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Peripherals Preferred Mechanical Switch Type?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by meandmymouth, 12 Mar 2015.

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What type of keyboard switch do you prefer?

  1. MX Red

    21.9%
  2. MX Blue

    21.9%
  3. MX Brown

    37.5%
  4. MX Black

    9.4%
  5. Other Cherry (Green, Clear etc.)

    9.4%
  6. Other Mechanical (Eg. Kailh)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  7. Any other switch (Topre, Buckled spring, rubber dome *shudder*)

    9.4%
  8. What's a keyboard?

    9.4%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. meandmymouth

    meandmymouth Multimodder

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    The majority of mechanical keyboards you can buy (in the UK at least) appear to use Cherry MX Red switches. Here's the thing, I don't know why? Just about every one I know who cares about this prefers blues or browns. I can't think I anyone I know that prefers reds. I'm curious to know what people here prefer and see if any one knows why the use of reds is so prolific.

    I've used reds, browns and blues. I easily prefer blues, followed by browns and reds trail a long way behind.
     
  2. fuus

    fuus Misses Rep Bombs

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    I've used clears, browns, blacks, blues, reds, topre, BS, one or two Alps and still always come back to browns. They're my end game I think.
     
  3. edzieba

    edzieba Virtual Realist

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    Browns (with dampers). Blues would be fine, but are simply too unsociably loud for use at home. Haven't had a chance to try the new Omron switches Logitech are using, though.
     
  4. GMC

    GMC Minimodder

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    Clears, all day long. Just wish the manufacturers would use them more.

    Also like Topre, are you counting them?
     
  5. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    Reds with o-rings. I don't like the actuation bump on browns as it makes playing FPS games etc. irritating.
     
  6. Guest-44432

    Guest-44432 Guest

    Newbie to Mechanical keyboards. So guess Reds as that is what I've ordered.
    Reds seem to be the preferred choice when gaming. :)
     
  7. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Clears, browns or blues for typing, reds or custom light springs and linear sliders for gaming. I can live with most switches to be honest (I used greens for a while), I find keycaps make as much of a difference to the overall experience as switches.

    I've never really gotten into Topre though. They're lovely and smooth, but I've used some really nice rubber-domes over the years which get very close. To the extent that I just can't stomach the premium pricing - and that's coming from a man who has spent well in excess of £1000 on keyboards in the last couple of years.

    Buckling springs are epic but far too noisy to be practical in a shared environment :hehe:
     
  8. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    I've used Reds, Blacks, Blues, Clears, Blears, Clues (think about it), Ghost Blacks and Panda Clears.

    I like many of them, but my daily drivers at work and home both sport Browns.

    Even my numpad has Browns.
     
  9. LennyRhys

    LennyRhys Fan Fan

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    Reds are popular because of marketing - you'll find that many people who use reds have nevery used anything else; conversely, people who have used blues or browns usually prefer them to reds, especially for typing.

    For me, it's blues all the way... best typing experience ever, even better than buckling spring, and certainly better than ALPS.

    My daily driver is a Quickfire XT with browns, but somewhere along the line I want to get myself a smaller board with blues.
     
  10. mansueto

    mansueto Too broke to mod

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    I don't regret going mechanical, I regret being impatient and going for blues over browns. Though I love the blues, and don't mind the noise, others in the house / on skype have mentioned it is a bit loud. I've tried my friends that uses browns and they felt good, and were marginally quieter. If I had the income, I'd probably go get myself a new board with backlight and browns. I didn't like the feel of reds, and blacks were brutal.
     
  11. PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn

    PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn Unholy Cyborg Fruit Machine

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    I've only used blacks, and happy with those.

    Maybe I need to get a sampling board to see if I prefer any others (already know the blues won't be a favourite on basis of noise)
     
  12. shrop

    shrop El Jefe of Sleeving

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    Topre, Blues, Black ALPS or BS
     
  13. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    I know mechanical keyboard people can be elitist and really snobby about things but I think you're taking it a bit far there. Reds are very good for gaming, arguably the best choice with browns being another strong choice. However, people don't pick reds just because they're stupid and listen to marketing.
     
  14. The_Crapman

    The_Crapman World's worst stuntman. Lover of bit-tech

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    I've been looking for a board with browns and have been stumped by the lack of availability of 'reasonably priced' ones. But further searching it seems that a lot of them were available with browns but have now sold out. So maybe the popularity of browns is the reason for lack of availability?
     
  15. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    IBM buckling spring is my favorite.
     
  16. Guest-44432

    Guest-44432 Guest

    Exactly, I made my choice by doing my research. Not under marketing hype.

    This site is what I used to make my choice due to the animation of how the switches worked as well as a few YouTube clips of the noise of them. :)

    Clicky
     
  17. asura

    asura jack of all trades

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    Green
     
  18. Ronaldo 9

    Ronaldo 9 Minimodder

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    I've only used MX blues and browns and I like them both but my fave is the browns. I just love them. I'd love to try reds though as they've always intrigued me
     
  19. meandmymouth

    meandmymouth Multimodder

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    Even for gaming I prefer blues. The sound doesn't bother me at all, in fact I quite like it. I don't stream games or anything like that so I guess I don't need a quieter keyboard.

    Interesting results so far. I feel bad for putter rubber down in the same category as Topre and buckled spring.
     
  20. Yslen

    Yslen Lord of the Twenty-Seventh Circle

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    Current favourite is vintage black stems with 65g korean springs :D

    Also like reds, blues, browns and buckling springs a great deal. I find clears, blacks and greens a bit too heavy, and ergo-clears annoyingly sticky. Haven't tried Topre yet.

    EDIT: In response to the reds debate, I use them on my main pc and at work now too. They're really nice as an all-rounder, in my opinion.
     

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