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Needed - A keyboard!

T

TehYoyo

n00b
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Messages
46
Hey all. I need a keyboard. I hope you guys can recommend one.

Requirements (In order of importance):

1. Mechanical (I'd prefer Cherry MX Blue switches or something similar to that)
2. Pretty standard keyboard layout (I'd prefer a single-row enter, a standard-size backspace, and a generally normal key config)
3. Gold or white backlit (I've seen two keyboards, the Zippy BL-741 as well as the Logitech G510 keyboard that have multi-color options)
4. Individually Etched keys - meaning the LED shines through the etching. This could be a game changer for me.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Logitech G510...but is that mechanical? I really like the features - the LCD screen is supposedly pretty nice, you can choose any color for the LEDs you want, I think it's laser-etched...

Also, how much does mechanical matter? Would you ever go back to dome or scissor after going to mechanical?

Thanks.
~TehYoyo
 
The G510 is definitely not mechanical. I'm unaware of any mechanical keyboards that have an LCD.

Deck offers some backlit mechanical keyboards, check out some of those.
 
TehYoyo said:
Hey all. I need a keyboard. I hope you guys can recommend one.

Requirements (In order of importance):

1. Mechanical (I'd prefer Cherry MX Blue switches or something similar to that)
2. Pretty standard keyboard layout (I'd prefer a single-row enter, a standard-size backspace, and a generally normal key config)
3. Gold or white backlit (I've seen two keyboards, the Zippy BL-741 as well as the Logitech G510 keyboard that have multi-color options)
4. Individually Etched keys - meaning the LED shines through the etching. This could be a game changer for me.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Logitech G510...but is that mechanical? I really like the features - the LCD screen is supposedly pretty nice, you can choose any color for the LEDs you want, I think it's laser-etched...

Also, how much does mechanical matter? Would you ever go back to dome or scissor after going to mechanical?

Thanks.
~TehYoyo
Click to expand...

The G510 is not mechanical. I'm currently using it, and I can tell you, after using the new Corsair keyboards at the last LAN party I went to, I really regret spending this money. I've only had it about 1.5 years, since new from the box, the keys I use most are becoming non-responsive, I need to literally mash my 1-4 keys, and space. I'm extremely easy on the keyboard, and it was very well taken care of, constantly cleaned, no food or drink, etc

Personally I would recommend the new Corsair keyboards, there is an mmo-type one and a FPS one, I'm not 100% sure on the model numbers, but the bases are like solid aluminum. Amazing quality
 
I've been looking for a solid mechanical keyboard as well, and based on your 4 criteria the only one I can think that would suit them would be the Deck Legends Frost tactile. Laser Etched keys, standard layout, no extra macro or media keys, and a white backlight. The only issue you might have is that it uses Cherry clears instead of blues, but you seemed to have some leeway with that one.

It's also out of stock until August 31st.

http://www.deckkeyboards.com/product_info.php?products_id=95
 
Gigerall said:
I've been looking for a solid mechanical keyboard as well, and based on your 4 criteria the only one I can think that would suit them would be the Deck Legends Frost tactile. Laser Etched keys, standard layout, no extra macro or media keys, and a white backlight. The only issue you might have is that it uses Cherry clears instead of blues, but you seemed to have some leeway with that one.

It's also out of stock until August 31st.

http://www.deckkeyboards.com/product_info.php?products_id=95
Click to expand...

Geez. Neither my graphics card, processor, motherboard, hard drive...come to think of it, that'd be the most expensive part of my computer...lol maybe. Certainly seems like a nice keyboard, but....wow.

The clears are pretty much browns (which I don't think I'll like - no click, but they are tactile...).

I'll have to consider it.

Does anyone have the G510 and like it?
 
While not owning a G510, I've owned a couple G15 keyboards over the past several years and haven't had many issues with them. The first gen had the problem with the key caps rubbing off. My current second gen isn't having that problem. Fixxxer has already stated he doesn't like the G510. None of them are mechanical. Logitech's tech support has done right by me in the past, but I probably won't by another one.

There are only a handful of backlit mechanical keyboards out there, and fewer still that will meet your requirements (and I'm taking requirements as to mean you absolutely must have it). I don't think I've seen a backlit one cost less than 100 dollars. The Cooler Master Storms seem okay, but the quickfire Rapid doesn't appear to have backlighting through the keys (and is tenkeyless), the quickfire pro doesn't illuminate the entire keyboard, and the trigger costs 120 dollars. The BlackWidow Ultimate is 130. Max Keyboards are 140-150. None of them have gold/white backlighting. You didn't mention a budget, so if you're diligent you might be able to find a discount on one of the better known brands.

I would love to get that Deck Keyboard I linked, but I'm probably going to hold out for a Storm Trigger and some newegg coupon to get it close to 100 bucks. Cooler Master makes the keyboard in blue, brown, black, and red switches, so if you can live with red backlighting, a blue-switch trigger is probably the one for you.
 
Gigerall said:
I would love to get that Deck Keyboard I linked, but I'm probably going to hold out for a Storm Trigger and some newegg coupon to get it close to 100 bucks. Cooler Master makes the keyboard in blue, brown, black, and red switches, so if you can live with red backlighting, a blue-switch trigger is probably the one for you.
Click to expand...

http://www.overclock.net/t/1264646/coolermaster-cmstore-20-off-everything
http://www.cmstore-usa.com/trigger-mechanical-gaming-keyboard/

$119.99 - 20% = $95.99 + s/h + (tax if applicable)

The Trigger is only available in browns at the moment. Eventually blacks and blues will come out.
 
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As has been said... The only quality mechanical keyboard that has all the options you're looking for is the Deck Legend series. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of backlit mechanicals on the market.

The Deck Legends use Cherry MX Clears (similar to browns. They're tactile, but not clicky like blues).
They have a standard 10-key layout (with no stupid, giant, L shaped enter key).
They come in either backlit white or blue LEDs (depending on the model).
And they have individually etched keys.

The only downside to them is the cost... I find it hard not to pick up a topre keyboard once the price goes above $150.

You may also want to check out the new Ducky Shine. I'm not a big fan of Ducky, as the only keybard I've owned by them felt much lower quality then the other mechanicals I use (Filco Majestouch-2 and a Das Keyboard). However, it seems a lot of other buyers have been satisfied with the Shine's.
 
If you're willing to look at Compact (75% or 66%), there are the KBTalking Race and the KBTalking Pure as options for Backlit Cherry MX boards.

Cheers,
 
BurntToast said:
1) YUP - Cherry MX Blue
2) YUP - Standard
3) YUP - White LED, Each Key Individually Lit
4) YUP - Double Shot ABS Laser Etched

I have had this keyboard for a few months now. So far so good. I love it!

Ducky Shine DK9008S - White LED Mechanical Keyboard (Blue Cherry MX)
http://tigerimports.net/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=11539
Click to expand...

That seems like a nice keyboard - and not super expensive.

As for budget options, I'd like to keep it about $150 and below.

As for backlight, white's great... Gold backlight would be pretty much a dealbreaker, I think.

I have a question. Could I just change the switches to mechanical switches, depending on what type that keyboard uses? It seems to me that a keyboard is just completing a circuit, much like a power button...so if I just completed the circuit, except with Cherry Blue switches, that would open me up to almost any keyboard, eh?

Edit: That'd be a hard mod, methinks. (or just tedious, but well worth it)
 
TehYoyo said:
That seems like a nice keyboard - and not super expensive.

As for budget options, I'd like to keep it about $150 and below.

As for backlight, white's great... Gold backlight would be pretty much a dealbreaker, I think.

I have a question. Could I just change the switches to mechanical switches, depending on what type that keyboard uses? It seems to me that a keyboard is just completing a circuit, much like a power button...so if I just completed the circuit, except with Cherry Blue switches, that would open me up to almost any keyboard, eh?

Edit: That'd be a hard mod, methinks. (or just tedious, but well worth it)
Click to expand...

Cherry MX Blue switches are mechanical. I think it's technically possible to switch between (Cherry MX) switch types if you really want to, but it's considerably cheaper to just buy a keyboard that comes with the switch type you want.

The Razer Blackwidow Ultimate might be another option for you to consider as well. I LOVE my regular Blackwidow - the big difference between it and the ultimate is the backlighting. I'm not sure if it's available with yellow lights, though. I only seem to remember seeing it in blue and red.
 
I don't want to switch the mechanical switches. What I want to do is take a membrane/dome-switch/scissor-switch keyboard (probably scissor or whatever the G510 is) and change out the keys for mechanical ones.

And I hear the Black Widow/all Razer products are hit and miss.

I think that I've found my keyboard. It has pretty much everything that I want...including:

Yellow lights!!!!! (That look more gold than yellow, which is great)
Standard Keyboard Layout
Cherry MX Blue switches (as well as other options)
Individually Etched keys!
Tons of different lighting configurations/brightness levels! (Video review I saw)

And it's...somewhat inexpensive.

Sweet!
 
TehYoyo said:
I don't want to switch the mechanical switches. What I want to do is take a membrane/dome-switch/scissor-switch keyboard (probably scissor or whatever the G510 is) and change out the keys for mechanical ones.

And I hear the Black Widow/all Razer products are hit and miss.

I think that I've found my keyboard. It has pretty much everything that I want...including:

Yellow lights!!!!! (That look more gold than yellow, which is great)
Standard Keyboard Layout
Cherry MX Blue switches (as well as other options)
Individually Etched keys!
Tons of different lighting configurations/brightness levels! (Video review I saw)

And it's...somewhat inexpensive.

Sweet!
Click to expand...
Can't be done unless you cannibalise the keyboard 99%.

Might look more gold in person or vice versa.

Blues rock.

I've had a Razer BWU before. It was a nice keyboard but had it's faults like any other keyboard. I'd pick the Ducky over the BWU.

BTW that yellow Ducky Shine seems to have Chinese characters too. Not sure if that is an issue with you or not. If so, you might want to contact the store. My White LED MX Blue didn't have Chinese symbols.

Benjus said:
If you're willing to look at Compact (75% or 66%), there are the KBTalking Race and the KBTalking Pure as options for Backlit Cherry MX boards.

Cheers,
Click to expand...
I was considering that before my Ducky, but was NOT a fan of the non standard key layout. Smaller keys and placement not standard. Otherwise I love 10 keyless keyboard.
 
I think that CoolerMaster now has a mechanical that's Backlit...Maybe check it out? I am not sure what other options outside of Deck you're going to have.... (Trolololol Realforce 87u)

Good luck though!

Cheers,
 
I saw the CM Rapidfire (?) but it's red backlit (like 50% of the boards out there - the other 60% are blue!).

From the pictures, I don't think there are any Chinese characters - although it is a China-based company (which is why I probably won't call them up - I live in the U.S.)

Thanks all!
 
TehYoyo said:
I saw the CM Rapidfire (?) but it's red backlit (like 50% of the boards out there - the other 60% are blue!).

From the pictures, I don't think there are any Chinese characters - although it is a China-based company (which is why I probably won't call them up - I live in the U.S.)

Thanks all!
Click to expand...
All the pictures I looked at show Chinese characters under the standard US alphabet characters. What pictures are you talking about?
 
TehYoyo said:
I don't want to switch the mechanical switches. What I want to do is take a membrane/dome-switch/scissor-switch keyboard (probably scissor or whatever the G510 is) and change out the keys for mechanical ones.

And I hear the Black Widow/all Razer products are hit and miss.

I think that I've found my keyboard. It has pretty much everything that I want...including:

Yellow lights!!!!! (That look more gold than yellow, which is great)
Standard Keyboard Layout
Cherry MX Blue switches (as well as other options)
Individually Etched keys!
Tons of different lighting configurations/brightness levels! (Video review I saw)

And it's...somewhat inexpensive.

Sweet!
Click to expand...

Purchased the samekeyboard from PCHome that taiwanese shop.. With Yellow backlight just as yours but Brown Switches. They had only 2 in stock. Got 1 of them :) Can't wait for shipment to arrive and get my hands on it :)
 
braamer said:
All the pictures I looked at show Chinese characters under the standard US alphabet characters. What pictures are you talking about?
Click to expand...

Ah....I see the same thing. I don't think that it would bother me - it actually looks kind of cool (the curves on the letters) and I don't look at the keyboard, so it wouldn't bother me.

How'd you get your keyboard w/out the Chinese?

Edit: I talked to the rep. That was just the pictures that Ducky sent them. You can tell it's only English by looking at the part number:
DK9008S-CEALY

DK9008S is the part number. C is for Cherry Blues, E is for English, A is for ABS Keytips, L is for LED, and Y is for Yellow (LEDs)
 
Sounds like the perfect choice then. I was tempted by a Ducky before I got my Corsair, both of those use Cherry stabilizers btw so if a slightly different feel on the larger keys bothers you then I'd try one out first. They just feel slightly dampened, Shift and Backspace in particular. Cherry stabilizers are also more durable than Costar ones tho, and easier to replace caps on, FWIW.
 
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I've only tried Costar ones, so I have no idea how the Cherry ones compare.
 
But do you think that these...stabilizers make much of a difference in general?
 
TehYoyo said:
But do you think that these...stabilizers make much of a difference in general?
Click to expand...

It's just another personal preference thing, like the switches themselves... If you're not very picky you might not even notice unless it's pointed out to you, some of us are more anal about that kinda thing so I did some research as soon as I noticed the different feel of the Cherry stabilized keys.

Personally I don't mind it but some people have very different opinions. Here's a repost from another thread regarding Costar vs Cherry stabilizers (which again, has little to do with the switches and is only present on the larger keys), I quote myself in the post below to give some context:

Impulse said:
One thing I did notice between the K90 and the Rosewill is that all keys on the latter seem to bottom out and sound the same... On my K90 the two Shift keys and Enter (largest keys outside of space) don't seem to clack as loudly as the rest when they bottom out, they might wobble a bit more too (tho the Rosewill has slightly more wobble in general).

It's not something that jumped out at me and bothered me, just kinda curious. Are those large keys stabilized different on these two keyboards? Anyone else notice those keys bottom out differently on the K90? (almost like they don't fully bottom out)
Click to expand...

Apparently those keys feel different on the K90 vs the rest of the keys (or the Rosewill) because the K90 uses Cherry stabilizers, as do Leopold & Ducky, whereas the Rosewill uses Costar stabilizers (along with Filco, DAS, etc.). You can see the difference in construction on this review, read the picture captions carefully as sometimes they're out of sequence or referencing stuff not pictured:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/rosewill-rk9000-review/4

As far as the difference between them, it's just another personal preference thing. From what I've gathered Costar stabilized keys more closely resemble non-stabilized keys but they can be more fragile than Cherry's stabilizers and can squeak at times... Although the Rosewill I've got here doesn't have a hint of squeak, despite the fact that various reviews claimed the space bar does it when it's new.

Meanwhile Chery stabilizers are apparently more durable and easier to replace caps on (also easier to find caps for), but they feel more dampened when the keys bottom out. Key travel is identical imo, just as smooth (and linear in my case), it just doesn't clank as crisply when you bottom out those large keys... Supposedly they also loosen up with time tho (in a good way).

You can read more about stabilizers here (Geekhack poll), here (overclock.net discussion), here, and here (Ducky discussion at GH). Personally I kinda like the feel of it on Shift (particularly when gaming), since that's a key you'll always bottom out on, I'm more ambivalent about it on Enter. Oddly my Backspace feels a lot more like the smaller keys even tho I think it should also be stabilized, so either it isn't or it's already looser.

Buying a mechanical keyboard (or two!) sure turned into some kind of rabbit hole. :D This is worse than audiophile discussions, hopefully they last as long as a good pair of headphones tho!
Click to expand...
 
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I don't think I would change at this point - unless there was another keyboard with the specs that I want. Too much research and I don't think there's another like this.
 
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