Recommend me a Mech Keyboard

[WinJunkie]

Hi,

I'm looking for a recommendation on a keyboard.

I have a ducky shine 3 with mx brown atm but there is something about it which i don't like. It feels slower to type on and requires more effort and is pretty loud? Maybe I'm always bottoming out i don't knoe.

I used a Lenovo desktop keyboard at school today, I have no idea about the model or age (thinking maybe 2015) but it just felt easier and quicker to type on.

I also used to love the ibm keyboard from my 286.

Anyway hopefully someone can suggest a better keyboard with hopefully backlight.

Thanks

 

[DigDog]

Oh dear ..

Well since you mentioned it, Unicomp makes IBM M clones; those are always a good choice but the switch isnt ideal if you play high-skill games.

MX Browns should be silent. I like MX Clears quite a lot which is the same switch with a different spring. Not very different from what you have now.

What will you be using it for? General pc work?
Frankly there are .. not many easily accessible options besides Cherry MX on the market. There's cherry, topre, matias, a TON of pseudo-cherry switches, all quite expensive.. lately the go-to switch is the Novelkeys Box switch.

I recommend you look at Chyrosran22 on youtube; this should give you a rough idea of what kind of tactility you expect from a switch.

Sorry i dont have a straight up recommendation but the mech switch market is full of tiny nuances, not the easiest thing to explain in writing.

 

[repoman0]

MX browns are extremely light, shouldn't really take any effort at all. They are a lot easier to bottom out than clears. I have two keyboards with clears and greatly prefer them, significantly different feel and easier to touch type without bottoming out. Both switches are pretty loud if you bottom them out but quiet if you just push the key down to the engagement point (imo how they are supposed to be used)

 

[WinJunkie]

I do game mostly CS Go but I'm not really a gamer anymore.

It's more for the typing and typing for extended hours.

I'll check out the recommendations

 

[daveybrat]

I love my Logitech G710 keyboard but i'll admit that it's a little loud, very similar sounding to the old IBM keyboards. But extremely responsive for typing and gaming.

 

[WinJunkie]

I might look into that. I had the g510 v2 membrane.

I like the ducky brown better for typing but miss the hotkeys. I think this time around I want a tkl.

The mechanical blue seems nice but a bit worried about the sound.

What would be the closest to blue but more quiet?

 

[DigDog]

You can buy a tkl with blue clones on Amazon for about $30 shipped, then dampen it with $2 worth of o-rings.

Blues will never be "quiet", there is a loose click jacket in the switch that cannot be dampened.

I have one of these and tbh it's not bad at all.
Cherry MX Green are widely reputed as superior to blues, but they are in another ballpark, $130 or so.

 

[kritisharma]

There are lots of options available in the market for the mechanical keyboard. For example,

• Razer Huntsman Elite.
• Cooler Master MasterSet MS120.
• Corsair K63 Wireless
• Corsair K95 RGB Platinum

 

[WinJunkie]

Is there any that have replaceable switches?

Or does the cost of them not justify it?

Do you guys not bottom out when using brown keys? I find it's nearly impossible to type without bottoming out?

The first and last recommended keyboards prices are crazy. I can't justify that just for a mech keyboard. The other two look ok leaning towards the k63 atm

 

[repoman0]

Do you guys not bottom out when using brown keys? I find it's nearly impossible to type without bottoming out?

I agree with you here ... this is why I prefer the clears.

 

[WinJunkie]

I agree with you here ... this is why I prefer the clears.

I don't have my keyboard switcher with me atm so i just installed an oring under one of the arrow keys. Seems to give the browns a nice feeling since it doesn't bottom out hard anymore.

Need more testing and a new keyb soon though because a few of the key lights stay on, maybe from the day i spilt coke onto it.

 

[jhansman]

Hi,

I'm looking for a recommendation on a keyboard.

I have a ducky shine 3 with mx brown atm but there is something about it which i don't like. It feels slower to type on and requires more effort and is pretty loud? Maybe I'm always bottoming out i don't knoe.

I used a Lenovo desktop keyboard at school today, I have no idea about the model or age (thinking maybe 2015) but it just felt easier and quicker to type on.

I also used to love the ibm keyboard from my 286.

Anyway hopefully someone can suggest a better keyboard with hopefully backlight.

Thanks

I use the Rosewill RK-9100, which I absolutely love but is no longer made; it appears to have been replaced with the RK-9200BL Helios, which uses Cherry black switches and is backlit (https://www.rosewill.com/product/ro...nical-keyboard-with-cherry-mx-black-switches/). I can tell you the 9100 is an excellent product, and were it still available, I'd buy another as a backup in a heartbeat. I hear you on the IBM keyboards from the DOS era; those were among the best mechanical ones then available, along with Northgate's 101 units. I'm a touch typist and refuse to use those garbage "mushboards" supplied with desktop computers sold today; Dell, Lenovo, etc. may just as well not include one at all. Good luck.

P.S. One thought (if it hasn't been brought up here already)—make sure whatever you get, it has at least a couple of USB ports so you can use a wireless mouse and/or a flash drive with it. Doesn't have to be USB 3.0, but that never hurts either.

 

[WinJunkie]

Yeah I wish the ducky had usb ports, I always seem to run out of ports and I don't really like hubs at least the ones I have like the 3.1 hub with the damn tiny usb c cable. I find myself using thr built in monitor usb 2.0 ports more for quick convenience.


Anyone know do machanical keys wear out? I can hardly feel the tactical bump on my browns, or maybe it's always been like that and just noticed now.

 

[DigDog]

No, the bumps dont wear out - they were never particularly noticeable in the first place.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I bought some Gamdias Hermes mech keyboards, they have their "Blue clone" keys, and "rainbow" backlighting. 11 different "chase" patterns. It was pretty flashy, and gee-whiz cool, I guess. Plus, the typing on the Blue switches was great, I haven't had a mech. keyboard in a long time (cables on my IBM M13s broke), and these were great.

Unfortunately, they didn't last. Something, maybe a windows update, maybe the power-off / power-on, along with the USB3.0 hub I was using, was too much for it, or it got some malware that screwed up the firmware? I don't know. One just "died". The other one, I spilled some soda on it (dumb me). So that one was basically "dead" too.

I liked them, personally, even if one of my older male friends gave me a ribbing about the looks of the thing (rainbows and all, whatever). Typing was great. They were only like $30 on sale too, but they don't appear to still be available.

This might be that one. Wouldn't spend $80 for it though. $30 was a sweet price. Must have been clearing them out.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA57179A4054&cm_re=gamdias-_-23-225-021-_-Product

 

[WinJunkie]

I put some o rings on the ducky shine 3 brown and it feels alot better for me. I've had it since it came out, a few years now. I have to say the thing is well built like a tank and even survived a coke spill. But some of the led lights stay on now, dont know if it was the spill because from what i read this is a common problem for many of the ducky series.

I'm really considering the Hyperx Alloy FPS, any opinions on that? Comes with blue keys but i think you can also get browns? I think I might go blue anyway this time around seem to be the most IBM like and also gamers seem to love this keyb. But i was really wanting a TKL as full size keyb gets in the way of my casual CS Go gaming. Still priority 1 is typing comfort.

 

[DigDog]

I have the vague notion that HyperX is a well respected eSports brand.

.. it's really the switch you're looking at, as most mechs tend to have high build quality,regardless of brand.

 

[Campy]

"HyperX Alloy FPS Pro" is the TKL version. They should be available with red/blue switches. Regular version has brown option too. I haven't tried them myself but I know lots of pros use them so they should work well for csgo.

 

[WinJunkie]

I knew about the elite but not pro tkl. They seems to be priced well too. Think I'll be picking the pro when sales start

 

[DigDog]

I would strongly advise against using blue cherry for gaming - they have a very real disadvantage that you *will* feel ingame.

I mean, you can still win and 360nosc0pe noobs, but they are not suitable to high skill play.

Browns (and even better Clears) are much better for gaming.

The reason is that you can keep your finger on the key, partially pressed, just on the bump before the activation.

You would imagine that a switch like Razer Green is better, because it actuates higher up. Actually, the grip you get on the keyboard as a whole, from digging your fingers inside the switch, is very important.

Look .. without fault, as soon as you buy a mech keyboard, you will want another. As soon as your brain interfaces with the switch, you start thinking "hmm ... what if this switch instead behaved THIS WAY" and you start digging on youtube for switch reviews.

I dont have much experience; ive tried rubber domes, cherry clear, gateron blue, and topre (and buckling spring, and dome with slider, many years ago, and probably alps clones too) and imho for gaming, Cherry MX Clear is the best of this group.

 

[capsulej]

IBM Model M, useing it this very moment. cant go wrong.