Which mechanical keyboard should i buy?

Skiptron wrote:

I've got a Microcenter near me, but their keyboard aisle is basically just a wall of razor boards with Cherry Red's. I think a Ducky or leopold may be a good place to start my hunt. I've got a Razor BlackWidow (?) with Red's right now, and the clacking is finally getting to me. I'll check out my local CL as well.

Thanks for all the recommendations, I appreciate the help.

Razer doesn't use Cherry switches and hasn't in something like two or three years, so they don't have a wall of Razer red switch boards. Corsair on the other hand, stubbornly puts reds in everything and offer no alternatives in most of their model lineup. It's dumb.

All Razer switches last I looked were sourced from Kailh, who makes cheaper less quality controlled copies of Cherry Switch designs. They're colored differently and have slightly different actuation points, but are functionally very similar.

Razer's Green switches are roughly equivalent to Cherry Blue. They have a tactile bump partway through the keypress and have the extra clicky noise.

Orange switches are close to Cherry Brown (tactile bump, no extra click), and yellow switches are roughly equivalent to Red switches (linear, no tactile bump, no click).

The yellows (or cherry reds) work fine for gaming but can be hard for some to type on because of the low actuation force and lack of tactile feedback. Brown switches (Or razer's orange) are the better all around.

Only get Green (cherry blue) if you love love love constant and loud clicky clacky noise.

Thin_J wrote:

Only get Green (cherry blue) if you love love love constant and loud clicky clacky noise.

you rang

but their keyboard aisle

In my Microcenter, there's actually two keyboard areas. The main area has more normal ones, and then the gaming area had a monster selection of a zillion different types. I haven't been there quite awhile (long drive), and they're not all the same, but if your store has a gaming section, be sure to check there.

Of course, the fact that the keyboards are Cherry Reds may mean that you're looking in the gamer area already.

I've got a Razor BlackWidow (?) with Red's right now,

Oh, I didn't realize you already had a mech. That kinda changes things, because the Reds are some of the quietest Cherry mechanisms. Clears might be a little quieter (though not by much) because they don't bottom as hard (more spring strength), but other than that, you'd probably either want to mod your board with O-rings, or switch to a different key type.

The only quality switch that I know is quieter than a Red would be Topre, but I really only know those, Reds and Blacks, and buckling springs. There could be many other options that I'm just not familiar with.

If you want to go real deep you can find activation force curves online for different switch types.

Linear switches are for plebs.

I've got a Razor BlackWidow (?) with Red's right now,

Oh, I didn't realize you already had a mech. That kinda changes things, because the Reds are some of the quietest Cherry mechanisms. Clears might be a little quieter (though not by much) because they don't bottom as hard (more spring strength), but other than that, you'd probably either want to mod your board with O-rings, or switch to a different key type.

The only quality switch that I know is quieter than a Red would be Topre, but I really only know those, Reds and Blacks, and buckling springs. There could be many other options that I'm just not familiar with.
[/quote]

I think the problem is that I type like a gorilla, I'd love to say it's my epic finger strength, but I might just be a terrible typist. So I really like the tactile feel of the actuation point of this keyboard, but I hate how loud I am with it. I think a topre board may be my next stop. Surely somewhere out there is a gaming keyboard fit for me.

Well, Topres feel a lot different than a Cherry.... a Red activates right at the top of the keystroke (like 1mm down), and hardly any of the rest of it matters. A Topre needs more push, feels a bit mushier, and activates at the bottom of the stroke, right when the key bottoms out. This means it's a little slower to respond; I think of them as more typing-oriented and less gaming-oriented.

I actually prefer Reds, overall. But Topres feel good, albeit quite a bit different, and are very quiet. I think of their strong points as being noise level, reliability, and comfort for production typing. I think Reds are crisper, faster, and generally feel better, but are a LOT louder... and Reds are among the quietest mechanisms Cherry makes.

Maybe a set of O-rings might work better for you?

This could be true, now off to explore the world of O-rings

I had a bad time with a keyboard with red switches after I put O-rings on it. It made it feel really weird and I never did get quite used to typing on it after I put them on.

Others put'em on and love it though. And it's so cheap to try it's definitely worth a shot.

I do really like having the smaller o-rings on brown switches though. Those only get quieter and still felt great to me.

If you don't get sherbert looking key caps then you are a buster.
work
home

boogle wrote:

work

So professional!

Haha I'll settle for a keyboard that doesn't sound like I'm fighting Nazis from my bunker.

See, that seems like a selling point for me. Then again, I have a Razer Ornata, which is basically a dome keyboard with a mechanical switch in to give it the mech feel, and that thing is LOUD, but I like it. Since my desk is in the basement, I don't bother anyone.

Speaking of O-rings, what are folks' opinions on using them with Cherry Brown switches? I got one of those switch testers from WASD and it came with red and blue rings to try out. I can clearly tell a difference on the blue switch, the keycap isn't hitting so the only noise comes from the actual click of the switch, but for the brown switch I couldn't really tell as much of a difference unless I used the blue ring. I like my keyboard (Das Professional 4) as is, but I'm wondering if even red rings would be useful for noise abatement and less strain on my fingers (which I think people here said they're good for).

O-rings on Brown switches is what I used before switching to Clears (and Romer-G's).

I definitely preferred using the O-rings because I bottomed the Brown switches out, but ultimately I found both the stiffer switches in the Clears and the shorter actuation point on the Romer-G's to be better permanent solutions to the problem, so that's the direction I went once my keyboard with the Browns started wearing out.

I have a Das Ultimate with Browns, was strongly considering getting the Logitech something something that had browns with o-rings (pretty aggressive ones). I didn't like them, but I really liked the crisp feeling of the switches and o-rings took a lot out of it (I bottom out quite a bit and I didn't like the dull thud o-rings give).

Well I settled on a Daskeyboard Prime 13 with MX Browns. It's quite enough and I'm slowly adjusting to the different force curve. My only real complaint is that the space bar takes a TON of force to trigger, especially if you hit it on the sides. I feel like I type like a gorilla and I'm still not always hitting it hard enough.

Skiptron, I don't remember the Browns as being particularly quieter than the Reds when I tried them in the store. (admittedly, I wasn't paying much attention to that.) Are you finding them better than what you had?

Yeah, they have more of a quiet thud to them, as opposed to a sharp clack that I had before.

There's SOME options but they're all mostly "enthusiast class" and they're expensive as hell.

Probably closest would be the leopold fc980.

In that case there's this monster.

Requires soldering but you can find assembled kits ranging from $200 - $300 on /r/mechmarket.

SuperHiro wrote:

In that case there's this monster.

Requires soldering but you can find assembled kits ranging from $200 - $300 on /r/mechmarket.

Speaking as someone who bought 2 mechanical keyboard kits on massdrop I can confirm that building your own keyboard is both fun and not as hard as your might imagine. I had no prior soldering experience.

DanB wrote:
SuperHiro wrote:

In that case there's this monster.

Requires soldering but you can find assembled kits ranging from $200 - $300 on /r/mechmarket.

Speaking as someone who bought 2 mechanical keyboard kits on massdrop I can confirm that building your own keyboard is both fun and not as hard as your might imagine. I had no prior soldering experience.

I appreciate enthusiasts of all types who are passionate about their hobby, but I want all of my computer parts to be as plug-n-play as possible. The less time I spend fighting hardware, the more time I have for gaming.

I also don't trust myself to solder things.

Ooh, now I'm in the market for a cheap-ish, not too loud mechanical for work. They gave me a logitech wireless, and I don't love it. I'd rather invest some and get a nice keyboard I can take with me forever, but I don't want to break the bank. Lighting isn't required, and it shouldn't be too noisy. Unfortunately, I don't have a preferred feel, since my at home mechanical is the weird Razer hybrid thing. Thoughts?

Monoprice has decent mechs at a reasonable price.

Anyone know anything about the Mistel Barocco MD600? I was looking for a split keyboard to use with my laptop at home, and this one piqued my interest as a mechanical with Cherry MX switches. Could even take it with me places as a 60% unit. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't seem to have any new units firsthand, which makes me extra nervous about ordering one from another site.

I haven't had personal experience but it has good reviews and such on the r/mk subreddit, if that means anything.

There was a reasonably-priced RGB-backlit model from a third-party seller on Amazon, so I bit on it. I'll let everyone know what I think. Turns out my chair's arm rests are just wide enough for the larger half. This sounds like an amazing setup.

I have a very old Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 v1.0, and I'm looking to replace it with something very similar.

Looking at amazon.co.uk it looks like there isn't a "5000" or whatever, they seem to be making basically the same model still. There's also some off-brand looking model called Perixx.

I really have to have the split keyboard with built in wrist rest. Is there something else cooler, but not twice as expensive that I'm not seeing?

Roo wrote:

I really have to have the split keyboard with built in wrist rest. Is there something else cooler, but not twice as expensive that I'm not seeing?

I'm going to say no.

I used the MS Natural Ergo keyboard for years and I genuinely love it. It is a bit of a beast but it is very comfortable to type on. About 2 years ago I thought I'd look into finding a mechanically switched equivalent. MS don't make one but surely someone else does?

Turns out there were many manufacturers making keyboards of that form factor (or similar) in the 90s several of which were also mechanically switched. And Japanese manufacturers were making similar in to the early 2000s. But they are all long gone and if they appear on ebay they go instantly and for silly amounts. So, for the last 10/15 years MS were the only manufacturer making a split, wrist-supported keyboard (without mechanical switches). Looks like the Perixx has appeared since I last looked.

Looks also like the MS Ergo 4000 and the Perixx board are the only ones in the budget/affordable range. The range of split keyboards only really opens up when you hit the $100 mark and even then few have a wrist support (although several have after market wrist support addons)

If you do decide to save for a fancier keyboard avoid the Truly Ergonomic boards, they review terribly: poorly made and by all accounts very uncomfortable to type on.

I had a similar problem when I searched for a replacement for the Microsoft 4000. I eventually gave up and have gotten used to typing on a normal keyboard. I'll always miss the annoyed/confused look when people came to my desk and needed to use my keyboard.

Does anyone know if the Corsair Strafe ever goes on sale for less than $80-90? That seems to be the best reviewed budget-level mechanical with Brown switches, so I'll probably wind up picking one up at some point.