they also have a silent model that uses the brown keys, its not specifically for Mac but u can remap/swap the keys
http://www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-professional-silent/
I use a Razer BlackWidow at home and a Lenovo laptop for school, and besides having more spread out keys which is a desktop vs laptop thing I assume, I don't get the big difference. Maybe learning to type properly could show me the difference, but I doubt it.
Er. That's like saying that knowing the difference between good audio and bad audio is dependent on knowing how to play music. You don't need to know how to play music to know when something sounds good and when something sounds bad. Similarly so with keyboards: it's a feel thing, not a learning thing. Having a tactile response from keypresses makes typing (for many people) a more enjoyable activity.
(For the record, the Razer BlackWidow uses Cherry MX Blues.)
I would definitely recommend Cherry MX Brown switches to anyone considering getting a first time mechanical, pretty quiet, middle of the road (possibly on the lighter side) actuation force, nice tactile feel. I use reds at work on a Rosewill (doesn't look like some gaming thing which might seem strange to coworkers, plus cheap enough they would pay for it) and like it a lot, but at home I have a Das Keyboard with browns and it is just perfect.
Steelseries I have used I liked, not a huge fan of the Blackwidow, looks a little too strange for me (its got some weird futuristic font on the keycaps).
For customization WASD Keyboards are great if you wanted something a little different looking.
Hmm, any recommendations? I have considered both the Mionix Zibal 60 and the Steelseries 7G before I took the bite on Apple's keyboard, but I am unsure of how Cherry MX Black keys feel.
I haven't personally used Blacks. However, there are only a few common types of Cherry switches, Blacks among them, so I can make an educated guess.
Basically, Cherry switches fall into two categories: tactile and linear. Strictly speaking this isn't true (for reasons I will explain in a moment), but it's the easiest way to think about it.
Tactile switches have a noticeable 'bump' partway through the keystroke-- as you press, they will 'knock' against the switch mechanism when they trigger. This lets you know once you've reached the actuation point, so you can stop before bottoming out the keys. There are two varieties of tactile cherry switches-- MX Browns, which are a little bit heavier to press, a little subtler on the tactile bump, and significantly less noisy when compared to the other type, MX Blues.
Linear switches increase the resistance offered to your fingers as you depress them. Supposedly there is some minor tactile response as well once you reach the actuation point, but I cannot personally attest to this one way or the other. Basically think of it like compressing a spring-- the further you press down, the harder it is to keep going, but eventually it won't go any further. There are two common varieties of linear switches-- MX Blacks and MX Reds. Blacks are by far the most common, and are supposedly much heavier than MX Reds. Both switches are almost silent.
There are other Cherry switch types (MX Clear, MX Green, MX Grey, to name a few), but they are so few and far between that you are almost certainly never going to encounter them unless you are trying to, or buying from a foreign manugfacturer (EG Filco) or Cherry's OEM supplies.
MANY keyboard enthusiasts swear by the tactile variety as opposed to the linears, although MX Reds are also very popular among some groups. Blacks are not generally recommended unless you game heavily, in which case they are recommended alongside Blues. The reason for this is that many people feel that Blacks are less suitable for the normal motions of typing than the tactile switch types, due to the linear nature of the switch and the fact that MX Blacks have a very high actuation force. These two qualities make it great for gaming, where you need to know immediately that you've pressed a key and need to be able to tap rapidly (which is slightly harder to do on tactile Cherry switches because of the almost infinitesimally small mechanical delay between actuation and return) without misclicks. But in normal typing it can become fatiguing (supposedly).
MX Reds circumvent this by having a much lower activation force than the Blacks. They are often described as soft, gentle, even supple. One member of the keyboard enthusiast community Geekhack even described them as being like typing on a cloud of...
boobs
However, they are very hard to find and are very polarizing. Most love them or hate them.
My personal recommendation would be to go for a board with Cherry MX Brown switches. These offer the best compromise between typing and gaming, and I can attest from personal experience that they are a joy to type on.
In terms of keyboards, various Filco boards use browns. They are also on the new Leopold keyboards, and available from several other manufacturers. I believe that the new Razer BlackWidow Stealth versions also use Cherry Browns, though I am not sure of that.
I personally use a KBC Poker X with MX Browns. It has some faults, but serves my purposes very well.
well recommend me a sub $100 keyboard. my first thought was a logitech gaming keyboard but all this talk about mechanical ones have gotten me. so what do you guys think is best for sub $100?
Unicomp. I have an EnduraPro, but if you're not going to use the pointing stick in any way, go with the Ultra Classic, since it's 10USD 20USD cheaper.
ETA: Note that Unicomp's keyboards are best experienced with PS/2, not USB. PS/2 gives you NKRO; USB only supports 2KRO, if I remember correctly.
ETA2: Also, my previous keyboard was a Logitech G19. Not really worth it, IMO; the LCD screen was nice, but I only used it for EVE. I mapped some minor programs (Calculator, Notepad++) to the G keys, but didn't ever really use those in games anyhow.
Rosewill makes keyboards of all Cherry MX switch types, though price and availability varies (a friend of mine was shopping for a mechanical keyboard a while back; wanted a Rosewill board, but pretty much everywhere had sold out).
I think Das's Pro Keyboard uses Cherry MX Blues and has NKRO over USB (probably via something similar to that microcontroller implemented by the Chocowhatsit that was posted earlier in the thread) 6KRO over USB and NKRO over PS/2 with an interchangeable cable, although it's ~130USD before tax and shipping, and also has a glossy frame (which I hate because glossy anything is a pain to keep clean).
ETA: Might as well as just check Overclock.net's keyboard guide. I know they have a shopping section in there somewhere.
hmm yeah rosewill's keyboard and parts always interest me. they generally are a 4star out of 5 brand but have been going up lately. im interested in their boards. know if they are any good actualy though? when i first heard of their new board. i never thought mechanicals were that good :/
Uh, of course not? They're Unicomp. They own the designs to the IBM Model M keyboard. Buckling springs? I've only mentioned that in nearly all of my posts about Unicomp.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
