Buy me a keyboard

stimpson

Ok, so the dubiously named Sharkoon Skiller Pro I bought as a stopgap for gaming has given up the ghost and I'm back to using an old Dell I brought home from work and it's awful. I want something decent that's going to last - ideally with a metal chassis and mechanical keys.

While I do some gaming, I also work from home so do a fair bit of typing. Budget is around €100, maybe a little more for something really good. It must be a full size keyboard. Backlit is ok as long as it's not blue and I've no interest in paying extra for a multi coloured one.

Currys in the UK have a Corsair K70 for £94 and Razer have a couple around the €100 mark. Has anyone got any opinions or other suggestions?

MarkAnthony

Don't go mad and don't for the love of God buy from Currys.

I wish I hadn't 'invested' in my K95 - I could have quite happily been bombing along on my G15 v1 right now.

MarkAnthony

Don't go mad and don't for the love of God buy from Currys.

I wish I hadn't 'invested' in my K95 - I could have quite happily been bombing along on my G15 v1 right now.

farna_boy

stimpson wrote: »

Ok, so the dubiously named Sharkoon Skiller Pro I bought as a stopgap for gaming has given up the ghost and I'm back to using an old Dell I brought home from work and it's awful. I want something decent that's going to last - ideally with a metal chassis and mechanical keys.

While I do some gaming, I also work from home so do a fair bit of typing. Budget is around €100, maybe a little more for something really good. It must be a full size keyboard. Backlit is ok as long as it's not blue and I've no interest in paying extra for a multi coloured one.

Currys in the UK have a Corsair K70 for £94 and Razer have a couple around the €100 mark. Has anyone got any opinions or other suggestions?

If you are mainly going to be typing (and are interested in going for a mechanical keyboard) you probably want cherry red keys. I have a Qpad MK85 which is based on these keys and find it great for both typing and gaming. That keyboard is typically around €140 though. It also has red backlights that can be dimmed or even turned off.

blackbullet

have you tried using an xbox 360 controller on your pc for gaming just ive been using mine recently and its never been better,i also have the pc connected to the tv.

Eoinmc97

If you prefer full Key-caps, then any of the of the mechanical range from the likes of Corsair, Razer and Thermaltake will do.
Razer greens are nice for typing because of their good bounce and tacticle feedback. TTe Blues are the same, as are Cherry MX Blues.
Logitech fell off the mark lately with their angled, and concave keys. However, their next keyboard is supoosedly just a Romer-G with standard keys and RGB lighting.
The Thermaltake Poseidon Z offer good value, and even their RGB variant is the cheapest I have seen.

Korvanica

I have the Trigger-Z by CM Storm and find it excellent for both gaming and typing. Cost me around 120 i think.

Cherry MX Brown Switches, Red backlit, USB ports too.

Korvanica

I have the Trigger-Z by CM Storm and find it excellent for both gaming and typing. Cost me around 120 i think.

Cherry MX Brown Switches, Red backlit, USB ports too.

slave1

Check Amazon Warehouse deals, always loads of mech keyboards there

stimpson

Thanks for all the replies. What are Cherry black switches like? I found this which seems to be s rebadged MK-85. Is it worth a punt?

K.O.Kiki

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

Cherry MX Black might not be the best idea.

stimpson

I opted for a Gigabyte Aivia Osmium with MX Browns in the end. The more I read about Cherry keys the more confused I got and it seems to come down to personal preference in the end. I like the idea of tactile feedback but time will tell.

The keyboard seems to get good reviews. It has USB 2 and 3 ports plus audio jacks. It has macro keys along the top (suits me as desk space is at a premium) and a good sized wrist rest. At £60 it seems like a good deal too.

stimpson

I opted for a Gigabyte Aivia Osmium with MX Browns in the end. The more I read about Cherry keys the more confused I got and it seems to come down to personal preference in the end. I like the idea of tactile feedback but time will tell.

The keyboard seems to get good reviews. It has USB 2 and 3 ports plus audio jacks. It has macro keys along the top (suits me as desk space is at a premium) and a good sized wrist rest. At £60 it seems like a good deal too.

TheDoc

I've a Cherry MX tester that has all the keys on it, so I could test to see what I liked.

While there are six types, there is really only about three choices.

Blue are loud and clacky
Red are loud and a less clacky
Brown feel the same as red

There is a Green switch that is actually lovely, but good look ever finding it on non-specialist keyboard.

I'm using a CM Storm QckFire Tenkeyless. Will be picking up a Ducky Shine 5 in the coming weeks. My CM storm was fine, but it did require an early RMA and every now and then some keys act up. But it was a lovely board.

Ducky I'm looking at I'll grab some Browns as the general consensus is they are quieter then Red, which I want with a baby sleeping in the next rrom. But really to dampen the sound on any mechanical keyboard you need to drop in some o-rings.

you seem to have gone for a board I'm not overly familiar with. Hopefully it works out for you. Thankfully you avoided Razer, which is overpriced and average at best, with plenty of durability issues.

The Corsair K70 RBG and Ducky Shine 5 are pretty much what I see as the most commonly recommended now, and definitely the most common newbuys in mechanical keyboard communities i keep track off, from new and experienced users alike.

I'm always on the prowl for a good priced Poker board. They are expensive, but they are absolutely gorgeous and very customisable and funky looking. Unfortunately just extremely expensive.

byte

stimpson wrote: »

I opted for a Gigabyte Aivia Osmium with MX Browns in the end. The more I read about Cherry keys the more confused I got and it seems to come down to personal preference in the end. I like the idea of tactile feedback but time will tell.

The keyboard seems to get good reviews. It has USB 2 and 3 ports plus audio jacks. It has macro keys along the top (suits me as desk space is at a premium) and a good sized wrist rest. At £60 it seems like a good deal too.

Hah, I bought the same kb a few weeks ago - it was going for about 60eur on dabs.ie (cheap because it's end-of-line, I think)

So far, so good, I'm quite happy with it. I've tried it with and without the wrist rest, but kinda prefer it without. No real gripe so far.

stimpson

The board arrived today. It's the best investment I've made on my rig since my GTX970. I seem to be slightly slower but much more accurate when typing. I think my speed will increase with practice. The Browns have haptic feedback on activation that I really like.

The missus is already complaining about the noise so o-rings might be a wise investment.