Mechanical Keyboards

Majoris:

This is a very important subject for me too. Do you know any specialized site where different pieces of peripherals are reviewed? In about two months i`ll spend some money on new hardware and accessories and i`m starting to look around.

There really isn't a great professional authority in this niche market yet. The best source of updated information on mechanical keyboards is geekhack.org  . They are a forum of keyboard enthusiasts/collectors -- meaning that there is a lot of irrelevant information to wade through. However, there are many trustworthy and friendly people there as well as an active forum. A simple search or question will often net you a lot of good information. They also have a wiki.

The other source is overclock.net but they are less moderated and knowledgable. I also believe Team Liquid has a great guide .

But I can sum up what I've learned though from a sc2 point of view:

First, you need to decide what type of key switch you want. From the most common ones, MX Blues are most common and 'most fun' to type on. However, they are quite loud and will annoy everyone around you. MX Browns are not audibly clicky but still have a tactile bump. These two are usually most recommended for RTS games. 

Then, decide what form you want. There is the full keyboard (ISO for European and ANSI for US). Then, there is the ten-keyless, which is without the number pad, therefore saves a lot of space.

Next, decide what company and aesthetic you desire:

For budget to midlevel range, these companies are best (reliability, functionality, customer support, aethetics, ect.):

WASDkeyboards : just introduced a V2 last week. Completely customizable upon purchase (colors, keys, switches, ect.). Slightly pricey.

CM Storm Quickfire: there are many versions including rapid (first and most popular), stealth (rapid with ninja keycaps), tk (backlit), pro (semi-backlit). They are all decent but only the Rapid and the Stealth are both made by a highly reputable factory that also makes high-end keyboards. Depending on version, cheapish but good to excellent quality. Easily available in America, less so in Europe.

Das Keyboards: Good reputation, attractive keyboards, decent price. Only downside is that the case is shiny and prone to dust/finger prints. 

Leopold: Korean made keyboards. Sold only on elitekeyboards in US. Pretty good deal for $99. Has an unusual spacebar that can't be customized.

SteelSeries: Decent, but not great reputation. Less customizable.

Razer Black Widow: many people's first introduction to mechanical keyboards as they are widely available. However, there is some price inflation looking at quality, especially on the budget models. Price doesn't match quality.

Mid to High budget:

Filco: Japanese keyboard. Widely regarded as one of the best MX mechanical keyboard makers. Can be hard to find in US, less so in Europe, easy to find in Japan. Heavy, solid, good customer support, well made. Same factory makes quickfire rapid/stealth.

Ducky: Taiwanese manufactor. Popular in Asia. Makes the best backlit keyboards of anyone, but also has good reputation for non-backlit keyboards. They do make one budget keyboard that is not MX Cherry switches (avoid) but everything else is good. However, customer service isn't great.

There are more, but I think these are the main ones. Check out geekhack.org if you are more interested.

Also, I would recommend getting a keyboard with a standard layout that you can customize the keycaps on. You can find some great ones (red biohazard esc key, ect.) and make it yours.

I know you have bought your keyboard already, but I felt I wanted to say something anyway.

Me myself have tried loads of different keyboards but my favorite of all, and the one I use now is the Steelseries 6v2 Cherry MX red edition.

Most keyboards are very similar and it comes down to taste, although many keyboards are bad quality. Razor for one is a company that brings out , less then average, keyboards when it comes to Mechanical keyboards.

I have tried 2 different Razor keyboard and both broke very fast.

My Steelseries have endured, 5 cups of coffe, 2 glasses of water, 2 Pints of beer and 1 cup of boiling hot tea. And it stills works 100% without any problem.

The less bling bling there is, less things can break. So getting a very simple keyboard is 99% of the time better then one with all the new gadgets.

When it comes to mechanical keyboards you also have the different Switches. I will briefly go through them.

Cherry MX Black - Gaming Switches, Linear. No Click no Tactile, Hardest to push down. Longer sessions will make you tired in the beginning.

Cherry MX Red - Gaming Switches, Linear, No Click No Tactile. Almost identical to Black but softer to push down.

Cherry MX Brown - Hybrid Gaming, Typing Switches. Tactile, No Click, As soft/hard to push down as Red

Cherry MX Blue - Typing Switches. Tactile, Click, Same resistance as normal keyboards. Often disliked by gamers due to the release point coming before the actuation point. Making double tapping very uncomfortable

Cherry MX Clear - Hybrid Gaming, Typing Switches. Tactile, No Click. Very similar to brown but somewhat harder to push down. Very rare in keyboards since the difference between it and brown is next to nothing.

With that said. People can play games on MX Blue even thou they are designed with typing in mind. It is all down to what you prefer. But this gives a small window into what they are

I`m really liking what i`m reading around here. For the moment i have in mind steelseries sensei, either daskeyboard or Steelseries 6v2 Cherry MX, i haven`t decided yet on some headphones. Ideally the headphones are optionally wireless(i hate it that my run out of power after 6-8 hours) and have microphone. The budged i can`t decide yet, but if i see something shiny i`m gonna put my hand on it :)

I use Steelseries Sensei, Steelseries 6v2 Cherry MX Red and Steelseries Siberia V2, They are all amazing equipment and has helped me during my gaming career. Sadly it has come to an end (at least high end competition wise) but they are still awesome. The Headphones I can't say are better or worse then anything else because I have them cause I got em as a sponsor thing. But the Keyboard (as seen above) I did some intense testing, the mouse I got as a sponsor thing also but I have gotten several different mouses, and I have only loved that one and Zowie EC2 eVo (got that one from HeatoN, his own signature mouse)

My best results for a mouse is the steel series sensei.   I  have tried about every razor mouse and the Microsoft one and none of them compare to sensei.  

I've been wanting to pickup a mechanical for awhile now.  I'll be taking a look at everything you all posted.  Thanks guys!

there is a wealth of great info in here. I am glad I asked.

so my CM Storm Stealth with blue switches arrived and damn this thing is amazing. I've only played a few games today but I can def tell the difference in response versus my BW mech. Looks like i'll use that as target practice with my .45

I have been considering:

http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-QuickFire-Pro-Mechanical/dp/B007VDOOBU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1376608523&sr=8-3&keywords=cm+storm+quickfire

Any thoughts?  I like the idea of the brown switch over the others, but open to criticism.

I have tried that Keyboard and I feel it is a rather good keyboard.

When it comes to switches it is a matter of taste. I always prefer Red or Brown over anything else (Rather Red than brown), but that is just me. Some people like the brown once since they are good for both typing and gaming. I prefer Red because they are 100% focused on gaming.

The only thing I found "Bad" on the CM Storm Quickfire Pro was that it only got partial back lightning. I like to have either none or full. I can understand their thinking, only giving backlight to the gaming buttons, but I do not see the need for it.

This is again only my own preference, when it comes down to it, it is a rather good keyboard for it's price. 

Thanks Freeoath,

I'll take your input into account!  Cheers!

All you people and your modern keyboards. I will continue to stick by the IBM Model M. It's a pleasure to type on, use it for gaming, and it will never die. The one I'm using is marked as 1989 and still works great. Can get one on eBay for about $50 or so or you can buy a new "Model M" keyboard from Unicomp (it's branded differently, but they own all the IBM patents, so it's essentially the same keyboard.

Hey no problem guys, I hope I helped a little bit.

I don't think the CM Storm Quickfire Pro is worth it either, but I'm just not a fan of backlit keyboards. However, I think the Quickfire Rapid and Quickfire Stealth is awesome and completely worth it. Neither of them are backlit and are top quality for a decent price.

great post Freeoath I was very confused on which switch does what, so thank you for explaining.