Mechanical Keyboard: BlackWidow Ultimate or K90?

Darklord2150

Darklord2150

Darklord2150

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I was recently looking for a new keyboard to replace my G15 and settled on the idea of a mechanical keyboard. So far, I have narrowed the choice down to two: the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate and the Corsair Vengeance K90. I am torn as to which one to get.

My issues with the BlackWidow is previous buying experience with Razer leads me to worry about build quality and I noticed a few people complaining that the paint on the keys tend to wear off over time. My other issue is the gloss black finish appears to be a bit of a fingerprint/dust magnet.

My issues with the K90 is mainly the use of Cherry MX Red switches, with a lot of people complaining about making a lot of typos whilst using it. I plan to do a fair amount of typing with the keyboard so this would be an issue for me. Then theres the fact that not all the keys are mechanical. However, I do like the design of it.

Ideally, I would prefer the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth due to the use of Cherry MX Brown keys and the matte finish but they unfortunately do not offer this with any other layout than US. I was wondering if anyone who owns either of these keyboards could weigh in on them to help me decide.
 
Neither - get a Filco Majestouch with brown switches.

No flashy lights or media buttons, just a good quality solid board and highly rated over at the keyboard haven that is geekhack.org

I bought the Ninja version with side printed keys - it's great!
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I was initially looking into the QPAD and the Filco previously, but the reason I was put off those was the lack of any macro keys, since I tend to use those a lot when gaming.
 
Its a shame that Filco seems so retro and does not provide the backlighting option as it is useful for night gaming. The price also seems crazy, and the newest motherboards (majority) dont support ps/2 so it would seem gaming is moving more towards the QPAD MK-85 style with NKEY over USB.

None of the current keyboards completely do it for me. QPAD should offer a 10-keyless version of their design, that I would buy in an instant. I dont think I have ever used the 10 keys on the far right, allowing a more cumfortable space saving experiance with all of the QPAD features such as allowing macros to be assigned to any button on the keyboard would be ideal (F1-10 also).

1 criticism is that the F keys are so far away, and for newer MMO games, the F keys can be very handy if not set so far away. The corsair k90 has this but again - non mechanical f keys? and such a huge keyboard...

when will a company make a 10keyless gaming keyboard (backlighting, Qpad design?, any key macro, NKEY over USB).

QPAD almost have it right, F key distance and not 10keyless tho :(
 
kingbal said:
Neither - get a Filco Majestouch with brown switches.

No flashy lights or media buttons, just a good quality solid board and highly rated over at the keyboard haven that is geekhack.org

I bought the Ninja version with side printed keys - it's great!
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YEA! :D - Plain is the best option !

keyboards.png


Left Filco Ninja Brown ANSI / Right Realforce 87U Silent VAR ANSI

topreCC.png


cherryCC.png
 
Darklord2150 said:
How is the K90 when it comes to typing though? I understand a lot of people complain that its not that great due to the use of Cherry MX Red switches
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Yeah it's a fair complaint but that's at the switches rather than the keyboard. If this is going to be an issue, then you should probably avoid Cherry Red's.

I've got used to it now but it was difficult at first. I wouldn't say it's bad or anything, you just need to adjust. If you do that then it's perfect.
 
Wouldn't worry about the Cherry MX Red switches for typing, they are great. Took me a few days to get used to though!
 
BuToNz said:
Wouldn't worry about the Cherry MX Red switches for typing, they are great. Took me a few days to get used to though!
Click to expand...

Yeah - I'm sure there's a level of adjustment required for all movement from traditional -> mechanical.

The complaints come about because the Cherry Red switches are really light to the touch which can cause some inaccuracies while typing. It came about in my case because I was lazily moving across the keyboard and scraping keys sometimes which caused a stroke to register. I've adjusted now although to be fair my typing accuracy is still less and I am prone to the occasional mash :)

But I bought the keyboard for gaming - and it serves this purpose really well.

I typed this without any typing errors so it can't be that bad right? :D
 
If you touch type and you're in the habit of resting your hand on the home row then the keys may actuate on the light cherry red or in particular variable Realforce i.e 30g-35g.

The trick for me has really been to have a hand rest to rest my hands on.

Nevertheless with anything mechanical, in particular sub 45g actuation you need to train yourself not to bottom out, the trick is in the touch :), your posture and your handrest. On GeekHack there are people running 30g/35g custom modified topres ... and that is light, I would go as far to say lighter then the cherry red.

Having tried a number of keyboards I would still favor the cherry brown as the most versatile key for everything, with just enough click which I find pleasing.
 
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