Mechanical KB  (Read 7064 times)

kops

Mechanical KB
« on: November 15, 2020, 21:20 »
Decided I'll be better with a 100 or 110 keyboard. Am looking at the Ducky Shine 7 or the Glorious GMMK.  From what I gather the build quality is better on the ducky but I love the idea of hotswap switches on the GMMK.

Anyone used either and can recommend (or an alternative)?

Piglet

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #1 on: November 15, 2020, 21:30 »
I have a Corsair Vengeance K60 you're welcome to have. Needs some cleaning - but with Cherry MX Red keys it's a little too sensitive for me. I prefer the brown ones.

I've been meaning to stick it on ebay.

Comes with key puller and red tops for WASD & numbers 1-6:

« Last Edit: November 15, 2020, 21:35 by Piglet »

Blub

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #2 on: November 15, 2020, 23:41 »
I cannot really give you an advice here since I don't know a lot about mechanical keyboards. I own one but I'm not sure what brand/type it is.

Just one question though: How do you deal with the noise these things make?  ???

Piglet

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #3 on: November 15, 2020, 23:53 »
Just one question though: How do you deal with the noise these things make?  ???

Wear headphones. Mute zoom when typing on a conference call. Shut the door. :)

Grim_Fandango

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2020, 00:20 »
Due to a coffee spill and a change of jobs, I decided to push the boat out and purchased the following:

- Razer Tartarus V2
- Corsair K63
- Logitech MX Master 3

The Razer Tartarus seemed a great idea at the time, however my fingers don't fall naturally on the keys, and the space button (jump) just doesn't feel right.  It was a complete waste of 80 quid.

The Corsair on the other hand is a dream to use.  Sure it's a little noisy when doing the day to day office stuff, but I've found it very responsive when gaming.  I like the fact that you can set different profiles depending on which applications you use.  For example it's only the WASD, space and menu keys which are lit for UT.
It must be decent keyboard, as I managed a marathon Face Classic match of 1 hr 20 minutes last night and I could have went another couple of hours more.
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kops

Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2020, 09:04 »
I have a Corsair Vengeance K60 you're welcome to have. Needs some cleaning - but with Cherry MX Red keys it's a little too sensitive for me. I prefer the brown ones.

I've been meaning to stick it on ebay.

Comes with key puller and red tops for WASD & numbers 1-6:



Mate, that's a lovely offer thank you but I'll be using different switches and my soldering skills are somewhere between zero and non-existent.

kops

Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2020, 09:07 »
I cannot really give you an advice here since I don't know a lot about mechanical keyboards. I own one but I'm not sure what brand/type it is.

Just one question though: How do you deal with the noise these things make?  ???

You can get different switches, quiet or loud. in most keyboards they are soldered in (but still changeable), in a few keyboards you can change them out (hotswap). Basic guide to the main Cherry brand switches (although there are 100s of others)

https://fynestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/mechanical-keyboard-switch-guide-e1469983482645.png


Piglet

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2020, 10:01 »
I really like the brown ones. Light, but not too sensitive.

Boring to look at. Great keyboard: https://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/uk-filco-majestouch-2-nkr-tactile-action-keyboard.asp


kops

Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 2020, 10:12 »
Do you get on OK with the Cherry MX browns? I found them a little scratchy and rough - Gaterons apparently much smoother but need to get my hands on a couple to test. Will take a look at that kb - looks nice!

zeus

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 2020, 11:01 »
What is wrong with the regular keyboards?

I hardly ever notice keyboard being the limiting factor :o


[edit] Please don't shout. Your keyboard appears to have a problem with lower case.
« Last Edit: November 16, 2020, 11:21 by Piglet »

Piglet

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 2020, 12:39 »
Do you get on OK with the Cherry MX browns? I found them a little scratchy and rough - Gaterons apparently much smoother but need to get my hands on a couple to test. Will take a look at that kb - looks nice!

I really like them. Smooth as butter, with a really nice positive impact at the bottom without a "click". The red ones seem to activate part way down and led to repeating keystrokes when I wasn't expecting them.

I did start out with mechanical mainframe terminal keyboards with very similar keys in. Built like tanks and utterly indestructable.

Blub

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #11 on: November 16, 2020, 22:29 »
Just one question though: How do you deal with the noise these things make?  ???

Wear headphones. Mute zoom when typing on a conference call. Shut the door. :)

I do get the headphones idea when you are acutally supposed to wear them, but most of the times I don't wear them.  ;D For work/office I actually went the other way and got a Logitech keyboard with very "weak" keys from a response perspective. Didn't like that at the beginning, but for typing it's great and absolutely quite.

I cannot really give you an advice here since I don't know a lot about mechanical keyboards. I own one but I'm not sure what brand/type it is.

Just one question though: How do you deal with the noise these things make?  ???

You can get different switches, quiet or loud. in most keyboards they are soldered in (but still changeable), in a few keyboards you can change them out (hotswap). Basic guide to the main Cherry brand switches (although there are 100s of others)

https://fynestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/mechanical-keyboard-switch-guide-e1469983482645.png


I gotta figure out what the mechanical keyboard I have laying around is and maybe those kind of keys are available for it.

Piglet

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #12 on: November 16, 2020, 23:12 »
Just pull the top off one of the keys and you'll see (if they're cherry keys) - the top of the switches are coloured as per their names. The brown ones are...brown. The red ones...well you get the idea

Miauz55555

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Re: Mechanical KB
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2020, 20:34 »
Recommendations in no order: Filco, dasKeyboard, Ducky, Leopold (I probably have one or two forgotten.)
From the "gaming brands" Corsair is also making some good ones. I would keap distance from Razer and Logitech as they are known for "cheaper" pcb layouts. Means for example no n-key-roll-over .. well at wasd they made it that you can pres that ones at the same time ... so arround that keys ... at least. Don't get me wrong they are still "OK", but not worth that ammong of money, when you can get better for the same prize, from my point of view.
Here are some more infos: https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/learn.php

I use an older "DAS Keyboard" with MX-Brown from cherry. https://www.daskeyboard.com/de/index.php
Mine looks like the Filco (which made great ones) from Piglet but with a FN key on the left extra.
I also have one with Mx-Blue (the loud clicky ones). They are both gread, but when you aren't alone the browns are may better. =D
Writing on the blues makes actually more fun, but can be annoing at a time when you are sensitive.
The "das Keyboards" also have a metal plate the the keys are mounted on it and the pcb is "holded" by the keys. So regardless how hard you hit the keys, you will most likely not break the pcb. There are also versions which are mounted the other way, which makes the metal plate more deco than anything. =D

They now make some with lightning .. I think if I would buy a new one I would also go for one with light.
But on light I would look for one where you can still see the keys good, even without lightnig on.

There are also many different materials out of what the keycaps are. They all have there + and - .. sometimes the biggest - is the prize. My keys are ABS with laser engraved and filled .. so the most used ones become shiny, but it's no problem as the engravement is not affected. There are also "double shot" keycaps where the keycap is more than one pice. Here are some infos https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/mechanical-keyboard-guide

You see you can fill nights with that. You may also look for one with a wrist rest, depending you, as mechs are a bit higher than normal ones.

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@Blubb: You can get theas rubber rings if you mean that. Otherwise, you can't, it's a feature. =D The bown cherry are perfect when you don't like the noise.
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@ZEUS: When you never tried a mechanical against a normal rubberdome one, you can't understand it. It's way better, even a cheap junk mechanical is better than the best rubberdome one. Also the normal cheap one are limited to keypressing. The better keyboards do have "n-key-rollover" (with PS2 or USB3) means you can press every key at the same time and it will be recognized. Try holding both shift keys at the same time and than write "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG" Than the number keys. After that try to press all keys at once.