Mechanical Keyboard Club!

[aznmystik]

So after I did some research around, the best keycaps are from GMK, enjoyBPT, Varmilo, and Vortex.  Gmk is the most expensive.

[geo3]

10 hours ago, aznmystik said:

So after I did some research around, the best keycaps are from GMK, enjoyBPT, Varmilo, and Vortex.  Gmk is the most expensive.

I wouldn't include Vortex in that group. And while the rest of them are quite good I'd not go as far as saying they are hands down the best.

[aznmystik]

13 hours ago, geo3 said:

I wouldn't include Vortex in that group. And while the rest of them are quite good I'd not go as far as saying they are hands down the best.

So if GMK is not the best, then what is? I dont see anything else that is better

[SyrupSplashin]

iKBC MF108 keyboard with brown switches and a HC Granite keycap set from PMK (Dvorak layout ) 

 

[geo3]

8 hours ago, aznmystik said:

So if GMK is not the best, then what is? I dont see anything else that is better

Limited run custom sets are often leagues better any of the mass production stuff. 

[aznmystik]

2 hours ago, SyrupSplashin said:

iKBC MF108 keyboard with brown switches and a HC Granite keycap set from PMK (Dvorak layout ) 

 

Wait are you serious that PMK keycaps are better than GMK? PMK is PimpMyKeyboard right?

 

Is the HC Granite keycap from PMK DSA profile?

[aznmystik]

Also, why is iKBC MF108 is the best keyboard?

 

Also, is the Corsair K70 and Razer Huntman keyboard use DCS key profile? or SA?

[Dat Guy]

7 hours ago, aznmystik said:

Also, why is iKBC MF108 is the best keyboard?

Nothing that's not an IBM keyboard can ever be the best keyboard.

[geo3]

8 hours ago, aznmystik said:

Wait are you serious that PMK keycaps are better than GMK?

PMK is pretty meh. Kind of thin and with rough slightly warped edges.

[aznmystik]

5 hours ago, geo3 said:

PMK is pretty meh. Kind of thin and with rough slightly warped edges.

Well the guy above said its better than GMK keys

[geo3]

4 hours ago, aznmystik said:

Well the guy above said its better than GMK keys

I don't think he did. He just posted a picture with a description. It doesn't even look like it was in response to you. He never mentioned GMK either.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

Just got the first part(s) for my first custom mech. keyboard.

 

Novelias from NovelKeys.

[seon123]

14 minutes ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

Just got the first part for my first custom mech. keyboard.

 

Novelias from NovelKeys.

Are those just the Royals, but with a heavier spring?

[Dissitesuxba11s]

1 hour ago, seon123 said:

Are those just the Royals, but with a heavier spring?

From what I've been reading, that's pretty much what they are. These are 90kg g while the Box Royals are 70kg g.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Dissitesuxba11s
Wrong units

[seon123]

3 minutes ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

From what I've been reading, that's pretty much what they are. These are 90kg while the Box Royals are 70kg.

kg? 

Damn, that's my body weight, just to use a keyboard

[Dissitesuxba11s]

56 minutes ago, seon123 said:

kg? 

Damn, that's my body weight, just to use a keyboard

 

Lol whoops, I meant grams 

[iLostMyXbox21]

hi. new builder. why should i choose mechanical over not? what’s the difference?

[KaminKevCrew]

4 minutes ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

hi. new builder. why should i choose mechanical over not? what’s the difference?

Well, if you're planning to build a board yourself, you're not likely to be able to build anything other than a mechanical keyboard, so there's that. 

 

A big part of the reason that so many people build their own boards is because you're allowed a huge amount of personalization to get exactly what you want from your board. If you want to have bright colors, go for it. If you want to have a board that's black on black on black, go for it! And that's not even to mention the absolute plethora of cases that are out there. There's so much you can do when building your own board. That's why so many people build them. 

 

Other than that, mechanical boards are generally going to last a lot longer than your standard rubber dome board, and they're much nicer to type on. The keys generally feel much more consistent, etc.

[aznmystik]

7 minutes ago, KaminKevCrew said:

Well, if you're planning to build a board yourself, you're not likely to be able to build anything other than a mechanical keyboard, so there's that. 

 

A big part of the reason that so many people build their own boards is because you're allowed a huge amount of personalization to get exactly what you want from your board. If you want to have bright colors, go for it. If you want to have a board that's black on black on black, go for it! And that's not even to mention the absolute plethora of cases that are out there. There's so much you can do when building your own board. That's why so many people build them. 

 

Other than that, mechanical boards are generally going to last a lot longer than your standard rubber dome board, and they're much nicer to type on. The keys generally feel much more consistent, etc.

So where do you go to buy all these custom stuff to create your own keyboard? besides the keycaps....

[KaminKevCrew]

2 minutes ago, aznmystik said:

So where do you go to buy all these custom stuff to create your own keyboard? besides the keycaps....

mechanicalkeyboards.com

massdrop

or you can get in on various Group Buys through the r/mechmarket and r/mechanicalkeyboards subreddits. Additionally, you can visit geekhack.com for similar. 

 

There are also various other vendors out and about - ZealPC is one of my favorites. Zeal is a super nice guy! Also, there's zFrontier, which hosts some group buys. 

 

There's a ton of stuff out there, but geekhack and r/mechanicalkeyboards are going to be your best bets for getting started.

 

Also, if you're concerned about cost - at all - just avoid the whole topic of custom boards. It's generally more expensive to buy the parts and put your own board together than it is to just buy a ready made board. I just spent over $600 on my dream keyboard, which is being shipped to me on Friday. The last 60% board that I built (which I'm currently typing on) cost me about $250 to build, and as far as keyboard builds go, this one is pretty tame...

[Dissitesuxba11s]

1 hour ago, aznmystik said:

So where do you go to buy all these custom stuff to create your own keyboard? besides the keycaps....

The more affordable options are usually through Aliexpress or Ebay but you usually have to sacrifice quality and you would have to wait since they ship from China.

 

One of the local (USA) vendors that I've used is NovelKeys if you are interested in some group buys.

[Nowak]

Just bought 90 65G Zealios ^-^

[aznmystik]

I ordered a set of Tai hao, Ducky, Varmilo key caps from MechanicalKeyboard.  Just received them today...and guess what

 

The Varmilo set was sent with a wrong color.  I ordered a Mint Green and they sent me a Gray set....

The TaiHao PBT keycaps are literally shit.... lol I look at them and check the thickness and they're literally almost like ABS....I didn't even try to use them yet...

The Varmilo keycap was  really thick though so that's a good thing...but wrong color.

The ducky was ok not  really thick and not really thin.... I compare these PBT keycaps to the  stock PBT backlitl on my Corsair K70 RGB SE keyboard.  

And I was surprised how thick the Corsair keycaps are, very nice Corsair.

[Nowak]

13 minutes ago, aznmystik said:

The TaiHao PBT keycaps are literally shit.... lol I look at them and check the thickness and they're literally almost like ABS....I didn't even try to use them yet...

Also Tai-Hao caps feel like sandpaper

[aznmystik]

20 minutes ago, NowakVulpix said:

Also Tai-Hao caps feel like sandpaper

Hell yea dude....piece of trash....

 

I was amazed at the stock Corsair PBT double shot Backlit keycaps on my K70 SE.  They're just as thick as the Varmilo PBT....