Suggestions Please for a New Gaming Keyboard
 

I figured this would be one of the best places to come where fellow gamers hang.

Long story short I spilled water on my cheap generic keyboard that was okay for gaming and great for everything else but alas water and keyboards don't mix. So I am currently using an older Logitech model that was given to me that was designed for office work, etc. but not for gaming. The keys are "soft" in that at times I have to press them hard to get them to connect. For example I play League of Legends and even though I pressed the keys for a champs ability often they took extra pressure to even work and sometimes they didn't at all. But when typing a paper it does okay.

Anyway, I have searched and I learned a good deal about mechanical keyboards with Cherry MX, Cherry/Blue MX, and Blue MX switches, and so on. The offerings are immense in number which makes my head spin. :) My budget is stretching it beyond $80 but would do a $100 if need be. I realize you get what you pay for but on the other hand I have seen friends pay serious $ for a keyboard that wasn't worth the cost. Here are my parameters:

1. Wired mechanical and if possible back-lit.
2. Medium and/or compact in size. I have general tremors in my left hand so a big keyboard becomes a problem; I need something closer.
3. No need for all the bells and whistles. League is the only online of its kind I play. Otherwise I am strictly an RPG PC player such as Skyrim, Pillars of Eternity, etc.
4. If you need any other information from me just ask; thanks.

IF you got problems with your hands and you want a mechanical keyboard, one of the best values is going to be the Kinesis Freestyle Edge.

People can get crazy with mechanical keyboards. For some enthusiasts it's worth it. For most people, not so much. Eventually there's diminishing returns (like paying a few hundred extra dollars just so you can have 1600MHz ram instead of 1333MHz ram in your laptop).

Here's the keyboards I use:

HCMAN generic Amazon equivalent

Cheap, compact tenkeyless, with MX Blue knockoff switches. Haven't had any issues with it. Main downside is loud buttons and RGB lighting color is set and can't be changed.


Corsair K70

This one I like because of the Cherry MX-Red switches, high quality build with nice brushed metal finish, customizable RGB lighting and the top of the base is flush, making it easy to clean, especially with keycaps removed. You can't go wrong with any of the Corsair keyboard really, just pick one that has the features you want/don't want. I'm assuming you'd want a tenkeyless if you're going compact.

There's obviously lots of other good ones out there, but I think these are the "best buys" for most people.

Here is the one I use. It has a compact design - no number keypad, and is made very solid and sturdy, and easy to take with me in a bag, very portable, and has full and fancy backlighting under each key. Top notch quality, but obviously expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0…?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ok, I think it was less expensive before though. Not sure why they are charging around $140 for it. I guess because the brown switches is the most sought after and in demand.

If you don't mind blue switches then here is the same type model but a lot cheaper and has free shipping for only $70.

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RGB8…JCSYXTKVQYF7E4

I advise to do research on blue switches vs. brown switches and there is one other type I believe in general when it comes to mechanical keyboards. This is important especially if interested in gaming with them.

I like Lioncast.

I have the LK30 with blue Cherry MX keys - and I really like it. I don't if a qwerty version exist.

Here's the new flagship. (querty and qwertz versions available.)

Personally I hate mechanical keyboards, as they have an unreliable activation point.

Fun thing: When I had no experience with mechanical keyboards at all, I bought the Razer Orbweaver. After using it for a few hours I thought like "what a crap, the key activation is unreliable", then I showed this a colleague at work and he was like "ah", pulling a key out "These are mechanical blue switches".
After that I looked into mechanical keyboards, tested a few at colleagues and yeah, in this case it wasn't cheap razer quality, it's just how mechanical keys work.

Ok, to show you what I mean, imagine this is the key from top position to most bottom position:

T
|
|*
|#
L+

So if you press the key slightly, nothing will happen.
If you press it so hard, that you go over the pressure point marked with a * you will probably already have a force that you immediately go down to the bottom L.
L has full contact, indicated with the +.
So if you press a key, it's registered, and the key pressed will show up.

So far so good. If you keep it pressed, you will spam the key reliably.
However if you slowly release the key, it will go into "no-mans-land" indicated with a #
This is the area between the pressure point and the bottom where the contact is guaranteed. In this no-mans-land, the behavior of the contact is erratic. You will not be able to tell whether you have established contact or not. If you don't look at the screen you wouldn't know what happens. You could just spam the key, you could only erraticly have some keys showing up or nothing at all.
If you release it further and go back over the pressure point again, you leave the no-mans-land and the unreliability will stop.

And this is pretty much the case with all mechanical switches. It's just that the distances are slighty different.

Membrane keys on the other hand, have a pressure point, at which the key starts to "press itself". This means that you have a deadzone at the beginning like with the mechanical switches where just nothing happens. But once you meet the pressure point, the key will go down to the bottom almost automatically and you will have reliable contact. On the other hand, if you release the pressure once it is down, it will give some force back up. If you keep it slightly pressed, keeping it under the initial pressure point, but giving it some room to "bounce" back, it will immediately lose contact.

This makes membrane switches much more reliable with very fine motoric key presses.
It might not "feel as good" for writing.
But personally I was always wondering how others could have any issues with playing racing games with a keyboard. If you really use the keyboard with maximum accuracy in the most tiny movements, you also can play racing games perfectly fine.

Also "funny", I am actually using a Razer keyboard as my main Keyboard, even though I really dislike the brand and I absolutely recommend to not install their BS drivers. But I got this keyboard for free about 8 years ago and I am using it since. The model is called Arctosa. Other membrane keyboards might be just as good or better, but to me it's pretty perfect as it is.

I have a Logitech G910. It's awesome. :D

I've always been partial to the Cooler Master Devastator Series.

Link - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ…82E16823129044


Bought two of them in the last few years due to accidents.

Accidents? Like this (skip to 4th min)?

Ahh the classic rage induced keyboard smash. Brings back a bunch of not so fond memories. Just like the breaking of various other electronics when they don't work.

Sadly my last one died due to soda exposure.

Think I may need anger management.:biggrin:

I'll second the Logitech G910, great keyboard and easy to remove and clean the keycaps.

All my useful Germanic i've learned from Wolfenstein 3D and Crazy German Kid.

I've always liked keytronic keyboards; they run between $11 and $15 dollars if you can find them. I have a couple of mechanical keyboards and I'm using one on my pc but to be honest I prefer the keytronics - also they are cheap enough that I can spill things on them all day long and not worry about replacement cost.

I want to thank everyone of you for responding. It is much appreciated and I will take your suggestions and do a serious research. I have received more help here on this subject than anywhere else. Again thanks.

Here's a low-cost option for you that fits all your criteria: Redragon

I love my Razer Orbweaver, I can't simply game without it! I don't play accuracy sensitives games (RPGs, MMOs etc) so I never had any accuracy issues with it. I love the way the key press feel and I like the key layout compared to traditional keyboard and the arm/wrist rest. I find is much more comfortable to use for very long periods of time.

I have a friend who uses one of these. If I wanted an inexpensive mechanical, with backlit blue switches, I would grab this one.

Agree only downside is it doesn't have the num-pad keys and I use those in some games. And I most definitely use them for the game trainers I use to cheat.:)

I have a KLIM keyboard. I wasn't sure about it when I ordered but love it.

https://klimtechs.com/product/klim-chroma/

High performance. With a response time of only 2ms the KLIM Chroma is among the very best non-mechanical keyboards. Added to that an anti-ghosting function. Your typing speed, in game or not, will be optimized.

Also says water resistant but haven't tried that. But very happy with my purchase and wasn't that expensive.

Hum. I wanted to correct something - it has been three years since i purchased a keytronic keyboard but taking a quick look it appears the new models are not well received and the old models are no longer available (or are very expensive). One advantage is last time I purchased a couple they were ps2 instead of usb which made them easier to find (most people wanted usb). Anyway two decent keyboards were mentioned for under $30 (the kilm on amazon in usa is currently $23); the big difference between the two is the kilm are silent key (not sure if they are mushy from reviews) while the other simulate blue switches which are loud clickers - so diversity in picks :)