Is a mechanical worth it??

[bruceb]

Seems to be common on the K70 .. they may have had a bad production run or supplier. More info in this link: http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=119701

 

[teecee33]

Any suggestions for a guy that loves mech. keyboards but hates loud keyboards? I game/work a lot at night and even though I have an office in a separate room, it seems like it echos throughout the house with some of the mech. keyboards I have tried.

 

[bononos]

Any suggestions for a guy that loves mech. keyboards but hates loud keyboards? I game/work a lot at night and even though I have an office in a separate room, it seems like it echos throughout the house with some of the mech. keyboards I have tried.

Do you bottom while typing? Sound dampeners like o-rings can be fitted on the switches to reduce the noise. Or just get a scissor switch keyboard.

Edit- After looking through google hits, there are several mechanicals which use specially modified switches to make them quieter. I've no experience with them.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Any suggestions for a guy that loves mech. keyboards but hates loud keyboards? I game/work a lot at night and even though I have an office in a separate room, it seems like it echos throughout the house with some of the mech. keyboards I have tried.

Topre! O-rings are not an acceptable compromise to me. I don't enjoy the reduction in key travel.

The feeling of oneness with cup rubber, on the other hand...

 

[lilrayray69]

Yeah I don't really see why you'd get mechanical keys just to put o-rings in them...if you want a quiet keyboard and don't particularly mind the feel of a membrane board, just stick with that. I'm still on my membrane board and just don't really see a reason to change at the moment

 

[techietechnics]

Yeah I don't really see why you'd get mechanical keys just to put o-rings in them...if you want a quiet keyboard and don't particularly mind the feel of a membrane board, just stick with that. I'm still on my membrane board and just don't really see a reason to change at the moment

same here, it's just a matter of preference i think.

 

[paperwastage]

yeah, got a unicomp endurapro (with trackpoint, buckling spring)

it is loud, planning to try to dampen it with the youtube video (nature of the buckling spring means it is noisy)

QC isn't that good, can see parting lines from the manufacturing process
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parting_line

 

[Hdgamer]

IMO I wouldn't go out of my way to get a keyboard just because it's mechanical. Depends on what you're doing with it though. If you do a lot of typing, then I may look into it. Is it going to improve your gaming, hell no. Cheapest best way is to get some low action keys on a keyboard. Mechanicals don't really do what membranes don't do other than offer tacticle feedback which can be annoying to anyone else in the room with clickity clackity clack noise that it makes. Reds are about as silent as it gets then you're hitting other keys on accident while you type because they require less force than the blues.

I know the feeling of the hype and wanting to try out new things, but I wish I would have saved a few hundered dollars and just got some low action keyboards in the first place. Right now using a few Logitech K800's on my htpcs and then a corsair vengeance K70 and a ducky shine for my main computers. The mechanicals really are just overhyped.

 

[Ben90]

Topre! O-rings are not an acceptable compromise to me. I don't enjoy the reduction in key travel.

The feeling of oneness with cup rubber, on the other hand...

As much as I like having "much better operation performance by electrostatic capacitive system", I have a hard time recommending them to someone as a first board. Topre switches truly are a jack of all trades master of none, and the oneness doesn't start becoming apparent until you start typing 100 pages a day.

 

[defy]

It's something of a luxury, but worth it to me. I would try to find a store that will let you test them, or maybe find a friend who has one.

However, if you do get a mechanical, it will be difficult to go back.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Today I replaced my kb and mouse with a Logitech g710+ and g700s. Unlike my blackwidow ultimate this one is quiet even though it's mechanical.

 

[Vaibe]

If you're confused about what switches you should get, you can buy a sampler:

http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/sampler-kit-1.html

 

[nutingut]

I haven't really tried a decent mechanical, so I can't say for sure, but one thing that I don't like about them is their height. As most do not have a decent wrist wrest resp. none at all, your palms rest on the desk surface and so you will have to bend your wrist upwards in order to place your fingers on the keys, which will cause RSI pain in time. Another issue is the noise as I don't want to harass my coworkers 😉

I much prefer a good quality scissor keyboard but unfortunately, the ones available today are at best of decent quality. I've settled with the Logitech Illuminated for now. Unfortunately, their quality has rapidly declined in recent years and I'm now at the point where I have to buy one every 6-12 months. It's sad because although it's keys are kinda wobbly, the spacing between them is on the large side and with time they wear off and start to become sticky (cleaning then doesn't help much), atm, it's still the best available on the market.

When only considering the type feeing, my favorite desktop scissor board was the Enermax Aurora Aluminum. This baby came pretty close to the thinkpad feeling, but it had connectivity issues and ultimately the small and cold aluminum wrist wrest drove me away.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

I'd say yes. I went from a Razer Lycosa which I loved for it's flat profile of it's keys and light tough feeling, to a mechanical with Cherry MX Red switches and it's beautiful for both typing and gaming.

Unfortunately I was stupid enough to pick Corsairs LED backlit keyboard and now I have to RMA it because 2 of the LEDs are dead, but they want me to ship it internationally at my expense to RMA the damn thing so F-them.

STAY AWAY from corsair LED keyboards, or if you want a good technical support at any point stay away from all of their products, they'll rip you off.

 

[readers]

Brown switch is the way to go, I smashed one, on Black now, still regret it. (Black does make your finger stronger though). I used green before, worst of all.

 

[Dodgexander]

I'd say yes. I went from a Razer Lycosa which I loved for it's flat profile of it's keys and light tough feeling, to a mechanical with Cherry MX Red switches and it's beautiful for both typing and gaming.

Unfortunately I was stupid enough to pick Corsairs LED backlit keyboard and now I have to RMA it because 2 of the LEDs are dead, but they want me to ship it internationally at my expense to RMA the damn thing so F-them.

STAY AWAY from corsair LED keyboards, or if you want a good technical support at any point stay away from all of their products, they'll rip you off.

That's an odd experience to have with corsair, I've never had any problem with them, in fact their support has exceeded my expectations! Can't you return to the vendor within a certain amount of time?

I know here (in the UK) if an electrical item breaks or develops a fault within a year of purchase by law the retailer can't refuse to grant you a replacement.

 

[Soulkeeper]

Many place in the US it's 1 month or 2 weeks for a replacement.

I had 20 leds fail on my corsair keyboard personally.
Trying my luck with some corsair case fans now, hopefully they don't fail.

 

[bononos]

That's an odd experience to have with corsair, I've never had any problem with them, in fact their support has exceeded my expectations! Can't you return to the vendor within a certain amount of time?

I know here (in the UK) if an electrical item breaks or develops a fault within a year of purchase by law the retailer can't refuse to grant you a replacement.

In the thead started by the complainant you were replying to, he says it would cost him EU40 to ship the faulty kb overseas to the Netherlands for rma and I don't think thats refundable. It wouldn't surprise me that internet (vs b&m) stores purposely do that to discourage returns.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I've grown to not like their PWM fans now.

There is a noticeable clicking/frequency to them if not operated at/near max or min rpm.

 

[Charlie98]

When I was a dispatcher I had an old IBM mechanical keyboard and loved it. I'm a pretty... uh, vigorous typer, and I have fat fingers, so the physical 'click' of the IBM works very well for me. I just assumed every keyboard was like the IBM... until I left the office and found out that wasn't true. Had I known the differences in keyboards I would have 'borrowed' a few of the IBM's thrown in a pile at the back of the office.

I actually have an eMachines KB-0108 keyboard now, built by Chicony, that isn't bad.... but once I beat it to death I'll be looking for an IBM.

Most run-of-the-mill KB's feel like I'm typing on a bowl of oatmeal... mush!

 

[JamesV]

I'd be wary of Corsair; heard about a lot of problems with them. Let them iron out their issues over a few years as a KB manufacturer, then look at them again.

I have the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate, with blues, and I liked it, but it was loud as hell, and eventually hardware issues (repeating or non-registered keystrokes, etc).

Now I have the Logitech G710+ with browns, and I freaking love it. While still mechanical, it doesn't feel as 'clicky' if that makes sense. With my Blackwidow you could kind of feel where it bottomed out, but with the G710+ I just type and don't worry about how hard I hit key.

 

[Crow550]

I was using a Logitech Wave for awhile then snagged Monoprice's Cherry MX Black on a sale they had: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=114&cp_id=11401&cs_id=1140102&p_id=9180&seq=1&format=2 and love it. Best Keyboard I've used. I have no experience with the other switch types. Just with the older IBM boards. Audible noise is not that loud, feels great for gaming and typing.

 

[Remobz]

I'd be wary of Corsair; heard about a lot of problems with them. Let them iron out their issues over a few years as a KB manufacturer, then look at them again.

I have the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate, with blues, and I liked it, but it was loud as hell, and eventually hardware issues (repeating or non-registered keystrokes, etc).

Now I have the Logitech G710+ with browns, and I freaking love it. While still mechanical, it doesn't feel as 'clicky' if that makes sense. With my Blackwidow you could kind of feel where it bottomed out, but with the G710+ I just type and don't worry about how hard I hit key.

I was gonna get the corsair KB but too many people complaining about quality issues. Logitech here I come!

 

[Big Roger]

The logi looks interesting, however I think it looks a bit gimmicky..In the states I'd order a WASD keyboard and customise it. In the UK I'd go with the keyboard company and buy a Filco.

 

[JamesV]

There is one huge issue with the Logitech G710+ though, which I didn't realize until I had it : the only keys you can rebind are the G keys on the left; no more binding any key on the keyboard to what you want.

I regularly bind W to UpArrow, D to DownArrow, etc, in games where they don't let you rebind keys, to my usual setup; can't do this with the G710+, but used to be able to with other old Logitechs.