Off-Topic Thread

ShadowHearth

VenomIreland wrote: »

I've got a Thermaltake Meka G1 (Blacks) and I adore it, spilled something on it yesterday and other than the space bar it still works perfectly (space bar is a bit stiff now)

somehow i am really unlucky with keyboards. i had a lovely metal flat key keyboard, it was cheapish yoke, but it was so comfortable. so one girl during house party spilled vodka over it

then i had another flat keyboard, which was awesome too. cheapish stuff, but really comfortable. this time my friend spilled vodka on it! ****!

so i took out my old dell keyboard, which came with xps 420. i got so used to it, so i cant get used to anything else!!! It is shiet keyboard, but it is very compact and perfectly spacing between keys. to make it worse my pinky got so used to rest on the side of the keyboard, so when i get normal keyboard with extra plastic around keys, it just feels so uncomfortable!!!

Serephucus

Hmm... it would appear I've found one. QPad MK-80. Available in blue, red, black and brown, all UK Layout. €130 + €20 delivery. I had looked at the MK-85, but discounted it because of the orange backlighting (why do companies do this?). I figured the MK-80 would be the same - how very wrong I was!

The only reason I haven't ordered this one this second is that I might not be here over the Summer, so there's not much point me having it for a month and then not for three, in case something else comes out in the mean time.

D4RK ONION

Serephucus wrote: »

I've been looking at a mechanical keyboard since my Logitech G11 kicked the bucket, but it's extremely hard to find a backlit one with UK layout keys.

If you think you might like one, or aren't sure what they are, have a read through this to get an idea. Having personally used red, blue, and black MX switches, I'm leaning towards blue or brown, but as I said above, can't find anything.

An interesting read, but not willing to drop that much on a keyboard. Good to see you may have found one for yourself though :P

Serephucus

And I thought the very same for ages! I figured a high-quality one from a reputable company would suit me to the ground and that would be that.

Then I tried one. :P

I'm not saying definitely get one or whatever, but if you get a chance, give on a go so at least you have a comparison.

Anyway, other nice keyboards I had looked at that weren't mechanical:

Steelseries Merc Stealth - love the layout on this, but I miss the home/ins/etc. buttons.
Razer Lycosa - The keyboard I was originally going to buy in place of the G11 (Can't remember why I didn't) just because it looks so bad-ass.
Logitech G110 - The current equivalent to my G11, figured I'd throw it in.

thewheel2.0

So what is the difference between this ram 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 and this ram 8GB-Kit Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9.

Is it completely cosmetic or are there performance differences?

Brian

If you need backlighting, do you really need a mechanical keyboard? If you have to look at your keys then you probably don't type enough to warrant the investment.

Monotype

thewheel2.0 wrote: »

So what is the difference between this ram 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 and this ram 8GB-Kit Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9.

Is it completely cosmetic or are there performance differences?

Different manufacturers and appearance, as you said but should have identical performance. RAM doesn't get very hot anyway unless you are overclocking so the heatspreaders aren't really essential in your average case.

Serephucus

Brian wrote: »

If you need backlighting, do you really need a mechanical keyboard? If you have to look at your keys then you probably don't type enough to warrant the investment.

Lord no, I've been touch-typing for years. I don't need backlighting I suppose, I just really like it. It's one of those things. I think high-end computer, I always imagine it with a big monitor and a backlit keyboard.

I'm also visually impaired, so having the backlighting gives me a very clear view of the keyboard when I sit down first, or when I've moved my hands away from the keys. Otherwise I'd have to look down and actually focus at what I'm looking at to figure out where the middle of the main section of keys is.

Brian

Hmm, ok. Personally I feel they look a bit tacky, but that's just Razer's style I guess.

Depending on the mechanical keyboard, you may be able to swap the keycaps for different coloured ones which would help you with the visual thing.



I just bought some blank orange keycaps for my own Choc Mini (look at me calling people tacky :pac:)

Serephucus

White... orange... black... Pass.

I mean, they certainly would do the job, but... ow headache. :P

I'm not much for case LEDs and all that junk myself, but I've always liked the look of backlit keyboards, though Ideally I'd like white.

Brian

Well you're restricting yourself greatly. The only "good" backlit keyboard I know of is the KBTalking Pure which is tiny, expensive, and impossible to get hold of:

Serephucus

What's wrong with something like the MK-80? Or most other Cherry MX keyboards for that matter? I'm sure there's differences in quality between them, but I figured virtually all mechanical keyboards were head and shoulders above dome keyboards.

Brian

They may well be, but they're also much more expensive. Seems reasonable to go for the best, and the models made by gaming companies generally compare infavourably to the more reservedly-styled standard keyboard company models. There are exceptions, though, like the CM Storm Quickfire which is a Filco underneath for a quarter off the price and a lot of added logos.

I'm always happy to see people interested in mechanical keyboards, but I'm concerned about having bad first experiences with cheaper and less reputable models and then being put off mechs entirely. Kind of like Beats and expensive headphones

Serephucus

I'd noticed that alright, yeah. From what I can see though most people seem happy with QPads.

Headshot

hmm lads I thought I might get some advice here

Basically I want to go back and do some kind of education, be it college or what ever. I do love my computers and most things to do with it except java. I did a college course when I finished 2nd school a few years ago and I just couldnt get my head around the java part.

Iv been looking into a computer course but I keep seeing Java is involved with it, its frustrating. Am I on a fools errand, do they all involve Java?

Genghiz Cohen

Headshot wrote: »

hmm lads I thought I might get some advice here

Basically I want to go back and do some kind of education, be it college or what ever. I do love my computers and most things to do with it except java. I did a college course when I finished 2nd school a few years ago and I just couldnt get my head around the java part.

Iv been looking into a computer course but I keep seeing Java is involved with it, its frustrating. Am I on a fools errand, do they all involve Java?

If you want to do programming, you may be fresh out of luck.
Java is one of the easier Object Orientated languages, what gave you trouble?

ShadowHearth

i wish i would be working in IT . unfortunately life kicked me in the balls and i had to take what i could.

i dont knoe if i could even be able to go to collage and start everything again. i just could not be able.

IRL_Sinister

Headshot wrote: »

hmm lads I thought I might get some advice here

Basically I want to go back and do some kind of education, be it college or what ever. I do love my computers and most things to do with it except java. I did a college course when I finished 2nd school a few years ago and I just couldnt get my head around the java part.

Iv been looking into a computer course but I keep seeing Java is involved with it, its frustrating. Am I on a fools errand, do they all involve Java?

I'm enrolling for this course in september. I'm brand new to IT and am treating this as a conversion course (already have a double BA). I'm assuming there's a bit of JAVA involved but the module descriptor doesn't mention it all too often and certainly isn't focused on it. Might want to check it out!

EDIT: On that topic: anyone familar/able to give me a quick rundown on what 'Ruby' is?

Burgo

Headshot wrote: »

hmm lads I thought I might get some advice here

Basically I want to go back and do some kind of education, be it college or what ever. I do love my computers and most things to do with it except java. I did a college course when I finished 2nd school a few years ago and I just couldnt get my head around the java part.

Iv been looking into a computer course but I keep seeing Java is involved with it, its frustrating. Am I on a fools errand, do they all involve Java?

What area are you interested in getting in to? probably not programming anyway:pac:

frozenfrozen

IRL_Sinister wrote: »

I'm enrolling for this course in september. I'm brand new to IT and am treating this as a conversion course (already have a double BA). I'm assuming there's a bit of JAVA involved but the module descriptor doesn't mention it all too often and certainly isn't focused on it. Might want to check it out!

EDIT: On that topic: anyone familar/able to give me a quick rundown on what 'Ruby' is?

Ruby is another programming language. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/
it's python-esque in its simplicity, but it's very powerful.

IRL_Sinister

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Ruby is another programming language. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/
it's python-esque in its simplicity, but it's very powerful.

So it's fairly prominent in modern-day programming/IT?

ShadowHearth

i miss the times i was learning CPP.

Headshot

Burgo wrote: »

What area are you interested in getting in to? probably not programming anyway:pac:

Basically a computer tech

Brian

My keycaps arrived--





Gotta get myself out of the habit of looking down. Surprising myself at how often I still do it, although it's usually when I have both hands off the keyboard and have no ridged-key reference point.

Serephucus

Yup: backlighting is waaay less tacky. :P

Not a fan of the orange, but blank keys are pretty cool.

Brian

WASDkeyboards are releasing a new, better material for their keycaps soon, so I may switch to Lavender in the future.

Serephucus

I had a look at the WASD V1 the other day, and it's nifty looking. Great customisation options, etc. but still no decent media keys (or backlighting) which make is very similar to a lot of other keyboards out there already.

Burgo

Headshot wrote: »

Basically a computer tech

could start out with something like the A+/N+ and see how you find them.

hal9000

my filco majestouch 2 tenkeyless cherry brown arrived today!
big change from my mushy membrane ms sidewinder, my first mechanical keyboard and I love it, still waiting on coloured keycap set though

Tipsy McSwagger

What type of windows 7 should I buy for my build? Would this be ok http://www.software4students.ie/Microsoft_Windows_7_Professional_64_bit_Upgrade_Edition-details.aspx

Edit - I see this is an upgrade version which won't do. How about this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-OEM-software-intended-builders/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335202238&sr=8-1