Cherry MX Green vs MX Blue

[lucksmith]

I bought a Ducky Shine II with browns a few months ago as my first mechanical keyboard since my old IBM Model M back in the 90's. The brown  switches threw me off and were too light and I keep bottoming out. I'm thinking of getting a new keyboard soon, and I'm deciding between the blues and the greens. Would any of you be able to provide me some insight of the differences between the two keyboard switches? I've read online that blues seem to be the most popular choice for non-gamers/typists. Also, that the greens would be a little bit closer in feel to the buckling switches of the old IBM Model M's, having a similar actuation force.

Also, I live in Sydney and it seems to be incredibly difficult to find a store that sells a keyboard with green switches. Could anyone recommend me a good seller for this?

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

Blues have a similar spring to browns, and you would end up bottoming out all the time.

Greens have a much stiffer spring.

Both switches are tactile and audible (you can feel the bump and you can hear a high-pitched click).

Oh and if that's Sydney, Australia - good luck!  I have seen none for sale in Australia at all.  Blues - yes.  Greens - nope.

[Linkbane]

As rowdy said, the blue and brown are very similar; the brown is 45g while the blue is 50g. I haven't tried brown, but the very pronounced click serves as better feedback that you are typing quickly, but I do bottom out when I'm typing quickly. I'm likely getting an MX Green in a couple of weeks, but I heard that it's rare to bottom out as only its actuation force is 80g, much higher than any common MX switch.

As for vendors, Cooler Master sells it, and they'd probably ship down under. There's a 25% off code (Quakecon13), and before shipping a QF XT (fullsize) is $89 and a Rapid (tenkeyless) is somewhere like $85. If they don't ship, Amazon sells a Stealth (rapid but with prints on the sides of the keys) for $116 at http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-QuickFire-Stealth-Mechanical/dp/B00C2MBG4I?tag=01u-20 and a Rapid at http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-QuickFire-Rapid-Mechanical/dp/B00C2MBG2U?tag=01u-20 for $110.

[CPTBadAss]

I bottom out on Greens. It's honestly not that heavy.

[rowdy]

I bottom out on blacks, so I suppose I would bottom out on greens to, but with an extra click.

Getting a keyboard shipped to Australia is usually around $60 to $80 - in most cases it nearly doubles the cost of the keyboard.

Otherwise I would snap up a nice SSK before you could blink.

[vsdubstep]

if browns are too light, chances are that blues will be too light as well. That being said, it's not the worst thing in the world to bottom out while typing. If you want something heavy and can't get greens, you can try for clears and blacks. Blacks are linear, and clears are similar to browns but have a larger bump.

[tp4tissue]

ERGODOX

[Quardah]

If by any occasion you get the opportunity to get greens,

get greens.

Else go with blues.

[lucksmith]

Hi, everyone. I went away for a while to travel and just got back. I just wanted to say thanks for all of your replies and valuable insight into the world of keyboard switches. At the moment, I've decided to go for the greens as they seem to be easier to find now in Sydney, as opposed to the whites that some of you have suggested as well. I tried out a mate's keyboard with blues for a few days, and decided that they weren't for me either. I still bottomed out quite a bit, but I must admit that I found the audible click pleasing to my ears. I'll keep searching for the right one for me. Again, thanks everyone

[da20valve]

Good luck getting greens in Aus bro, I cant find a single one, even on ebay shipped int they are hard to get.

[lucksmith]

Good luck getting greens in Aus bro, I cant find a single one, even on ebay shipped int they are hard to get.

I saw one seller selling them for about 5 bucks a pop. Are they really that pricey? I'm hoping I'll find something eventually here at GH.

[Pacifist]

Good luck getting greens in Aus bro, I cant find a single one, even on ebay shipped int they are hard to get.

I saw one seller selling them for about 5 bucks a pop. Are they really that pricey? I'm hoping I'll find something eventually here at GH.

the 5 bucks ones are scams. just get them from mechanicalkeyboards.com or 7bit

[rowdy]

For a keyboard with MX greens in Australia, things have improved slightly.  Here are a few I found:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=113_1361&products_id=26834&zenid=9f317b020342a92edb8a586aec6ea1d7
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=113_1361&products_id=26300&zenid=9f317b020342a92edb8a586aec6ea1d7
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=113_1361&products_id=26283&zenid=9f317b020342a92edb8a586aec6ea1d7
4 items here: http://www.mechkb.com/catalogsearch/advanced/result/?name=&description=&short_description=&sku=&price%5Bfrom%5D=&price%5Bto%5D=&switchtype%5B%5D=73&isolate_for_page=
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=113_1294&products_id=27021

[divito]

I bottom out on Greens. It's honestly not that heavy.

Same here.

It'd have to be a ridiculous spring to not be able to bottom out.

[tribade]

I bottom out on Greens. It's honestly not that heavy.

Same here.

It'd have to be a ridiculous spring to not be able to bottom out.

I mean, I think at a certain point it's up to your typing style whether you bottom out or not.  I bottom out on pretty much everything, but type at a speed I'm happy with.  And so I don't feel a need to change my typing style.  As far as I can tell, bottoming out is simply preference.  There's no real benefit to one style of typing or the other.

[zig_ziglar]

CM XT greens for $120 from mechkb is the go. Might even grab one myself.

[mougrim]

But I can't understand... if OP liked Bucking Spring boards, why not get a new one?

[zig_ziglar]

But I can't understand... if OP liked Bucking Spring boards, why not get a new one?

Because they are extremely rare to find locally here in Australia and shipping from USA makes the total price for one too high.

[mougrim]

But I can't understand... if OP liked Bucking Spring boards, why not get a new one?

Because they are extremely rare to find locally here in Australia and shipping from USA makes the total price for one too high.

There is always a way But yes, shipping to Australia can be a killer.

[rowdy]

But I can't understand... if OP liked Bucking Spring boards, why not get a new one?

Because they are extremely rare to find locally here in Australia and shipping from USA makes the total price for one too high.

I found two for about $31 total

They do turn up from time to time, we had a couple of people selling of stashes of SSKs recently too.

[zig_ziglar]

Ya it just seems whenever I look, there's nothing, or they have escalated dramatically in price to beyond being viable for me. I think you have to check daily.

[jabar]

Sustaining greens as during gaming is a nightmare. Just a heads up if that is something you do.

[Puddsy]

Sustaining greens as during gaming is a nightmare. Just a heads up if that is something you do.

THIS SO HARD

I can't play through a round of TF2 without hand fatigue on greens. If you game at all don't get greens, you'll be very sad.

[divito]

THIS SO HARD

I can't play through a round of TF2 without hand fatigue on greens. If you game at all don't get greens, you'll be very sad.

Really? Playing multiple SC2 matches and CS doesn't bother me at all. I can see it being a problem maybe doing 2-3+ straight hours of games, but I don't have that luxury anymore for time.

[CPTBadAss]

I can type for hours on Greens but I've been having fatigue issues with Greens in Diablo 3 lately. Not really sure how that works but...yeah.

[tricheboars]

I can type for hours on Greens but I've been having fatigue issues with Greens in Diablo 3 lately. Not really sure how that works but...yeah.

as an officer in your diablo 3 clan i hereby demand you move to a lighter switch. i cant have you fatiguing out on us! lol

greens arent too heavy. i agree with cptbadass. the 'heaviness' of stock clears are also greatly exaggerated.

blacks are heavy though.

[CPTBadAss]

SIR YES SIR.

I HAVE SWITCHED TO MY EPSILON WITH 65G MX BLACKS SIR.

[zig_ziglar]

btw mechkb does not have any boards with greens in stock and the CM Storm has no ETA. (I emailed him)

[demik]

Sustaining greens as during gaming is a nightmare. Just a heads up if that is something you do.

THIS SO HARD

I can't play through a round of TF2 without hand fatigue on greens. If you game at all don't get greens, you'll be very sad.

or dont be a *****

[lucksmith]

I still plan to keep my Ducky Shine II with the MX Brown switches for when I do game. I'm not too fussed about gaming on a green though, considering I was able to play hundreds if not thousands of hours with a Model M back in the day (Warcraft 2, Starcraft: Brood War...ahh those were the days). I would go for a BS keyboard again one day, if I find a decent one here in Sydney for the right price. For the time being, I'm curious about the other switches, though.

For those interested, mechkb is having a sale ATM, and I asked them if they had any keyboards with greens in stock. Unfortunately, they don't have any. I could go for the Ducky's that they have on PCCaseGear, but they're a bit overpriced, I reckon. With shipping, it would work out to be about AU$200 for a Ducky Shine III. I'd rather go for an SSK at that price.

[samwisekoi]

I still plan to keep my Ducky Shine II with the MX Brown switches for when I do game. I'm not too fussed about gaming on a green though, considering I was able to play hundreds if not thousands of hours with a Model M back in the day (Warcraft 2, Starcraft: Brood War...ahh those were the days). I would go for a BS keyboard again one day, if I find a decent one here in Sydney for the right price. For the time being, I'm curious about the other switches, though.

For those interested, mechkb is having a sale ATM, and I asked them if they had any keyboards with greens in stock. Unfortunately, they don't have any. I could go for the Ducky's that they have on PCCaseGear, but they're a bit overpriced, I reckon. With shipping, it would work out to be about AU$200 for a Ducky Shine III. I'd rather go for an SSK at that price.

I use a Model M at work, and have a Brown and Green at home.  I thought the Greens would be like the B/S, but not so much, really.  Much more tiring to use for a long period of time.  I could probably game on my Model M, but my wife might sneak up and kill me from behind!  I can't game on the Greens, so I game on Browns.

FYI, I tried Blues and Blues with rings and hated both.  I love Greens, but can't use them for hours at a time.  Don't like Clears, don't care about Reds, but Blacks are OK.  Blues were too floaty for me.

What does that tell me?  Keyboards are so tactile that individuals are going to have very personal tastes in them, and that what might seem to be an obvious extrapolation rarely is.  B/S and Green seem like they would be similar, but they are not in the long run.  IMHO.

The CM Green keyboards are fine.  As you say, keep your Brown for gaming and try to find a Green for Typing.  Or maybe a Ghetto Green (Blue with stiffer springs.)  But if you bottom out Browns and don't like it, Blues (IMHO) will be bad as well.

Come up to KeyCon in California in July and you can try every kind of keyboard ever made.

Good luck and welcome to GeekHack!

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[zig_ziglar]

I still plan to keep my Ducky Shine II with the MX Brown switches for when I do game. I'm not too fussed about gaming on a green though, considering I was able to play hundreds if not thousands of hours with a Model M back in the day (Warcraft 2, Starcraft: Brood War...ahh those were the days). I would go for a BS keyboard again one day, if I find a decent one here in Sydney for the right price. For the time being, I'm curious about the other switches, though.

For those interested, mechkb is having a sale ATM, and I asked them if they had any keyboards with greens in stock. Unfortunately, they don't have any. I could go for the Ducky's that they have on PCCaseGear, but they're a bit overpriced, I reckon. With shipping, it would work out to be about AU$200 for a Ducky Shine III. I'd rather go for an SSK at that price.

I use a Model M at work, and have a Brown and Green at home.  I thought the Greens would be like the B/S, but not so much, really.  Much more tiring to use for a long period of time.  I could probably game on my Model M, but my wife might sneak up and kill me from behind!  I can't game on the Greens, so I game on Browns.

FYI, I tried Blues and Blues with rings and hated both.  I love Greens, but can't use them for hours at a time.  Don't like Clears, don't care about Reds, but Blacks are OK.  Blues were too floaty for me.

What does that tell me?  Keyboards are so tactile that individuals are going to have very personal tastes in them, and that what might seem to be an obvious extrapolation rarely is.  B/S and Green seem like they would be similar, but they are not in the long run.  IMHO.

The CM Green keyboards are fine.  As you say, keep your Brown for gaming and try to find a Green for Typing.  Or maybe a Ghetto Green (Blue with stiffer springs.)  But if you bottom out Browns and don't like it, Blues (IMHO) will be bad as well.

Come up to KeyCon in California in July and you can try every kind of keyboard ever made.

Good luck and welcome to GeekHack!

 - Ron | samwisekoi

What do you mean by blues are "floaty"? I'm typing on them now and can't quite figure out what you mean. I'm contemplating getting a board with greens (probably CS STORM) as soon as one is in stock locally. Understanding your statement, might help me ensure I'm making good choices

[lucksmith]

I still plan to keep my Ducky Shine II with the MX Brown switches for when I do game. I'm not too fussed about gaming on a green though, considering I was able to play hundreds if not thousands of hours with a Model M back in the day (Warcraft 2, Starcraft: Brood War...ahh those were the days). I would go for a BS keyboard again one day, if I find a decent one here in Sydney for the right price. For the time being, I'm curious about the other switches, though.

For those interested, mechkb is having a sale ATM, and I asked them if they had any keyboards with greens in stock. Unfortunately, they don't have any. I could go for the Ducky's that they have on PCCaseGear, but they're a bit overpriced, I reckon. With shipping, it would work out to be about AU$200 for a Ducky Shine III. I'd rather go for an SSK at that price.

I use a Model M at work, and have a Brown and Green at home.  I thought the Greens would be like the B/S, but not so much, really.  Much more tiring to use for a long period of time.  I could probably game on my Model M, but my wife might sneak up and kill me from behind!  I can't game on the Greens, so I game on Browns.

FYI, I tried Blues and Blues with rings and hated both.  I love Greens, but can't use them for hours at a time.  Don't like Clears, don't care about Reds, but Blacks are OK.  Blues were too floaty for me.

What does that tell me?  Keyboards are so tactile that individuals are going to have very personal tastes in them, and that what might seem to be an obvious extrapolation rarely is.  B/S and Green seem like they would be similar, but they are not in the long run.  IMHO.

The CM Green keyboards are fine.  As you say, keep your Brown for gaming and try to find a Green for Typing.  Or maybe a Ghetto Green (Blue with stiffer springs.)  But if you bottom out Browns and don't like it, Blues (IMHO) will be bad as well.

Come up to KeyCon in California in July and you can try every kind of keyboard ever made.

Good luck and welcome to GeekHack!

 - Ron | samwisekoi

Thanks for the warm welcome, Ron.

Like yourself, multiple keyboards would be preferable. I got a decent deal on a Filico MiniLa Air with blues. I intend to use it for when I travel with my tablet and phone. It was either that or the Poker II, but they didn't stock any of the non-backlit versions with the thicker keycaps, so I opted for the MiniLa Air. The different layout will take some getting used to, but it will be a lot better than the on-screen keyboard on my devices. All I really want now are keyboards with the Topre, BS, and the MX Green switches. Preferably in that order lol. I've never tried any of the other switches you've mentioned, and I must admit that you've piqued my interest in them. I agree with what you said though, keyboard switches are so tactile that it will be a different experience for just about everybody. After trying out my mate's blues, I thought they wouldn't be for me, as I did bottom out quite a bit still, but I reckon I could learn to use them properly, eventually.

I really wish I could go to KeyCon. I hope something similar to it gets organised for keyboard enthusiasts us here in Australia. Maybe for when I next travel to California. Are they usually held in June?

[False_Dmitry_II]

BS and MX Green shouldn't even occur to people to be similar. Supposedly BS is heavy, and also MX Green is heavy, but it ends there. The spring is buckled while you are holding it down, and thereby the force to keep it in that state is minimal. Meanwhile MX is merely a very linear spring, so once it's down past the actuation point you're literally just holding down the linear spring on at its most resistive point with one of the strongest MX springs there are.

[zig_ziglar]

BS and MX Green shouldn't even occur to people to be similar. Supposedly BS is heavy, and also MX Green is heavy, but it ends there. The spring is buckled while you are holding it down, and thereby the force to keep it in that state is minimal. Meanwhile MX is merely a very linear spring, so once it's down past the actuation point you're literally just holding down the linear spring on at its most resistive point with one of the strongest MX springs there are.

What you describe makes Greens sound like a good choice for someone wanting to avoid bottoming out and BS better for someone who wants a more precise tactile feel.

[rowdy]

I can type for hours on Greens but I've been having fatigue issues with Greens in Diablo 3 lately. Not really sure how that works but...yeah.

Holding the keys down, rather than just momentarily pressing them?

[CPTBadAss]

I can type for hours on Greens but I've been having fatigue issues with Greens in Diablo 3 lately. Not really sure how that works but...yeah.

Holding the keys down, rather than just momentarily pressing them?

Usually I'm mashing Tilde through 5 a lot while I play Diablo 3 so maybe that's it. Just tapping those keys a lot instead of writing out a sentence or two then pausing.