Peripherals Mechanical Keyboards

GEORGEK as I live and breath back in the mech thread. Are you home now?

 

yeah, longweights seen the light and accepted topre's got nothing on mx blues

welcome back George.

 

Lol - been a while Not quite back yet - typing this on my phone in my hotel room in Sabah, Borneo hotel here has some stable wifi so thought I'd check in and so what's going on!

 

blues are crap. Unless you change the spring, then they are wonderful

And topre beats the pants off blues the only thing that comes close is ergo clears/65gclears etc etc.

 

i was only jesting, i seem to remember longweight saying he couldn't stand mx blues because of the gritty/scratchyness.

I've only one board with blues that doesn't see too much use. my main board is browns and my others are both blacks. I'd like to try greys or clears.

that said, just found out i AM getting back my deposit from my old flat (expected it to be taken up on refitting and replacing a dead sofa) so if I can convince my brain i could use some of that for a HHKB (if i don't spend it on a new turntable, tube amp and speakers first).

even turns out i'm getting cash back from the deposit for the flat before that....is ~£240 enough for a HHKB?

 

I always miss so much when I go on holiday, and so to summarise:

DAT UNICOMP, but I still want a Model M more. GET ME ONE!
First dibs on the HHKB.

And someone sell me IBM BS boards of any kind and MX CCs please!

 

Welcome back kid...

 

Luckily it's only been a bit more than a day, but I still missed you all that much.

 

No one? Just a mini price check too if I don't arrange a swap. £45 including delivery (probably collect+) sound fair enough? I bought it for £47 including delivery and have barely used it.

 

Is it plate mount or pcb mount?

 

Kid, if I ever get a new Unicomp or a MX Blue and I find them satisfactory, I'll send you my Model M for postage only.

It's 5lb (~2.2kg) so it might be expensive. But I think you'll love it.

 

HPE 87 is plate mount

 

Anyone recommend a good starter mechanical keyboard. Needs to have number pad and back lighting would be a bonus but not essential? Also what key switches are best. From reading reviews I quite brown or red.

 

If you can live with the layout, consider the CM Storm TK. You won't find a cheaper backlit mech and reds are silky. If you want to branch out into Ducky (my fellow mechers will kill me) then the Zero and Zero Shine are good keyboards and available in the UK from CCL, KustomPCs and possibly a few others..

I'd recommend reds or browns on your first board.

If you're wealthy then just get a Filco if you don't mind no backlighting or a Ducky Shine 2 or 3 if you need some colour.

 

Margon is correct - it is plate mounted. It is a pretty good quality board for the price, I haven't spent a huge time typing on it but it feels solid and the case doesn't twist or bend at all. The keycaps aren't fantastic, but not many standard sets are.

 

great thanks. the cm storm and the ducky zero were the two I was actually looking at. I don't actually mind the layout of the cm storm and quite like the compactness of it. Never used a mech kb before so choice of switches is difficult and can only really go on reviews and advice. What would say the differences are between red and browns?

 

Browns have a little bump in them. I like browns alot. Then again I like all switches really I am the worst person to ask as I like them all. Except stock blue, I'm not wildly fond of standard blues.

 

My first introduction to mechanical boards was my brothers model M. MX green seems to be the closest thing going, and they're what I love... blues are just weaker greens with a slightly different tactile slope. Before that I honed my touch typing on a rubberdome that came with my fathers 386 having first learned on my mothers manual typewriter. So I die a little inside every time someone says that such-and-such-a-switch-is-too-stiff. If it was out there I'd have 150g or more...

 

Oh you lovely thing, thank you very much!

 

Where's the best place to get greens? I've just ordered an Ergodox with blues, but since I now love the feel of my Unicomp it seems greens might be the best switch for me -- if I can get those then I might be able to change my ergodox to be delivered without switches (they don't offer greens...).

Alternatively, how hard is it to sell loose blue switches?