I've been toying around with MKBs for a little while now and here's my experience so far:
Leopold Brown (from EliteKeyboards.com): still my keyboard of choice. I didn't really like the Cherry MX Stabilizers at first so I ripped them out and I'm happier with this keyboard than I have been with anything else so far. I removed those stabilizers because I felt that they were slowing down the action of those keys. But if I had to do it again, and I would definitely buy a leopold again, I would buy the stabilizer lube that EliteKeyboards sells and give that a go first.
Rosewill Blue. If you haven't bought an MKB yet give this a go first. If you buy it from NewEgg you can definitely return it (minus return shipping). But here's why you should buy this one first: after trying out Filcos and Leopolds this one feels much cheaper. If you have nothing to compare it to then it might make you happy enough. Warning though: I had a PM conversation with WhiteFireDragon (who mods a lot of keyboards and posts a bunch of youtube reviews) and he's noticed that these are getting more and more cheaply made as time goes on. YMMV. I returned mine though: I didn't like the fit and finish and I felt that the keyboard just pinged too much.
Filco: I have tried two of these about a year apart. I ate the purchase of the red but I returned the blue. Both ping quite loudly. Otherwise the quality is fantastic. I disassembled the red and I have to say that the manufacturing quality is absolutely top notch. Except the ping. I hate ping (that's why I returned the blue through Amazon).
Some people say that you should just deal with ping. I agree to a certain extent. Even my leopold pings a bit. But nothing like the Filco or the Rosewill. Here's how to test for ping: hold the key down firmly and while still pressing down, slide your finger off the key. This should make it snap back up as quickly as possible. Listen carefully and if that key is going to ping then it will after performing that procedure.
And here's a thought: I check GH pretty frequently. People are always selling and trading and buying MX boards. But notice how few people are selling and trading Topre keyboards. Sure the Topres cost more, but it certainly seems to me that Topre owners are much more satisfied with their purchases than MX people are. I mean, sure, the audience for MX boards is larger, but check Ebay and Craigslist: there are very few used Topres for sale anywhere. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably have started with a Topre: seems to me like those don't sit around for very long.
I just wish that Topre would make a Normal-looking, white on black keyboard (or at the very least something with a little more contrast than the DarkGrey on Black that they have been making).
