Peripherals Mechanical Keyboards. I Don't Get It.

Now I see how that mechanical keyboard thread go so big

 

Spot on Tel.

The first couple of dozen pages were full of brilliant nuggets of information, then it all got a bit keycap-centric to be useful to a newcomer. Still worth a post in there though, some good ideas lurking in that thread.

 

I was thinking of buying the Corsair K90 I think it was, and I tried it at Scan and hated it.

Have tried other Mechanical keyboards and I just don't like them so I will stick to my normal keyboards.

 

Fair enough - each to their own! If the mechanical keyboard thread was limited to strictly on topic it would be, at best, half the size... More like a social club where everyone is interested in keyboards...

 

what i dont get is the price, we used to roll with mechnical if you got back 15-20 years why are they suddenly stupidly expensive?

 

I assume because they aren't manufactured as widely as before so the mark up covers the increased cost of the smaller production sizes and the customary "niche" tax.

 

supply and demand

 

I figured i'd drop this in here (Because I can't find the Mechanical Keyboards Thread) - Zalman are producing a Mechanical Keyboard now, the ZM-K500, looks good, and retails for sub £50. Uses something akin to MX reds, although I'm not sure where from, as I understand they're no longer produced? Either way, it looks like a cheap mechanical that could be used as the stepping stone up to more expensive boards.

I might give it a shot, what do you lot think of it? (Although this would necessitate that I actually have money to spend upon such items. Valentines and the Girlfriend have conspired to make this a rather impossible situation for a while.)

It'd be nice to have a mechanical, and Ten-Key-Less would fit right in with my usual layout, I've already misplaced the numberpad off my X6, anyway.

 

Actually quite like the look of it, not sure how the quality etc will be though. Only time will tell I guess.

 

I'm curious about the same. It's not using Cherry switches, rather some Taiwanese variant/clone (Kailh), not sure if the reliability or quality will have taken a hit from that, however. Might just be that they're cheaper, due to not having the name attached.

I think the flipside is that replacement keycaps are going to be nigh impossible to find. Shame. I'd've put a set of blank caps on and flipped it to UK layout if possible.

 

That Zalman is basically the same as the Rapoo V7, a bit more information can be found in the link below regarding it :

http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalK...oo_v7_tkl_w_yellow_switches_laseretched_keys/

 

Save up a little more and get a CM Storm Rapid (would be my advice). From what I've heard the build quality is terrible and the switches don't compare to Cherrys at all.

 

Those Zalman aren't good! They don't use genuine cherry switches, and the caps on them are nasty with built in stabilisers. They really are not good boards. I have a blue one called a Newmen GM-10, and it's a shocker.

If you want to try a board with Kailh switches I can send you one to try. And then you will see it's not nice Plus the switches report to break easy, or the stem snaps off.



I bought it on a whim as I got it for about 25 quid imported from china. I haven't even plugged it into my computer.

 

This is turning into another Mechanical Keyboards thread rather than an anti-Mech thread! (Well not really anti mech more mech-curious?)

 

Funny how a couple of years ago on this forum everybody using a long-stroke keyboard was bashed (aaah..,the klicking, the noise, the horror) and flat "notebook style" keys were praised to bits.
And now the love for mechanical keyboards.

 

Laptop keyboards have always been horrid.

 

Fact. Especially if you're a giant like me, with enormous hands... I struggle to type on standard keyboards sometimes! Considering a mech board - my understanding that the keys are spaced at a set size?

 

Damn. So the ZM-K500 is actually a terrible excuse for a mechanical. That's a shame, I rather liked the look of it. (Although I think the Newmen branded one looks better. I'm a sucker for Blue.)

CM Storm it is, when I've saved up more. That or i'll dive straight in the deep end with something far more expensive.

 

do this times a thousand

 

You could always simply go for a standard Cherry office keyboard and hammer away, these things are built to last for a decade's worth production of red tape