wait for the Ducky Shine II to come out. I think Reddit is gonna do a massdrop on them. They should be out sometime this month.

If you can't wait, then try looking at a Leopold at Elitekeyboards.com

Ducky Shine II is perfect, except that it is a full keyboard not a tkl. =( Thanks for the suggestion though

Welcome to Geekhack!

Ducky Shine II is not TLK

AFAIK there are not too many TKL backlit keyboards, but I welcome corrections.  At least when I started looking only a few months ago I could not find any!

Thank You! Yeah... I'm having a hard time finding anything that fits my criteria.

Just a list meeting your criteria, with no comment on how good/bad any of them are:
-Ducky Year of the Dragon (link)
-Keycool 87 Backlit (link)
-KBT "Oni" Backlit (sorry, you'll have to find your own link for this one)
-If you're willing to consider smaller than the standard TKL size, you can add in the Noppoo Mini, Keycool 84, Deck 82, some other KBT/KBC boards, and probably more.

Also, if you look around a little, I'm sure you can still get a black KBT race.

Happy researching!

Thank you for the suggestions. I forgot to mention... I'd be looking for either red or white back lighting... (I know, I know... It's just I can't justify paying the extra $30-$70 markup for back lighting if it is a color I don't want.)

The closest thing I can find is this Key Cool 87: link

How are they in regards to build quality?


Also if I were going to go with a non-backlit choice, what is the best quality for under $140 for a TKL? My research tells me Leopold or CM Storm Quickfire (Hate the key-set though) what is your opinion, are there other options I should consider?

Also, in regard to Cherry Blue switches... I really like the tactile feel of the Browns, but they are ALMOST too loud for me. That said, if I were to buy a board with blues and then put some o-rings on would that be about the same sound level?

Thanks in advance.

[mmmty]

Blue switches are overrated. They're as loud as brown switches but have that annoying clicky sounds.

Actually I like the clicky sounds but for some reasons my typing sucks when I type on keyboards with blues. 

[dorkvader]

Also if I were going to go with a non-backlit choice, what is the best quality for under $140 for a TKL? My research tells me Leopold or CM Storm Quickfire (Hate the key-set though) what is your opinion, are there other options I should consider

You can get a CMstorm Quick fire rapid and a PBT keycap set for that price. I recommend it as an excellent combination.

[Origami_Duck]

Also if I were going to go with a non-backlit choice, what is the best quality for under $140 for a TKL? My research tells me Leopold or CM Storm Quickfire (Hate the key-set though) what is your opinion, are there other options I should consider

You can get a CMstorm Quick fire rapid and a PBT keycap set for that price. I recommend it as an excellent combination.

Thanks for the suggestion. Would you recommend that setup over a leopold (which is about the same price as those two)?

[dorkvader]

The biggest issue with leopold (in my mind) Is the spacebar incompatibility. Spacebars for filco, cherry, CMstorm, ducky, etc. won't work with it.

You can, however, get leopolds now with PBT keycaps, and spacebar. If you're not big on changing the keycaps, it's probably the cheapest option to get PBT Tenkeyless.

[hq1ify]

Just make sure you won't get ABS keycaps. The difference between these and thick PBTs is *huge*

[Origami_Duck]

The biggest issue with leopold (in my mind) Is the spacebar incompatibility. Spacebars for filco, cherry, CMstorm, ducky, etc. won't work with it.

You can, however, get leopolds now with PBT keycaps, and spacebar. If you're not big on changing the keycaps, it's probably the cheapest option to get PBT Tenkeyless.

Thanks. Is there a way to tell if the version I'm ordering has pbc caps? (Leopold)

Also, any other opinions on getting blue switches with o rings instead of browns?

[Origami_Duck]

Well, I saw the discount coupon for CM and I jumped on it. Thanks for the help guys!


Just ordered a CM Storm Rapid with Brown Switches. Thinking I'll probably order some o-rings from WASD to go with it though, the one I tried in store was just at the brink of being too loud for me, plus I like tactility.

So excited.