Help me choose switch type for Poker II

[DuckMyDucky]

Hey guys, I'm looking into buying the Poker 2 keyboard for portability. I can buy them with cherry mx red, brown, blue or black, but I obviously struggle big time deciding. I already have one keyboard with blue switches and one with brown. I like blue switches a lot, but it's too noisy for using around people. I quite like the brown switches, so it would be a fairly safe bet for me. I tried red for a few days at some point, but I never really liked them. They felt too light and linearish. So that leaves me with black as the only untested switch. My curiosity wants me to pick the black one, but I fear I might end up hating them. For reference I also really enjoy some heavy switches like my model M.

So I guess what I would like to hear is if anyone here dislike the red switch, but somehow enjoy black?

[azhdar]

once you go black you never go back.

[clacktalk]

I dislike reds and love typing on blacks. Reds were way too light for me, and I actually used to travel with a Poker II w/ blacks.

Of course, you could sell the board if you're feeling adventurous and end up not liking it. If you don't want to risk it or have to deal with all that hassle, I say go with what you know you like.

My background in a shotgun blast: I also dislike blues because they're too loud. My current MX board has 62g clears, and it's hands down my favorite tactile switch, definitely better than all the tactile/non-tactile switches. Stock blacks are my favorite stock switch. Stock clears/browns are my least favorite.

[Ludovician]

Until you try blacks, I guess you can't know. It's a shame they don't come with Clears.

[katushkin]

I really disliked reds, so I tried blacks, thinking that the heavier spring would mean that they were better. I like heavy switches, and am a massive tactile switch lover, and for a while, I quite liked them.

After a while though, I came to really dislike them, and now can't stand any switch that doesn't have some sort of feedback. To me, they are really only a little better than reds. And reds are horrible.

[steve.v]

Until you try blacks, I guess you can't know. It's a shame they don't come with Clears.

3 months ago Massdrop sold poker 2 with clears option; my wallet was hurting, and I regretted not getting one.

[Oobly]

There's probably going to be another Massdrop for Poker II with Clears at some point, considering how many requests they've received for it again, but I don't know when that could be: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/kbc-poker-2-clear/?mode=guest_open

I mention it because that's the best MX switch, IMHO. Great tactility and feeling without the loudness of Blues.

If you don't want to wait, then I'd recommend Browns. Blacks are okay if you like linear switches, but I feel they're just a little too heavy. That said, I simply don't like linear switches, so...

[hwood34]

You should definitely try clears. Like Oobly said, there will probably be another drop on Massdrop for them, though the last buy took a few months to complete. If you don't like waiting, DrHubblePhD does free soldering and could swap clears switches into a poker for you

[DuckMyDucky]

Thanks guys. Can I buy just the clear switches from somewhere? I can easily desolder and solder on new switches, if I can buy the switches separate somewhat cheap. I'm in europe, so it's much cheaper for me to buy from various china stores with free shipping than using Massdrop.

[Oobly]

I bought a pair of G80-3000 boards with Clear switches from Amazon to get enough switches for my boards. This one has Clears, for instance: http://www.amazon.de/Cherry-G80-3000-Tastatur-DE-USB/dp/B000KN43CS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1424098439&sr=8-4&keywords=cherry+g80-3000

If the code says"Q" in the second letter after the numbers it's got Clears: http://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_article_numbers

It's hard to beat that price in Europe I think, 104 switches for 55 euro (0.53 each), unless you get from a bulk supplier. Of course you have to desolder the switches yourself, but I think it's worth it.

Also, while you've got them mounted on the Cherry PCB you could open them up and mod them to make them even better

I like to use these silicone balls from IMSTO as trampolines instead of orings (http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=88) and I install 62g springs (http://www.gonskeyboardworks.com/others/120-switch-springs-by-gon.html) in my Clears to turn them in to ErgoClears.

[DuckMyDucky]

Interesting. Living in Europe but outside of EU I'm probably looking at 100 EUR after shipping and taxes, so I guess I will let that pass for now. Has anyone tried installing 62 g springs in brown switches? Does it make sense, or does it only make the actuation point much less noticeable?

How do those silicone balls feel like (totally appropriate sentence)? I'm not a big fan of the o-rings I've tried, make things a bit too mushy for me.

[snipars]

you might like MX clears but i think MX black would be a safer option to spend money on. all personal preference, though

[sethk_]

you might like MX clears but i think MX black would be a safer option to spend money on. all personal preference, though

I would agree. I like clears, ergoclears more, but blacks the best.

[Oobly]

Interesting. Living in Europe but outside of EU I'm probably looking at 100 EUR after shipping and taxes, so I guess I will let that pass for now. Has anyone tried installing 62 g springs in brown switches? Does it make sense, or does it only make the actuation point much less noticeable?

How do those silicone balls feel like (totally appropriate sentence)? I'm not a big fan of the o-rings I've tried, make things a bit too mushy for me.

Browns will feel even less tactile with 62g springs in, so I don't really recommend it. Someone on GH tried with Black springs (TactoBlacks) and the results were not great. I think Browns are fine with stock springs or possibly with some very light springs in (increase in tactility, but very light to press).

I have tried a few different materials and sizes for trampolines and my favourites are about 1.8mm soft oring pieces, but it's hard to make them consistent. The balls do a very good job and they feel a little harder than most orings that I've tried, but they still stop the shock. They also have very little impact on the travel distance, if you press hard you can squish them enough to bottom out the switch.

It's maybe best to just get the board and use it stock for a while before deciding if you want to do mods.

The backlit version comes with inferior caps (thinner ABS). The non-backlit version comes with nice thick PBT caps and still supports backlighting, you just have to solder the LED's themselves in.

[Tiramisuu]

So many ways to go wrong.   Browns are the correct answer,

[Oobly]

Browns are fine. They get a lot of hate for being a bit of a compromise, but they're still nice to type on. And they give a good reference point for choosing your next switch type:

less tactile = Reds (same spring) / Blacks (stronger spring)
more tactile = Clears (stronger spring with different profile) / ErgoClears (similar spring, usually just a hair stronger than Browns)
more noisy = Blues (same spring) / Greens (stronger spring) 

You can look into doing a switch swap later (and possibly some other mods), once you've found a cheap enough source of switches.