Which mechanical keyboard should i buy?

Logitech G710+'s are often on sale. I've been happy with mine. I've got the brown version, and it's $78 at Amazon right now.

I like the cooler master quickfire boards just fine.
Remember to invest in hella dope keycaps.

MannishBoy wrote:

Logitech G710+'s are often on sale. I've been happy with mine. I've got the brown version, and it's $78 at Amazon right now.

I have the G410, which is Logitech's tenkeyless mechanical board, and I love it.

I prefer MX switches for my work keyboards (still love my CODE keyboard with the MX Clears) but the Romer-G switches with their shorter travel to actuate are nice for a gaming keyboard, where my keystrokes are syncopated and reactionary rather than the smooth flow of typing out phrases of words or code.

MannishBoy wrote:

Logitech G710+'s are often on sale. I've been happy with mine. I've got the brown version, and it's $78 at Amazon right now.

That is a really good price for that keyboard.

I've been using mine for a few years now and am also quite happy with it.

I can tell you which keyboard *not* to get. Stay away from the Razer Black Widow. I have had key switches fail on those things three times, so I basically gave up on warranty replacements. The last one I got (which I'm currently using) has a fault in the 6 key that causes it to sometimes repeat.

Hey, anyone know anything about the QPAD keyboards? I hear they are good. Superior craftmanship, fun for the whole family, and economical!

BadKen wrote:

I can tell you which keyboard *not* to get. Stay away from the Razer Black Widow. I have had key switches fail on those things three times, so I basically gave up on warranty replacements. The last one I got (which I'm currently using) has a fault in the 6 key that causes it to sometimes repeat.

I have one of these. One time the 5 key stop working on the Number pad. Turns out it was the Razer software. I uninstalled that and the key works again. No issues since.

I've had a Corsair mechanical keyboard for a couple years. I love it, and I've not had any problems with it.

instead of the terrible red that's $40 cheaper.

I have the terrible red version (the only one that existed when I bought it), and you can disable the light. It's a bad color, but you don't have to deal with it.

As a touch-typist, I personally find the RGB keyboard stuff rather pointless. I don't look at the keyboard, except to position my hands when I first sit down -- and not always then.

The Ducky Zeros are supposed to be good, as well. I had a problem, however, using one with my last motherboard; the BIOS didn't like it, and I ended it returning it for this K70. I like the 70 a lot. It's very comfortable, and the Red keycaps it comes with have no superfluous click. I don't mind a functional click, like with the Model M, but an unnecessary click just seems silly. The actuation point is near the top of the keystroke, so there's not a lot of reason for a click to begin with.

If you really want a click, you want Blues or Greens. (edit: not Clears, I got confused, sorry.) I believe you can get the Zero in any color that Cherry makes. I think it's about $85.

I just looked around on some auction sites for IBM Model M keyboards. There's probably a business in refurbishing those things and selling them to gaming hipsters. (And I don't count as a hipster if I've been using the keyboard for 20 years.)

deftly wrote:

I just looked around on some auction sites for IBM Model M keyboards. There's probably a business in refurbishing those things and selling them to gaming hipsters. (And I don't count as a hipster if I've been using the keyboard for 20 years.)

There's a business still making them!

misplacedbravado wrote:
deftly wrote:

I just looked around on some auction sites for IBM Model M keyboards. There's probably a business in refurbishing those things and selling them to gaming hipsters. (And I don't count as a hipster if I've been using the keyboard for 20 years.)

There's a business still making them!

Hey made in Kentucky.

Stele wrote:
misplacedbravado wrote:
deftly wrote:

I just looked around on some auction sites for IBM Model M keyboards. There's probably a business in refurbishing those things and selling them to gaming hipsters. (And I don't count as a hipster if I've been using the keyboard for 20 years.)

There's a business still making them!

Hey made in Kentucky.

They are really good. I had one for 10 or so years before a tragic accident involving a child, some sticky something, general laziness, and a desire for a change made me get a Das Keyboard to replace it. But Unicomp makes good stuff. I loved the buckling springs even more than I like my current Browns.

deftly wrote:

There's probably a business in refurbishing those things

There is, indeed.

The problem with the Unicomps is that they're 2-key rollover. Fine for typing, but very bad for games that require accurate multiple key detection.

*Legion* wrote:
deftly wrote:

There's probably a business in refurbishing those things

There is, indeed.

Nice.

Malor wrote:

The problem with the Unicomps is that they're 2-key rollover. Fine for typing, but very bad for games that require accurate multiple key detection.

Yep, exactly why I haven't bought one of them.

Malor wrote:

The problem with the Unicomps is that they're 2-key rollover. Fine for typing, but very bad for games that require accurate multiple key detection.

2-key rollover? Damn that is pretty bad. What year is it?

They're an exact duplicate of the Model M, including the electronics.

It surprised me very much to find out that even the USB version is doing the same thing.

There's probably some jackass out there who would complain if they added more than two key rollover.

I think it's just a matter of costs; I get the impression that Unicomp is barely staying in business.

MPOW 84 key is on sale for $27.

MPOW keyboard.

Anyone have any experience with this brand? I'm looking at a new keyboard, but wondering if I will end up missing the numpad for daily activities too much.

This is according to Bens Bargains.

Ben's Bargain's link

That keyboard is the Easterntimes Tech I-500. It sells under a few brandings, including Mpow and Tomoko, and I think maybe one or two others.

I have the Tomoko branded one. It's pretty good, certainly worth the ~$30. The switches are solid for Cherry knock-offs, and they have no problem taking Cherry-compatible keycaps. I used this as my gaming machine's keyboard for a while until I got the Logitech G410, now it's my go-to spare keyboard.

"Blue" switches mean it's a loud little bastard, which really is the only reason I demoted it to spare duty, as I've been playing more later evening games and my office is in earshot of the bedroom. It was my primary gaming keyboard for months though.

No ghosting or any other faults even hinted at in my months of use.

but wondering if I will end up missing the numpad for daily activities too much.

You won't. Numpads are just wasted desk space. 87-key layout is a feature.

*Legion* wrote:
but wondering if I will end up missing the numpad for daily activities too much.

You won't. Numpads are just wasted desk space.

I think that if you are asking the question, you probably will miss the numpad.

*Legion* wrote:

That keyboard is the Easterntimes Tech I-500. It sells under a few brandings, including Mpow and Tomoko, and I think maybe one or two others.

I have the Tomoko branded one. It's pretty good, certainly worth the ~$30. The switches are solid for Cherry knock-offs, and they have no problem taking Cherry-compatible keycaps. I used this as my gaming machine's keyboard for a while until I got the Logitech G410, now it's my go-to spare keyboard.

"Blue" switches mean it's a loud little bastard, which really is the only reason I demoted it to spare duty, as I've been playing more later evening games and my office is in earshot of the bedroom. It was my primary gaming keyboard for months though.

No ghosting or any other faults even hinted at in my months of use.

but wondering if I will end up missing the numpad for daily activities too much.

You won't. Numpads are just wasted desk space. 87-key layout is a feature.

I had to put O-rings at my Tomoko blue at work. Not only were they super, headache-inducing, loud but the shock from the impact actually hurt my fingers after extended typing. The O-rings took the sounds to acceptable levels and it no longer hurts. That being said if they made a Cherry brown knockoff I would rather have that.

Also, I ended up having to buy a wireless numpad at work. Using the top row is too slow for me when having to punch in tons of digits.

At home I use cherry reds and browns.

EvilDead wrote:

Also, I ended up having to buy a wireless numpad at work. Using the top row is too slow for me when having to punch in tons of digits.

Exactly. I work at home on my desktop a lot, and I do a lot of spreadsheet work. No way would I give up my number pad. I could use my work laptop, but the desktop has the full sized keyboard with number pad, which makes me so much faster.

On the opposite side, I have a Pok3r that is without both the numpad and the arrow keys and I like it better.

After a bit of getting used to it i actually find using the arrow keys to be faster now since I don't have to remove my hands from the homerow to hit them. Can't compete with speed of the numpad, but I just don't enter that many numbers at home anyway.

If anyone is interested in an even more compact option I really like the Magicforce 68 key board I use for my spare/server PC.

Thin_J wrote:

If anyone is interested in an even more compact option I really like the Magicforce 68 key board I use for my spare/server PC.

Mine is similar: https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop...

Thanks for all the input. I decided to hold off for a bit. I'm getting a new wireless set up directly from work that is standard issue. I think the bigger issue would be the sound as gaming is done down the hallway from sleeping family and I wouldn't want to wake them. I will probably wait for a killer deal on the Logitech full keyboard or something similar, that gives a little bit of a quieter click.

Yoreel wrote:

Thanks for all the input. I decided to hold off for a bit. I'm getting a new wireless set up directly from work that is standard issue. I think the bigger issue would be the sound as gaming is done down the hallway from sleeping family and I wouldn't want to wake them. I will probably wait for a killer deal on the Logitech full keyboard or something similar, that gives a little bit of a quieter click.

Definitely don't get blues then. The Logitech 710+ has browns with O-rings pre-installed so it is quiet for a mechanical.

Pro-tip: O-ring impact/sound dampeners can be ordered for dirt cheap off ebay but you got to plan in advance since they ship from China (3-4 weeks). I bought a couple sets just in case I decide to get another keyboard in the future.