[SOLVED] New Mechanical Keyboard similar to my current one

[MadsModsat]

Hello everyone. First off, I am aware there are quite a few threads on this topic, but I haven't really arrived at a conclusion so far.


I currently own a Roccat Ryos MK Pro (Cherry MX Brown switches). In spite of having a lot of features I'm not too impressed by, I'm actually extremely happy with this keyboard. However, I never had the chance to try out any kind of mechanical switches before buying the keyboard, so I read a tonne of reviews and decided to go with Cherry MX Brown.
And while I do like the MX Brown swithces, I have since become quite keen on the Cherry MX Red instead.

Actually, I would have loved to buy the exact same keyboard again, only with MX Red switches. But it is an old keyboard now, and hard to find where I live (Denmark)

So now I'm looking for something else, but that's where the questions arise.

I absolutely hate RGB features, but it seems like it's impossible to find something without that feautre. Also, I seem to have difficulties finding Cherry MX Red switches, but Cherry MX Speed seems to be very popular. But I'm unfamiliar with them, can ayone give a quick description?

In short I'm looking for

Full size keyboard - Nordic / Danish layout (I don't like compact boards). Macro keys are not required, but fine if there are some
Cherry MX Red switches (or similar)
Per key illumination (very important)
NO RGB if at all possible, but illuminated switches though, preferably blue.
Not wireless

In spite of the RGB lighting, I've been looking at Corsair K95 RGB Titanium whatever it's called, but I can primarely find it with the MX Speed switches, and I don't know how they feel compared to Cherry MX Red.


Any inputs would be very much appreciated, I hope someone has a good piece of advice. Thanks i advance for your time and advice.

 

[MadsModsat]

Upon reading even more reviews, I found out that the K95 Platinum RGB keyboard had per key illumination, all colors can be changed (so I can get rid of the RGB look), and the Cherry MX Speed switches are almost the same as Cherry MX Red switches, they just have less travel when pressed. But that's fine, since I put multiple o-rings on all switches on my current keyboard to reduce both travel and noise.

So I decided to buy the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum Gaming keyboard, it seemed to be the one that met all my requirements.

It remains to be seen for how long the LEDs will be working though, as I could see early versions had LEDs that burned out after short periods of time. That's a bit of a gamble on my part

 

[hang-the-9]

MX Speed switches have a very different feel than the Reds, there are lighter feel press and have a shorter travel. Not sure why you would have issues finding MX Red keyboard, there are tons of them. Those are probably the most common key type in the good brands, I'd guess you can buy 30 keyboards with MX Red keys with a single color backlight and if you add RGB you will get another several dozen, in the 70-200 price range.

Maybe you are having issues finding them specifically in your area to buy, but in general there are dozens of good quality keyboards with Red switches. And you are correct that RGB lighting is just an option, you can set them all to a single color. But you can then set them to ANY single color, white, yellow, blue, different shades of those. A lot of people say "I don't want RGB" but it's very easy to configure the thing in whatever way they want, even with no light.

 

[MadsModsat]

There was a rather poor selection of decent keyboards in the stores I usually buy from online - and you can forget about going to an actual store to try different keyboards, that doesn't exist where I live. Only cheap membrane boards are available in stores and on display.
It appears that the MX Speed switches has become very popular here, along with some switches I forgot the name of, but they are sort of a mix between membrane and mechanical switches. Cherry MX Blue also seem to have become popular. When I bought my previous mechanical keyboard, it was almost impossible to get anything other than MX Red.

But like you say, it is of course still possible to find Cherry MX Red keyboards, but then the description was too vague for me to figure out how customizable the key illumination was, and some of the brands didn't appeal to me, and in the end I got bored with reading one review after another.

You are right with regards to the RGB-thing and me trying to avoid such keyboards. I hadn't looked in detail at the possibilities with RGB customization, and I was too harsh in my view upon it. I should have made a bigger effort to learn about the RGB functions. I have learned my lesson.

I ended up buying the Corsair K95 Platinum RGB Gaming (nice short name 😛 ), with the MX Speed switches and an incredible explosion of colors.

I received the Keyboard today. Unfortunately I only had half an hour to mess with it.

First thing I did, was to change to RGB settings to a static solid color with low brightness. That looks like I was hoping.

The MX Speed switches are not too bad, I think I'll like them. However, I used multiple o-rings on every key on my previous keyboard, to reduce travel and increase comfort.

The MX Speed switches has more travel than I expected from reading reviews of the switches, but luckily I already have two bags of o-rings in the mail, so I should be able to install them in a few days.

Thanks a lot for your comment, it is much appreciated

 

[hang-the-9]

If you think the MX Speed have a lot of travel you really lowered travel a lot on your other keyboards. I have a Corsair with MX Speeds and there are times when I am resting my fingers on keys I end up pushing them if I'm not paying attention. That never happens to my keyboard with MX Reds.

 

[MadsModsat]

I may have explained myself poorly, the travel I refer to, is from the keystroke registers, to the key bottoms out.

I don't have a gentle touch when typing, I'm the kind of person who bottoms out the keys, eventhough the keystroke is registered almost immidately, so reducing what you could call "excessive travel" works for me, and I like the feel of it.

The keystroke is registered exactly the same way, I can't change that, but I reduce how far the key moves after it registers the keystroke quite significantly.

But to begin with, it was just to reduce noise and make it feel easier on the fingers when the keys bottomed out - but then I began experimenting with additional o-rings, and that's how I ended up using them the way I do now.