Peripherals Mechanical keyboard advice

A little advice is needed from anyone experienced with mechanical keyboards. If I buy one with a US qwerty layout or french azerty layout, can I just buy a UK set of keycaps and they will fit and make it a UK spec keyboard?

 

I don't know about French/AZERTY keyboards or other European layouts, but a US layout is fundamentally different to a UK a
keyboard.
UK keyboards typically have a 2 row enter key and different key positions that don't fully match a US keyboard with a single row enter key.
Have a look at this... ANSI vs ISO.
HTH

 

So it's not looking likely, Thanks for the link Arboreal it's rather interesting

 

You're welcome, it's a bit if a rabbit hole.. People do use different layouts, but I think you have to be able to juggle the correct size replacement keys and map the functions potentially in Windows.
Mech boards can be addictive I'm told, I bought a UK ten keyless for LAN gaming but haven't gone any further than that.
There is a mechanical keyboard page on here somewhere not as active as it used to be though.

 

Can open, worms all over the place.

In theory, an ISO layout should take any ISO keyset, and the same ANSI to ANSI. The problem is many keyboard manufacturers arbitrarily change the size of the modifier row (bottom) keys from standard, meaning you'll likely end up with an odd row of keys because the modifier row doesn't fit.

This will niggle the **** out of you and you'll chase your tail down the rabbit hole looking for a solution, which invariably results in you spending a small fortune cycling through the various options and fixes on the market.

TLDR: It's worth spending the extra time and money hunting down a keyboard with your preferred keyset already fitted.

 

There will always be compromise. It's better than it was 5 years ago, but to this day some of the most desirable exotic keyboards are only available in ANSI or far-Eastern layouts. I'm a stickler for UK layout personally, but I have been known to plunge into alternative layouts from time to time.

Did you have something specific in mind?

 

Mech boards.. Always try and test them first, or get them from somewhere with a relaxed returns policy. Always spend the most you can afford, as you spend your life pressing on it.

 

Hey guys I was looking at the Corsair K70 Mk2 or the Steelseries M750 or something with a similar design. I have no way of trying one before hand so will be relying on the amazon returns system. I would buy myself a UK board but postage has skyrocketed with brecsit (the 'eks' key no longer works on this keyboard!) getting closer and I live in France now where most boards are azerty or american qwerty.

 

I would recommend trying the different switches first.

 

I appreciate you are in France, however I have found the following sites really helpful as a UK buyer...

Kustom PC.

https://www.kustompcs.co.uk

I think they are based in Scotland. They tend to have bang up to date stock. I have brought a Ducky Legend (ISO) and Ducky x Varmillo Miya Sakura (again, ISO but for my daughter). There customer service has been faultless.

Candy Keys...

https://candykeys.com/?attachment_i...Ju9jgopz0sE5iliYxc_8LlvAqCYmptkRoCxUgQAvD_BwE

I think they are based in Germany, have a wide choice (European layouts) and again customer service was excellent.

Mechsupply.co.uk might also be worth a look (I got my Tada68) from them (ansi).

Kbdfans are also excellent and you may find their shipping costs much more agreeable. Been involved in a group buy for caps and their communication was brilliant.

Hope this helps you find what you want.

 

Hey thanks for the links Lankius Maximus, i'm just sitting down now to have a good look through both sites.

 

Kustom PC's have been around a long time, and assuming it's owned / run by the same bunch of guys it used to be then yeah they are a great bunch, very helpful.

 

Cheers everyone, I went for a corsair k65 rgb lux with cherry mx reds and a cheap white set of double shot UK ISO keycaps (expected delivery next month!). The bottom row of keys will need to stay original but almost all the others will be changed over. Coming over from a membrane keyboard the key presses seem like a nice upgrade even though they are not clicky. I do have another PC lying around unused and may get a cheap mech keyboard for it just to try cherry mx browns or something similar.