Cheaper Mechanical Keyboards.

[Shuki]

A friend of mine is wanting to try out a mechanical keyboard however he doesn't want to start by spending a huge amount on a keyboards ~40-50 pounds is roughly what he wants to spend. Obviously the cheaper the better but that is the maximum. He often plays games so he would probably either like a linear switch like the cherry mx black or maybe a lighter keyswitch with a subtle tactile bump such as the cherry mx brown.

Any suggestions? (must be available in the UK).

[CX23882]

How about a Dell AT102W. Non-clicky (like MX Brown and Black), subtly-tactile (like MX Brown) and reasonably stiff (stiffer the MX brown but not as stiff as MX black). There are a few on eBay UK for ~£15 delivered.

They may not be the 'coolest' looking keyboard, but they seem to meet your friends requirements for an introduction to mechanical keyboards, and if he doesn't like it's appearance you could always knock him out with the thing for being unappreciative because they are heavy.

[rdjack21]

You can get the ABS M1 for a good price (Black Alps). But really if you are just wanting to try before you buy a good one start digging around ebay you can find all kinds of good stuff there. In the UK look for Cheery boards on UK Ebay. Also take a look at this thread http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=6733 Seems there is going to be a seller of Filco's in the UK pretty soon they also have cherry boards as well.

[keyb_gr]

For blacks: Cherry G80-3000LPCGB (-0 or -2). Seems to cost as much in pounds as in Euros, ouch. Could thus be pushing the budget a bit, but check for yourself.

The AT102W doesn't sound like too bad an option.

[timw4mail]

I don't know if you can get an equivilent deal in the UK, but I recently bought 2 Dell AT101W's for $30, including shipping, and brand new in box.

I think the UK version of the AT101W is the AT102W...strangly enough.

So that's probably the cheapest option, but then again, I don't know what's available to the UK.