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Mechanical Keyboards
Target:
ok, thats a decent recommendation, but I think I need to go a bit more teckonogical like...
It seems the major design choice when considering one of these things is the switch, and there's like a gazillion of them. Some are loud, some aren't, some offer more resistance, some less, some are 'clicky', some aren't
And then there's the bits and pieces that go along with them, silencers, dampeners, stabilisers, flange diddlers, and so on
without spending a shirtload of money to buy all these things to test, how does one go about making a choice (the right choice?)
wraith808:
curious about recommendations for a mechanical keyboard nooby.
I'm interested in getting a tenkeyless board (nothing as extreme as 40%!) but all these switches and options mean nothing to me, and spending $140+ a time to test a keyboard isn't in my budget
-Target (December 17, 2017, 04:15 PM)
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The most important things to look at when you get into the Mechanical Keyboard hobby (in my opinion) are the layout and the switches. You've already said you want a TKL, so you just need to think about the switches. The easiest ways to differentiate (though a bit simplistic) is tactile vs linear vs clicky and the actuation force.
tactile switches have a slight or pronounced bump on the stem, letting you feel it as you type. linear switches are smooth from top to bottom. clicky switches click as you type- like the old IBM keyboards. The actuation force is the amount of pressure on the keys needed to actuate (activate) it. There's a lot of keyboard science to them, and a lot is based on personal preference.
You can check this out to see an example: https://www.hyperxgaming.com/us/keyboards/cherry-mx-switches
I like to use Brown (tactile) switches. They are tactile with an actuation force of 45cN.
As far as boards, it's going to depend on what your wallet can afford.
In the $150 range, I'd go for the code keyboard.
http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/code-keyboard.html
It's functional, durable, and a common choice that I see for retail boards.
The Coolermaster is also a good board, and more readily available than the Code keyboards, as in, you can get it from Amazon.
http://www.coolermaster.com/peripheral/keyboards/quickfirerapid/
https://smile.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-MasterKeys-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B01ITE93K6/
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-MasterKeys-Mechanical-TenKeyless/dp/B01D8ETGNQ
They're gaming keyboards, but I hear good things about them in general.
As far as the other things, I wouldn't worry about them for now. In general, they are going to be aftermarket additions, so go with one of the stock switches (I'd suggest clears or browns), and ease yourself in. If you want to modify it later for silence or better stabilizers, you'll at least know what you're dealing with at that point.
Let me know if you have further questions.
Deozaan:
I've recently heard about keeb.io as a source for some of these custom keyboard builds. Anyone here have any experience with them and their supplies?
wraith808:
I've recently heard about keeb.io as a source for some of these custom keyboard builds. Anyone here have any experience with them and their supplies?
-Deozaan (December 18, 2017, 12:22 AM)
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They are a place that you can get parts from, but they're more geared towards unusual keyboards. There are a few places that you can get kits and such from, but in many cases they're going to be group buys, i.e. you pay in to buy the parts, they put it into production using that money (Think months, not weeks on this part), then after it's done, they ship it to you.
One place that I can recommend is KBDFans: https://kbdfans.myshopify.com/
Their prices are pretty reasonable, they sell kits, and assembly (not sure of the quality of the assembly), and they have a wide variety of stock. The Orange and Black 75%, and the Gray and Blue one that I just put together have parts from them. The only downside is that they're in China, so it can take a bit longer to get to you than domestic shops, and both of my orders were stopped by customs for some reason, that made it even slower to get to me.
https://www.aliexpress.com/ also has a wide variety of products, though it's a bit more iffy than KBDFans. I've ordered from them and it was fine. However, AliExpress isn't who you will be buying from- they sell store space to a variety of vendors. AliExpress is just the middle man, which can be off-putting for many people.
tomos:
It seems the major design choice when considering one of these things is the switch, and there's like a gazillion of them. Some are loud, some aren't, some offer more resistance, some less, some are 'clicky', some aren't-Target (December 17, 2017, 08:45 PM)
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tactile switches have a slight or pronounced bump on the stem, letting you feel it as you type. linear switches are smooth from top to bottom. clicky switches click as you type- like the old IBM keyboards. The actuation force is the amount of pressure on the keys needed to actuate (activate) it. There's a lot of keyboard science to them, and a lot is based on personal preference.
[..]
I like to use Brown (tactile) switches. They are tactile with an actuation force of 45cN.
-wraith808 (December 17, 2017, 09:22 PM)
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I have only ever used one mechanical keyboard, it has brown switches -- I'm very happy with them.
without spending a shirtload of money to buy all these things to test, how does one go about making a choice (the right choice?)
-Target (December 17, 2017, 08:45 PM)
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said keyboard cost me around 60 euros -- I just had a good look at amazon reviews, and went for the cheapest that got reasonable reviews (is a qwertz full keyboard from qpad, they dont seem to sell keyboards in the states, dont know about elsewhere)
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