Mechanical Keyboard Worth it?

I have Das Keyboard Model S Professional with Cherry MX Brown switches. Worth every penny, it just feels so much nicer in comparison to a non-mechanical. I love the feedback from the keys instead of the sponge, it's a joy to type on. I've tried Logitech G710+ mechanical gaming keyboard before buying Das Keyboard, and it wasn't a good fit for me. So keep in mind that even if keyboards might have the same switch type, you might prefer the feel of one over the other.

I got to play with a lot of mechanicals at Pax East, they had a bunch of manufacturers there. MX Blue has too much resistance and too loud in my opinion. Black switches are good if you want really muscular fingers.

 

Yeah - a faster route to RSI.

 

My current keyboard is already ergonomically-challenged, can't be worst.

 

You'd be surprised.

 

I'm typing on this:

 

OK, it'll be only slightly possibly worse.

 

Doesn't matter. I would still take this over this any day of the week.

 

Link 2 invalid.

 

Canadian censorship.

 

I dislike keyboards marketed as 'ergonomic'. Never could get used to that shape. Other than that, if it's a decent scissor action I'd take it over the Corsair in a second if not gaming.

 

Edit: Oops. The post was edited.

Canadians censor Microsoft now?!

 

Most of my gaming will be done on the keyboard i will be purchasing, just as a heads up.

 

If you're going for a strictly gaming setup, a tenkeyless isn't a bad option. It takes up less space, giving you more space to move the mouse. I'm able to have my mouse and WASD cluster each straight forward from my shoulder and I don't have issues with the mouse running into the keyboard. With my full sized keyboard I had before, I couldn't do that.

 

How about a gaming mini keyboard plus a full 101?

 

Are you talking about those little gamepads that Logitech and Razer make? If so, going with one of them and a full size keyboard works for many people, I just don't have the space for that so I went with a tenkeyless keyboard.

 

Nah, Ill be going for a tenkeyless, i NEVER use number pads.

 

I am sure your local Staples/BB/FS will have the Razer keyboards; something to at least get an idea of what Cherry MX Blue switches feels like. I had a Blue keyboard to start with, the clicking sound got tiring after a while, then I moved to a Cherry MX Black keyboard (Cherry branded). Now I am on a tenkeyless Cherry MX Black keyboard. Personally I prefer the heavier key activation force.

 

Your best bet is to just buy a mechanical keyboard from a place that has a good return policy (like Amazon.com).

The tricky part is that you need to really experience it to understand. You can't really describe it in just words or video; just like you can't really describe to someone why your gaming-grade mouse is better than a $10 cheap mouse; or why you paid extra for an IPS monitor instead of a TN panel monitor of equivalent sizes; or why your decent headphones are better than $5 radio shack headphones. People need to see, touch, use the gear to understand why it's better.

For gaming purposes, TenKeyless is definitely the way to go. As wattser had mentioned, a tenkeyless keyboard allows you to reach WASD and mouse without having your arms wide out from your body. And you only sacrifice the numpad, which is useless to gamers anyway.

For your budget of ~$80, I'd recommend the CMStorm QuickFire TK. It's within your budget, supports backlighting (if that's important to you), has built-in media keys (e.g. VolUp, VolDn, Mute) through its Fn buttons, and has a pseudo-numpad if you are in a data-entry situation and want to actually use a NumPad.


If you're unsure which "color" of CherryMX key switches to get, I'd suggest you start with Cherry MX Blues, for their low actuation force and tactile feedback. They make for good "general purpose" keyboards.

You'll find people that say that Cherry MX Black or Red are better for gaming due to their linear actuation keystroke. But I disagree, because I find they are only good for games where you need to repeatedly spam a button (e.g. repeatedly hitting "1" in a World of Warcraft raid). For every other type of game, it's more beneficial to have the tactile feedback from a MX Blue switch than it is to have a non-tactile key that you can spam slightly faster.

 

Quickfire TK is 20$ over what i would like to spend right now, but i will wait for boxing day before i buy it. I am also considering the Razer Blackwidow Tournament edition, which is 30$ cheaper yet with MX blues, but does not have the backlighting, which i do not really care about.

http://products.ncix.com/detail/raz...board-10-key-rollover-black-0d-78285-1360.htm

Atm this looks like the most affordable keyboard, i'll most likely buy it unless i can get a good (sub 80$) deal on the quickfire. If i can find it at a local FS or Staples that would be nice too, i could save a few bucks on shipping and get it instantly.

You mentioned IPS screens as being superior, but there is this characteristic about IPS screens that makes me loathe them... i just can't put my finger on it, i'd rather go for high quality TN's.

 

LOL high-quality TN. Oxymoron.

The only thing TN's currently have going for them is response times, but that's changing.

 

Do you only post to be rude to people?

(inb4 typical smart alec response)

 

Unless you're prepared to have these as disposable keyboards (and my Corsairs are) I'd make sure that additional backlight-capable keycaps are available, otherwise in a couple of years time these are just going to be blinding blobs of light.

I personally find that reds are the only key action for gaming which I can tolerate / has a similar stab response time to a short-travel dome. The blues don't make the grade. If you're desperate for clicky feedback, go Unicomp and knock yourself out - and accelerate that journey to permanent RSI.

 

You get a wide range of quality from TN panels. Yes, you get the super-cheap TN panels that cost next-to-nothing and look like garbage.

But you also get TN panels that don't suffer quite as much from poor colors and viewing angles. These panels are typically used in gaming-focused monitors because of their fast response times, where 120Hz refresh rate is desirable for either smoother refresh rates or for 3D gaming.

A TN-based panel won't come close to an IPS-based panel in terms of colors and viewing angles. But TN-based monitors can refresh faster, and are cheaper. There are some people out there who consider a decent TN-based panel to have "good enough" colors and viewing angles, if it means lower cost and better refresh rates.

 

Ok fine sir, i'll go and buy myself one of these:



/sarcasm

These are some of the worst POS' ive ever typed on.

 

I don't answer rhetorical questions.

(P.S. Oxymoron =/= calling you a moron.)

Mechanical keyboards don't give you RSI. Bad habits, posture, workplace setup, and typing technique and lack of exercise are what give you RSI.

Since switching to a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Blues, I've found that my typing is faster, more accurate, and less fatiguing because I don't need to bottom out every keystroke like I was accustomed to when I used mushy membrane keyboards. I can feel exactly where the actuation point is on every keystroke now so I only exert the minimum force required (or at least I try to, mashing is a hard habit to break ). No more bottoming out means no more tired hands after long typing sessions.

 

Actually I'd say it's mainly about the viewing angles (and only as a consequence, colour representation when viewed sufficiently off-axis). Some TN screens do extremely well in terms of colour accuracy, while some IPS screens do badly. I think you'll be more likely to see bigger numbers of the latter going forwards on low and mid-cost machines, as production switches increasingly more to tablet & all-aspect friendly displays.

All of those are likely contributory factors (though a couple are probably BS). Keyboard design also matters - and mechanicals have not evolved in this respect one iota.

 

Since my monitor is fixed and used by me only, why would i need the extra viewing angles? In case i move? Thats my "natural posture alert!"

/derail

 

Care to explain?

 

I think he refers to the fact that the way the keys are raised on mechanical boards increases the risk of RSI by having the palms more lifted than on "flat" style membrane keyboards.

Though i am already typing on a LOUD and RAISED membrane keyboard, so it cannot get possibly worse, especially since this board has terrible feedback, looks ugly and is riddled with 12 years worth of dust.

 

Even if you don't move, the viewing angle difference across the screen is enough to cause problems in many cases.

With that said, I do agree that some high quality TNs are good screens.

 

Dual or triple monitors benefit from IPS. No more tint shift at the edges of your outside monitor(s).

 

Stahp derailing thread pls

 

looks weird how you only have 1 keyboard in mind for the last 2 pages, it needs 2 to start a discussion regarding which one suits better

and btw, red and blacks are for gaming only whilst browns are for transition type + game, blues are 'designed' with typing in mind, but i game on it perfectly fine with a 1.5 kdr in COD (which means i'm better than an average joe i guess, or i'm just the camper whom everyone cries at)

 

Recommend any good boards within a ~80$ budget?

 

$80 for a mechanical keyboard limits you a bit. You're either going to get a barebones standard layout 104-key keyboard from Monoprice, NewEgg (Rosewill), etc. Or you're going to get a Razer BlackWidow Tournament Edition, which is the only tenkeyless mechanical keyboard I've found strictly under $80.

If you're willing to stretch to around $100, then your options open up quite a bit.

For the money, I'd go with a CMStorm QuickFire TK tenkeyless for about $90, because it's a tenkeyless with a pseudo-numpad, and it has backlighting. If neither one of those benefits appeal to you, then just get a Razer BlackWidow Tournament Edition, and call it a day. Going to other tenkeyless options will start running you >$120.

 

there is a tournament stealth edition, CM storm quickfire rapid and the zalman K500 which i picked up at GBP40 after 20% VAT and features red switches, thats $500 HKD -> $65 USD.... i guess it will be dirt cheap in the states too (sorry can't do direct GBP to US conversion, my math is bad)

 

There's the Corsair K65 ($90). Good? Opinions vary. There are people who have systems apparently incompatible with the true NKRO over USB as well. None of my systems exhibit these issues (I have the K90 / K95's - I don't like tenkeyless as a rule except in specific uses, although I still have a sizeable stack of Filco TKL's in different guises).

Yes - and while OK sure, with your current setup it possibly cannot get worse, remember you won't be ~20 forever.

I've avoided RSI so far despite hammering on OG mainframe IBM keyboards on a regular basis in my 20s and 30's because I've always flitted between different computers or differently laid out keyboards. Take today - while I've come to you from exactly the same machine (as I do every time I browse NBR) I've been remote controlling it from three different OS's and five different keyboards.

 

I still don't see how mechanical keyboards cause RSI. So far, it just seems like one person's opinion. There are a lot of opinions and anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

Isn't this a mechanical keyboard?

Dr. Bunsen / An Affray with RSI

 

There was a keyboard that constantly varied it's height and angle, which actually has a chance of working a lot better - but I think they've gone out of business. Probably too many returns / failures, it being a complex product.

EDIT: Oh man. I saw the link on that page - a Kinesis *and* an Aeron. Talk about easily marketed to.

 

Well if raised keys are the issue, it's not as if more "ergonomic" recessed designs such as the one above don't exist. And of course there are alternatives layouts to QWERTY such as Dvorak and Colemak that can reduce strain for some people. The switch is just one part of the keyboard equation, so I feel that it's jumping to conclusions to bill mechanical keyboards overall as an RSI hazard, especially when they're less fatiguing than membrane keyboards for people like me.

 

Alternative layouts? Wouldn't that get annoying to learn because of consistency...

 

It's no different than being bilingual. There are a lot of people that have learned to type in both Dvorak and Qwerty, and can quickly change between the two layouts. I considered learning Dvorak for awhile but decided that Qwerty is already a standard that won't be going away any time soon, and learning Dvorak wouldn't be worth it for me.

 

I can type in CMS, CF and US english pretty well, and those are the 3 layouts you would find in my country anyways, though CMS is my preferred layout.

Will be buying one tomorrow, if i can find one at my local stores for a good price i'll buy it (as long as it's under 90$+MX blue/brown), elsewise i will order online.

Cheers.

 

Blue or brown switch???

Will be typing and gaming.

 

If you want the 'typical mechanical keyboard' feel (god help you) you should go Blue.

 

No it's not really - how many different types of membranes have you had? Scissor? There's far more variety possible in either tech as opposed to mech, and the lay of the hand is a major factor in RSI. I know defensive people love moving the goalposts (in this case, bringing in the Kinesis) but the simple fact is that the vast majority of mechs - and certainly the ones we're discussing here - provide irrelevant levels of variation, or even raise the keyboard higher. It may be OK if you use a separate keyboard tray under the desk, but again, most people don't.

 

Brown.

10char

 

Red.

Black.

 

Him: Coke or Pepsi?

You: Screw that Dr. Pepper.