mechanical keyboard recommendations

[joelthezombie15]

Hi I'm looking for a good cheap and by cheap i mean not a $50 mechanical keyboard. I personally like the cherry MX blues or brown key switches from playing with them in some retail stores it doesn't have to be optimized for any specific thing I'll be using it for everything but mainly gaming but "gaming optimized keyboards don't appeal to me" i don't use macros and led doesn't matter to much but it is nice to have. thank you

[Lukiose]

Ducky Zero, cheap and sexy. Switches are up to personal preference

[exousia7]

Ducky Zero, cheap and sexy. Switches are up to personal preference

I 2nd that. Ducky Zero series cheap, affordable, and good quality for its price.

[Agons]

Ducky Zero, cheap and sexy. Switches are up to personal preference

does the ducky zero have a version without a number pad?

[joelthezombie15]

Ducky Zero, cheap and sexy. Switches are up to personal preference

thank you

[joelthezombie15]

Ducky Zero, cheap and sexy. Switches are up to personal preference

i cannot find a place online that sells them to save my life where are they sold?

[Shikarikato]

Ducky Zero, cheap and sexy. Switches are up to personal preference

http://tigerimports.net/sunshop/index.php?l=product_list&c=208

[joelthezombie15]

Ducky Zero, cheap and sexy. Switches are up to personal preference

those are not cheap i said less than $50 i almost had a heart attack $80 for a keyboard that is ridiculous

[t0wer]

Under $50. Good luck, thrift stores are about your only option. Cheapest I've seen is the monoprice with mx blues at $50

[Lukiose]

Under $50. Good luck, thrift stores are about your only option. Cheapest I've seen is the monoprice with mx blues at $50

You gotta learn to read... EDIT: Just read his comment. Disregard what i typed

[Lukiose]

$50 mechanical keyboard? Wait a couple decades dude. Don't come here posting nonsense and expecting a miracle answer to appear, we do not entertain trolls in this forum (If that was your intention)

P.S: And improve your english, don't come here spouting crap about "Not $50 cheap" then changing winds to "I said less than $50".

If "Less than $50" was your original intention then you should phrase it as "A mechanical keyboard that costs less than $50." Which obviously doesn't exist, if any man with a modicum of common sense would realise, via a simple google search.

[Smurf Shoes]

You will have to make some serious compromises and delve into the unknown at that price point. You are pretty much going to have to throw the Cherry made switches out of the equation and look into Alps style switches since they generally run quite a bit cheaper. Alps switches seem to be a love or hate thing with people. They are not as refined feeling as the Cherry switch, but its barely noticeable. For instance my daily driver is Ducky DK1087XM with the green Alps. I don't have extended experience with Cherry blues, but they feel damn close and in my opinion sound much better, albeit a little louder. The best part about it is it only cost $50 from tigerimports.com (with -$0.45 shipping???). I also have a SIIG Minitouch that I picked up from a thrift store for $10. It's got white XM alps style switches that are amazing to type on, but are a little heavy for gaming. They have an actuation force of about 70-75g which is similar to a Cherry MX Green.

[Lukiose]

You will have to make some serious compromises and delve into the unknown at that price point. You are pretty much going to have to throw the Cherry made switches out of the equation and look into Alps style switches since they generally run quite a bit cheaper. Alps switches seem to be a love or hate thing with people. They are not as refined feeling as the Cherry switch, but its barely noticeable. For instance my daily driver is Ducky DK1087XM with the green Alps. I don't have extended experience with Cherry blues, but they feel damn close and in my opinion sound much better, albeit a little louder. The best part about it is it only cost $50 from tigerimports.com (with -$0.45 shipping???). I also have a SIIG Minitouch that I picked up from a thrift store for $10. It's got white XM alps style switches that are amazing to type on, but are a little heavy for gaming. They have an actuation force of about 70-75g which is similar to a Cherry MX Green.

Alps do feel quite different from Cherrys though, so he'd better find a place to test them out before he commits his head into buying one.

[Smurf Shoes]

You will have to make some serious compromises and delve into the unknown at that price point. You are pretty much going to have to throw the Cherry made switches out of the equation and look into Alps style switches since they generally run quite a bit cheaper. Alps switches seem to be a love or hate thing with people. They are not as refined feeling as the Cherry switch, but its barely noticeable. For instance my daily driver is Ducky DK1087XM with the green Alps. I don't have extended experience with Cherry blues, but they feel damn close and in my opinion sound much better, albeit a little louder. The best part about it is it only cost $50 from tigerimports.com (with -$0.45 shipping???). I also have a SIIG Minitouch that I picked up from a thrift store for $10. It's got white XM alps style switches that are amazing to type on, but are a little heavy for gaming. They have an actuation force of about 70-75g which is similar to a Cherry MX Green.

Yes they are different. The problem is that Alps tend to be found more on industrial/retail boards and are not readily available to test in your general electronics store so that will be next to impossible. I think going with Alps is more of a leap of faith, which is part of the price paid with going super low budget.

[RexdogHD]

Here's the only one I could find: http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=89

It doesn't have the Cherry switches but as others have said, with your budget you have a very small amount of options. I would recommend saving up and getting a better one. A Ducky keyboard will last you for a really long time so if I were you I would wait and get the kind you really want.

[Brandonsr]

For 50 dollars you wont find much, but if your in the US and can step up to 60+ the cm storm is a great keyboard.

http://www.amazon.com/Storm-QuickFire-Rapid-Mechanical-SGK-4000-GKCL1-US/dp/B0068INSUM

[Haxmannen]

I don't think you're going to find any good mechanical keyboards for under $50, remember that a mechanical keyboard is an investment and something that, if you choose a good one, will out live even your computer table.

Get a CM storm, ducky or filco, if you can't affrod them right now i unfortunetly think you'll just have to save for a while. But it will be worth it in the end.

[fishymamba]

For a budget that low go for the CM Storm Quickfire Rapid. That will probably be the cheapest cherry switch keyboard you can find new.

But I would just go membrane for that price.

[Toby]

Ducky Zero, cheap and sexy. Switches are up to personal preference

Why is it ridiculous?

Time for a car analogy. You can spend as little as possible on the cheapest car you can find and it'll get you from A-to-B. You can also spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car that'll do the same thing - the difference is in the user-experience. People spend more on a car in order to make going from A-to-B more enjoyable. Maybe it goes faster, maybe the ride's smoother, maybe they look better doing it, maybe it has some extra gadgets, but in all cases people are spending more to improve the user-experience. The same goes for keyboards - and most computer components. The more you spend typically makes for an improved user-experience.

Now, your avatar leads me to believe that you think $100 for a case is reasonable? I won't dispute that, but lets compare it to a $50 case. What is that extra $50 getting you? Maybe some slightly better fans or a cheap fan controller, perhaps it made your rig easier to put together, but how much is that extra $50 getting you right now, as you read this? Not a whole lot. A case does an important job that's worth doing, but it doesn't add much to the user-experience. It might look pretty, but you're looking at the monitor right now, not your case.

Now lets consider the keyboard. Aside from the monitor and maybe the mouse, it's probably *the* most used and utilized part of your computer. The extent of your interaction with your case is pressing the power button when you switch on a computer, but a keyboard is used constantly, be it writing passwords, e-mails, forum posts, URLs, search queries or controlling games. So, this time, lets compare an $80 keyboard to a $50 one...What does that extra $30 get you? Mechanical switches. It might get you a slightly better appearance and it'll definitely get you significantly improved build-quality, but at the end of the day it's primarily getting you a keyboard that feels worlds better to type on...A keyboard you'll use day in and day out, an ever-present part of the user experience.

Given a $50 computer case and keyboard, with the choice of spending an extra $50 on either? Why would I choose the case?

[unidentical]

excellent troll thread.

[FlurpytheMagicalUnicorn]

For 50 dollars you will not find many (if any) mechanical keyboards. If you spend around 100 then you can find some great ones. I would recommend any Ducky or the Cooler Master TK Quickfire.

[Jamdude]

You're wasting your money getting a mechanical keyboard for

[mgsstar]

I dont think you can get a mechanical keyboard for $50. You could get a Coolermaster Quickfire Rapid and it sometimes goes on sale at ncix for $60 i think. This keyboard doesn't have a numpad. If you want a numpad, I would suggest you to get a Ducky Zero like Lukiose said because that is the only solid keyboard that I can think of around the $70 dollar range.

[t0wer]

I completely forgot about these, but look up cherry g84's, they use cherry ml switches and are about $15 on ebay.

here's a review on reddit.

http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/19your/cherry_g844100_ml_switch_review_and_pics/