Peripherals Mechanical Keyboards

Right, as I have a very cheap (£5.99) Keyboard... I have £80~ to spend on a mechanical keyboard.

Needs to be back lit, and have a num pad.

Like most of us, I use my keyboard for gaming, and typing so guess Cherry reds are the preferred choice?

Cheers,

Simon.

EDIT: Think I'm going to up my budget and go for the Corsair K70 with with which switches?...

 

The Func KB-460 looks like a cracking deal, if you can wait for stock.

Personally, I rate Reds as my least favourite of the main MX switches. I'm not saying they're bad - far from it - I just prefer the feel of Browns and would rather have Blacks over Reds, if I had to choose a linear switch.

 

May, is a long way off, and I'm sure the price will rise when it comes available.

Think I'm going to order the Corsair K70, I can get this with Amazon Prime, but it only comes with MX blues.

Just looked at this site which explains the switches in animation which looks cool.

Animation of Cherry MX switches

 

Oh, if you're ok with non-standard layouts, Scan has the CM Storm Quickfire Ultimates in for £83-£84 with either Browns or Blues.

The thought of Blues makes me twitch though

Yep, the Deskthority Wiki is a useful resource for switch characteristics too.

 

Browns would be an awesome choice if they're avaliable imo.

 

Right, I'm going to hang fire, and do some more research before I drop £120 on a keyboard. Too much choice! haha :/

 

Forget my last post. Just placed an order with Scan for the Corsair K70 with Reds.

 

Got the same with blues. Lovely keyboard and I doubt you will be disappointed.

 

Couple of questions:
Is space/size relevant?
What do you use the numpad for?
Are you right or left handed?
Is volume a concern? (Backlight suggests darkness, night, and the usual time when other people sleep )
Do you have dainty office fingers or burly man hands that accidentally crush less robust possessions?
Do you rest your hands on the keys when not in use or lift them off the board?
Do you have a preference for layout? (UK, US, ergonomic, etc?)

Edit to add: How long do you want it to last?

 

Oh right cool. Well I look even more forward to it arriving tomorrow.

No.
For accounts, calculator.
Left handed to write with, but for everything else I use my right hand.
I like to lock myself away with the blind shut in darkness. It the only way a man can be a caveman.
Depends if it's a lady my hands are touching, but I'm generally not heavy handed.
I generally rest my palms on the table or rest with my fingers gently resting on the keys.
UK as that's what I'm used to. As well as needing the £ key.
For a few yrs or till I get bored with it.

 

Have you considered a separate number pad that you could put on the left side of the keyboard and use with your left hand? Having tried one that side and being right handed I wonder how left handed folks use them with their right hand!
I use a compact 60% board and a numpad that (now) sits to the right with my mouse between board and numpad. Much better setup for spreadsheets and the like IMHO.

Switch wise I'd recommend trying to test a couple out. I find reds feel to twitchy, soft and I get accidental presses resting fingers on them. Browns remove that as I can judge pressure with the tactile bump. Clears even better but hard to find from main manufacturers.

If you do a lot of spreadsheets you may want to avoid the TKL layouts that have cursors on a layer of the numpad. Actually for office work the G80-1800 layout is the one I found best but not normally backlit. Mouse is close and no functionality lost in gaining the more compact layout.

An off the wall suggestion without backlighting. http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/black-left-handed-keyboard-ps2-and-usb.asp

To go back to your original requirements I'd go for a ducky tkl, clears if you can find one, browns if not, and pick up a goldtouch numpad from fleabay for under £10. Backlight isnt needed on a numpad - your fingers know where the numbers are...

 

Thanks for your reply. I ordered the Corsair K70 with MX Reds. It comes with Reds or Blues, but Blues would be too noisey to use at night.

No I never even thought about using a separate no. pad. To be honest, using a no. pad to my left would feel alien like. Even though I'm left handed, I do everything with my right including using a mouse etc.

Unfortunately I don't have any decent computer shops to test other switches near me.
I think the reason I choose MX Reds was looking over the animation of each switch, the Reds seem to be more responsive, so as a gamer they seem to be the right choice.

Thanks.again,

Simon.

 

Reds are a good call for gaming. I had a K70 with reds for a few months and it's a well crafted board, just a shame the bottom row is non standard.

Ducky Shine 4 or Legend would be my current choices for a premium MX backlit board, but they are right expensive!

I'm currently using a Ducky Shine 3 TKL with browns and a Goldtouch numpad with browns at work and a fullsize Ducky Premier with reds at home. Once my 35g Gaterons arrive I'll be reviving the Carvival Cougar again

 

How do.you mean non standard? If you mean switches, then the new k70 is fully mechanical.

 

The switch layout is slightly different to the norm, making it hard to use aftermarket caps. A non-issue if you don't plan to of course!

 

He's talking about the key-cap layout as being non-standard, not the switches themselves. Bottom row is usually (but not always) 7x1.25 keys and a 6.25 unit space bar, or 2x1 4x1.5 and a 6 unit space bar... K70 uses something odd...

 

Oh I get you now. I don't intend to change the key caps, only to the ones provided.
The only thing I plan to do is to add some dampeners.

 

I can probably sort you out there if you like. Will have a look when I get home this weekend but reckon I have a bag of o rings I dont use.

K70/is a good solid board. Sure you'll enjoy the red and being free of mushy membranes

 

Oh that would be sound if you could.

I hope its worth the price tag, as anything is better than my £5.99 keyboard... Lol