Mechanical Keyboard Guide

I like filco keycaps as well...but they aren't resistant to my skin chemistry :)
 
Good thing if you have acid fingers, you can just buy the ninja or otaku version :) . Problem solved.
 
Yeah. If I could just get those keycaps for cheap I would have (since they weren't really available at the time of purchase). No big deal though :)
 
gorb said:
Yeah. If I could just get those keycaps for cheap I would have (since they weren't really available at the time of purchase). No big deal though :)
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You could also get aftermarket PBT cap sets. Some are engraved, some are laser etched. Of course there's plain.

Something like http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?16260-PBT-104-keycaps

If your skin is tough on ABS keycaps, PBT might be just the thing.
 
Yes, I know...but I don't feel like paying $64 for keycaps. I'm fine with the filco standard ones. The keyboards work just fine even if the lettering is worn down or off.
 
sok0 said:
Good thing if you have acid fingers, you can just buy the ninja or otaku version :) . Problem solved.
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If you have acid fingers, you should just type with gloves on. :D Maybe Filco should sell mechanical keyboard typing gloves for $19.95 lol
 
Especially when your W key starts to splinter. You'll only be able to strafe and walk backwards.
 
patric said:
Especially when your W key starts to splinter. You'll only be able to strafe and walk backwards.
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Wouldn't splinter. As a guitarist, I'd love a rosewood or ebony keyboard. The feel of a dark, hard wood is simply lucious.
 
If you want a wooden keyboard that is not so pricey, Dealextreme has some ones made of Bamboo that seem to have good reviews. The problem is that they are most likely rubber membrane ones. I am using a rubber membrane Dell keyboard right now at work and I want to friggin' kill myself. It's like typing in glue while someone slowly pulls my fingers out of their sockets. This is horrible. Once you go mechanical, you can't go back.
 
Spare-Flair said:
If you want a wooden keyboard that is not so pricey, Dealextreme has some ones made of Bamboo that seem to have good reviews. The problem is that they are most likely rubber membrane ones. I am using a rubber membrane Dell keyboard right now at work and I want to friggin' kill myself. It's like typing in glue while someone slowly pulls my fingers out of their sockets. This is horrible. Once you go mechanical, you can't go back.
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Here's a Deck for cheap: ;)
http://www.overclock.net/other-components/1033881-deck-legend-fire-100-shipped.html

Use it at work, and people would wonder WTF is on your desk.
 
Literally just picked up my Filco ninja tenkeyless cherry brown and..

Typing on it is a nice experience, it's definitely easier to depress the keys. It's a feeling akin to filling your bike tires with air. Suddenly you can build up speed even quicker, and you feel as though you could ride farther and longer. The tactile feedback is there, but seems far less pronounced than the blues. (Which is slightly disappointing.) I had the opportunity to try out the black widow ultimate, which has cherry blue's, and the feel of blues is very fun. Though I got the feeling it would be tiring after a while. At any rate the whole feel of the keyboard is of quality. The closest thing I could compare it to, would be an electronic type writer with the golfball stamp.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF1RiTyCeUQ"]YouTube - &#x202a;IBM ELECTRIC TYPEWRITERS&#x202c;&rlm;[/ame] <- as seen here.

Also as far aesthetics, this things feels of quality, the keys are a smooth texture I've never felt before in a keyboard, the frame is rigid and has no flex or give, the tenkeyless design is a great space saver and travel distance to the keyboard and mouse is cut down (this makes a bigger impact than I expected), and of course the ninja key printing, HOT. It's a sexy beast. I read another review that gave the analogy of a Lexus vs a Toyota, and I think it's precisely like that. A little bit of smart engineering goes a long way, especially in something like a keyboard which you use everyday.

If you have the money sitting around and want a new toy. I'd say this is a cool one, that you'll probably play with for far longer than most others.
 
Those wooden keyboards really made my heart skip a beat. I've used Grenadilla (Ebony) and Cocobolo rosewood, ABS resin along with Ebonite on Clarinet, and i can say that the feel on even the Ebonite body beats the pants out of most el cheapo keyboards.

One of the things that I loathe is the painted on keys that wear... Laser etched keys is better off. Heck, that would be the better way to make illuminated keyboards.
 
Just dropping in with some input.

Just got a Daskeyboard ultimate, with the blues. I use it primarily for gaming and i could not be happier.

They click, yes, but the click is actually quieter than when my buddy uses his steelseries 6vg2 keyboard. I'm pretty sure the reason is the stiffness of the cherry blacks makes him hammer them down hard like he would a normal, albeit much stiffer membrane keyboard, and then they bottom out HARD and make a loud clack noise.
After typing on my das for 2 weeks now, i don't bottom out anymore. The only sound coming from my keyboard is the click plate of the cherry blues. You can definitely feel and hear when they actuate, so you know when to release pressure, and thus, you don't bottom out.

Also, the clicking is not noticeable when i wear my headphones... And i'm using those tritton ax pro headphones that have no outside sound insulation hahahha. They might as well be open ear. The closest thing i could liken the clicking to is being just slightly louder than a mouse click.

So yeah, all in all, i love the blues for gaming, they have a nice pronounced tactile bump in them. However, the biggest plus which i have failed to mention up until now is how easy they are to press. Less pressure is needed to press them than my dell membrane keyboard, and theres less distance the key has to travel to actuate, so i actually find myself typing faster.

:)
 
I got a Rosewill RK-9000 back in Jan of this year. Keyboard stopped working literally. Called Rosewill turns out the keyboard is deactivated... Who does that? So they may credit my newegg account, but I want the damn keyboard! Thinking of taking it apart now.
 
THUMPer1 said:
I got a Rosewill RK-9000 back in Jan of this year. Keyboard stopped working literally. Called Rosewill turns out the keyboard is deactivated... Who does that? So they may credit my newegg account, but I want the damn keyboard! Thinking of taking it apart now.
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Rosewill is just Newegg's in house brand for rebranding various electronics they buy at wholesale from Asia from wholesalers or overstock. They only have a limited stock of most of them. Rosewill products get deactivated all the time.
 
picked up the black widow through a BB pricematch for $60cdn.
I used to use the G15, then switched to the aluminum apple keyboard and used that for, well, years. loved it. But after hearing so much about mechanicals, and seeing the deal, i jumped.
Wife hates it. Says its sooo loud. but it feels good and after an hour trying it out in TF2, I felt at home. I dont care for the font used on the keys, but whatever.

[edit]Back it goes. "g" key gets stuck.
 
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hey guys i was wondering if anybody has had any expeirience with a SIIG minitouch mechanical keyboard. they use cream alps switches
 
I used the SIIG mechanical keyboard at the local Fry's Electronics. It was a regular 104 key keyboard, so it may not be the same thing. It was well built and it seemed to work fine. The keys felt like they were quality. They were pretty much like the Cherry MX Clears if I had to compare them to something.
 
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Don't get a Das, get Filco. Also, once you get one you won't worry about the money you spent.
 
I got a Filco Ninja Majestouch2 yesterday.. should be here Wednesday :) I'll post pictures and first impressions.
 
canon.tk said:
Don't get a Das, get Filco. Also, once you get one you won't worry about the money you spent.
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You do know the two are built by the same manufacturer right? We covered that pages ago. I've heard the key caps wear out on the Filcos just like they do for the Das, for anyone who has that problem. (Not everyone' skin seems to cause this.) Other than that, the keyboards are more or less the same aside from cosmetics. Some people don't mind the glossy bezel (I don't) and some do.
 
DSee said:
It looks nice... I started reading about mechanical keyboards this morning and almost pulled the trigger on the Professional S Silent .. but I still can't justify $159 on a keyboard...
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You are in the same position I am, I can't justify the cost, but slowly my resistance to it is wearing down. I suspect I will break and buy a mech keyboard within a month or two. :(
 
Ugh, I want to get a Filco or Leopold with browns so bad. It sucks they're so expensive. The G15 is really not doing it for me anymore.
 
Been using some lousy Saitek Eclipse II for nearly 4 years, after 6 months keys would randomly stop working and would need multiple strokes to register. Ended up just sticking with the thing even though Saitek support and customer service was horrible.

Have been looking at the Das cherry browns though since locally, in Toronto, there isn't that much choice unless I get something like a Razer which I would not like to do.
 
DoomDoomDoom said:
Ugh, I want to get a Filco or Leopold with browns so bad. It sucks they're so expensive. The G15 is really not doing it for me anymore.
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Get a brown tenkeyless leopold, they aren't TOO expensive. You did spend quite a bit of money on an expensive rubber dome keyboard. ;P Steelseries isa little less at 100 bucks. They are blacks though.
 
Mungojerrie said:
You are in the same position I am, I can't justify the cost, but slowly my resistance to it is wearing down. I suspect I will break and buy a mech keyboard within a month or two. :(
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So I'm tempted to buy one this weekend. IF I were to, I'd want to get blank keycaps with a Filco tenkeyless. The question becomes what color keycaps :p
 
100inch said:
Get a brown tenkeyless leopold, they aren't TOO expensive. You did spend quite a bit of money on an expensive rubber dome keyboard. ;P Steelseries isa little less at 100 bucks. They are blacks though.
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Nah, I bought this one used for a decent price. And hopefully a friend gets back to me about his Majestouch 1. A new Leopold would be nice, but they're about the same thing, just more expensive when new. Keyboard + shipping would cost me around $120+. Eck.
 
Great....

I placed an order on NewEgg for a DAS Ultimate Silent S, then changed my mind and contacted NE CS (via email) to cancel the order less than 1 hours after placing it....
After sending the email, I placed an order for a FILCO Ninja Majestouch2 on Amazon...

Guess what? DAS order was never cancelled, so now I have 2 keyboards coming my way (Filco and DAS).
 
DSee said:
Great....

I placed an order on NewEgg for a DAS Ultimate Silent S, then changed my mind and contacted NE CS (via email) to cancel the order less than 1 hours after placing it....
After sending the email, I placed an order for a FILCO Ninja Majestouch2 on Amazon...

Guess what? DAS order was never cancelled, so now I have 2 keyboards coming my way (Filco and DAS).
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Perhaps I can help you with such a problem :D
 
DSee said:
Great....

I placed an order on NewEgg for a DAS Ultimate Silent S, then changed my mind and contacted NE CS (via email) to cancel the order less than 1 hours after placing it....
After sending the email, I placed an order for a FILCO Ninja Majestouch2 on Amazon...

Guess what? DAS order was never cancelled, so now I have 2 keyboards coming my way (Filco and DAS).
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You can always raise hell with Newegg support and make them pay for the return shipping costs. You don't want that DAS anyway - fingerprint magnet. :)
 
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