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Mechanical Keyboard Guide

You can get the Rosewill RK-9000 (if it ever stayed in stock) at Newegg for considerably less with their frequent 20% off deals.

Also, the Razer Black Widow is now in stock at Amazon and Newegg for as low as $83.

Of the two the Rosewill is better since it's 6KRO under USB, the Razer is only 2KRO.
 
I really like my XArmor U9BL and just noticed they lowered the price to $129.
 
Ripster55 said:
Of the two the Rosewill is better since it's 6KRO under USB, the Razer is only 2KRO.
Click to expand...

That just doesn't make sense. They went through all the trouble of releasing a mechanical gaming keyboard and it's 2KRO?
 
Pylon said:
That just doesn't make sense. They went through all the trouble of releasing a mechanical gaming keyboard and it's 2KRO?
Click to expand...

Most non-nkro keyboards are minimum two key rollover (all combos of 1/2 keys work, some combos of 3 or more fail) and maximum 6 (no combo of 7 or more keys goes through).

Whether or not the combos of 3/4/5 keys that fail matter is a matter of debate.

Razer skipped out on the diodes for NKRO. Seems to me it would have been a good positive point for the Ultimate, at a bare minimum.

Razer knows their market though; I doubt the majority of people will notice.
 
Pylon said:
That just doesn't make sense. They went through all the trouble of releasing a mechanical gaming keyboard and it's 2KRO?
Click to expand...

Yup, pretty sweet eh? All those features at that price point, no room in the budget for $1 in diodes.
 
muchadoaboutnothing_ said:
Most non-nkro keyboards are minimum two key rollover (all combos of 1/2 keys work, some combos of 3 or more fail) and maximum 6 (no combo of 7 or more keys goes through).

Razer knows their market though; I doubt the majority of people will notice.
Click to expand...

Except that's like half the reason for getting a decent mechanical for gaming. NKRO.
 
I'm considering moving my mouse and keyboard setup from Razer to Steelseries. I'm wanting to acquire a 7G keyboard, but they've become really hard to find and I've had to resort to eBay to looking for one. Anyone know of a reputable dealer online that has stock of these keyboards??
 
mikeohara said:
I'm considering moving my mouse and keyboard setup from Razer to Steelseries. I'm wanting to acquire a 7G keyboard, but they've become really hard to find and I've had to resort to eBay to looking for one. Anyone know of a reputable dealer online that has stock of these keyboards??
Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-64022SS-7G-Keyboard-Black/dp/B000W6IY6O

They have the 6Gv2 for $50 cheaper too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1VK3J7JRBPBWPT227RHY
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
mikeohara said:
I'm considering moving my mouse and keyboard setup from Razer to Steelseries. I'm wanting to acquire a 7G keyboard, but they've become really hard to find and I've had to resort to eBay to looking for one. Anyone know of a reputable dealer online that has stock of these keyboards??
Click to expand...

I honestly wouldn't sweat it if you cannot find a 7G. You are paying an additional $50 over the 6Gv2 for a giant palm rest and audio/USB ports. The rest of the keyboard is exactly the same. Same tough construction, same weight, same Cherry MX black switches, everything. Unless you absolutely need the ports, I wouldn't bother with the 7G. It has been out of stock on the Steelseries website for months now, and at this point I suspect that they may be discontinuing it.

The 6Gv2 is extremely price and feature competitive with other mechanical keyboards. The 7G, not so much.
 
Man I'd love a mechanical KB but I'm in love with my G15's LCD screen :( Such a shame logitech won't release a high end G series keyboard with the LCD + mechanical switches. Granted it'd be unholy expensive but I'd buy it.
 
Pylon said:
Except that's like half the reason for getting a decent mechanical for gaming. NKRO.
Click to expand...

True, but most people don't even know what the term even means. Most people keep one hand solidly on the mouse and one hand on the left side of the keyboard. Properly do the matrix on that (which isn't terribly hard since game developers have been designing game controls to minimize matrix issues for years) and most people won't notice that there are some combos of 3 keys (usually a combination of keys that wouldn't be held together typically) that don't work.

I'm not saying that it's not a point against the BlackWidow. I'm saying Razer cut a corner because most people are unlikely to notice its absence.
 
Serpico said:
I honestly wouldn't sweat it if you cannot find a 7G. You are paying an additional $50 over the 6Gv2 for a giant palm rest and audio/USB ports. The rest of the keyboard is exactly the same.
Click to expand...

USB ports on keyboards are kind of hit or miss anyway. Unless you have a way of attaching an auxiliary power feed (e.g. a wall wart, second USB connector, etc.), you are asking a single 500mA USB port on the PC to power a 2-port USB hub plus the keyboard's own controller and maybe even key backlight as well. The USB 2.0 hub on my DAS Pro was horribly flaky, for example.
 
soulesschild said:
Man I'd love a mechanical KB but I'm in love with my G15's LCD screen :( Such a shame logitech won't release a high end G series keyboard with the LCD + mechanical switches. Granted it'd be unholy expensive but I'd buy it.
Click to expand...

Hopefully it's just a matter of time. I don't think it would be "unholy expensive"; I would expect it to be between $100 (G6v2) and $150/$170 (Deck) if it had backlighting and/or an LCD display. Then again, the G19 was priced at what, $200 or something? And it didn't even have mechanical switches. So who knows. If it was priced any higher than a Deck keyboard, I'd just get a Deck, because I don't need macro keys and it's pretty much well known that Deck doesn't skimp on the quality of their boards where Logitech might cut some corners to keep the price down. As I suspect Razer has done.

C'mon Logitech...you and Microsoft have some catching up to do. I honestly thought SteelSeries would be the only gaming-oriented company to do a keyboard with mechanical switches, but then Razer followed suit with the BlackWidow. So maybe they'll see that there is a demand. I feel that Logitech or Microsoft could put out a mechanical keyboard designed with gamers in mind that had solid build quality without the questionable issues of Razer products and the funky layout of the SteelSeries boards.
 
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For people who want to enter the word that is mechanical keyboards and try out different switches, are there older keyboards that can be found used for low prices? I'd like to tryout cherry blue/black/ and brown switches without spending $100 per keyboard.
 
soulesschild said:
Man I'd love a mechanical KB but I'm in love with my G15's LCD screen :( Such a shame logitech won't release a high end G series keyboard with the LCD + mechanical switches. Granted it'd be unholy expensive but I'd buy it.
Click to expand...

Sounds weird, but I have a sidewinder X4 connected via usb and a Compaq mx11800 connected via ps/2 and both work perfectly in tandem, you could have the best of both worlds ;)
 
imyourzero said:
Hopefully it's just a matter of time. I don't think it would be "unholy expensive"; I would expect it to be between $100 (G6v2) and $150/$170 (Deck) if it had backlighting and/or an LCD display. Then again, the G19 was priced at what, $200 or something? And it didn't even have mechanical switches. So who knows. If it was priced any higher than a Deck keyboard, I'd just get a Deck, because I don't need macro keys and it's pretty much well known that Deck doesn't skimp on the quality of their boards where Logitech might cut some corners to keep the price down. As I suspect Razer has done.

C'mon Logitech...you and Microsoft have some catching up to do. I honestly thought SteelSeries would be the only gaming-oriented company to do a keyboard with mechanical switches, but then Razer followed suit with the BlackWidow. So maybe they'll see that there is a demand. I feel that Logitech or Microsoft could put out a mechanical keyboard designed with gamers in mind that had solid build quality without the questionable issues of Razer products and the funky layout of the SteelSeries boards.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping it'll come soon :)
 
The Microcenter near me (tustin) has the Adesso mechanical blues on display - if anyone lives near a Microcenter and wants to test out a mechanical kb. It feels pretty damn nice to type on and much lighter than my cherry white/clears.
 
Went from a Unicomp 104/105 Customizer to Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless Cherry Blue. Much better than the Customizer for anyone debating between the two. The tenkeyless form factor is awesome comfort for long hours of typing (for myself--programming). i.e. having your arms in-front of your body instead of off-centered. Overall the tactile feedback is just better. The audible feedback is good, but I think I prefer the loudness and sound of the buckling spring Customizer. A tenkeyless and less bezel Customizer 104/105 would be a tougher call. Did a few 2-minute typing tests and still around 115 WPM, which was the same of the Customizer.
 
ok I didn't want to make a new thread for this but

I just got an ABS M1 I bought from a fellow user to replace my G15 (which the backlight is really faded and keeps blinking sometimes) that I'm sending back for warranty to ge ta new one.

I love the mechanical keyboard feel, how the keys press. What I miss is having a backlit key, even if it was dim.

The only backlit keyboard that I can find for a decent price is the Razor Black Widow. Has anyone tried it? Know how it compares to the M1?

My M1 had a squeaky spacebar that I fixed in like 2 minutes, luckily it was easy
 
yep I can attest to the mechnical feel and type. I tried the Adesso and was quite impressed. Although at 99 bux, its a tough pill to take
 
danyune said:
The only backlit keyboard that I can find for a decent price is the Razor Black Widow. Has anyone tried it? Know how it compares to the M1?
Click to expand...

Yes. The keys on the M1 are stiffer and although I liked that board at first, it made me feel like I was working for something when I'd type a lot. The Cherry Blues are lighter and clickier; MUCH more satisfying to type on in my opinion if you don't mind the noise that the switches make.

The M1 is a decent way to introduce yourself to mechanical keyboards, but there are definitely better boards out there. I probably wouldn't have paid full price for mine, but I caught them during the blowout sale and bought two for $20/ea. Sold them both because I just didn't care for them after using higher quality boards with better switches.
 
There's a lot of threads I've read on how the different switches feel/sound however I haven't really gotten a good idea on what would be a good choice for someone who likes scissor switches.

One of the things I really like about the scissor switch is the low keypress, but of course mechanical doesn't really have that.

Of course I also enjoy the tactile feel, so what would people recommend for me, I was thinking Cherry Blues?

The sound isn't any issue for me, or I don't think it would be.
 
Go for Blue if you like scissor switches imo :D Since you enjoy low keypresses, you don't even have to bottom out when typing on Cherry Blues since the switches are light and the acuation point is high.
 
siluro said:
There's a lot of threads I've read on how the different switches feel/sound however I haven't really gotten a good idea on what would be a good choice for someone who likes scissor switches.

One of the things I really like about the scissor switch is the low keypress, but of course mechanical doesn't really have that.

Of course I also enjoy the tactile feel, so what would people recommend for me, I was thinking Cherry Blues?

The sound isn't any issue for me, or I don't think it would be.
Click to expand...

My other favorite keyboard is the Apple aluminum keyboard, a scissor keyboard. All Cherry switches have actuation points halfway through the keypress. Unfortunately it comes down to personal preference, even when making the move from scissor keys. I first had a Filco with Cherry browns, now I have a Steelseries with Cherry blacks. I liked the brown switch at first but then I found that I was making more errors than before due to its very high sensitivity. I was typing as normal with the black switches on the Steelseries since they have slightly higher resistance.

The thing is that someone else may have the exact opposite preference, and they would be correct in terms of what works for them.

I guess my point is that both of us may have different switch preferences even though we both also like scissor keys. I wish there was an easy answer but I myself used two different keyboards with two different switch types before determining which one worked for me. :)
 
I don't have a way to try out these mechanical keyboards without buying one. Can somebody comment on if any of them are appropriate for usiing in a cubicle? I don't want something loud that will annoy coworkers on the other side of a cubicle wall or across the aisle. I just want to get something "cooler", and these mechanical ones seem to be all the rage.
 
jamesrb said:
I don't have a way to try out these mechanical keyboards without buying one. Can somebody comment on if any of them are appropriate for usiing in a cubicle? I don't want something loud that will annoy coworkers on the other side of a cubicle wall or across the aisle.
Click to expand...

You should get a kb with Cherry MX Brown switches. Soft keys with the tactile feed back you expect with a mechanical kb.
Filco makes good Cherry Brown kb's, look at the OP for the link.
 
WorldExclusive said:
You should get a kb with Cherry MX Brown switches. Soft keys with the tactile feed back you expect with a mechanical kb.
Filco makes good Cherry Brown kb's, look at the OP for the link.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Are these like a normal keyboard in noise, or just quieter than the other switches? Trying to get a relative idea of what to expect.
 
jamesrb said:
Thanks. Are these like a normal keyboard in noise, or just quieter than the other switches? Trying to get a relative idea of what to expect.
Click to expand...

The switches themselves are silent. The amount of noise the board makes depends on how hard you slam on your keys.
 
jamesrb said:
Thanks. Are these like a normal keyboard in noise, or just quieter than the other switches? Trying to get a relative idea of what to expect.
Click to expand...

I think that you may find that all of the Cherry MX based boards have a loud rapping noise from the key bottoming out, regardless of whether you pick a noisy (blue) or "silent" (brown or black) variant. I've found this to be the case with every Cherry MX based board I've come across. I even identified that a weird mobile terminal had Cherry switches from the clack - pry off a key cap - sure enough.

Of course the amount of racket is dependent on how you type. Cubicle suitability isn't guaranteed :(
 
sayu said:
The switches themselves are silent. The amount of noise the board makes depends on how hard you slam on your keys.
Click to expand...

I don't slam the keys down but some do. I recommended a softer switch for him so he doesn't have to use much force register the keystroke.
The Brown switches are very sensitive so you can lightly touch type and the keys will still register.

Like the other person said, if you're a heavy typer, the keys will be noisy so just lighten up.
 
I have both a Cherry Brown (Filco) and a Cherry Blue (Das).

I prefer the Blue's on the Das because the Click does add to the tactile feel of when the key is actually triggered. The feeling is kind of hard to describe, it's just a very satisfying feeling that you have to experience to fully quantify and understand ;). The click is somewhat loud though so when you get to typing at a good clip, it can be pretty noisy.

The Browns feel a bit looser despite claiming to be the same tactile feel (I dunno, it might be just a psychological effect). But it is much quieter if you aren't slamming down on the keys. You can however make it pretty noisy if you slam down and bottom out the keys. The typing experience is different though your mileage may vary.
 
I much prefer the Cherry MX Blues to the other switch types I've tried. The DAS keyboard has a great feel to it. My biggest complaint about it is that the keyboard shows a lot of wear fairly quickly. Mine has a glossy texture on many of the keys and some of the lettering is wearing off. I've had it for around six months or so I believe. Maybe longer. I had mechanical keyboards which I bought in the late 90's which don't show nearly this much wear on them.
 
NeoMatriX724 said:
I have both a Cherry Brown (Filco) and a Cherry Blue (Das).
Click to expand...

Me too! /high five or fist bump (your preference) :D

NeoMatriX724 said:
I prefer the Blue's on the Das because the Click does add to the tactile feel of when the key is actually triggered. The feeling is kind of hard to describe, it's just a very satisfying feeling that you have to experience to fully quantify and understand ;). The click is somewhat loud though so when you get to typing at a good clip, it can be pretty noisy.

The Browns feel a bit looser despite claiming to be the same tactile feel (I dunno, it might be just a psychological effect). But it is much quieter if you aren't slamming down on the keys. You can however make it pretty noisy if you slam down and bottom out the keys. The typing experience is different though your mileage may vary.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you said, except I'm not sure if I prefer one over the other. Both are extremely satisfying to type on and I'd be hard-pressed to pick just one and let the other go.

As far as the noise issue that has been discussed over the last few posts, Topre is by far the most silent of them all. Even when you bottom out the switch, the sound is more like a soft thud rather than a plasticky clack. This would be an awesome choice where noise is a concern, but they don't come cheap.
 
How many of you guys have tried Ducky keyboards? Looking to pick up one from here, can anyone suggest to me which of them to pick up? Leaning towards the cherry browns as I will both game and type extensively on this keyboard.

Anyway this site stocks Filcos too.
 
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