where to try out mechanical-switch keyboards

[Raswan]

So I'm desperately in need of a keyboard on which I don't hate typing 20 hours a week. I've got a gaming keyboard, but want a nice one for typing. Far as I can tell from the stickies I've read on here, the mechanical switch keyboards (like Das) seem the best user experience.

But I'm wary of spending 100+ on a keyboard without test driving it. I've not seen any of these types of keyboards advertised at BB or Staples, so I can't try them there. Don't live near a Fry's or Microcenter. Any ideas anyone? Or do I just roll the dice?

 

[XLNC]

Do you have a Microcenter nearby? They have the Blackwidow Ultimate along with 3 or 4 others. I'm pretty sure they have various Cherry MX switch types too, so you'll get a good feel for the differences.

EDIT: Just saw you said you don't live near a Microcenter. Poor reading skills. I'll leave it up to help others. If noise isn't a concern, the consensus I found is that the Cherry Blue switches are the best to type on. Then again, none of them are bad for typing, and all are leaps and bounds better than rubber dome keyboards.

 

[Raswan]

Do you have a Microcenter nearby? They have the Blackwidow Ultimate along with 3 or 4 others. I'm pretty sure they have various Cherry MX switch types too, so you'll get a good feel for the differences.

EDIT: Just saw you said you don't live near a Microcenter. Poor reading skills. I'll leave it up to help others. If noise isn't a concern, the consensus I found is that the Cherry Blue switches are the best to type on. Then again, none of them are bad for typing, and all are leaps and bounds better than rubber dome keyboards.

That's been my feeling too-either the Cherry MX or the Cherry blue. Anything would be better than this pos dell stock one I'm using at school, and my old trusty logitech is about 4 years old, and the keys are starting to stick. Plus it wasn't great to begin with, and as I'm up to 30 pages a week of typing it's time to invest in something that I deserve

 

[Ben90]

I'm on a full sized Filco with Blues and its pretty loud. Definitely stay away from Blues if you are a sound pollution type person. There are two downsides to Cherry Blues aside from the noise:

#1: Not a big deal at all, but the keys are non-linear vs Cherry Blacks. If you were looking for something to game on most people would recommend Blacks instead. I'm just passing word of mouth as I actually haven't tried Blacks. I don't think you can go wrong with either though as I'm a happy camper gaming on my Blues.

#2: Other keyboards suck. If you happen to work at a place where you can't bring your mechanical beauty in, its quite distracting how horrible rubber domes are. I spent about a year solely on my blues, and it was quite a shock having to use a rubber dome for work. It is extremely fatiguing having to bottom the key out every single time. It turns something as simple as typing into a chore. Ignorance is bliss.

I prefer Filco keyboards over DAS because they don't have the extra bells and whistles. I don't know if you can get new ones in the USA anymore though.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I just bought a Das Silent (Cherry Brown switches), my first mechanical keyboard, without trying a mechanical in years. So far I've been really pleased with it, but even the "quiet" version of this keyboard is fairly loud compared to most rubber dome keyboards. If you're not concerned about noise, I say just go for it. I can't imagine anyone not liking mechanical switches after trying out a decent keyboard.

 

[pcunite]

If you really need to try them out then you'll need to try them all out, all the Cherry MX versions I mean. I'm using the Cherry MX Black. It takes about 12 nickels for the key to press and register a keystroke. Browns take less ... the Black's are also not tactical ... the point is that for me it is what I like.

I ended up buying the Filco Majestouch, Tenkeyless, NKR, Linear Action, Cherry MX Black from here:
http://www.amazon.com/Majestouch-Ten...3069001&sr=8-2