Corsair Vengeance K70 or Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2014 Stealth

[steelers743]

Hope this is the right area to post this. I finally decided to buy into the hype of a mechanical keyboard. This will be my first mechanical keyboard and figured this would be the perfect site to get help on selecting the perfect board. I have done research and came up with two options that fit what I am looking for. (Right under $120, full sized, and Back lit)

First option is the Corsair K70 with Cherry MX Red switches for $116, or second option is the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2014 Stealth with the new MX Browns

I will be using the keyboard for gaming, programming, and typing documents. I don't have any experience with mechanical keyboards and understand the switch is generally preference.

I was wondering what one you would go with. I know not many people are big fans of Razer products but it seems to have some nice features like the macro keys and also the new "improved Razer brown switches". While the K70 has amazing build quality and looks super sleek.

I guess it boils down to should I go with the cherry red or the browns

Thanks!

[Novus]

Neither.

[steelers743]

Thanks for the input, any recommendations or reasons why not to get ether?

[Novus]

Razer uses Kailh switches which have a bad rep.
Razer's spacing and layout isn't standard
Also very poor/cheap construction.

The Corsair doesn't use standard keys.
I've used it a few times and it doesn't feel great compared to other boards.

They both use crappy ABS keycaps.
There's a few more reasons but that's the gist of it.

Uhhh if you want a backlight keyboard I'd point you to a Ducky 3 shine.
You should poke around the forums there's alot of info flying around.

[False_Dmitry_II]

The original Kailh switches have a bad rep. There is no data of current gen switches, other than people who just got them and seem to like them, which is not info about longevity.

That said, reds are linear. So it depends on what you're after/why you want a mech. To imagine linear, it's literally just pushing down on a spring. The browns are pushing down on a spring with an added roadbump.

Personally I prefer not MX-style switches, but there's nothing in that category currently that has backlighting. That may change at some point with Matias switches - which was where MX RGB switches were plagiarized from.

[Elrick]

The original Kailh switches have a bad rep. There is no data of current gen switches, other than people who just got them and seem to like them, which is not info about longevity.

True, because these are new switches for Razer Corp no one can say anything about how reliable the switches are just yet.  Overall the orange coloured bastards are still sweet because of their fast actuation point.  A little quicker than any current 'official' Cherry designed switch.

Although I still love the Greens and Clears but would give anything for an all Grey switched keyboard.......

[Razor Lotus]

Hope this is the right area to post this. I finally decided to buy into the hype of a mechanical keyboard. This will be my first mechanical keyboard and figured this would be the perfect site to get help on selecting the perfect board. I have done research and came up with two options that fit what I am looking for. (Right under $120, full sized, and Back lit)

First option is the Corsair K70 with Cherry MX Red switches for $116, or second option is the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2014 Stealth with the new MX Browns

I will be using the keyboard for gaming, programming, and typing documents. I don't have any experience with mechanical keyboards and understand the switch is generally preference.

I was wondering what one you would go with. I know not many people are big fans of Razer products but it seems to have some nice features like the macro keys and also the new "improved Razer brown switches". While the K70 has amazing build quality and looks super sleek.

I guess it boils down to should I go with the cherry red or the browns

Thanks!

Welcome to geekhack.

If you're getting the razer one, make sure they are the old MX browns not the new MX orange. Nothing wrong with that but just hope you know that they have their own switches now and it's orange in colour. If you want the orange ones, by all means though. Some people on this forum who have tried is said they weren't bad and liked them quite a bit. Honestly, I can't give you any input there as I have not tried them before.

I see that you're new here and you're into this mech keyboard thing for gaming and stuff and I was once like you. I came here looking for the best gaming keyboard and like you, I was torn between corsair and razer as well. But after coming here, I've learnt alot and I've started to sway from those gaming keyboards by razer.

Perhaps the reason why the earlier posts said neither was because the community here generally likes stuff like this:

http://duck0113.tistory.com/category/MINI%20

http://duck0113.tistory.com/70

http://duck0113.tistory.com/66

http://duck0113.tistory.com/49

Just play around with the links on the website. There're a ton of pictures there.

And occasionally things like this:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b345/DarthLars/Keyboard/DolchPAC-62keyboard.jpg

http://webwit.nl/input/kbsim/img/modelm_4.jpg

And not forgetting this:

http://hbfs.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/happy-hacking-keyboard-profile.jpg


You probably won't see alot of corsair and razers here. You will however, see a lot of this:

http://i.haymarket.net.au/News/Cooler-Master-CM-Storm-QuickFire-Rapid.jpg the CM Storm Quickfire Rapid, or CM QFR for short. They are one I would recommend to any starter in this mech keyboard hobby.

People here are crazy over vintage keyboards, keycap sets, custom and novelty keycaps and keyboard modding etc etc. If you think you're gonna delve deep into this hobby like the rest of us, the CM storm is for you.

If you're here looking for a good gaming mech keyboard, pretty much any mech keyboard we recommend you are just as good for gaming as the other mech keyboards, just without those cool gamer stuff like flashy backlighting (although the ducky shine has awesome backlighting) and macro keys (although the poker2 and many other keyboards have custom mapping) and the "gamer" tag to it.

If you're here still thinking about your blackwidow and corsair, I'd say that gaming on mx reds is more fun. I'm using mx red now to type and game and I like it. For browns, the community generally thinks that they're bad and would go for MX clears instead.

I know this probably didn't help your decision much but I hope I've given you a little insight on what geekhack is like lol

[Defect]

Tbh,

Neither.  But if I had to pick...I'd never pick Razer.

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

A Ducky Shine Zero might fit the bill (if you want blue or orange backlighting).

For starters:

http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=866
http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=868
http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=869

[epzy]

The original Kailh switches have a bad rep. There is no data of current gen switches, other than people who just got them and seem to like them, which is not info about longevity.

True, because these are new switches for Razer Corp no one can say anything about how reliable the switches are just yet.  Overall the orange coloured bastards are still sweet because of their fast actuation point.  A little quicker than any current 'official' Cherry designed switch.

Although I still love the Greens and Clears but would give anything for an all Grey switched keyboard.......

This? http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=465

[Findecanor]

I'm not a fan of light bleeding between keys (Corsair keyboards), or of Razer's marketing.

I would be interested in buying a BlackWidow Tournament Stealth 2014, IF IT WASN'T FROM RAZER.

Ducky is the king of the hill right now. Good quality and features. Don't look like crap.

[steelers743]

Thanks for all the replays! I was surprised to wake up and see so many responses just over one night. You guys truthfully are the fastest typers around 

Thanks for all the input also. A lot of these options I didn't even know existed (I was just looking at my options on Amazon) so I will do some more research.

[steelers743]

Also I'm not stuck on a gaming keyboard and it certainly doesn't have to have back lighting. Only reason is the keyboard i currently have is backlit so figured might as well stick with that.

I am more looking for something that isn't crazy expensive, works for gaming, and typing, and is an amazing bang for the buck. Still cant believe I am going to spend this much on a keyboard

The reason I was attracted to the gaming keyboards is the amount of features for the price.

[frosty]

i'm using a corsair k70, nothing's wrong with it

EXCEPT
very very disgusting abs keycaps
bottom row keys are non standard, the spacebar is like 6.5

pros of k70
volume wheel
metal volume wheel
metal volume wheel with texture


now going on to razer
i use the bw tkl edition with cherry blues, nothings wrong with the layout ((??)). still abs keycaps. very very bad quality control. my "p" key feels like a brown.
don't buy any razer keyboards.
macros and media keys are marketing gimmicks (imo), autohotkey ftw.

try not to take everything at face value, geekhack is a really good place to base your research and quest for your first starter mechanical keyboard on!

goodluck on your journey...
...
...
...

and i will see you in a few months time craving for a hhkb

[Zombly]

Pick up a Ducky TKL cheaper on price, and still a quality keyboard, don't think of it as just money more of an investment, I'm currently spending around ~800 for the perfect keyboard.. I'm just going to replace whatever breaks and keep it forever, mizewell buy your forever keyboard instead of investing over and over again, my opinion, I know a lot of GHer's keyboard collections are bonkers, I just don't like clutter or have a garage just for keyboards.. unfortunately

[Defect]

It's not that the k70 is bad, it's that for the price there are much much better options.

Opportunity cost.

[Freebird]

I have a BW ultimate 2013 edition with blues. I have just ordered a Poker II to replace it.

There is some incredibly annoying things with Razer keyboards, my last was a membrane one then I went up to mechanical. I loved it initially as it felt much nicer to type on etc. However after living with it for a while I have found some annoying things. Perhaps the most is the Synapse software you have to use which is rubbish, actually even more annoying is if you lock your computer or bring it back from sleeping. If you hit enter after typing your password the keyboard thinks that the enter is then being held down. You either have to unplug the keyboard then plug it back in or restart the pc to stop it from doing it. I also attend a lot of LANs and the sheer size is annoying too, the surround is very large and bulky too.

I can't comment on the K70 but if I was starting again I would be making a different choice from the Razer.

I hear good things about the Cooler Master keyboards for the price, perhaps they may be worth a look. However as others have stated here a Ducky might just be a superior option altogether.

[False_Dmitry_II]

Go buckling spring!

[steelers743]

I really like that ducky zero shine... Now just to decide what switches to get haha

Open to any other suggestions.. Mainly just looking for a full size board and a great e

[Defect]

This goes in an entirely different direction but if you like full size boards...

Unicomp makes a mean buckling spring board.  Only problem is that it's 2kro, but I absolutely LOVE buckling spring.  Nothing quite like it.  Some people like to say that mx greens (mx blues with black spring is the same as green) are similar and an MX equivalent.  There is nothing similar or any equivalent.

But it's 2kro and loud as a mafaka

[False_Dmitry_II]

It is 2kro, but like many old boards, I've never had my Model M block anything I needed to do ingame. That measurement is merely the least possible, but you can get more than that.

[Pacifist]

This goes in an entirely different direction but if you like full size boards...

Unicomp makes a mean buckling spring board.  Only problem is that it's 2kro, but I absolutely LOVE buckling spring.  Nothing quite like it.  Some people like to say that mx greens (mx blues with black spring is the same as green) are similar and an MX equivalent.  There is nothing similar or any equivalent.

But it's 2kro and loud as a mafaka

get f and soarers and get nkro

[Lastpilot]

KMAC, LZ-S, Ergodox, Lightsaver, Ducky, Poker, Pure, Race

[Eric5676]

For browns, the community generally thinks that they're bad and would go for MX clears instead.

I've been out of the loop a bit so forgive this all too obvious question: Why?

[epzy]

For browns, the community generally thinks that they're bad and would go for MX clears instead.

I've been out of the loop a bit so forgive this all too obvious question: Why?

Because many people think they feel like scratchy reds, and that clears are superior browns, especially if modded to ergo-clears.

[Defect]

For browns, the community generally thinks that they're bad and would go for MX clears instead.

I've been out of the loop a bit so forgive this all too obvious question: Why?

Because many people think they feel like scratchy reds, and that clears are superior browns, especially if modded to ergo-clears.

It's posted in pretty much every thread about browns.  Browns have a little travel before the bump begins, which I actually like.  Clears start right away.  But the bump is so small on browns, especially when compared to clears which are actually more tactile than blues.

When you lube the legs on clears, the bump feels less crisp and more like a smooth non scratchy brown.  When you lube brown legs they're just detective reds.  Hard to describe.  The bumps just too small, made smaller with lube on browns.  Personally I like slider lubed but not leg lubed clears with 62g spring up to about 80cherry spring.  Good range.

[domoaligato]

Neither.

+1

Ducky 3 shine, Filco Majestouch-2, CM Storm Quickfire Rapid