Any good mechanical, possibly illuminated keyboards

You're out of the loop, some of the Rosewill's like the Capstone, Hives... are very good and are recommended in the build template sticky in the GH subforum. Razer has been overbranded and had iffy quality for all their products.

 

Since the thread is about keyboards, the Rosewills are good better in fact than the Razer's. Rosewill psus are recommended in the build sticky. I was not talking about the several hundred other Rosewill products.

 

Personally I use a Razer Blackwidow Ultimate.
I haven't had an problems with it at all, and I would absolutely recommend it (Although I don't know if the newest ones off the line would require their Synapse 2.0 Software, which is the reason I am avoiding Razer products from now on).

The Blackwidow doesn't seem to fit your price range you'd like, so maybe check out a monoprice keyboard:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=11401&cs_id=1140102&p_id=9181&seq=1&format=2

It's mechanical and backlit, less than $100, and personally I have never had any issue with any monoprice product. If my blackwidow broke today, this would be the next keyboard I would order.

Might be worth checking out

 

Sorry, must have missed the post where you said you bought the Blackwidow, I'm sure you will be happy with it, it's an excellent keyboard.

My reason for not wanting to use razer hardware with Synapse 2.0 is because I'm not keen on them requiring internet activation prior to using their drivers. There is no reason that the software couldn't work offline by default, and upload preferences to their cloud storage once an internet connection is available and the user set the appropriate option to use the cloud storage.

They however have decided to required it to authenticate with their servers prior to allowing anything other than plug and play functionality to work. While it's a trivial thing (and I agree it's pretty trivial assuming their servers are online), there is absolutely no reason their software should require it to connect to their servers before being able to go into an offline mode.

I don't agree with their design decisions, and will look elsewhere for new hardware until they address this functionality of Synapse 2.0. In the past 6 years I've owned 2 Lachesis mice, a Tarantula keyboard, and a Blackwidow Ultimate. That is the way it's been up until this past December when I needed a new mouse and purchased a Logitech instead due to the design of Synapse 2.

IMHO, hardware shouldn't require internet activation to allow for the full functionality you pay for (and in the case of Razer products, you pay a premium for). Again, I agree it's not a huge deal to just install it, activate online, and then set it to offline forever, but it's the principle of the matter. And unfortunately for Razer it means I won't be buying any more of their products until that changes.

Through all of my experience with Razer, their hardware has worked very well for me, and reliably, but Synapse 2 leaves too bad of a taste in my mouth at the moment. I hope that changes in the future, but only time will tell

 

In case others are looking to get a mech keyboard.

Rosewill sells goods that run the gamut in terms of quality. They don't make any of it themselves, they use contract OEM/ODMs. Some are better than others. They contracted with one of the best/the best OEM/ODMs of mechanical keyboards, so their mechanical keyboards are top notch.

Their keyboards are the poor mans Filcos, in the sense they are almost identical but for half the cost. They are both produced by the same OEM, Costar. Same can be said for the CM QFR Rapid.

Costar also used to make Das, but now someone else does and the quality went down.

I wouldn't say the Razar is bad, but I wouldn't say its better than the Rosewill made by Costar.

That said, the best backlit mechs are Ducky Shine II's(expensive) and Decks(really expensive).

 

Which Ducky model? Early Ducky models had "issues". Their newer models, supposedly, do not.

 

Someone else did provide a solid technical reason why the Rosewill 9000/9100 is better than the Razers before my 1st post in this thread and anecdotal evidence concerning quality doesn't favour Razers as well. Take it however you want.

 

Rosewill 9000 are made by Costar the same company that does the Filco models. The 9100-i model is not Costar and is in fact iOne as well. Just a little nitpick but you got the idea.

I would get a Ducky Shine 2 if I was looking for Backlit.

 

I just ordered another razer this time a blackwidow ultimate 2013 for my son.

 

I have this keyboard and it is absolutely wonderful.

It's a joy to type on and to use for gaming.

I recommend it to anyone looking for a mechanical keyboard. Even at full price ($120), it's a steal.

 

Where can you find them online from a USA store?

 

That monoprice link is a US store. I order from them all the time.

 

CM Storm Trigger would get my vote. Black switches, sleeved no tangle cord. Plugs into the back of the keyboard with a mini-usb style cord. Can adjust the style of illumination.

If you didn't need illumination I would recommend a Tt eSports Meka G1.. Really wish they would make that illuminated already.

 

I recently purchased a Storm Trigger and would second this recommendation. It has a number of very advanced features for the price:

1) You can make macros on-keyboard, which are stored in the keyboard's onboard memory.
2) Those same OTF macros are stored onto the computer at the next boot if you install CM's relatively unobtrusive software.
3) The lighting is relatively configurable (4 brightness settings, 3 patterns).
4) Lighting is per-key
5) Font is "relatively" normal for a gaming keyboard. It's not quite standard PC, but it is much closer to standard than the Razer BlackWidow.

And something to note, the Storm Trigger is actually available with a number of different Cherry MX switches. I purchased a Brown, for example.

It is a world of difference from my decade-old Microsoft Elite Wireless desktop set.

 

I absolutely love my Corsair K90

 

there's a deal now for a Rosewill Illuminated Mechanical Gaming Keyboard RK-9100 with Cherry MX Blue Switch for 80 bucks after coupon at newegg. i'm going to pick one up

 

I am glad I picked up the G710+. Sorry whoever asked for an update. I forgot about this thread. >_> I love this thing. It feels great, like all mechanical keyboards, and it seems solid and well built. I kind of dislike the placement of the media buttons because they are not in reach of the left hand without some serious moving, but that isn't a big deal. They keys seem kind of high, but I don't feel any different typing on them. Much better than the cheap-o keyboard I have at work. I might end up buying something to bring in. Gaming on it is wonderful, I miss no keys or have any bad keystrokes. It handles well in situations where I have to double tap a key. Worth the $125 I paid for it.

 

This keyboard suffers from serious issues if you read the negative reviews and feedback. I would personally stay clear especially with their so so drivers.

Much better on the market for piece of mind.