Lookout for new Mechanical gaming board

[Willzzz]

Think of it as a penny a day over 27 years

[Whizzkid]

Think of it as a penny a day over 27 years

hahaha that would ease the shock mate! I like your thinking

[Willzzz]

Oh and don't think you have to pay £100 that's only if you want back-lighting.

If you are looking at your keyboard while gaming chances are you are dead!

[Whizzkid]

Oh and don't think you have to pay £100 that's only if you want back-lighting.

If you are looking at your keyboard while gaming chances are you are dead!

Any recommendations? this will be soley for FPS.

[Willzzz]

Do you know which switch you would prefer? Red, brown or black I guess for FPS.

[Shirty]

There are three schools of mechanical keyboard (broadly speaking). There are those from well known names such as Razer, Corsair and now Logitech which tend to favour the more garish "g4m3r" design coupled with additional features such as macro keys, backlighting and media keys. Then there are more focused products from less mainstream manufactures like Filco, Ducky and Realforce, which focus more on understated yet advanced design and build quality. Finally, there are typists keyboards from the likes of Cherry themselves, which use lower cost components and construction but still offer the experience of typing on a proper keyboard.

I have owned 12 mechanical keyboards since April last year* from all three of these categories, and I would suggest that whilst most people opt for the well known names, the better built keyboards are far more satisfying to own in the long run.

For example, I currently use a Ducky G2 Pro Tenkeyless:



This cost £100. Now whilst that might seem an absurd amount of money for what is ostensibly three quarters of a normal keyboard with no fancy features, I believe it is actually remarkably good value for what you get.

The keycaps are made of lasered PBT (Polybutylene terephthalate), which is an unbelievably hard-wearing material etched with a laser. This means that the keycaps will take exponentially longer to wear out than standard pad printed ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) keys which discolour, shine and eventually the legends wear away altogether. They are inherently more complex to manufacture and therefore more expensive (I'd guess they add £15 to the cost).

Though diminutive in size, the keyboard is built to last. It weighs more than most full size rubber dome gaming keyboards which are laden with features. It looks great (in my opinion), and the red switches are a dream to type and game on (I prefer red switches for gaming and green for typing - hence my work keyboard has greens).

I'm sure there are other big mech enthusiasts on here and I don't want to step on any toes, but feel free to ask me anything and I'll give you my honest opinion. I'm not one for swapping out keycaps with garish replacements, and I have intentionally avoided becoming a member of Deskthority or Geekhack so I hope I will not come across as elitist in any of my suggestions. I do it for the love of the keyboards and nothing more.

One disclaimer I always include when recommending keyboards is that mechanical keyboards are not for everyone, but you won't know unless you try. Fortunately it's becoming a little easier to try before you buy these days, and even if you can't these things tend to hold their value really well. Even better if you buy your first mech second hand.

* Yes, it's an illness.

[Whizzkid]

There are three schools of mechanical keyboard (broadly speaking). There are those from well known names such as Razer, Corsair and now Logitech which tend to favour the more garish "g4m3r" design coupled with additional features such as macro keys, backlighting and media keys. Then there are more focused products from less mainstream manufactures like Filco, Ducky and Realforce, which focus more on understated yet advanced design and build quality. Finally, there are typists keyboards from the likes of Cherry themselves, which use lower cost components and construction but still offer the experience of typing on a proper keyboard.

I have owned 12 mechanical keyboards since April last year* from all three of these categories, and I would suggest that whilst most people opt for the well known names, the better built keyboards are far more satisfying to own in the long run.

For example, I currently use a Ducky G2 Pro Tenkeyless:



This cost £100. Now whilst that might seem an absurd amount of money for what is ostensibly three quarters of a normal keyboard with no fancy features, I believe it is actually remarkably good value for what you get.

The keycaps are made of lasered PBT (Polybutylene terephthalate), which is an unbelievably hard-wearing material etched with a laser. This means that the keycaps will take exponentially longer to wear out than standard pad printed ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) keys which discolour, shine and eventually the legends wear away altogether. They are inherently more complex to manufacture and therefore more expensive (I'd guess they add £15 to the cost).

Though diminutive in size, the keyboard is built to last. It weighs more than most full size rubber dome gaming keyboards which are laden with features. It looks great (in my opinion), and the red switches are a dream to type and game on (I prefer red switches for gaming and green for typing - hence my work keyboard has greens).

I'm sure there are other big mech enthusiasts on here and I don't want to step on any toes, but feel free to ask me anything and I'll give you my honest opinion. I'm not one for swapping out keycaps with garish replacements, and I have intentionally avoided becoming a member of Deskthority or Geekhack so I hope I will not come across as elitist in any of my suggestions. I do it for the love of the keyboards and nothing more.

One disclaimer I always include when recommending keyboards is that mechanical keyboards are not for everyone, but you won't know unless you try. Fortunately it's becoming a little easier to try before you buy these days, and even if you can't these things tend to hold their value really well. Even better if you buy your first mech second hand.

* Yes, it's an illness.

Im in love with that keyboard!!

[Deadlight]

Got to say I'm a fan of the K90 so look forward to the K95

I'm loving the k90, I've got to say.

At first, I really wasn't sure about the red switches. Coming from a Logitech G710 (browns), the idea of a semi-key press to register seemed rather different to the browns' pressing the key all the way down to register. You get used to it quite quickly though.

[Willzzz]

You don't need to press browns all the way down either, you can stop after the bump.
The point of the bump is that you know when you can stop pressing.

All the keys actuate at exactly the same point afaik.

[Shirty]

I love a good brown, but I always feel like they do everything pretty well, without really excelling at anything.

Im in love with that keyboard!!

So am I, I've owned much more expensive ones and this one I came back to.

Fun Ducky DK9087 facts:

The G2 Pro, Shine, Shine 2 and YOTD are all identical boards but for a few unique features:

G2 Pro: Illuminated WASD and lock keys, PBT keycaps (black or white)
Shine: Full backlit with a couple of modes, ABS keycaps (black as standard, several colours available)
Shine 2: As original Shine but with persistent mode memory, couple of extra modes, ABS keycaps (several colours as standard, even more available)
YOTD: Special edition TKL Shine 2, with a couple of extra modes and "2012" keycaps, ABS keycaps (black only)

This might help someone stuck in a high end Ducky conundrum. I enjoyed the backlight of the Shine 2 but prefer the overall experience of the G2 Pro I am currently using.

It speaks volumes when you have owned 12 different mechs in as many months then decide to stick with one, and the G2 Pro is the one for me.

[directhex]

hence my work keyboard has greens

Who the hell has even heard of greens?

Let's see here..... ~50% stiffer version of the Blue.

[Shirty]

It's the closest you can get to buckling springs without the machine gun racket.

[Willzzz]

All manner of Ducky goodness:
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/..._Keyboard.html

Including the totally crazy "78" version:
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_30131.html

Eight different switches on one keyboard!

[Marc_92]

I have owned 12 mechanical keyboards since April last year* from all three of these categories, and I would suggest that whilst most people opt for the well known names, the better built keyboards are far more satisfying to own in the long run.
* Yes, it's an illness.

Oh my lord, you must be soo rich! That could be over a grand spent on just keyboards

[Shirty]

Not quite - I sold each one to fund the next in most cases. It's not uncommon to sell a nearly new mechanical keyboard for 90% of what you paid for it, and if you buy second hand you can sometimes even make money on them!

[Siesta]

Not quite - I sold each one to fund the next in most cases. It's not uncommon to sell a nearly new mechanical keyboard for 90% of what you paid for it, and if you buy second hand you can sometimes even make money on them!

And one of those you funded from a competition win