Keyboard recommendations

[Zalosath]

Hi,

I'm looking for a new keyboard, I'm sick to death of Razer, they're products, at least for me, are for the most part, absolutely perfect, but they ALWAYS have 1 issue. I've had 5 razer keyboards in the past, 1 stopped working entirely, another had a faulty volume knob, and the remaining 3 all have ghost key inputs, they'll just click and hold randomly, firmware update supposedly fixes this issue but nope!

 

So, I'm looking for a "proper" keyboard. I have a few criteria though;

- Clicky

- Media keys (volume, pause/play, forward, back)

- Full scale, I want the num pad

- RGB (Even though I'll just set it to white)

 

I've looked into Keychron but I don't think they have a keyboard that meets the criteria.

 

I'd like to get an enthusiast keyboard (like those by Keychron) as opposed to a brand like Razer or SteelSeries, etc...

 

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[seon123]

Which criteria does the Q6 not meet? The four buttons above the numpad can be assigned to media controls, and there is a version with a knob. If you get the barebones version you can choose switches on your own, such as the Zeal Clickiez or Kailh Box Jade. 

[mike_seps]

Assuming by media keys, you mean dedicated, right? My keychron handles media controls no problem on the function row. I have the default set to be the non-function function I guess. So play. pause, backlight, volume, etc is the default action, with the F1-F12 needing fn+key.  Hippyo Tech has a lot of keyboard reviews.

[mike_seps]

3 minutes ago, seon123 said:

Which criteria does the Q6 not meet? The four buttons above the numpad can be assigned to media controls, and there is a version with a knob. If you get the barebones version you can choose switches on your own, such as the Zeal Clickiez or Kailh Box Jade. 

This. I have the k4, and I am looking at the Q series as an upgrade, so I can send the k4 to the office top replace my steel series (feels okay, sounds gross, work laptop doesn't like it at all)

[Zalosath]

17 minutes ago, seon123 said:

Which criteria does the Q6 not meet? The four buttons above the numpad can be assigned to media controls, and there is a version with a knob. If you get the barebones version you can choose switches on your own, such as the Zeal Clickiez or Kailh Box Jade. 

Cool! I have absolutely no experience in this area at all, so I appreciate you pointing that out! 

 

I have a couple of questions;

If I go barebones, am I going to be overwhelmed by putting in the switches or is that a relatively easy process?

Is RGB just as simple as picking switches that have integrated LEDs, if so, how can I control them?

 

Cheers!

[seon123]

1 minute ago, Zalosath said:

If I go barebones, am I going to be overwhelmed by putting in the switches or is that a relatively easy process?

Since the keyboard has hot swap sockets, you just push them in. No soldering or anything. You just need to make sure the pins are straight. If they're not, most of the time you can just bend them back or use a spare.

2 minutes ago, Zalosath said:

Is RGB just as simple as picking switches that have integrated LEDs, if so, how can I control them?

RGB switches are just transparent and/or have a gap in them to allow the RGB LED on the PCB to shine through them.

[Plui]

Look into Corsair K series, they have all you are looking for! 

I personally have a K70 and it has been working great for a couple years now. It even survived 2 drink spill (water and soda).

They have a wide range of prices depending on your budget

[IPD]

Well that rules out Ducky One 3, as it doesn't have dedicated media buttons.  Volume/mute/calc buttons, but not media.  There's FN+Windows Key+Key functions that will do media functions, but nothing discreet.

 

Barebones build isn't a bad idea if you find a board you prefer, and you are particular about switches.  I do recommend Pudding caps if you love lighting--but that's not a requirement.

[Zalosath]

50 minutes ago, seon123 said:

Since the keyboard has hot swap sockets, you just push them in. No soldering or anything. You just need to make sure the pins are straight. If they're not, most of the time you can just bend them back or use a spare.

RGB switches are just transparent and/or have a gap in them to allow the RGB LED on the PCB to shine through them.

Awesome! Sounds easy enough. 

 

57 minutes ago, Plui said:

Look into Corsair K series, they have all you are looking for! 

I personally have a K70 and it has been working great for a couple years now. It even survived 2 drink spill (water and soda).

They have a wide range of prices depending on your budget

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm really trying to stay away from the big brands, I've never had a good experience with them.

 

53 minutes ago, IPD said:

Well that rules out Ducky One 3, as it doesn't have dedicated media buttons.  Volume/mute/calc buttons, but not media.  There's FN+Windows Key+Key functions that will do media functions, but nothing discreet.

 

Barebones build isn't a bad idea if you find a board you prefer, and you are particular about switches.  I do recommend Pudding caps if you love lighting--but that's not a requirement.

Quite a big thing for me is the num pad, a quick google shows that it doesn't have one (maybe?), but honestly the volume knob is actually not a deal breaker, I control all my audio with the GoXLR, bar pausing and skipping etc... so if that opens up the options in any way that'd be good!

 

And yeah, I'll probably go barebones, it'll be a fun little project, I think. 

[IPD]

https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=9253

 

One 3 is available in several form factors (and color options), not just TKL.  But like I said, there's no volume knob--only buttons.  And no discreet media keys.

 

One 3's big change over the One 2 (which I have and LOVE) is that it's hot-swappable.  Only drawback (minor quibble) is there's no pudding keycap option.  Yet.

[Zalosath]

4 hours ago, seon123 said:

Which criteria does the Q6 not meet? The four buttons above the numpad can be assigned to media controls, and there is a version with a knob. If you get the barebones version you can choose switches on your own, such as the Zeal Clickiez or Kailh Box Jade. 

Any recommendations for keycaps? I'm looking around but they all come as sets and I'm not sure how I'd get caps for the extra keys without purchasing a set directly from keychron, but they don't offer light passthrough sets for ISO layout (UK) & full numpad. 

[Zalosath]

1 hour ago, lw88 said:

Most keycap sets aren't going to be shinethrough. Like 99.9% of custom sets. You can either get some cheap shinethrough caps off aliexpress or amazon, or buy razer/ducky keycaps for like $20 USD.

For clicky switches I would probably go either kailh pale blue (linear with a click) or kailh box jade (highly tactile with a click on press and release), but I don't like the feel of click-jacket switches so my preferences are pretty niche on that one.

 

I love the sound of zeal clickiez, but from all accounts they're so stupidly tactile that they're very love them or hate them, so I'd recommend something else for your first switch.

That's a shame, I was hoping for RGB, but at this point I've been looking for hours for shinethrough caps and it's getting frustrating! I was looking at this from CustomKeycaps:

Sadly this variation is out of stock, plus their website doesn't show the whole box contents so I don't know if it has any media caps. 

 

Anyone have any experience with this site? Do you know the extent of keycaps they include?

 

Cheers!

[IPD]

Ducky One 3 in white:

 

 

They also have RGB in Yellow and Blue.  Probably more options in the future.

[rice guru]

17 hours ago, Zalosath said:

Hi,

I'm looking for a new keyboard, I'm sick to death of Razer, they're products, at least for me, are for the most part, absolutely perfect, but they ALWAYS have 1 issue. I've had 5 razer keyboards in the past, 1 stopped working entirely, another had a faulty volume knob, and the remaining 3 all have ghost key inputs, they'll just click and hold randomly, firmware update supposedly fixes this issue but nope!

 

So, I'm looking for a "proper" keyboard. I have a few criteria though;

- Clicky

- Media keys (volume, pause/play, forward, back)

- Full scale, I want the num pad

- RGB (Even though I'll just set it to white)

 

I've looked into Keychron but I don't think they have a keyboard that meets the criteria.

 

I'd like to get an enthusiast keyboard (like those by Keychron) as opposed to a brand like Razer or SteelSeries, etc...

 

Any suggestions? Thanks!

ducky one 3 is really the only keyboard I can think of that fully meets all your criteria the build quality isn't as good as keychro or more deeper enthusiast brands but has some enthusiast features like hotswap , for fully plastic build prebuilt keyboards ducky is pretty great.

[Zalosath]

1 hour ago, IPD said:

Ducky One 3 in white:

 

 

They also have RGB in Yellow and Blue.  Probably more options in the future.

 

13 minutes ago, rice guru said:

ducky one 3 is really the only keyboard I can think of that fully meets all your criteria the build quality isn't as good as keychro or more deeper enthusiast brands but has some enthusiast features like hotswap , for fully plastic build prebuilt keyboards ducky is pretty great.

Thanks to both of you, I'm really not too keen on specifically the keycaps for the multimedia buttons. I'd rather they be indistinct from really anything so I can play with them as I please. E.G. I don't want a mute icon to be my skip song button I know that's petty but if I'm going to be spending £150+ on a keyboard it's kind of a minimum expectation for me. Also, there seems to be an even more limited selection of Ducky One 3's for the ISO layout, which is a deal breaker for me.

 

I am really keen on the Keychron Q6 (the ISO version), I love how it looks and the customizable knob is an added bonus. My only real issue with getting it at present is the lack of keycaps in the UK market, and or the availability of ISO kits. The real issue though has actually been finding caps for the media keys, I'd love to have just 4 blank caps there but like I said, UK market is shocking for this kind of thing! I've messaged a few retailers to see if I can buy a kit & an additional 4 blank caps, not sure if that's going to fly but we'll see!

 

In the meantime, if you have a suggestion as to where I can get a set of white (or 2 colour) doubleshot PBT shinethrough caps including the 4 blank (or non-descript caps, like the triangle, square, circle and X keys on the base Q6) then I'd greatly appreciate it!

[IPD]

Anything ISO is already going to be far more limited on selection than ANSI.  Just be glad you aren't in the realm of AZERTY/QZERTY and other assorted niche that has practically 0 selection.

[Zalosath]

20 minutes ago, IPD said:

Anything ISO is already going to be far more limited on selection than ANSI.  Just be glad you aren't in the realm of AZERTY/QZERTY and other assorted niche that has practically 0 selection.

Yeah, not so great, but in any case, all I need is 4 blank caps, as long as they use MX stems then it should be all good. Even if it's a separate purchase, provided they're the same colour I'd be happy with that. Anyway, like I said I've messaged a few places to see if I can just buy 4 blank caps, fingers crossed they'll be happy to help.

[IPD]

4 blank caps can be had anywhere.  You can even get bouji ones with Warhammer 40k levels of painting detail on them.

 

https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=7499

 

Plenty of blanks are around.

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

On 10/4/2022 at 1:54 PM, Zalosath said:

Hi,

I'm looking for a new keyboard, I'm sick to death of Razer, they're products, at least for me, are for the most part, absolutely perfect, but they ALWAYS have 1 issue. I've had 5 razer keyboards in the past, 1 stopped working entirely, another had a faulty volume knob, and the remaining 3 all have ghost key inputs, they'll just click and hold randomly, firmware update supposedly fixes this issue but nope!

 

So, I'm looking for a "proper" keyboard. I have a few criteria though;

- Clicky

- Media keys (volume, pause/play, forward, back)

- Full scale, I want the num pad

- RGB (Even though I'll just set it to white)

 

I've looked into Keychron but I don't think they have a keyboard that meets the criteria.

 

I'd like to get an enthusiast keyboard (like those by Keychron) as opposed to a brand like Razer or SteelSeries, etc...

 

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Everyone in your house will hate you if you get a clicky keyboard lol. I would get a tactical instead.

[Zalosath]

1 hour ago, IPD said:

4 blank caps can be had anywhere.  You can even get bouji ones with Warhammer 40k levels of painting detail on them.

 

https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=7499

 

Plenty of blanks are around.

Cool thanks!

 

1 hour ago, CHICKSLAYA said:

Everyone in your house will hate you if you get a clicky keyboard lol. I would get a tactical instead.

Hah, they'll just have to get used to it

[Zalosath]

2 hours ago, lw88 said:

I mean I literally just googled ducky shinethrough keycaps uk and got this:

https://www.kustompcs.co.uk/peripherals/keyboards/mechanical-keyboards-accessories/ducky-shine-4-year-of-monkey-abs-backlight-keycaps-black-uk-layout-bagged/

Idk anything about the vendor though, so caveat emptor.

 

 

ABS, I'm looking for doubleshot PBT. Thanks though!

 

I've managed to find some on Etsy, though I've had to order 4 blank caps too for the media keys.