Hello!

[cTek]

Hello,

cTek is what I go by, and I've recently been interested in keyboards. Why? I'm going to be honest I have no idea, but everything about them is intriguing. I'm not very "tech"-savy I guess you could say. I've recently been looking into buying a mechanical keyboard but 90% of them are very expensive and from some videos on youtube, you can buy a $5-20 dollar older keyboard and get literally the same effect without having to spend $100 on something that glows and talks to you.

Willing to browse around and throw my two-sense in, really looking for overall more information on what I'm looking for because I feel like I'm in a very broad situation & need help narrowing my search.

Thanks for the welcomes ahead of time!


P.S: I'm not using this for any sort of crazy gaming, this is more for personal satisfaction & learning more than anything.

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

I wouldn't really know where to start.

Do you want to build a keyboard?  Or buy one ready made?

Are you interested in cheap but reliable older (some might say "vintage") keyboards?  Or a newer keyboard?

Something with a standard layout?  Or a bit more exotic?

A full size keyboard?  A TKL keyboard (with the numpad)?  Or a 60% keyboard, perhaps, without function keys or a numpad?  Or even a 40% (which omits the number keys too)?

There are so many choices.

Depending on where you are, something like a non-backlit US ANSI TKL keyboard with Cherry MX switches would probably be a good place to start with a minimal modern keyboard.

If you want something a bit older, you could look for a Model M (or an SSK, which is the TKL version albeit usually somewhat more expensive), or perhaps something with Alps switches.

Either way keyboards are available for under $100.  The CoolerMaster QFR, for example, is often $80 or so, and a reasonable Model M can be had for about the same (but might need a little work to clean it up, and they almost always clean up very well).