Recommend me a gaming keyboard

This is a deep rabbit hole I've climbed down.

Unfortunately I think my promotion money will be going towards a keyboard of the piano type as opposed to a mechanical gaming type.

Most likely I'll wait until I upgrade my whole PC system in about a year and get whatever keyboard seems sweet then.

Oh if you like piano, I bet you will love mechanical boards.

Malor wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:

Hm. Could you recommend something else that would meet my requirements? Have the keyboards I've seen have too much of a "L33T GAMZOR" look to them (I really hate the look of Razer accessories), and the other half look great but don't have a numpad, which is a must.

I haven't found anything modern that I really like. I'm presently using a Model M on my desktop, and I'd buy a Unicomp in a heartbeat if they did N-key rollover, which is the major drawback to those keyboards. (just like the Model M.)

As far as I can tell, a Model M appears to have a service lifetime longer than most humans.

All I can say for sure, in reference to the Das Keyboards, is that I was an early adopter, and I felt badly burned when the second keyboard stopped working correctly. I wish I could remember more specifically what the problem was, but I can definitely say this: I have owned two Das units, and I am now using a Model M.

That's weird. I got my Das Pro as soon as they were released (2008?) and have been using it since.

boogle wrote:

Oh if you like piano, I bet you will love mechanical boards.

Maybe that's why I like mechanical keyboards! I played classical piano up into a bit of college and was really picky with pianos. Steinway for the win!

So my girlfriend decided to give me my Christmas present early.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/produc...
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/produc...

Dear lord, she made great choices. I am very cheap and was looking at some lower grade Razer stuff for a while. The keyboard and mice have a fantastic matte finish on them, and have just the right amount of buttons and customization. I wasn't overwhelmed but more "eased in" to a higher grade of equipment, even though it is serious equipment. The keyboard is pretty quiet but has a good punch feel when you depress the keys, rather than a clacky one.

I'm considering the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Can anyone sway me one way or the other?

PWAlessi wrote:

I'm considering the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Can anyone sway me one way or the other?

I think there's higher quality boards for less money, but maybe not with the exact same features. What draws you to the Razer, specifically?

Thin_J wrote:
PWAlessi wrote:

I'm considering the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Can anyone sway me one way or the other?

I think there's higher quality boards for less money, but maybe not with the exact same features. What draws you to the Razer, specifically?

Nothing specifically. I'd like a mechanical keyboard with USB hub and sound interface (just use regular headset with mic in and headphone out ports). It has to be Mac compatible too, but not a Mac keyboard; a windows keyboard is preferable, it just has to work with OS X too.

Cost isn't an issue as it will be a gift. If you can recommend something else/better, that would be great.

PWAlessi wrote:

I'm considering the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Can anyone sway me one way or the other?

A couple of keys on my original Ultimate version stopped working shortly after the warranty expired. I have no idea how representative that is of build quality, though, for that model or Razer keyboards in general.

I would usually recommend Das keyboards for somewhat higher quality and lower price, but they don't have the macro keys and they changed their manufacturer for the most recent models so I don't know how well the new ones are built.

I was also considering the Logitech G710+. Any thoughts on that one?

PWAlessi wrote:

I'm considering the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Can anyone sway me one way or the other?

Nope. No swaying. I got a Razer Blackwidow Ultimate Stealth pre 2013 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Still loving it after about 7-8 months. No issues with keys found. I actually sold away a brand new CM Storm QuickFire Pro after only a week to get it. Even though they both use the same type of keys (Cherry MX Browns), the quality of the build was much different; the QuickFire Pro keys would squeak.

Falchion wrote:

the QuickFire Pro keys would squeak.

Sounds like maybe you got a lemon. I have a Quickfire Rapid and it's one of the better boards I've used from a build quality standpoint.

Gents:

As I have a Corsair K60 that does not have 100% mechanical keys, I have in my possession exactly 28 surplus red key dampeners that I have no need for.

40A-L
40A (Softer)
0.2mm travel reduction
Red
Sound reduction with minimal change in feel.

If any of you are interested in trying out a few of these before buying a batch, shoot me a message at jollyeskimo at gmail dot com and I'll stuff a few in an envelope.

Thin_J wrote:
Falchion wrote:

the QuickFire Pro keys would squeak.

Sounds like maybe you got a lemon. I have a Quickfire Rapid and it's one of the better boards I've used from a build quality standpoint.

I'm typing on my CMStorm right now. No squeaks anywhere...

Rezzy wrote:
Thin_J wrote:
Falchion wrote:

the QuickFire Pro keys would squeak.

Sounds like maybe you got a lemon. I have a Quickfire Rapid and it's one of the better boards I've used from a build quality standpoint.

I'm typing on my CMStorm right now. No squeaks anywhere...

Actually, in retrospect, I'm going to guess it was only certain keys that squeaked. And if I had to guess, I would wager pretty heavily on it being wider keys that have stabilizers underneath. If those are what was squeaking then...

1. It has absolutely nothing to do with the build quality of the keyboard and every single maker out there will ship one with a wider key that squeaks here and there and...
2. It's something you can actually fix in a couple of minutes with a key puller and a teeny, tiny bit of silicon lube/grease.

So if anybody in here gets a mech keyboard that you otherwise like and it has a couple of squeaky keys you can fix them with just a few minutes of your time and avoid the hassle of returning anything.

I wanted to mention that I found a good technique for keeping mechanical keyboards in good working order. A few months ago, I half spilled some juice or beer on the left side of my keyboard. It was rather annoying because my left shift key in particular tended to stick a bit. So, a couple weeks ago, I took the caps off and washed them in soapy water. I used cotton swabs dipped in isopropyl alcohol to clean in between the switches. Then, if you take a cue tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol and use it to press and depress the problem switches, it does a great job cleaning them. When all was said and done, I sprayed a bit of WD40 in the problem switches to finish things up. Everything works great now!

My technique is quite a bit less, uh, elegant. I take off roughly every other key and all the f-row keys. The I put a little tiny attachment on my shop vac.

You can guess the rest.

Works great though

I have a CM Storm Trigger and absolutely love it. Pretty much just a standard keyboard layout with full backlighting and an integrated wrist rest.

If anybody is still in that group that likes MX Blue switches, but wants something a fair bit stiffer with a little more solid rebound (akin to the old IBM buckling spring boards...) then Coolermaster may have something available very soon to suit you.

Cherry introduced a new green switch that is basically just like the blues as far as the tactile bump and the clicky sound, but is much more aligned with those old IBM boards as far as pressure and switch rebound strength.

Coolermaster has multiple boards coming that will include the switch. There should be models for the CMStorm Trigger and the Quickfire Stealth. The Stealth with greens is model #SGK-4000-GKCG2. I couldn't find a model for the Trigger yet, so I'd assume it's a bit farther out as far as availability.

Supposedly there will be a Quickfire TK with the greens too. I haven't seen anything about any other known manufacturers releasing boards with these in them, so it might be worth eyeballing Coolermaster occasionally if that's a thing you're interested in.

If the click and the instant of actuation happen at the same time, I'd be very interested.

What I really, desperately wish for, at the moment, would be for Unicomp to do N-key rollover circuitry.

Bringing this thread back from the dead instead of creating a new one.

My beloved Microsoft Sculpt seems like it may be on its last legs. I'd love to make the move to a gaming keyboard (pretty lights! mechanical keys!) but as far as I can tell none of them support negative tilt out of the box. Does such a beast exist? I'd even settle for a non-mechanical one.

I know there are keyboard trays out there that will do it but my current desk setup wouldn't support any that have to be attached to the desk itself.

ETA: After reading up on mechanical keyboards I think I'm going to give a tenkeyless model a try. Anyone have experience with the CM Storm Quickfires?

The whole CM Storm line of keyboards are pretty fine entry level mech keyboards. It seems like a pretty reasonable choice for you, since I don't know of any gaming keyboards that have any consideration paid to negative tilt at all. If you still really value ergonomics and want to join the mechanical club, Kinesis is probably your best bet. (I love my mech keyboards, but I haven't liked any of the gaming focused keyboards I've owned. After all, the most important thing is that the typing feels good. The color of the backlight and the number of programmable macro keys does next to nothing for me.)

CM Storms are decent boards, I have one at home.

The Kinesis Advantage boards take some retraining to learn where the new keys are; if you're a touch typist, it's two or three kinda painful days until your brain readjusts to the new layout. (if you're not a touch typist, the Advantage might be pretty hard to type on.) But once you get past that part, they're wonderfully comfortable, very fast, and I felt they improved my accuracy a good deal.

But then there's another downside: I had dismal luck with reliability. I loved them so much that I replaced my original one twice, but when the third one died too, I gave up on Kinesis.

I had a Kinesis before the Sculpt and just couldn't get used to it.

While I had every intention of getting a CM Storm I was in Staples today to get printer ink and they had an open box Logitech g410 for $70. While readjusting to a non-split keyboard is gonna take a day or so I like the feel of the keys themselves in the hour or so I've used it. It has features I'll probably never use (Arx Control? Say what now?) but I like how I can set up all sorts of keyboard backlight profiles for it. It has also made me realize how much I missed the sound of clicky keys.

Spilled water on my Leopold and it died

Was doing some browsing and am going to go with the Das 4 Pro. I didn't get a Das last time because it was glossy and glossy electronics are the worst. But this new version is aluminum and looks slick. And I'll actually find the sleep and audio rocker useful.

MX Blue 4 lyfe!

I'm quite fond of the K70, which uses Reds. I like clicky keyboards, but I like them where the click actually has a function, like with the buckling spring keyboards. The superfluous click from the MX clicky versions isn't at the point of actuation, so I've avoided them... a cosmetic click that's not even in the right place seems kinda pointless.

(edit: removed desire for N-key rollover Model M.... I've said it recently, no point in repeating.)

Picked up my first mechanical keyboard, the Corsair Strafe RGB MX Silent. Which Best Buy has on sale for 85 right now. The silent (even less clicky reds) was a selling point for me as my wife shares my gaming space and hates clicky keys.

Too early to form much of an opinion but the colors sure are purdy.

So my trusty MS Ergo 4000 is crapping out, with the Q and V keys now gone. That's a problem for a bunch of reasons, so I guess I'm in the market for a new keyboard.

I don't think I care so much about split key these days. Mechanical seems like it'd be nice, but I'm not 100% sold on that either, necessarily, and I definitely don't have a strong preference about the particular color of switches. A light up keyboard would be pretty, I suppose, unless I can download schematics for each game, I won't use it, cuz I won't get around to setting up the colors. Price is a factor, since I'm also in the market for a replacement for my crapping-out mouse.

What's out there that I should be looking at? I haven't gone keyboard shopping in forever.