Looking to buy my first mechanical keyboard

[smalltock]

Alrighty, I'm in the market for my first mechanical keyboard and I don't have much of a budget.  My requirements are as follows:

- Either Cherry MX Blues, browns, or greens.  Any of those sound ideal to me, having researched their characteristics.
- Either hard-mapped to Dvorak or firmware-programmable so that I can have it mapped to Dvorak before sending the signal to my computer.  I will not settle for changing the layout via the operating system.
- Must be 150 USD or less.  I don't have much of a budget to work with.

Non-essentials:
- I would like the board to have some attention given to ergonomics.  This isn't necessary, but I have no problem trying a grid layout or some form of L/R split.
- Blank keycaps or keycaps labelled for Dvorak.  Obviously not essential, but it would be a nice touch.

Other notes:
I have looked for fully programmable mechanical boards, but all I could really find were expensive ergo ones (Ergo-Dox, Truly Ergonomic, Kinesis Advantage, etc.) that I could not afford.  I did find the not-yet-released Roccat Ryos, but I'd prefer something that has atleast been reviewed by someone, so I'd know that I'm not buying an item that I may come to regret purchasing down the road.  I've also looked at the Razer BlackWidow, which looks good, but I'm not sure where it's programmability lies.  Would I be able to program the BlackWidow on one computer and expect the mappings to carry over to another computer when using the same board?  If so, the BlackWidow sounds awesome right now.

Any and all suggestions very much appreciated
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.  This is my first foray, so my apologies for any noobishness.  This is also my first post on GeekHack, so I also apologize if I am breaking any rules in this thread.

[Tony]

Hardmapped to Dvorak? I suppose there are none, since the number of Dvorak users are quite small for manufacturers to make a profit by designing and making such keyboards.

Apart from that condition, there are plenty of keyboards readily available. As you already said, Razer is an option, though I suggest Filco, CMstorm or DAS brand instead.

[smalltock]

Thank you for the response!  That bit about Dvorak hardmapping being nonexistant is pretty much to be expected, although somewhat inconvenient for me.  Could you recommend any programmable models by those producers?  Or did you mean to suggest that their boards are, for the most part, programmable and I somehow missed that information? :3  I have looked into Das and CMstorm a little bit already, but didn't see anything about either Dvorak mapping or programmability.  Thank you for your time

[Tony]

All brands I have mentioned have no programmability at all.

Although I use Colemak - an alternative layout, I do not require such hardware/firmware programmability, since the cost of such keyboard will be well over 150USD and not readily available.

[smalltock]

Ah gotcha.  Then before I procede to consider non-programmable options, are you able to tell me whether or not the Razer model I mentioned is firmware-programmable as I would like it to be?  If not, that's fine... I'll look into non-programmable alternatives.  I don't particularly need the programmability, at this point in time, but it is a convenience, in such instances as the mapping in the OS not kicking in until after log-on in both Windows and Debian w/ LightDM or a few other similar situations.  In the long run, I'd like to make an Ergo-Dox or similar, but I do not have the money currently and my internship does not pay me :S  Again, thank you very much for taking the time

[kolonelkadat]

I recently got my first mechanical keyboard. I wanted it hardware programmable as well since I use a custom dvorak variant. The blackwidow had initially caught my eye, but I noticed a problem with it just before ordering. It comes with sculptured key caps. So if you rearrange the caps to the dvorak layout, youre going to wind up with a horrid lumpy mess.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I havent held the blackwidow in my hands, so take it with a grain of salt, but it looks something like the DCS profile. you can see a chart here. http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=38870.msg755509#msg755509

You can always buy a new set of caps from wasdkeyboards, but a custom set will run you an additional 80 bucks.

As for programmability, I just picked a keyboard that met all my other requirements, crossed my fingers, and hoped it had its key map stored in an sot23 eeprom or at the very least had the keymap accesible with jtag or i2c.

[Tony]

Razer's programmability? No, not for alphabetical keys. (If so, the price would be high.)

[smalltock]

Alrighty, fair enough.  I may go with a CMStorm Quickfire Rapid** with Greens and a standalone numpad (I like the numpad on the left of the board).

kolonelkadat, if you don't mind me asking, what do those chips do that you mentioned?  I've heard all of them mentioned, but never learned much about them or what they do/ are used for.

Thank you both   Not all forums are this welcoming to newcomers that don't really know what they're doing.

[kolonelkadat]

EEPROM is electronically erasable programmable memory. It's basically a hard drive for microchips.

sot23 is basically just a shape of a microchip. I like sot23 eeproms because they are easy to work with.

jtag and i2c are just ways to send data to and from microchips.

[tbc]

i THINK the CODE has default DVORAK (just flip a dip switch).  It just doesn't have anything else you want.

[Linkbane]

Hardmapped to Dvorak? I suppose there are none, since the number of Dvorak users are quite small for manufacturers to make a profit by designing and making such keyboards.

Apart from that condition, there are plenty of keyboards readily available. As you already said, Razer is an option, though I suggest Filco, CMstorm or DAS brand instead.

That would not be accurate, Kinesis boards are Dvorak-switchable via keypress and WASD V2/CODE keyboards (clears) also have DIP switches to switch to Dvorak.
I'm sure a few others do, but I can't remember them off the top of my head.
A few gaming keyboards are completely reprogrammable, perhaps one of those would suit you well. Other than that, one of the few fully reprogrammable boards that I know of, the TECK, is way over price range despite having layers. I suggest a V2 honestly.

Alrighty, fair enough.  I may go with a CMStorm Quickfire Rapid** with Greens and a standalone numpad (I like the numpad on the left of the board).

Two things, you might like the TK, which is also by CM, and has an integrated numpad/nav cluster. Also, you might not want to start with the Greens, as they'll be even heavier than domes. Recommend that you feel out the lighter keys, and if you don't like them try out the Greens. You can always resell at a decent price here!

[smalltock]

Thank you all!  The WASD v2 is looking like my best bet right now.  I really appreciate all the suggestions!
Re: Gaming keyboards... I haven't seen many programmable gaming boards that sell with my preferred switch types.  They usually only sell with Blacks or Reds.  No matter, though.  That WASD v2 appears to suit me just right.  Suggestions are still welcome.
Very helpful, you guys are.

[kansas city shuffle]

Filco Majestouch 2 Cherry Blue MX switches if you are a typist and desire that tactile click. Or if you're a gamer and you shun the clicky click of the blues switches then go with the Filco brown switches.

[terran5992]

Topruhhhhh!

[Linkbane]

Thank you all!  The WASD v2 is looking like my best bet right now.  I really appreciate all the suggestions!
Re: Gaming keyboards... I haven't seen many programmable gaming boards that sell with my preferred switch types.  They usually only sell with Blacks or Reds.  No matter, though.  That WASD v2 appears to suit me just right.  Suggestions are still welcome.
Very helpful, you guys are.

I'm sure you'll love it, the V2 is great. And if you use Dvorak like I do, you can get a custom keycap set from them.

Filco Majestouch 2 Cherry Blue MX switches if you are a typist and desire that tactile click. Or if you're a gamer and you shun the clicky click of the blues switches then go with the Filco brown switches.

Did you even look at the OP?