[nirvAnA]

Basically copy n pasted this from one of my best friends(lsp)

"Is there any interest for standard mechanical keyboards?

My friend is thinking of getting some standard keyboards made with Cherry MX Brown mech key switches (arguably the best key switches for gaming)

The goal is to offer gamers a no frills, standard keyboard with the best mech keys, at an affordable price. You don't pay for any branding or gimmicks, just a high quality standard keyboard for gaming.

Obviously there needs to be significant interest before my friend risks a ton of money to get these made, so if you are interested please respond, and offer suggestions on customizations, and what the price should be, etc.

Hopefully there will be enough interest to get this going and he can help gamers worldwide by shipping to them a quality mech keyboard at a price much lower than any of the current options available."

[Darkblade]

i'm actually looking for one at coming SITEX. was planning to get Razer / Steel series.

Do you have any good write up link to the Cherry Brown keyboard?

[nirvAnA]

Me and tender just bought our cherry brown keyboards after we found out that even the girls in our clans were already using that keyboard wtf! meiying and kelly lol. anyway tender was raving about how great the keyboard is for the last week. Mine is still at his house, i am too lazy to collect it from him.

it was really pricey tho, i think the shop guy wanted to sell us for $190 but we got it thru a contact for $175.

[lsp]

Hi,
I am that "friend" that wants to get the keyboards made.

Cherry makes the most popular mech switches, there are 3 main flavors, BLUE, BROWN, and BLACK.

The top of the line Razor keyboard uses Cherry MX BLUE switches, and the top SteelSeries keyboard i think uses Cherry MX BLACK switches.

There are various spec differences between the flavors, but the general opinion is that BLUE is best for typing, BLACK is best for FPS, but bad for typing, and BROWN is somewhat a middle ground, and the preferred switch for RTS.

The keyboards can use any of these flavors but i am leaning toward the BROWNS, as most RTS players use them, and i'd still like to be able to type lots of shit without getting annoyed with BLACKS.

[DFM]

what about red switches, I heard those are super rare. They are linear like black, but have accentuation like blues i think, wouldn't those be the best for rts?

I'm interested though =]

[Navi]

I ordered my filco brown switch keyboard (Birthday present !) from the states and its currently on its way...

Ridiculously expensive however (Paid $235NZD all up)...If yoor friend could dampen the costs then they should make a killing considering how popular these keyboards are becoming

[Mezza]

There's a seriously good writeup on mechanical keyboards found here
http://www.overclock.net/keyboards/4...ard-guide.html

I personally use a Filco Majestouch with Cherry MX Blue keys. They type beautifully as long as you don't mind the clicking, like say if you share room with someone else and he/she might be sleeping.

I've tried both the brown and the blues and I preferred the blues (it boils down to actuation point, and the clicky thing which is a blast from the past for me). The plus point for the browns on the other hand are that they're quieter than the blues, but don't be fooled because the way the switches are made, there's still a sound when your key hits the baseplate, so browns still generate noise, just not the levels of the blues. I also tried the mx blacks and the whites, they just feel damn off, don't like the feel at all, the lack of tactile sensation makes it feel really weird, at least for me, at the end of the day.

I've also tried a Filco blue vs the Razer Black Widow, and I'll gladly pay the 30-50 bucks difference between the Filco and Black Widow to get a Filco, and I'll strongly recommend to anyone who's already willing to fork out ~150+ to get keyboard to pay abit more to get a Filco instead of the Razer, (or 200+, please don't waste money on backlights, if you're worth your salt as a gamer/hardcore nerd, you won't even be looking down on the keyboard so whats the point?)

The Filco keyboard has a smaller footprint is much denser and has a better feel to the MX blue switches once its mounted on the baseplate compared to the Black Widow, go try it, the uncle at tecdrome in simlim (singapore) let me try both and yeah, although razer says that it uses a mx blue switch, the feel on the filco and the razer are ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.

So before sinking your hard earned cash into a keyboard, you better get a chance to try out all the keys before coming to a decision, at the end of the day, its just a keyboard where you have to live with. And since I do more work on the keyboard than game, I've decided to go with the MX Blue and its true, that damn thing types like a dream. When I go to my office and use a rubber dome keyboard, I feel like breaking it in half when the Ctrl key gets sticky. So like what James Bond said about the Vesper Martini, once you've used a mechanical keyboard, you'll never want to use anything else again.

[kellyMILKIES]

Ok I actually did a lot of research on the keyboards before buying it because it was so expensive. I think the top steelseries keyboard you are talking about is 7g, which costs about 250SGD and the top Razer keyboard you are talking about is the black widow. Personally I do not use Razer products anymore because of the lifespan of the products as many Razer users would know. I am using a Steelseries Xai mouse and Filco Cherry Blue switches keyboard.
I actually went down to the shop to try out all the different Blue, Black and Brown switches.

I was torn between the brown one and blue one but the tactile from the Blue keyboard was just too alluring for me. When Sheep told me he got the Razer lycosa I was taking jabs at him, and before a competition, I let him try my cherry blue and he kind of fell in love with it and decided to go with the brown.

If I am not wrong, Fruitdealer is using Filco Cherry Brown keyboard, and it sold out online from the shop after he posted a picture of him using it.
One of the fruitdealer wannabes aka moonglade went to get it immediately after it was out. So most of the top players around are all using these mechinical keyboards.

The thing about using this for RTS is that when choosing the switches, you should always choose base on "feel". For me, black is too soft and the keys compress too easily, brown was better but like I said, the tactile blue sold me.

I suggest the brown for anyone who is going for in between, and blue for people who like to "press down" on their keyboards, and black for people who like to use little strength and use their fingers to fly across the keyboard without much effort.
There's a lot of write ups on different forums regarding these keyboards.

Hope serious starcraft2-ians will switch to Mech Keyboards! They are gosu!!!


GO aLt !! /o/

[Mezza]

Ahha. Kelly is gonna say I'm giving her grief again, but heck.

I need to clear up a misconception about mechanical keyboards.

You do not need to "press down" on mechanical keyboards, especially tactile ones. The meaning of tactile means when you press down on the key, there's a 'give', like sudden change in pressure to indicate that the key has "triggered". This is usually close to when the key really "actuates" which means that a signal is sent to your computer. So for such keyboards you really don't have to bottom out your key, you probably just need to move it 2mm, once you get a click, you can release pressure and move on to the next key, and this is awesome because it can seriously increase your apm/wpm (gamer/typist).

That being said, the blacks aren't "tactile" which means there's no "pressure change" to indicate to you that the key has triggered.

When someone like me, with good hands/fingers types on it, you'll hear a nice constant soothing stream of clicks which is actually extremely therapeutic. Unfortunately for people with jackhammers for fingers, you'll hear something more akin to a power drill on concrete. For evidence, tune in to my ustream site here and watch OxygeN's HwaitinG VODs and listen for the air raid which goes on in the background over the some bits of the first part (28:30 onwards).

But all things being said, all the Cherry MX keyswitches are made to an extremely high quality so rest assured no matter which one you get, it'll still be awesome, you just have to find something which fits your style.

***Mezza picks up a riot shield and runs for cover***

[kellyMILKIES]

Seriously Mezza, you don't know how wonderful my hands/fingers are until you feel it on you yourself. But obviously you haven't had the pleasure yet.
(PUN SUPER INTENDED)

[Mezza]

lets take the flirting to PMs shall we and keep the thread for discussions on mechanical keyboards.

p.s. its alright kelly, i'm sure some guys like jackhammers too.

[Restless_]

what kind of keyboard brand is it nirvana? no brand at all, or are you talking about the filco?

I was looking forward to buy a filco with brown switches, but haven't had the money as of yet. darn they're expensive! i dont think i will get the money soon anyways, so its just going to be on my radar for a long period. :P

[nirvAnA]

Filco. We are talking abt making keyboards with cherry switches so they are identical but brandless and half the price

[Restless_]

ah i see. wow, half price.. that's quite a significant amount of price reduction. are there any cons for it to be brandless like you said? i mean how can i be certain that it would last me ~5 years, and could survive the wear and tear that comes from avid gaming? basically just want to know if it would exactly be like the normal filco and still have the same durability and all, but brandless and half-price?

[Darkblade]

Nirvana, is this filco fullsize keyboard?

To be more accurate, are we getting this? FILCO Majestouch N-key rollover Brown Switch & 104 ASCII Key

If yes i might order 2 set

[DFM]

Guys, it's not going to be a filco keyboard, but a brandless keyboard that's gonna have the cherry switches just like the filco boards.

[nirvAnA]

well we are gonna buy one first with the exact specifications we request and if we feel the standard is same we proceeded with the bulk order

yea full size with numpad

anyway with or without numpad retails at same price.

[Darkblade]

ok , then i will wait for feedback =)

[amd]

I'm very interested in this!

[Galaxy]

I strongly suggest the Steelseries 7G. It has so many other features besides being a really solid (brown switch) keyboard. Its very robust and ergonmically designed. The rest is super comfortable.

Filco keyboards are soooo popular too at the moment, but from a gaming perspective I think the Steelseries 7G exceeds it on so many fronts.