Looking for a smaller keyboard.

[Sock]

Hey everyone hope your day is going well, I am here in search for a new keyboard. Here is a little info what I currently have and why I'm looking for a smaller one.

Current have: Corsair K70 RGB Cherry Red switches.

Great all round keyboard never had any trouble with it, however I have gotten to a stage where I longer need a number pad, and would rather a smaller keyboard for the value of more room.
There are a few things I am very certain on having when ordering a new keyboard, and that is it needs to have a multi media keys somewhere so I can adjust volume and songs etc. Backing lighting on the board is a big thing for me to. It needs to be UK layout as I tried other layouts and I cant get along with them. Preferably Cherry switches. Lastly It needs to be delivered to the Uk.

I am open to all suggestions you guys may give, as I know you guys have a wider range of knowledge on keyboards then me, and I look forward to the suggestion you give.

Sock

[SKD]

I do love my CM Storm Rapid-I at the moment. Has all the features you're after. But UK being UK you probably will only find it with cherry brown switches. I personally wanted one with cherry reds but I could not find one anywhere. I'm in the process of modding mine from brown switches to gateron reds, as people says gateron reds are smoother than cherry reds.

[Sock]

Never used or even tried brown switches, any idea what they are like for normal use and gaming? Also does the Cm storm Rapid fire come with backlit options?

[suicidal_orange]

Browns are the same weight as reds but they have a little tactile bump, some people like them for gaming but as with everything keyboard related it's a personal preference.

There are some backlit Ducky TKLs on Overclockers, no idea if the prices are any good but you can see if you like the look of them.

[SKD]

Never used or even tried brown switches, any idea what they are like for normal use and gaming? Also does the Cm storm Rapid fire come with backlit options?

Like suicide orange said there's just that bump in the browns. But I find when I press the brown switch quickly you don't really feel the bump as much and it almost feels linear. And yes the rapid i has backlit options, 4 modes. It also has 4 programmable profiles where you can customise which key is lit which I find useful when gaming where I only have keys lit that I use. But you can only change the brightness and not modes like breathing or reactive modes within each profile.

[Sock]

Everyone seems to like the Rapid a lot on this forum it seems. Browns for sure sound good and so does the Rapid. It ticks most my boxes but how is it for multi media keys? volume etc? I'd like to invest some time in personalizing it a bit to make it feel more like mine, like changing the caps and changing the cable to a bright braided cable too ( if that's even possible on the CM Rapid)

[rowdy]

I like my CODE keyboard, which is available in UK ISO (although out of stock atm).

http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/code-keyboard/code-88-key-uk-mechanical-keyboard.html

[Sock]

This seems to have everything I want man thanks for the suggestion man. Any downsides to it? you changed anything on yours? I wanna seeeeee

[SKD]

Everyone seems to like the Rapid a lot on this forum it seems. Browns for sure sound good and so does the Rapid. It ticks most my boxes but how is it for multi media keys? volume etc? I'd like to invest some time in personalizing it a bit to make it feel more like mine, like changing the caps and changing the cable to a bright braided cable too ( if that's even possible on the CM Rapid)

The rapid does majority of the things the CODE minus a few, plus it's available in the UK (brown switches only that I can find). Remember you (probably) need to add a customs charge on top if you imported the CODE to UK.

Cable wise it uses a micro USB connection, so you can change it to whatever you like. Here's mine with a purple cable I made. I've changed the caps out to some PBT caps for now, I have a set of front printed cherry profile keys in the post too.

[Purp]

Have you ever thought about going 60%? The Poker is a very good option since it has media controls and there's an ISO version, not to mention that you can add backlighting if you don't find a LED version out there. Also make sure to check the Classified threads and Reddit as well, because many people ship worldwide without too much hassle.

[Sock]

@SKD
Import charges might have gone up in price with all this Brexit crap to right? Making the CM Rapid a better option. Super clean board and cable though dude, how did you even learn to make that cable. I know there is sites out there that you can ask for custom orders, like Pexon.

@Purp
You see I'd really love to get into 60% as they look super nice not to mention the amount of mods you can do on them, like you said LED's and stuff. What is your experiences like with the Poker keyboards any downsides. Do you have one? I did see them on Massdrop not to long ago and was so close to buying one, but I was unsure as I haven't done any looking round into them size boards.   

[SKD]

@SKD
Import charges might have gone up in price with all this Brexit crap to right? Making the CM Rapid a better option. Super clean board and cable though dude, how did you even learn to make that cable. I know there is sites out there that you can ask for custom orders, like Pexon.

@Purp
You see I'd really love to get into 60% as they look super nice not to mention the amount of mods you can do on them, like you said LED's and stuff. What is your experiences like with the Poker keyboards any downsides. Do you have one? I did see them on Massdrop not to long ago and was so close to buying one, but I was unsure as I haven't done any looking round into them size boards.

Everything you import will be more than it used to be, as the pound is dropping. But if you add up the difference to when the pound was higher it really isn't that much. Depends how you look at it. And thanks man, making coiled cables isn't actually that hard  . I'm in the process of stocking up materials and opening a basic website for people to order. But check out skdcables on instagram for stuff I've made so far (sorry for the plug ).

I was going to buy a poker for my first 60% but I ended up with a Satan pcb instead (a second in the post). The deal breaker was I wanted to have my own custom layouts, plus the Satan supported LED's. I can't say much about how nice the pokers are though as I've never had one. But my current 60% is in a pok3r case, which is a nice bit of metal so there's that lol.

[Purp]

@SKD
Import charges might have gone up in price with all this Brexit crap to right? Making the CM Rapid a better option. Super clean board and cable though dude, how did you even learn to make that cable. I know there is sites out there that you can ask for custom orders, like Pexon.

@Purp
You see I'd really love to get into 60% as they look super nice not to mention the amount of mods you can do on them, like you said LED's and stuff. What is your experiences like with the Poker keyboards any downsides. Do you have one? I did see them on Massdrop not to long ago and was so close to buying one, but I was unsure as I haven't done any looking round into them size boards.

I have a B.Face X2 which is a korean custom 60% keyboard. Long story short it performs similarly to the Poker so I can reply to you as if I actually had one. The form factor is perfect for me and I believe that everyone should give the 60% size a try. Your hands stay closer when compared to a TKL/100% board, and it's very confortable to use. Typing on it feels fantastic and I perform all of the the necessary keyboard functions without any hassle. The "CAPS LOCK" is rebinded to "FUNCTION" so I can quickly hold it or tap with my my pinky. For example, if I want to quickly navigate through a text I simply hold the "CAPS LOCK" key with my left pinky and use my left index finger to hit "T" to perform "HOME". If I press "G" then it registers as "END" and so on. If I wanna lock my bottom right modifiers so they act like arrows, all I gotta do is press "CAPS LOCK" and "ENTER" and then my right shift becomes "UP", right "CONTROL" becomes "RIGHT", "MENU" becomes "DOWN" and "WIN" becomes "LEFT". If I want to actually "CAPS LOCK" my keyboard, then I have to press "FUNCTION" and "TAB" at the same time, and there we go, you're on "CAPS LOCK" mode. This was achieved after some coding but the guides are very straight forward and ridiculously easy to follow, I have no coding knowledge at all - so I guarantee that even a potato can do it. Seriously. There are many other macros set on my keyboard and I love it, it performs quickly and it's awesome to game on. With a Poker, you have DIP switches underneath it and depending on the combination that you set, the keyboard will perform different things when certain keys are pressed. I hope this gives you a general idea, overall the Poker is extremely versatile and you can do practically whatever you want with it. The only actual downside is the lack of a number pad, so if you work with data entry, sheets and stuff like that you should consider getting a standalone number pad as well.