I was looking into buying my first mechanical keyboard but it seems like there is so many to choose from I cannot make up my mind on my own I need one thats pretty cheap and I was also curious as to which switch type is the best? thanks in advance
Probably a Quickfire TK. An older Ducky Shine would be a good choice too if you can find one in your price range, though to be honest, lighting effects are overrated and gimmicky.
I probably wouldn't recommend MX reds or blacks, they're advertised as good for gaming, but honestly it's better to have a tactile bump to let you know when the switch has actuated. They're also horrible to type with. Browns are a good mid point between blues and blacks/reds. Keep in mind that pretty much any mechanical switch you try is going to take less force to press down that a traditional membrane keyboard - it'll probably throw you off if you haven't tried a mech keyboard before but it's better once you get used to it.
I've been fairly happy with my Unicomp. It has a good typing feel and it's cheap (~$80). I'm moving it to my upstairs PC though and replacing it with a Das Keyboard 4 Professional because it doesn't have NKRO.
If you are looking for really cheap you might go thrift/crazy jims electronics store shopping and try and find a Apple Extended I or II or an IBM Model M. The Model M was my first Mechanical Keyboard and I got it for like 10 bucks, don't remember what happened to it but it was very nice. The Apple Extended II was what I used for the longest time and it had just recently died. I found it at a thrift store for like 20, you'll need a converter though which you might have to look around for. If you can find one for cheap it's still way below others on the market.
Probably a Quickfire TK. An older Ducky Shine would be a good choice too if you can find one in your price range, though to be honest, lighting effects are overrated and gimmicky.
I probably wouldn't recommend MX reds or blacks, they're advertised as good for gaming, but honestly it's better to have a tactile bump to let you know when the switch has actuated. They're also horrible to type with. Browns are a good mid point between blues and blacks/reds. Keep in mind that pretty much any mechanical switch you try is going to take less force to press down that a traditional membrane keyboard - it'll probably throw you off if you haven't tried a mech keyboard before but it's better once you get used to it.
Thanks for the help and the suggestions I was actually looking into buying a keyboard with black switches but not anymore lol and the quickfire TK looks very nice for the price!
I've been fairly happy with my Unicomp. It has a good typing feel and it's cheap (~$80). I'm moving it to my upstairs PC though and replacing it with a Das Keyboard 4 Professional because it doesn't have NKRO.
The PS/2 models of Unicomp keyboards have very restricted rollover. USB has varied rollovers based on the keys. the alphabetic keys have 6-key rollover but some of the others are more restrictive.
Another issue is that 6- key rollover is specified as a maximum as part of the HID standard. So in order for a keyboard to have N-key rollover it needs to pretty much appear as "multiple" keyboards simultaneously to the PC. (or use special drivers)
Also notable for some: Unicomp keyboards are not nearly as cheap if you are outside the US. For some reason their shipping is over half the price of the keyboard, And I think they only ship within North America.
Personally I think mechanical keyboards are overrated in terms of "gaming". The real benefits of mechanical keyswitches are for standard typing- a mechanical keyboard can actually make you type better and faster and with fewer mistakes simply because of the tactile feedback that it provides, but a mechanical keyboard isn't going to make you play a game better. Unless they have a lot of typing, I suppose.
Interesting. I'm curious to see then how the driver appears on the das I ordered. Do people really tout mechanicals as a help in gaming? I don't see either how that really helps. I bought mine because of the tons of typing I do at work, I like the feel. The worst are those chicklet type keyboards, they drive me nuts.
I was looking into buying my first mechanical keyboard but it seems like there is so many to choose from I cannot make up my mind on my own I need one thats pretty cheap and I was also curious as to which switch type is the best? thanks in advance
Ducky Shine 3
Gaming PC Specs - Intel i5-2500K ~ ASUS P8P67M-Pro ~ Hyper 212+ ~ MSI GTX 970 OC ~ 8GB DDR3 Ram ~ 250GB Samsung EVO 850 ~ 500GB HardDrive ~ XFX 550w PSU ~ Fractal Core 1000 ~ Windows 8.1 ~ Samsung P2350 1080p Soon upgrading to GTX 1080/R9 490X + 1440p 144Hz
Macbook Pro 15" Retina - Intel i7 ~ 8GB Ram ~ Nvidia GT 650M ~ 256GB SSD ~ 2880 by 1800 Screen <3
They look quite expensive....any other keyboards? and whats the best switch type?
What's your budget?
As for switch type, read this http://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/an-introduction-to-cherry-mx-mechanical-switches/
The most popular type is Cherry MX Blue, which have a tactile bump and have that amazing clicking feel, but they're pretty dang loud
Gaming PC Specs - Intel i5-2500K ~ ASUS P8P67M-Pro ~ Hyper 212+ ~ MSI GTX 970 OC ~ 8GB DDR3 Ram ~ 250GB Samsung EVO 850 ~ 500GB HardDrive ~ XFX 550w PSU ~ Fractal Core 1000 ~ Windows 8.1 ~ Samsung P2350 1080p Soon upgrading to GTX 1080/R9 490X + 1440p 144Hz
Macbook Pro 15" Retina - Intel i7 ~ 8GB Ram ~ Nvidia GT 650M ~ 256GB SSD ~ 2880 by 1800 Screen <3
Thanks for the help on switch type as far as budget goes probably around 80-100 bucks
Probably a Quickfire TK. An older Ducky Shine would be a good choice too if you can find one in your price range, though to be honest, lighting effects are overrated and gimmicky.
I probably wouldn't recommend MX reds or blacks, they're advertised as good for gaming, but honestly it's better to have a tactile bump to let you know when the switch has actuated. They're also horrible to type with. Browns are a good mid point between blues and blacks/reds. Keep in mind that pretty much any mechanical switch you try is going to take less force to press down that a traditional membrane keyboard - it'll probably throw you off if you haven't tried a mech keyboard before but it's better once you get used to it.
K95 RGB / Logitech G502 PS / Alienware AW3418DW / ViewSonic XG2703-GS / Sennheiser HD 598
I've been fairly happy with my Unicomp. It has a good typing feel and it's cheap (~$80). I'm moving it to my upstairs PC though and replacing it with a Das Keyboard 4 Professional because it doesn't have NKRO.
If you are looking for really cheap you might go thrift/crazy jims electronics store shopping and try and find a Apple Extended I or II or an IBM Model M. The Model M was my first Mechanical Keyboard and I got it for like 10 bucks, don't remember what happened to it but it was very nice. The Apple Extended II was what I used for the longest time and it had just recently died. I found it at a thrift store for like 20, you'll need a converter though which you might have to look around for. If you can find one for cheap it's still way below others on the market.
Too poor to afford my certs.
Thanks for the help and the suggestions I was actually looking into buying a keyboard with black switches but not anymore lol and the quickfire TK looks very nice for the price!
The PS/2 models of Unicomp keyboards have very restricted rollover. USB has varied rollovers based on the keys. the alphabetic keys have 6-key rollover but some of the others are more restrictive.
Another issue is that 6- key rollover is specified as a maximum as part of the HID standard. So in order for a keyboard to have N-key rollover it needs to pretty much appear as "multiple" keyboards simultaneously to the PC. (or use special drivers)
Also notable for some: Unicomp keyboards are not nearly as cheap if you are outside the US. For some reason their shipping is over half the price of the keyboard, And I think they only ship within North America.
Personally I think mechanical keyboards are overrated in terms of "gaming". The real benefits of mechanical keyswitches are for standard typing- a mechanical keyboard can actually make you type better and faster and with fewer mistakes simply because of the tactile feedback that it provides, but a mechanical keyboard isn't going to make you play a game better. Unless they have a lot of typing, I suppose.
Interesting. I'm curious to see then how the driver appears on the das I ordered. Do people really tout mechanicals as a help in gaming? I don't see either how that really helps. I bought mine because of the tons of typing I do at work, I like the feel. The worst are those chicklet type keyboards, they drive me nuts.