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Peripherals Mechanical Keyboards

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Raptor77, 27 Dec 2011.

  1. yuusou

    yuusou Multimodder

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    I have the sea salts and really like em. Quiet, comfy
     
  2. RedFlames

    RedFlames ...is not a Belgian football team

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    ...or lube. But that's probably more effort than just swapping the switches for something else.
     
  3. noizdaemon666

    noizdaemon666 I'm Od, Therefore I Pwn

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    I also use the Sea Salt switches on my keyboard at work. They are very quiet and not too light of an actuation force (in my opinion). I like them, they seem to suit me.
     
  4. hamza_tm

    hamza_tm Modder

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    Just a note, but O-rings do feel quite different to membranes, it's unclear if you're speaking from experience. You get a much shorter travel distance, but you don't get membrane mushiness and unnaturally large actuation force.
     
  5. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    I am speaking from experience, yes. I spent ages applying the things (on a full-size keyboard, no less!), hated the feel, spent ages removing 'em again...
     
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  6. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    Just to state the obvious, do you have your k/b on a mat on your desk?

    I found that my mech would reverberate via my wooden desktop, making it much louder. Putting it on a large desk mat made a huge difference.
     
  7. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    I did have, for a while, but never got around to putting in on the desk when I moved. I'm using the same Keychron Q8 as before, though - it's got a rubber mat inside a hefty aluminium chassis, and I can't perceive any difference in noise levels between now and when it was on a desk mat.
     
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  8. LennyRhys

    LennyRhys Fan Fan

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    So... I've been bitten by this bug (again). I've been using a Keychron K8 with browns for almost four years now, and it's been wonderful for everything -- work, gaming, typing -- but I always find myself being pulled back to heavier, clicky switches. I borrowed my bro's old Cherry G80 for a few days and that was all the convincing I needed to buy myself a board with MX Blues, namely a HyperX Alloy FPS Pro that I snagged on ebay for £17.50. It's a no-frills board with very little in the way of features (red-only backlighting), but it's surprisingly heavy and is absolutely sublime for typing; genuinely the thing feels like it's set in concrete.

    The board itself is already super slim, and with some cheap Cherry profile PBT caps it's easily the best mech I've ever had from an ergonomic standpoint as it sits so low - I don't even need a wrist rest now. Couple that with my beloved MX Blues, and I'm a happy boy.

    [​IMG]
    But... that's not where it ends. I'm slowly realising that mech boards now are quite different from what they were a few years ago, and I've discovered that there are "better" clicky switches out there, which is giving me a hankering for yet more keyboards. I've already got a 60% with Kailh Box Jades on the way, and I'm super tempted to pick up a slightly larger do-it-all hot-swappable base that will serve as my main/project board for the foreseeable. The layout options are far more numerous than before, so choosing a board is not going to be easy. Just don't tell the wife...
     
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  9. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    Keychron uses Gateron switches, no? Pretty sure Gateron and kailh switches use the same weight springs on both Blue and Brown, so they might be clicky but not heavier.
     
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  10. LennyRhys

    LennyRhys Fan Fan

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    Yeah I think the Keychron-branded switches are made by Gateron. The browns are lovely, but strangely quite different from Cherry browns... I think the tactility is more pronounced, and therefore they "feel" heavier. I did entertain the idea of just buying Gateron blues for the K8, but I didn't want to start putting money into optical switches when I can instead buy a hot-swappable board that uses standard mechanical switches. Very keen to see for myself if these Kailh box switches are all they're hyped up to be!
     
  11. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    I usually use MX Blues (or knockoffs), but I've a couple of boards with Kailh Box Whites - they're lovely, proper snappy.
     
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  12. hamza_tm

    hamza_tm Modder

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    Oh boy I do not need to re-enter this particular rabbit hole again...

    But you've totally got me searching for HyperX Alloy FPS Pro on the bay. Must. Control. Myself.
     
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  13. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    I got an email from Keychron the other day telling me about their sales. Popped on to see that they seem to have raised prices by about 20% across the board in the last couple of months. Ouch.

    I had been looking at the K6 Max, which in March was £100, and it's now £125 (but on sale at £111 today - previously would have been on sale at £89). The Q6 Max has gone from £205 to £240.
     
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  14. LennyRhys

    LennyRhys Fan Fan

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    Yeah the prices are pretty crazy right now. It's common to see branded boards in the £150-200 bracket, and no part of me believes that a keyboard can be anywhere near good enough to justify that cost. I don't care if the lube is made of unicorn semen... I just ain't paying that when there are substantially cheaper alternatives. It was bad enough when GMK were churning out limited run keycap sets--which are still gawjus, by the way--but there's just too much p!ss being taken with all the other levels of customisation IMHO. If I ever start talking about lube and bespoke stabilisers, please have harsh words with me.
     
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  15. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    By all accounts Keychron stuff is pretty good, but I can't quite see why there have been these sudden and significant price increases. Could be an excuse to use Trump's tariff nonsense to hike prices for everyone, even though Keychron stuff come from China to the UK and therefore tariffs shouldn't directly impact them, unless they're trying to do some cross-subsidy for US customers?

    Regardless it's a bit of a sore one, as I've been toying with the idea of getting either an 80% or 100% K Max series board for a while now, but the price hikes are definitely putting me off.
     
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  16. IanW

    IanW Grumpy Old Git

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  17. LennyRhys

    LennyRhys Fan Fan

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    So... I took delivery of this wee 60% Skyloong GK6X board with Kailh Box Jade switches, and I must say I'm super impressed. They remind me a lot of MX Greens, but they sound and feel quite different. I can see why some (or most) people consider them an upgrade from Cherry MX. I've also got a board incoming which has (I believe) Box White V2 switches, so I'm keen to compare the two.

    This custom board was a lot more of a bargain than I first realised... I got the whole package for 30 British bucks. The base with no switches costs $50, so I consider that a win fo' sho'. Lovely little board.

    (And yes, the board needs a deep clean... I'll get round to it soon!)

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  18. BazzUK

    BazzUK Are we there yet?

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    Bought one 2 years ago, used it for about a week, now it's stuck in the loft, no idea why I stopped using it though
    Can't even remember what it is either
     
  19. LennyRhys

    LennyRhys Fan Fan

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    Finally got this new Cooler Master board set up - spent some time this afternoon removing all the Box Red switches and replacing them with Box Whites. With a total of 98 switches this was not a quick job, and I needed to re-seat a couple of switches... but thankfully the bent pins are super easy to straighten.

    The MK770 is packed full of moulded silicone for sound dampening, and it's really quite surprising how quiet it is even now with "loud" clicky switches. The difference between this and the 60% board is night and day, even though they have the exact same switches save for the heavier spring in the Jade version. And yes, I much prefer these switches to MX Blues; they are better in every way.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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