I need a good typing keyboard (Blackwidow vs K120 - K120 wins!)

[Starglider]

Hi,

 

Logitech K120 £12       vs       Razer Blackwidow Ultimate £120       Winner is: K120

Logitech K120 £12       vs       Razer Blackwidow £90       Winner is: K120

 

Ok here's the situation...

 

A long time ago in a computer office not so far away I bought my first mechanical... Razer - Black Widow Ultimate, I love the key feel, and they key press, was very nice... This keyboard was great, the key press and release was very nice and new feeling, but I never did get used to the offset the Macro keys made, I found myself much faster typing on an old cheap £5 spring pump action loaded keyboard from 1943 and with a lot less typos. The day came where the C key failed! (would repeat at the slightest of touches). 

 

So I went to the razer website and due to it's awesome bugs when they update the thing I found myself not checking the receipt page to ensure it was the same keyboard and found myself with the Razer - Black Widow (with no ultimate aka backlights). Was very disappointed with this keyboard on arrival, not because of no backlight but the keys! WTF they felt like they were grinding up against the others on release/rise, just not what I expected. My first thought was, maybe it just needs wearing in (this was not the case) and my second thought was to break the piece of shait open take out the C keys mechanicals guts and put it into the old Razer - Black widow Ultimate, thus restoring the one I like (bar 1 hated key). But I kept at it, hoping it would break in eventually or I would start to get used to it (this never happened).

 

A few weeks passed and something which happens, happens, I split a little water on the arrow keys, I popped the tops, dried the area, gave a little clean, wasn't much and didn't think much of it. The old Razer - Black Window Ultimate I had taken many tea and fizzy drink spillages as well as some food and was fine after a little clean. Seems water to the newer version of the Black widow is it's kryptonite, the arrow keys to this very day now raise themselves as if they were being raised by hydraulic pistons pushing up a very heavy weight at a slow and stead pace. This keyboard is now scheduled for destruction for salvage of the C key mechanicals to put into the old razer blackwidow ultimate I ordered many years ago, but I haven't got round to this, yet...

 

So, out comes the backup keyboard, the Logitech K120, woa! old school keys! oooo so quiet! hmmm actually really nice to type on! hang on, that didn't take me any time to get used to! hold on, my small finger on my left hand keeps reaching for them macro keys that were on the razer (oh I can live with that - and have stopped doing that in a day), speed typing! definitely much faster typing and more accurate on this than when on the razer mechanicals!

 

The scheduled destruction of new Razer Blackwidow to repair the old Razer Blackwidow is now on hold, as (for me) I found something better! The Logitech K120 lol! So impressed with the Logitech K120 superior typing experience that I decided to try out the super old standard cream £5 keyboard, which I actually quite liked as the keys just sprang back, and yes, I found myself typing more comfortable than with the razer mechanical again. It looks like I was seduced by the novelty of a mechanical key press, feels good but wasn't actually that good for typing on, all day long, every day.

 

 

 

At £12 vs £120, it's a complete piss take. I may give another mechanical a try, it's always bling bling to have on your desk, but I'm very skeptical about a mechanical keyboard beating the old school for typing now.

 

 

 

So the question is: 

Is there a mechanical keyboard out there that is awesome for typing on all day, every day, which is comfortable and fast enough to keep up with the classic keyboards?

 

 

 

[Phllips]

Ive got the blackwidow tournament (10 keyless) and a shitty keyboard (look up shitty keyboard and it comes up ) and i can assure you i type faster on the black widow 

[Verne]

You might want to go to a store and try out some Topre switches if you can. Another one to try is Matias' Quiet Pro keyboards with ALPS-based switches. For Cherry MX, the Red switches are the one to go for speed (although it requires some training). Which switches did your Blackwidow have?

[Starglider]

You might want to go to a store and try out some Topre switches if you can. Another one to try is Matias' Quiet Pro keyboards with ALPS-based switches. For Cherry MX, the Red switches are the one to go for speed (although it requires some training). Which switched did you Blackwidow have?

 

The old black widow key press was nice, god knows what switch was in it, ordered it a good few years ago.

 

The new black window was the one that razer have on their website now, not sure what switch type is in it.

[Verne]

The old black widow key press was nice, god knows what switch was in it, ordered it a good few years ago.

 

The new black window was the one that razer have on their website now, not sure what switch type is in it.

If you can just take a key cap off a key on the keyboard and see what color the switch underneath is. The cream colored springy keyboard sounds like a classic IBM Model M or some clone. Model M is considered the "pinnacle" of (mechanical) keyboards by many enthusiasts.

[Starglider]

My old BlackWidow ultimate had blue switches, so MX Blue I'm guessing, it was very noisy, I couldn't sneak a key press in on a telephone call for example, but I could type fast with them.

 

The Razor - BlackWidow (new) I currently have but don't use and can't stand is MX Green.

 

What I am looking for is a good white led backlit mechanical keyboard with a nice reactive typing effect and have either MX Brown or Blue switches I'm guessing.

 

Something I found quite interesting and helpful was this:

 

[Thunderjolt]

Haha I have the K120 and I do have to say I love the typing experience on it. The keys are very easy to actuate and everything just seems to flow very nicely. Although I am going to buy the Corsair K70 RGB though

[Starglider]

My K70 RGB Arrived today MX Brown.... Nice!

 

I have no idea how to get the software to do what I want it to do however... Seems to be foreground and background capabilities but god knows how to switch between them! Got the thing full green now no effects, will give the software a full shake down tonight after work. Green appears to be the most dominant colour by a long shot.

 

The typing is nice, I don't seem to have any "get used to it" factor so far

Going from the logitech I just notice that they keys have a lot longer way to be pressed down and that's it.

 

But it's full metal, feels like this should last me a while and for the price I hope it does.

 

I was going to go for the K95 but decided against it as with the Blackwidow keyboards I kept being offset due to the macro keys, and when I go on contracts I don't want to have to get used to a keyboard with no macro keys.

 

K70 RGB - Highly recommended.

[Starglider]

My K70 RGB Arrived today MX Brown.... Nice!

 

I have no idea how to get the software to do what I want it to do however... Seems to be foreground and background capabilities but god knows how to switch between them! Got the thing full green now no effects, will give the software a full shake down tonight after work. Green appears to be the most dominant colour by a long shot.

 

The typing is nice, I don't seem to have any "get used to it" factor so far

Going from the logitech I just notice that they keys have a lot longer way to be pressed down and that's it.

 

But it's full metal, feels like this should last me a while and for the price I hope it does.

 

I was going to go for the K95 but decided against it as with the Blackwidow keyboards I kept being offset due to the macro keys, and when I go on contracts I don't want to have to get used to a keyboard with no macro keys.

 

K70 RGB - Highly recommended.

Update on K70 RGB MX Brown (07/09/2015)

One of the worst keyboard's ever, RMA 2 times, for double typing various keys, OS lock up issues, 1 key never lights up, found out it's firmware based no sight of corsair bothering to fix for uk layout. Now in bin and back to my logitech k120, much better typing experience. Waste of money and not very good RGB for that matter (no reflective back plate and led brightness wasn't very good/strong for too many colours).