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Upgrading from membrane to mechanical

Araphen
By Araphen
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So I guess the nice thing to do is to make a conclusion in case anyone else has the same question.

 

Red switches are the best choice when you're switching from membrane keyboards and don't want much change.

 

I was originally considering the RK-9200 but changed to the Corsair K70 because it looks "just plain sexy" and comes with blue LED backlighting.  

Thanks to Biferony for helping decide what to buy.

Posted

So my membrane keyboard (Cyborg V7 Keyboard) that I've been using for probably something close to five years is finally dying.

 

I started looking at mechanical keyboards on amazon and realized there are multiple kinds of switches to choose from and I really have no idea what to pick.

 

I know i'm going to have to deal with some change, but I'm aiming for as little as possible.  So I'm thinking I should just pick whichever mechanical switch is closest to a standard membrane keyboard, but having only tried a couple friend's mechanical keyboards, I have no idea what that might be.  

 

Right now I'm looking at the RK-9200 which comes in BL, BU, RE, and BL switches.  My price range is around $100 and I would prefer a keyboard with green or blue LED back-lighting.

 

What do you guys think?

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Right now I'm looking at the RK-9200 which comes in BL, BU, RE, and BL switches.  My price range is around $100 and I would prefer a keyboard with green or blue LED back-lighting.

Define your abbreviations please 

“When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!”

- Cave Johnson, founder and CEO of Aperture Science, in Portal 2

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Define your abbreviations please 

Black, brown, red, and blue.

 

OT: I would get blue or brown switches for typing. You should really try some keyboards out with different switches before you buy one, because it is all personal preference.

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I think the closest are reds are closest to your membrane experience over to mechanical. If you want more force, then blacks. Still linear like the reds. Haven't used a black though, so can't say much about it.

- Fresher than a fruit salad.

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I have a UK link for a good corsair keybaord: http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/vengeance-k70-fully-mechanical-gaming-keyboard-natural-silver-na-layout

My PC Specs

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CPU ¦ Intel Core i5 4690k @4.3GHz, Motherboard ¦ ASUS MAXIMUS RANGER VII, RAM ¦ 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Value DDR3, Case ¦ Corsair SPEC-02, PSU ¦ Corsair CX600, Storage ¦ Samsung 850 EVO SSD 250GB, Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM, Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM, Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 7200RPM, Mouse ¦ Corsair Sabre RGB Optical Gaming Mouse, Keyboard ¦ Cooler Master Quick Fire TK Cherry MX Blue, Headset ¦ Astro A40 2014 with Mixamp Pro, Microphone ¦ Blue Snowball iCE.

 

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Regardless, go for the Logitech G710+. Well worth every cent.

“When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!”

- Cave Johnson, founder and CEO of Aperture Science, in Portal 2

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The G710+ is going for 100$ right now on amazon. GRAB IT!! It is linked here:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Mechanical-Keyboard-Tactile-High-Speed/dp/B009C98NPY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427241387&sr=8-1&keywords=g710%2B

“When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!”

- Cave Johnson, founder and CEO of Aperture Science, in Portal 2

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Cherry reds, blacks (linear) switches are what would bring you close to home. You can even buy "o-rings" to soften the landing and bring you even closer to the membrane feel with the mechanical quality and reliability. (although your keyboard seems to have been very reliable itself)

Browns would give you that "tactile feel" that other membrane keyboards (like this Macbook Pro keyboard I'm typing on) that blues have but with a lot less noise. It's a fun yet addictive experience that may leave you wanting more $100+ keyboards just for the different switches. GLHF, you've been warned lol

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So my membrane keyboard (Cyborg V7 Keyboard) that I've been using for probably something close to five years is finally dying.

 

I started looking at mechanical keyboards on amazon and realized there are multiple kinds of switches to choose from and I really have no idea what to pick.

 

I know i'm going to have to deal with some change, but I'm aiming for as little as possible.  So I'm thinking I should just pick whichever mechanical switch is closest to a standard membrane keyboard, but having only tried a couple friend's mechanical keyboards, I have no idea what that might be.  

 

Right now I'm looking at the RK-9200 which comes in BL, BU, RE, and BL switches.  My price range is around $100 and I would prefer a keyboard with green or blue LED back-lighting.

 

What do you guys think?

 

Go for the Logitech G710+. Great keyboard, and is on sale. Sorry for repeat posts (screwing with internet so I don't know if it posts). Get it HERE: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Mechanical-Keyboard-Tactile-High-Speed/dp/B009C98NPY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427241387&sr=8-1&keywords=g710%2B

“When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!”

- Cave Johnson, founder and CEO of Aperture Science, in Portal 2

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Why is the g710+ better than the RK-9200?

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It really isn't that good, there are quite a few reports of keycaps breaking and when I tried it, the tactile feedback was pretty bad. I would get a cooler master keyboard or possibly a corsair k70/k95.

 

@Araphen the rk-9200 is ok, though it isn't quite as good as other options in that price range IMO.

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Why is the g710+ better than the RK-9200?

Not that Rosewill is bad, it is just I trust Logitech MUCH more for keyboards as that is sort of their thing. Also, it seems to be good enough for Linus to use for work :)

“When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!”

- Cave Johnson, founder and CEO of Aperture Science, in Portal 2

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In my switch, I found the brown switches to be a little resistant. The blues are way too much. I think the reds are the closest match.

Sound: Custom one pros, Audioengine A5+ with S8 sub.

K70 RGB

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It really isn't that good, there are quite a few reports of keycaps breaking and when I tried it, the tactile feedback was pretty bad. I would get a cooler master keyboard or possibly a corsair k70/k95.

 

@Araphen the rk-9200 is ok, though it isn't quite as good as other options in that price range IMO.

I'm looking at the corsair k95 on amazon for only $126 right now.  is there any particular reason why you would prefer that over the RK-9200?

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In my switch, I found the brown switches to be a little resistant. The blues are way too much. I think the reds are the closest match.

It's nice to see that everyone seems to agree that red switches are the way to go.

 

 

 

Not that Rosewill is bad, it is just I trust Logitech MUCH more for keyboards as that is sort of their thing. Also, it seems to be good enough for Linus to use for work :)

I trust logitech a lot too, but i trust them more with which mouse i buy.  Out of all of my gaming friends, none of them have logitech keyboards.

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I'm looking at the corsair k95 on amazon for only $126 right now.  is there any particular reason why you would prefer that over the RK-9200?

First off, the corsair keyboards are just plain sexy. Second, they are easier to clean because of the design. It also has amazing build quality. The dual zone lighting is cool on the 9200, but on the k70k/95 the lighting is much more even across the keys. The k70/k95 also have built in usb hubs which are pretty convenient. Finally, it is made by corsair, who I trust more than rosewill.

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First off, the corsair keyboards are just plain sexy. Second, they are easier to clean because of the design. It also has amazing build quality. The dual zone lighting is cool on the 9200, but on the k70k/95 the lighting is much more even across the keys. The k70/k95 also have built in usb hubs which are pretty convenient. Finally, it is made by corsair, who I trust more than rosewill.

Thanks for helping me so much with this decision btw

I'm looking at the (i think) macro keys on the left side of the K95.  Can i take that section of the keyboard off and put them away?  I can't see myself really using more than 1 or 2 macro keys and having all of those seems a bit over the top.

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Thanks for helping me so much with this decision btw

I'm looking at the (i think) macro keys on the left side of the K95.  Can i take that section of the keyboard off and put them away?  I can't see myself really using more than 1 or 2 macro keys and having all of those seems a bit over the top.

No, that part is permanently attached. If you don't really care about macros, then the k70 is very similar to the k95 but doesn't have any. 

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Does the K70 backlighting come in blue, white, or green?  Red isn't really my color...

No, its only in red. 

 

50 Dollars extra for any color of your choice though.

Sound: Custom one pros, Audioengine A5+ with S8 sub.

K70 RGB

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Does the K70 backlighting come in blue, white, or green?  Red isn't really my color...

It also comes in blue and with an RGB backlight. Here is the link for the website, newegg is down for me in general so I can't link that. You can also get the k65 rgb, which doesn't have a numpad. 

 

@Tonylu1595 nope, see the first link above.

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It also comes in blue and with an RGB backlight. Here is the link for the website, newegg is down for me in general so I can't link that. You can also get the k65 rgb, which doesn't have a numpad. 

 

@Tonylu1595 nope, see the first link above.

I thought the Blue lighting had a really bad problem so they changed it to red.

 

Edit: Ok, I see now that the blue backlights where taken and updated to have no problems. @Biferony

Sound: Custom one pros, Audioengine A5+ with S8 sub.

K70 RGB

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