Mech Keyboard: Monoprice ?

[Name141]

Is this a good idea on a "cheap" Cherry MX Blue keyboard? http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=114&cp_id=11401&cs_id=1140102&p_id=9433&seq=1&format=2

I figure I can get some hotkey program for the media keys (volume up / down / mute) and save some money from buying a Quickfire without a number pad ?

 

[inzone]

For a keyboard that it's only feature is the Cherry Blue keys it does seem a little on the high side. Below are a selecton of keyboards and while they may or may not have the Cherry keys they do have a lot of features so you can compare prices and see what it is that you need the most.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109191

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126087

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823162015

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823162012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823162011

 

[Name141]

For a keyboard that it's only feature is the Cherry Blue keys it does seem a little on the high side. Below are a selecton of keyboards and while they may or may not have the Cherry keys they do have a lot of features so you can compare prices and see what it is that you need the most.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109191

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126087

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823162015

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823162012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823162011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823162015 is the ONLY mech you listed. it's black switches, which I don't want. I'd want blue or brown I think.

 

[inzone]

Do you know why your specifying cherry keys ? Have you had experience with them ? The keyboard I have has cherry red keys and they are very nice and have a good feel. But it's not something that I was looking for and to me a keyboard features like macro keys and programable keys and backlit keys would be of more interest then how the keystroke is.
Do you do a lot of typing ?

 

[Name141]

Do you know why your specifying cherry keys ? Have you had experience with them ? The keyboard I have has cherry red keys and they are very nice and have a good feel. But it's not something that I was looking for and to me a keyboard features like macro keys and programable keys and backlit keys would be of more interest then how the keystroke is.
Do you do a lot of typing ?

I'm just tired of paying for keyboards that feel like crap after 3m-1year. Harder to press spongy keys.

 

[ssddx]

spongy keys... you must be referring to rubber dome switch keyboards.

some brands such as logitech tend to last longer but in general mechanical keyswitches are a better choice.

cherry mx blue keyswitches are likely best for typing since they have key letoff as well as tactile and auditory feedback. this makes you type faster and more accurately. the best keyswitch of all i would say is the buckling spring switch found only on unicomp keyboards (and the predecessors from ibm).

read:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/67261-3-help-advice-mechanical-gaming-keyboard-mouse

i answered some questions there. also follow the links i posted in the thread since they provide more information.

 

[Name141]

spongy keys... you must be referring to rubber dome switch keyboards.

some brands such as logitech tend to last longer but in general mechanical keyswitches are a better choice.

cherry mx blue keyswitches are likely best for typing since they have key letoff as well as tactile and auditory feedback. this makes you type faster and more accurately. the best keyswitch of all i would say is the buckling spring switch found only on unicomp keyboards (and the predecessors from ibm).

read:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/67261-3-help-advice-mechanical-gaming-keyboard-mouse

i answered some questions there. also follow the links i posted in the thread since they provide more information.

Well I wanted something a little quieter and more 'in the middle' is why I was thinking about brown..

Also yes, I currently have an el cheapo V7 bought from walmart .

BTW: I was thinking I might as well get a http://www.cmstore-usa.com/quickfire-pro-mechanical-gaming-keyboard/ brown with media keys.. if I'm gonna be having a keyboard for years, I might as well dump the money on it and have what I want with it.

 

[ssddx]

Cherry MX Brown Switches

Type: Tactile Switch
Link: Datasheet
Tactile: Yes
Clicky: No
Actuation Force: 45g (55g Peak Force) (Force Diagram)
Key Travel: 2mm to actuation, 4mm to bottom
Cherry MX Brown switches are considered a middle ground between typing and "gaming" switches. They have a light, tactile feel half way through the key press that lets you know the switch has activated. This gives you an indication of what you can release the switch. The switch is considered a middle ground because the reset point & actuation point are close enough together than you can "float" at that point, enabling you to double tap faster.

As a note: this switch actually has a peak force of 55G, it is 45G at the point of actuation. This is due to the design of the Cherry switch itself.


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in terms of quality the cm looks ok to me but thats about it. nothing to set it apart from the others for sure but not neccessarily bad either.

 

[Name141]

Cherry MX Brown Switches

Type: Tactile Switch
Link: Datasheet
Tactile: Yes
Clicky: No
Actuation Force: 45g (55g Peak Force) (Force Diagram)
Key Travel: 2mm to actuation, 4mm to bottom
Cherry MX Brown switches are considered a middle ground between typing and "gaming" switches. They have a light, tactile feel half way through the key press that lets you know the switch has activated. This gives you an indication of what you can release the switch. The switch is considered a middle ground because the reset point & actuation point are close enough together than you can "float" at that point, enabling you to double tap faster.

As a note: this switch actually has a peak force of 55G, it is 45G at the point of actuation. This is due to the design of the Cherry switch itself.


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in terms of quality the cm looks ok to me but thats about it. nothing to set it apart from the others for sure but not neccessarily bad either.

Do you have another suggestion that isn't more than $100 ? (USA) But still has a number pad, media keys or shortcuts ? And yes, exactly... "the middle ground" is kinda what I was going for. I heard that the red's are very easy to press and blacks are hard?

 

[ssddx]

do yourself a favor and go out to a microcenter, best buy or other local store which has them on display and play around with them yourself.

i would say none of them are hard to press. if anything, some of the lighter ones they make are too light.

black switches are not what i would call hard to press.. they just have no letoff. this is good for gaming (such as moving with wasd or arrows) but key letoff is better for typing which is why i did not suggest them.

brown keyswitches are similar to blues but without the sound. they should be suitable for either purpose. browns might be harder to find though which is the problem. black and blues are what i see most often.