Looking for the Best Keyboard

By Malek Nyghtson
in Hardware Hangout

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Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

I thank everyone for their replies

I do not really know any thing about mechanical keyboards in fact til I just recently started looking for a new board I did not even know they still made them.

at the risk of sounding like an idiot what are the benefits of using a mechanical board over non- mechanical boards?

I keep finding boards that I like but are not released yet such as the ROCCAT Ryos MK Pro or the steel series Apex I do like the K95 that was mentioned but again another board I will have to wait for

with the razer boards I have seen a few designs I like but with past experience with their mice I am not sure if I wanna risk it with both the black widow and the deathstalker series I have seen stuff I like I am still researching the differences between mechanical and other boards to see if it would be beneficial to me to switch to a mech board.

Wakers, everything I have been reading says to go with red switches why do you say they are bad for typing over long periods?

when I find something like this that I know very little about I tend to research the hell out of it before making a decision am going to be getting the steel series Merc Stealth for my wife (its the one she wants) but I am still torn atm

The main advantage of mechanical keyboards is that you can get some switches which have tactile feedback (browns and blues), meaning you can actually feel when the key has been pressed, much like older mechanical keyboards. Since the key usually strikes halfway through it's travel, you can type faster as you're not trying to bottom out the key every time, you can stop when you get the feedback. The only advantage of the red/black switches is that they're less vague then membrane based keyboards, at the very least you'll feel when they bottom out, also the reds are relatively light switches, making them a bit lighter to type on than your average membrane keyboard.

As my wife put it, it's like the difference between playing the piano, and playing a cheap keyboard. Sure, the end result is the same, but the feel on one is a million times better.

Also, stay away from Razr keyboards, they're known for being garbage. If you want something cheap to try out, Amazon sells the Coolermaster Quickfire Rapid, which is built on the same base as the Filco tenkeyless, but costs about half the price.

Grand Master

Arceles

Posted
Posted

I thank everyone for their replies

I do not really know any thing about mechanical keyboards in fact til I just recently started looking for a new board I did not even know they still made them.

at the risk of sounding like an idiot what are the benefits of using a mechanical board over non- mechanical boards?

I keep finding boards that I like but are not released yet such as the ROCCAT Ryos MK Pro or the steel series Apex I do like the K95 that was mentioned but again another board I will have to wait for

with the razer boards I have seen a few designs I like but with past experience with their mice I am not sure if I wanna risk it with both the black widow and the deathstalker series I have seen stuff I like I am still researching the differences between mechanical and other boards to see if it would be beneficial to me to switch to a mech board.

Wakers, everything I have been reading says to go with red switches why do you say they are bad for typing over long periods?

when I find something like this that I know very little about I tend to research the hell out of it before making a decision am going to be getting the steel series Merc Stealth for my wife (its the one she wants) but I am still torn atm

Is a bit hard to describe... but once you go mechanical, everything else will feel cheap (and I'm not lying, I was a huge laptop keyboard user, I even managed to destroy my old laptop's keyboard by typing a lot in it) mechanical keyboards work by using individual switches in them, each one of them normally has a spring and a metal filament that does contact with another. Most famous switches are the cherry ones, they normally differentiate in color and in tactile and sound feedback. Red switches are nice for gaming, although not so much recommended for writing (to be honest I both enjoy gaming and writing on this red switches), the reason for this is that they don't offer auditive nor tactile feedback (a mechanical switch actuates far before of reaching the end travel of the key) but they require less actuation force (the force that you apply with the finger is so little that with practice your hands "hover" in the keyboard), blue switches are very noisy, so noisy that some wives have forced their husbands to change keyboards (no lie here) BUT they tell you when they key has been pressed and therefore you don't need to apply force anymore, the tactile feedback offers that precisely, when you are pressing down the keys you can feel an small bump that tells you that the key has been successfully actuated... many people like this sensation.

Highly recommended that you go and test one by yourself, they tend to be a bit on the expensive side, but they keys also last far longer than a normal keyboard, is very likely that you wont require another keyboard for a loooooong time.

Collaborator

Ezaura

Posted
Posted

http://www.overclock...-keyboard-guide

Pretty decent guide.

If you bottom them out, yes, if you stop when they click, no.

You essentially develop the habit of bottoming them out anyway, because you get acclimatised to the click feedback.

Veteran

Wakers

Posted
Posted

http://www.overclock...-keyboard-guide

Pretty decent guide.

You essentially develop the habit of bottoming them out anyway, because you get acclimatised to the click feedback.

What? No you don't.

The bottoming out sound should be used to train yourself not to press it all the way down. When you pick that up your typing speed increases exponentially. You know that the click happens before bottoming out, right?

It takes a while to get used to, but it's well worth making the effort.

Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

You essentially develop the habit of bottoming them out anyway, because you get acclimatised to the click feedback.

Should be the other way 'round. They go click - clunk, and you can stop at the click.

For anyone not using a mechanical wondering wtf that means, try tapping the keys on your keyboard. More than likely they'll make a faint clicking noise, and if you do it lightly enough, there's maybe a 70% of a character appearing on the screen. With a mechanical with feedback, you can reliably stop at the click.

Grand Master

AJerman

Posted
Posted

I'm curious how mechanical vs short throw laptop style affects typing speed for those of you who have gone to mechanical keyboards, especially if you have the actual numbers. That's my main concern about mechanical. I love the idea of having an old school clicky keyboard, but I just don't know if it would negatively impact my typing speed.

Grand Master

+LogicalApex MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

After reading a lot about the mechanical keyboard movement I'm going to switch keyboards for the first time in a long time. I'm going to try the Das Professional and see how that goes.

Really, how bad are Cherry MX Blues for gaming?

Grand Master

+Mirumir Subscriber¹

Posted
  • Subscriber¹
Posted

After reading a lot about the mechanical keyboard movement I'm going to switch keyboards for the first time in a long time. I'm going to try the Das Professional and see how that goes.

(Y)

Really, how bad are Cherry MX Blues for gaming?

They are good...granted you have no one around to complain about the "noise" :) like if you game late at night and your wife is sleeping in the same room - only then could it be a problem.

Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

I'm curious how mechanical vs short throw laptop style affects typing speed for those of you who have gone to mechanical keyboards, especially if you have the actual numbers. That's my main concern about mechanical. I love the idea of having an old school clicky keyboard, but I just don't know if it would negatively impact my typing speed.

In theory it would make you faster. The idea is that you can type with a lighter touch and move on to the next key faster.

After reading a lot about the mechanical keyboard movement I'm going to switch keyboards for the first time in a long time. I'm going to try the Das Professional and see how that goes.

Really, how bad are Cherry MX Blues for gaming?

They're not, unless as noted above, you have an issue with noise. People complain about the double tap action on them, but that mostly applies to RTS games and you'd have to have a pretty high APM for that to be a big issue.

Grand Master

Arceles

Posted
Posted

I'm curious how mechanical vs short throw laptop style affects typing speed for those of you who have gone to mechanical keyboards, especially if you have the actual numbers. That's my main concern about mechanical. I love the idea of having an old school clicky keyboard, but I just don't know if it would negatively impact my typing speed.

It's going to feel a bit weird at the beginning, once you get used to it you will note that you require less force to write, plus... as I said before, the sensation of pressing a key is far more gratifying that using any membrane keyboard. (This is a bit of a paradox, there are keyboards that are on the range price of full mechanical keyboards and the only thing they apparently offer is "style" but there is no better keyboard than mechanical ones...)

Community Regular

Muessig

Posted
Posted

I've got the Corsair Vengeance K60 mechanical keyboard and it's hands down the best keyboard I've ever had. Sure it has MC Cherry Red switches but I don't like the clicky sound you get from the blacks and while it might not be to some people's taste (red takes less pressure to activate than blacks or blues I think) it works perfectly for gaming and whoever said that Red switches aren't good for typing a lot I tend to do a lot of typing. So much typing that I broke 2 Microsoft Ergonomic 6000 natural wireless keyboards in a couple of years. The keys wouldn't respond anymore and the text on them were worn off. The K60 has had none of these problems over the past year and still looks/feels as good as the day I got it. Solid construction and just an overall great typing experience, I've found.

Grand Master

Arceles

Posted
Posted

I've got the Corsair Vengeance K60 mechanical keyboard and it's hands down the best keyboard I've ever had. Sure it has MC Cherry Red switches but I don't like the clicky sound you get from the blacks and while it might not be to some people's taste (red takes less pressure to activate than blacks or blues I think) it works perfectly for gaming and whoever said that Red switches aren't good for typing a lot I tend to do a lot of typing. So much typing that I broke 2 Microsoft Ergonomic 6000 natural wireless keyboards in a couple of years. The keys wouldn't respond anymore and the text on them were worn off. The K60 has had none of these problems over the past year and still looks/feels as good as the day I got it. Solid construction and just an overall great typing experience, I've found.

K90 User here, indeed :D

  • 1 month later...
Grand Master

mattmatik

Posted
Posted

So, I've been looking at mechanical keyboards for gaming and I am undecided. Sound is not an issue as my setup is in our spare bedroom but I need something that has LED lighting. Was looking at the CoolerMaster CM Storm QuickFire which has CherryMX Red switches and has 5 brightness levels. Right now newegg has it for $99, is this a good buy?

Grand Master

+LogicalApex MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

So, I've been looking at mechanical keyboards for gaming and I am undecided. Sound is not an issue as my setup is in our spare bedroom but I need something that has LED lighting. Was looking at the CoolerMaster CM Storm QuickFire which has CherryMX Red switches and has 5 brightness levels. Right now newegg has it for $99, is this a good buy?

I could be wrong, but don't cooler master only do partial mechanical?

I am mobile so can't review that model.

Veteran

Jaybonaut

Posted
Posted

I've purchased two of the Cyborg keyboards over the last 5 years - meaning I bought a second one when I built a new computer to go with it. I like that it has an analogue headset extension built right into it - you don't find that typically. (USB, sure, but analog?)

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