Mechanical keyboard suggestions

[LuxBit]

Hey, 

I'm planning on getting a mechanical keyboard. 

 

So here's the requirements list I came up with:

- Tenkeyless layout

- Compatible with after market keycaps (so Cherry-compatible I guess)

- Wireless 

- No RGB nonsense

- Tactile silent switches (Cherry Browns or better)

 

Nice to have:

- Black ABS double shot keycaps

- Heavy metal plate 

- As low footprint and low profile as possible

 

Budget: < $250

 

I know that wireless mechanical keyboard are quite rare, so I'm also open to DIY kits. 

 

Thanks for your suggestions

[LukeSavenije]

well... i bought a drevo calubur recently, which meets a lot of your requirements, except that it has some rgb in it (which you can disable)

 

and it's cherry compatible, but has outemu switches

 

i bought some double shot hyperx pudding keycaps for it myself

 

but i'll just leave @sowon here for where it's needed

[LuxBit]

27 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

well... i bought a drevo calubur recently, which meets a lot of your requirements, except that it has some rgb in it (which you can disable)

Seems like a great keyboard for the money, but it is only a 65%. I really need my function keys.

[LukeSavenije]

4 minutes ago, LuxBit said:

Seems like a great keyboard for the money, but it is only a 65%. I really need my function keys.

it technically is a tkl, but yeah, the f keys are used with fn+number here

[Streetguru]

42 minutes ago, LuxBit said:

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/keyboard/#t=3,2&s=1,2,3,5,14,57,56,4,30,68,32,15

Why wireless though? Seems like a huge pain for a keyboard.

[LuxBit]

5 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Why wireless though? Seems like a huge pain for a keyboard.

I just hate cables

Battery will last forever without RGB.

 

I've been using wireless keyboards for the last 15 years.

 

[jiyeon]

The closest I could absolutely find is the Corsair K63, it has a TKL layout with the function row, is compatible with MX-stemmed keycaps, is wireless, has mild RGB, but - and it's a big but - uses Cherry MX Red switches, when I saw you wanted tactile silent switches.

 

Unfortunately, I'm not versed in keyboards enough to know if there any DIY kits available, and even then, I would imagine it would be difficult to program. Dave2D actually used to use a Cooler Master mechanical keyboard which he converted to Bluetooth through an Arduino, it might be worth looking into if you are set on persuing a decent wireless mechanical keyboard with the switch of your choice, not sure about the cost of it though.

[seon123]

3 minutes ago, sowon said:

is compatible with MX-stemmed keycaps

Well, kind of. The non standard bottom row limits the options by a lot. 

 

Filco Convertible keyboards might be worth checking out. If you find that the keyboard is too loud, you can check out GMK QMX clips. They silence both the downstroke and the upstroke, unlike o rings, and they supposedly don't feel as bad to type on. 

[Streetguru]

28 minutes ago, LuxBit said:

I just hate cables

Battery will last forever without RGB.

 

I've been using wireless keyboards for the last 15 years.

 

It's just that the mechanical keyboard options are rather limited, but there's plenty in that $150 range on the part picker.

https://www.ivanyu.ca/blog/2014/2/2/wireless-das-keyboard-modification
 

 

 

[LuxBit]

Ok, I see available wireless keyboards aren't cutting it. 

Let's take wireless of the list then. 

 

I have a background in embedded systems, so converting USB to Bluetooth shouldn't be too hard, given there's enough space to fit a decent battery, bluetooth module and charge circuit.

 

[b emoji]

12 hours ago, LuxBit said:

Hey, 

I'm planning on getting a mechanical keyboard. 

 

So here's the requirements list I came up with:

- Tenkeyless layout

- Compatible with after market keycaps (so Cherry-compatible I guess)

- Wireless 

- No RGB nonsense

- Tactile silent switches (Cherry Browns or better)

 

Nice to have:

- Black ABS double shot keycaps

- Heavy metal plate 

- As low footprint and low profile as possible

The Leopold Keyboards fit all those criteria except for wireless
They have thick 1.5mm doubleshot pbt cherry profile caps that are the best in the prebuilt market. 
FC660m = 65%
FC750r= TKL
FC980= 1800 Layout (Compact Full size)
FC900= Full Size 
Look for the doubleshot pbt ones, don't get the pad printed versions