Ditching my dell keyboard, need a gaming one

R

Rob36

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
196
Hello,

I've used a standard dell keyboard that comes with any dell pc you bought about 10 years ago (when black was starting to becoming cool instead of the standard white keyboards), and have used it non stop every day since then. I have taken decent care and have cleaned it out when need be, but I really want a change. I am an avid gamer (I was a backup at Nerv for Cod4, play dota with semi pro teams, etc...) and play every single day. Are there any suggestions for keyboards that I would like? I know the switches vary, but a big thing for me is quality, any maybe being backlit would be nice! I have quite huge hands, so a smaller keyboard isn't preferred, and while price isn't specifically a constraint, I would love to buy something on sale (I saw the rosewill blue switches in the hot deals which I thought about), and also have a $30 best buy gift card which could help reduce cost if I wanted.

tl;dr I have a shitty keyboard, and want suggestions for a decent gaming one

thanks!
 
You may consider Gigabyte Aivia Osmium on Cherry Reds - using it ATM, and I'm very pleased, though it's my first mechanic keyboard :) It has regulated backlight, 5 macro keys, good software, is comfortable for hands. Beats my old Steelseries Shift by light years
 
Some of the old dell keyboards were actually quite nice. Black alps switches, they had solid key placement to reduce fatigue. AT101s. That is actually a difficult keyboard to replace. The problem is that most modern keyboards are simply designed with different priorities.

Old keyboards where designed with certain ergonomics taking into account. They normally had a large housing. This helped as the front area normally acted as a wrist rest. The keys were also normally placed on a curved plane to reduce fatigue. Modern keyboards are normally designed with a reduced footprint. This sometimes leads ones to believe that keys might be closer together, but this is not normally the case. The keys have the same spacing, but normally the outside framing and spacing between key sections is greatly reduced. Function keys for example are closer. They also tend to have linear key placement. So many find when switching to modern keyboards they noticed increased fatigue as the top two rows are slightly difficult to reach in comparison(to old fashion keyboards). Users often describe this as cramping, many blame it on key spacing being tighter, but this is not the case a majority of the time.

So when someone comes from certain keyboards it is often difficult for them to switch. They often feel fatigue and have an increased rate of miss hit keys.(makes high-end gaming and typing frustrating) Frequently they require wrist rests and even then might still be unhappy with the results. The problem is there are very few old school keyboards in production and they are normally plain. Lacking modern upgrades such as illumination and media/macro keys.

Two old school keyboards still in production are unicomp(based on ibm m keyboards) and keytronics designer lifetime series. Both have keys on a curved surface to reduce fatigue. If you are just looking for a color change these might be a reasonable option.

If I was certain I wanted to try a modern keyboard. I would likely suggest trying out Cherry Brown, Red and Black switches. Brown/Clear is likely to be the closest to what you are accustom to, but red and black are often preferred by gamers. Blues are normally preferred by typists/coders. Browns are in the middle for someone who tends to do a little bit of everything or those who dislike how blues sound.

I would take the time to consider which features mater. Are macro keys important? Illumination? Do you want media keys? Do you use the tenkey section? Would you rather save money or have every feature? Will shiny key tops bother you?(ABS versus PBT) (one of the current negatives of led backlit keyboards is they must use abs)

The value end of keyboards I would look at Coolermaster and Rosewill 9000 series.

High-end I would look at logitechs g710, Ducky Shine II.

I am surely people will have tons of more recommendations but I think that is a good start.
 
backlighting would be nice as I like to play in the dark and my computer and mouse both glow blue. Size is the least of my concerns as I have a large desk and I do like the feel of my keyboard, I just feel like I could upgrade (the space bar does take a lot to press down now, and occasionally gets stuck)
 
Keyboard trends are towards smaller keyboards. Key spacing is the same within a section, it is only the outside casing and spacing between sections which has been reduced.. Don't let a smaller board greatly influence you if you feel you need a modern keyboard. How often are you hitting keys across two sections. The main issue for a modern keyboard will be key miss hits and comfort.

I am not against someone buying a lit keyboard, but it does have trade offs. It typically raises the price of the keyboard 50-75 dollars and forces keyboard makers to use ABS keys over PBT. It also forces you to use a modern keyboard design. Look at the curve of your keys and board then go to best buy and take a look at the shape of current keyboards to see the difference first hand. I would love for more old school designs to be offered, but they simply are not.

Any modern keyboard is going to have quite a learning curve for someone who has been using the same old school keyboard for over a decade. You could likely find the same keyboard if you looked on ebay. If you want to keep the key placement as close as possible you should lean towards a unicomp keyboard. It will be noisier, but will have the closest feel to your current keyboard. I am still guessing if your keyboard lasted 10 years it had to be the famous AT101 with black alps switches. There was another thread not long ago with the same question if you want more reading material.

So to me your choices are get a unicomp keyboard(80ish) or keytronics designer series lifetime(non mech but feels almost exactly like you the dell AT101).(30) One would last well over a decade the other close to it. They have the same old school design you are accustom to, both will fill your desk.

If you want a mechanical keyboard with everything you listed look at logitech G710+. It is recently release, but will fill your desk. It is a new design so quality is not known other than by gauging logitechs historical quality. It has a modern keyboard slope so I would expect key miss hits and maybe strain.(It comes with a wrist rest to help) It has modified brown keys. I am guessing they just added o-rings to each key to help reduce the noise of when a key bottoms out.

Ducky Shine II is a nice keyboard with many color options.

CM makes reasonably priced keyboards with reasonable quality.

You need to decide which switch type you would like. As I said before you need to try red/black and brown switches or at least test red/black. If you like the results stick with red or black if you dislike it then make sure to get a keyboard with brown switches. I think best buy has at least one black swtiched board.

In the end only you can pick the right keyboard for you. You can either spend the time reading and try to make your best guess... or you can play keyboard roulette until you find something you like.
 
Could you let us know exactly which old Dell keyboard you have? Like stated earlier, it could be a gem and even worth fixing up.
 
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