7 replies to this topic

[madcatmike]

Well, my old faithful Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 is finally starting to show its age. Keys are beginning to become unresponsive and better than 70% of the letters are unreadable.

I've decided it's about time to get a new keyboard. I'll include my criteria below.

Brand: Any
Price range: <$150
Interface: Any wired
Other stuff: Something that isn't too loud.

I'll be honest, it's bee years since I've even looked at getting a keyboard so I have no clue what's out there. Anything that fits my broad criteria would be considered.

[Staplebeater]

I have the razer blackwidow ultimate and love it. mechanical keys have the great click click click as you are typing and playing. Great tactile feedback.

http://www.amazon.co...kwidow+ultimate

[Eisenhorne]

Staplebeater, on 17 November 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

I have the razer blackwidow ultimate and love it. mechanical keys have the great click click click as you are typing and playing. Great tactile feedback.

http://www.amazon.co...kwidow+ultimate

I use the same keyboard. Have had it for over a year now, holding up great.

[Bloodshed Romance]

Razer Blackwidow (silent edition from their website if you want quieter keys.. don't own a silent.. just own a standard) (http://www.razerzone...w-ultimate-2013)
Logitech G19 (http://www.amazon.co...ds=logitech+g19)
Razer Lycosa (http://www.razerzone...ds/razer-lycosa)


also suggest shopping around places like Newegg to see if the same model is cheaper..

good hunting!

[Joeseph Pierce]

Sorry to revive a topic from last year (I've wanted to say that for the longest time) but I wanted to cut in.
A couple of great resources to go for this are GeekHack and the Deskthority wiki. Those 2 sites live for high quality keyboards.

As for me, I can highly recommend a Leopold tenkeyless (http://elitekeyboard...s&pid=fc200rtab is the one I have right now).

I've heard FIlco makes great keyboards (though the availability in North America is spotty at best).

Cooler Master uses the same OEM as Filco, so they are basically cheap Filcos with a removable cable.

Das keyboard has limited options, but generally pretty good (though I would stick to the ones without Media Keys).

There are lesser known manufacturers as well as Korean Customs (What would an industry be without high end customs?) and sometimes you might be lucky enough to purchase a special PCB that you build a keyboard around (Most notably one called the Phantom).

If you really want to go places with this, you can go for Topre switches (http://elitekeyboard...s&pid=rf_se1700 is an example) but if you want to start fresh, I think it would probably be best to look for uniform weighted keys (the one in the URL has "ergonomic keys" which are lightest for the pinkies, heaviest for the thumbs and index fingers)

the Deskthority Wiki (http://www.deskthori.../wiki/Main_Page) has great resources including force measures for each Cherry Keyswitch, and GeekHack (http://www.geekhack.org) has friendly people who are helpful to new people.

The most commercially available switches are (in this order) Blacks (Heavy Linear), Blues (light clicky and tactile), Browns (light and tactile), and Reds (light Blacks). Browns are in high demand and low supply right now, as are Reds. Lesser known switches include Greens (Spring of Blacks in a Blue style stem), Clears (Heavier Browns with a more pronounced tactile feeling), Greys (Heavy Clears), and Dark Greys (even heavier Blacks). There are also community switches which create unique feelings, including Heavier and Lighter Clears, and Heavy Blues (recreating Greens for less money). Many many different models to choose from.

You can also get a IBM Model M off eBay if buckling springs suit your fancy!


Hope this all helped, and if you need more info (as if this wasn't already overwhelming for a first timer in good keyboards), go to GeekHack or the Deskthority Wiki!

Edit: HUNDREDTH POST! WHOOHOO

Edited by Inteli, 03 January 2013 - 04:18 PM.

[Youngblood]

Inteli, on 03 January 2013 - 04:17 PM, said:

As for me, I can highly recommend a Leopold tenkeyless (http://elitekeyboard...s&pid=fc200rtab is the one I have right now).

Can you confirm that the Leopold Tenkeyless has more than 17+8-key rollover over USB? Also, can you confirm that the same rollover is present on their non-tenkeyless versions? I'm trying to decide between one of those and a Corsair K60 (I like their trayless design).

Edited by Youngblood, 04 January 2013 - 06:20 AM.

[HighTest]

I have a Logitech G15 on my main gaming machine and a G110 on my backup. Both are very good, but I have a slight preference for the G15 -- probably since it's the one I'm more used to, although they really are very close in feel. But at this point I think the G15 has been discontinued and you probably won't be able to find it.

I've used many, many peripherals in my days both at home and at work, and I have to say the hardest thing to kill is a Logitech keyboard or mouse. Microsoft is OK, HP is junk. I've heard some horror stories about Razer and SteelSeries but never owned either, mostly on account of the horror stories.

You can't go too far wrong with Logitech gaming products, IMHO.

[pcunite]

Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless