After spending weeks researching which mechanical keyboard to buy, I ended up buying a Max Blackbird from a Canadian high-profile web store.
I warn you. I have no pictures. I have no shoes. Deal with it.
I am a newbie but I also have exprience in the feel of different kinds of keyboards. In the last 30 years I had many kinds of keyboards from el-cheapo keyboards to pretty good ones (I have a HHKB Lite, a Deck 82, a wireless Apple keyboard, a IO Gear wireless keyboard with integrated trackball, a Logitech TK820 and many others I forget about).
My current keyboard is
ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint. I love the size and the layout, but the huge plastic section in the front and the horrible switches make me want to replace my main keyboard ASAP.
So... I ended up realizing I wanted a relatively silent, mechanical, brown switch, tkl keyboard. My choices were down to Filco Majestouch 2 (FKBN87M/EB2), Ducky Shine III (DK9087S3-BUSALAAW1), Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid (SGK-4000-GKCM1-US) and Max Blackbird.
Because of where I live, my choices were rather limited. Realistically, I could only order either a Ducky Shine or a Max Blackbird. I ordered the Max Blackbird because of the price (there was a discount + free shipping) and because I had read some great reviews.
Having had a bad experience with my Deck 82 because I thought the keys offered way too much resistance (they are Cherry Blacks), I really needed to test drive other types of keys. A colleague at work has a Filco Majestouch 104 with brown switches. I tried it and loved the feeling. The keys were smooth and a pleasure to type on.
I went to a local store that had Cooler Master QuickFire Rapid Cherry Green keyboards. I asked to try one and was surprised that they were still much smoother than my Deck 82! I guess that Deck 82 sucked.
Well.. I went ahead. Ordered the Max Blackbird.
I got the box. Beautiful, professional. Opened it. Well packaged. The thing was in perfect condition.
I plugged the keyboard, the lights turned on. I thought the thing looked ok. I wasn't amazed by the look but thought it was decent.
Then I started typing on it.
What a disappointment.
The keys offered much more resistance than even the Cooler Master QFR Cherry Green I had tried.
I brought it to work so I could test head to head the Blackbird with the Majestouch and, well... the Blackbird was bad.
My colleague could barely feel the difference. I offered to sell it to him at a great discount and he jumped on the offer.
Long story short: I won't buy a keyboard from a web store again unless the shipping is free, and there is 100% money-back guarantee.
Knowing a keyboard uses Cherry Brown switches is not enough to know how it will really feel. (yeah.... I know.......)
And, no... I didn't want to deal with lubing the switches one by one.....
Sorry for the long winded post!!
If you have questions, go ahead, I'll do my best to answer ASAP.