What Keyboard

jonski

Jeeeeeese I'm getting old , where's the f'effing F keys they are up there somewhere but I can't see which is which , where F , I need to counter knife , grrrrr . I need a new keyboard with individualy lit keys and a not too big foot print . I am using the old Microsoft Reclusa and it's fine whne the lights are on but in low light the backlight just ain't enough for these old eyes . It also needs to be fairly quiet as it is in my little corner of the sitting room , be nice if it was under €20 as well . I was looking at the Qpad mx 85 but my god , Red lighting ? I'm not in a whorehouse . Blue would be nice and the size of it is nice too .




ok ok , under €100 ?

I know this isn't strictly BF4 related but I want it for BF4 and also I am afraid to go out into that 'Games' forum , there's wild animals out there , teenagerthings or whatever you call them .

Sparks

Something with cherry keys (mechanical keys made by a company called cherry, and which unfortunately come not with model numbers but in colours - red, green, blue, etc. Each has a slightly different force profile to activate the key) and small form factor? CM storm quickfire TK is probably what you want. They do a line of keyboards like that so take a look at them, and if you can, try them in a local shop first (the feel of a keyboard is a bit... subjective).

Wouldn't use them for day to day (I use a kinesis advantage for that), but for games, yeah, they'd be better than this cheap wireless logitech I'm using now.

dreamers75

Wired Cyborg 5 is 40 quid in Currys/Pc World

Works for me.

MajesticDonkey

A bit above budget, but the Corsair Vengence K95 looks fecking awesome and has great reviews. It's on my wishlist.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CJULZZ8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00CJULZZ8&linkCode=as2&tag=stalitmed-21

Sparks

And there's always the Logitech G13

Blazer

QPAD MX85,,,its fúcking awesome...sorry I swapped mine for a Logitech G19 (keys were keeping baby awake) which is like putting Barry McGuigan into a ring with Mike Tyson...
in fact the Qpad is so solidly built that you could beat Mike Tyson to death with it and still play afterwards on it..its that well built. I'ts heavy but it doesn't budge an inch on you desk.
I did miss the LCD screen off the Logitech but the qpad keys are far superior to it. They're faster to press/release and it does make a difference to your game.
there a power plug for the qpad as well...small though and it requires usb port for the usb passthrough.

Dcully

Cyborg V7,best non mechanical keys ive used.
Lovely looking piece of kit too with plenty of options to adjust key lighting to your liking.
I got mine for €85 in PC world about 6 months ago.

If i was top upgrade from this it would most definitely be a Qpad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc8_9Bm2wl4

jonski

All nice Keyboards , but all with big foot prints ( except the qpad and that has a heavy price tag ) , I am looking for something under 50 cm so I can get reclaim some of my mouse mat , also red lights seem to be 'in' atm , I kinda thought that might be a bit harder on the eyes but maybe not .

Sparks

jonski wrote: »

heavy price tag

Thing about keyboards and mice is, yeah, good ones aren't cheap, but look at the cost of a new pair of wrists

red lights seem to be 'in'

If you have cherry red keys, you get red lights; blue for blue and so on.

Don't ask me what lights they use for cherry brown keys

jonski

Sparks wrote: »

Don't ask me what lights they use for cherry brown keys

Fair enough , I won't ...... what about the cherry black ?

Sparks

Well, black lights, obviously. Weren't you around for the 70s?

jonski

Sparks wrote: »

Well, black lights, obviously. Weren't you around for the 70s?

Yup , and the latter part of the 60's

Sparks

Beats me

Luck100

I have the CM quickfire storm TK. Backlight on mine is WHITE, not red like in that amazon picture. It's a compact keyboard, with cherry brown switches (mildly clicky, quick action). The backlight can be turned on/off and brightness has about four or five levels.

Luck100

I see that there's another seller on Amazon offering the quickfire storm new for 69 pounds

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00C67C79C/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1388406792&sr=1-1

MajesticDonkey

Sparks wrote: »

If you have cherry red keys, you get red lights; blue for blue and so on.

Nope, Corsair K95 uses Cherry Red and is white backlit. Many keyboards allow you to choose the colour of the backlights.

Sparks

True. I was thinking of the quickfire keyboards.

TheFullDuck

I have the CM storm quickfire with brown switches and red backlight. It's a great keyboard but very noisy... So the OP should avoid going by the low sound requirement.

jonski

I think I am going to go with the Corsair Vengence K70 cherry red and get a bag of O rings to bring down the noise level a bit . €129 in PC World ........ no idea where the money is going to come from though .

Blazer

jonski wrote: »

I think I am going to go with the Corsair Vengence K70 cherry red and get a bag of O rings to bring down the noise level a bit . €129 in PC World ........ no idea where the money is going to come from though .

forget about mechanical keyboards then if you don't want noise...there's no point in spending that money on a keyboard when you're going to negate the advantages of making it quieter.

jonski

How do you feel the O rings will negate the advantages ?

uncle_sam_ie

I don't think you need them at all really. The switches aren't that noisy.

jonski

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

I don't think you need them at all really. The switches aren't that noisy.

I was just getting ready to jump in the car and buy the most expensive Keyboard I have ever even looked at and then Blazer comes in and drops that bombshell , and ...and then has the audacity to log off before explaining himself in detail ! some people eh ?

Luck100

I don't think they're that noisy either. It's the blue switches that are very clicky. Browns are moderate.

Sparks

The click you can't do much about as it's from the upstroke and is internal to the key from what I remember, but the O-rings will eliminate the noise when the key bottoms out as you press it.

I notice with my mechanical switches on the Kinesis that the noise isn't that much louder than the desktop PC's fans and such, but it is a bit sharper. I guess if silence is that important to you, you could go for something like the Matias quiet keyboards but it seems a bit overkill really. Just tell everyone else in the house to get used to it

MajesticDonkey

Good guide: http://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/an-introduction-to-cherry-mx-mechanical-switches/

jonski

We will have no more discussion on this now , the deed is done ! Still can't believe I spent soooo much on a keyboard , I even drove the car home slower and more careful then I normally would

As I am typing it doesn't seem so loud though I am still unsure of how the O rings would have a negative effect .

Also loving the extra real estate I have on my little desk .

MajesticDonkey

I missed your post...that wasn't a bad price actually!

jonski

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

that wasn't a bad price actually!

Good god , keep your voice down man . No one in this house has asked how much I payed and I aint telling .


ah feck it they gave me the money for xmas what did they think I was going to do with it ? spend it on coke and hookers ? at my age ?

Sparks

€129 isn't a horrible price for the K70 really - I mean, it's €100 in scan, but you have to add in P&P to that so you'd be within a few euros of it. Not enough to cry into your beer over. No better prices on ebay either.

uncle_sam_ie

jonski wrote: »

We will have no more discussion on this now , the deed is done ! Still can't believe I spent soooo much on a keyboard , I even drove the car home slower and more careful then I normally would

As I am typing it doesn't seem so loud though I am still unsure of how the O rings would have a negative effect .

Also loving the extra real estate I have on my little desk .

It's worth it though. I could never go back to a dome switch keyboard again. The keys feel too mushy.

Sparks

Of course, you realise that the K70's not the most expensive keyboard out there... take a look at the Optimus if you want a nice scare

Mind you, it has it's drawbacks...

Tazzimus

Sparks wrote: »

Of course, you realise that the K70's not the most expensive keyboard out there... take a look at the Optimus if you want a nice scare

Mind you, it has it's drawbacks...

I looked at that keyboard anytime I was on thinkgeek, Not a hope I would spend that on a keyboard. Well if I won the euromillions maybe..

jonski

Sparks wrote: »

Of course, you realise that the K70's not the most expensive keyboard out there... take a look at the Optimus if you want a nice scare

Mind you, it has it's drawbacks...

I was just about to take my K70 back and exchange it ..... but then I read the drawbacks .

DeWinterZero

Someday I'll upgrade to a Cherry keyboard but I've got my bucket in BF4 already so my €15 Logitech kb did its job.

Sparks

Has anyone actually used the Logitech G13? I used the Wolfking keypad (which cost a damn sight less than it's going for on amazon) for a while, but it wasn't really any better than a normal keyboard and the keys weren't the best (they weren't decent mechanical keys). I've been drooling over the new version of the G13 and the orbweaver for a while (the orbweaver being Razer's version of the Nostromo, but with mechanical keys instead of the pokey membrane types the Nostromo used), but at a hundred quid for the orbweaver and the guts of that for the G13, I've been able to resist the urge so far