Replace my reds with whites, or get QFR with blues?

[wes1099]

For a while I have wanted to replace the red switches in my Quickfire TK with whites, but I also really want to get a QFR with blues. Which one do you guys think is more worth it for me right now? I am leaning towards the QFR with blues since I can get a Frosty Flake controller to give it programming functionality, but that's just me.

[Puddsy]

IMO whites are the worst MX switch by a really big margin

I'm all for replacing your reds with blues if you want to, though. I think that's a totally reasonable thing to do.

[wes1099]

IMO whites are the worst MX switch by a really big margin

I'm all for replacing your reds with blues if you want to, though. I think that's a totally reasonable thing to do.

Completely off topic, but where does your profile pic come from?

[Puddsy]

IMO whites are the worst MX switch by a really big margin

I'm all for replacing your reds with blues if you want to, though. I think that's a totally reasonable thing to do.

Completely off topic, but where does your profile pic come from?

iunno i just saw it somewhere and saved it in one of my many fashion folders

[anowt]

to try my hand at it,  I recently bought the QFR (black) TKL keyboard with MX Blues and plan to modify the springs (then lube, then o-rings, etc). i thought "what kind of keyboard would i want to give someone else as a gift?" to come to the decision of buying it.

My preference is TKL and some resitence on the spring.

I can see the appeal of Reds. I really can. But i know I'll be happy with my QFR TKL Blues.

[Firebolt1914]

IMO whites are the worst MX switch by a really big margin

I'm all for replacing your reds with blues if you want to, though. I think that's a totally reasonable thing to do.

Just wondering, what makes you say so? I'm deciding on an MX switch to use in my smallfry board, and I was deciding on MX Whites or MX Clears or a linear switch.

[noisyturtle]

Replacing reds? You're doing it wrong.

[Puddsy]

IMO whites are the worst MX switch by a really big margin

I'm all for replacing your reds with blues if you want to, though. I think that's a totally reasonable thing to do.

Just wondering, what makes you say so? I'm deciding on an MX switch to use in my smallfry board, and I was deciding on MX Whites or MX Clears or a linear switch.

the sheer inconsistency

if you order 100 white switches, 50 of them will work as intended, 20 won't click, and the other 30 will have something else wrong with them.

[dante]

^ And even if you get enough good Whites to fill a board - how long before they lose their click?  Cherry continues to produce these but no Ergo Clears = Mind blown.

[Shayde]

^ And even if you get enough good Whites to fill a board - how long before they lose their click?  Cherry continues to produce these but no Ergo Clears = Mind blown.

Supply and demand.  Keyboard companies are asking for whites and not ergo clears.  Can't blame Cherry for giving them what they want.  The question is why there aren't keyboard companies offering ergo clears, but like to produce the occasional white board.

[berserkfan]

^ And even if you get enough good Whites to fill a board - how long before they lose their click?  Cherry continues to produce these but no Ergo Clears = Mind blown.

Supply and demand.  Keyboard companies are asking for whites and not ergo clears.  Can't blame Cherry for giving them what they want.  The question is why there aren't keyboard companies offering ergo clears, but like to produce the occasional white board.

But who are the big companies buying white switches? How come these are so hard to come by?

As for ergo clears it is bizarre why keyboard companies don't do their research and produce these.

[Oobly]

IMO whites are the worst MX switch by a really big margin

I'm all for replacing your reds with blues if you want to, though. I think that's a totally reasonable thing to do.

Just wondering, what makes you say so? I'm deciding on an MX switch to use in my smallfry board, and I was deciding on MX Whites or MX Clears or a linear switch.

If you want a board with tactility that's quieter than Greens or Blues I would say go with Clears every time. If you have basic soldering skill, modding them to ErgoClears or Panda Clears is pretty easy and definitely worth doing.

I think getting a new QFR with Blues and a Frosty Flake is not a bad idea, better than modding your TK to Whites. If you don't need the programmability, though, I would rather get a KUL ES-87 with Clears.

[Oobly]

...

As for ergo clears it is bizarre why keyboard companies don't do their research and produce these.

It's too much work for a company to open all the switches and swap the springs before installing the switches. If anyone releases ErgoClears it would have to be Cherry, since they can simply use different springs during manufacture. Cherry doesn't really care much from a business point of view, IMHO, since they're having trouble supplying the demand for all their existing switch types.

If they did make ErgoClears, though, they could drop both Browns and Clears from their product list. The One tactile switch to rule them all...

Another issue is that they don't have a spring in their stocks that work well enough for ErgoClears (stronger than their standard light spring, but weaker than their heavy one), so they'd have to go through the process of adding a new spring type to their inventory. Panda Clears would be easier (Black springs), but they probably don't see a big enough market for them.

Anyway, I think for now we're stuck with modding our own switches (unless you order a custom from someone like GON). I think what KUL should do is adjust their plate design to include cutouts for opening switch tops to make this easier for users so we don't have to desolder all the switches to open them. With non-backlit or RGB switches this is all you need to make your boards much more popular with GH and DT members and by extension many other users who get advice from GH or DT users about mechnical keyboards. With normal LED boards, you'd have to also install SIP sockets and I don't think any companies would go that far since it requires opening all the switches to do.

Hmmm... anyone know KUL's development department's email address?

[Firebolt1914]

IMO whites are the worst MX switch by a really big margin

I'm all for replacing your reds with blues if you want to, though. I think that's a totally reasonable thing to do.

Just wondering, what makes you say so? I'm deciding on an MX switch to use in my smallfry board, and I was deciding on MX Whites or MX Clears or a linear switch.

If you want a board with tactility that's quieter than Greens or Blues I would say go with Clears every time. If you have basic soldering skill, modding them to ErgoClears or Panda Clears is pretty easy and definitely worth doing.

I think getting a new QFR with Blues and a Frosty Flake is not a bad idea, better than modding your TK to Whites. If you don't need the programmability, though, I would rather get a KUL ES-87 with Clears.

I'm going to be using these for a custom keyboard, so no desoldering is necessary, but should I use the switches for a while before I put 62g springs in it or something like that?

[wes1099]

I think I am going to end up getting a QFR w/ blues + a Frosty Flake. I will see how I like the blues, and if I don't like them, I will probably replace them with clears, but I might end up changing the clears to ergo clears. Another benefit of getting a QFR is that I could use the case to build a phantom if I wanted. So many things to do with the QFR in terms of modding, and I think that soldering is fun (almost too much fun).

[johndavis33]

IMO, whites are my favorite MX switch. Greens aren't too far behind them.

If you're worried about consistency, why not get greens? You're willing to put up with the noise from blues,