Gaming keyboard decline: A pessimist's view

I hate keyboards with macro keys, they just make it harder to find the keys by touch. And I'd agree that RBG backlighting is pointless. Backlighting itself though is very useful for gaming in the dark, and stuff like N-key rollover is very useful for gaming.

My last keyboard was the Razer Lycossa which couldn't handle W, A, Shift and Space. So you're running forward, while strafing left, and then you press to jump and nothing happens.
 
rjk said:
I buy keyboards for a living and have used basically every keyboard that OcUK sells.

I am just going to say this from my own point of view but I know you guys always appreciate honesty from OcUK so here it goes.

Gaming keyboards are garbage. The amount of posts I see on KitGuru and the likes facebook pages asking if you prefer razer/corsair/logitech etc is crazy and it is always followed by an endless slew of purchase justification.

Logitech: have a new mechanical switch, fine. but they have NEVER had this product in stock in the UK. ever. what is the point if you can only buy it via logitech?

Corsair: quality is ok... ish. raised keys boil my urine and look crap. the boards feel average. their only redeeming feature is that they use Cherry MX

Razer: the blackwidow was actually a decent board when Razer used Cherry. I dont personally like the Kailh switches and lets be honest, you can get a Zalman keyboard with the EXACT same switches for £40.

RGB: is a waste of time. it really is. I am fed up of hearing about it and it really is a gimmick. what is the point in having all that light, its distracting and pointless. moreover, i bet if i ran a poll on here for RGB keyboard owners on how often they actually change their schemes, i reckon 90% of them would say, not often or never.

The only 'gaming' keyboard I have used lately which I actually quite like is the Steelseries M800.

Gamers, you really are better off with a high end mechanical keyboard from DAS or Ducky. hell, even stuff like the CM Storm gear like the novatouch or rapid I is a good choice. solid construction and build quality win out for me and I love it when a brand isnt margin driven but offers the best components they can.

I honestly hate having to market rgb and all that crap because crap is exactly what it is. If you are considering RGB then you have the money to buy a quality keyboard. so do that.

If the guys buying these boards from the big brands who use cheap components dont understand that and just want a logo sat in front of them then fine, but if a brand change their switches to cheap copies and they don't change the price of their product, then it surely has to raise some questions with a consumer.

my viewpoint is probably a bit skewed as I go to trade shows and see all these utter garbage peripheral brands showcasing their latest mechanical keyboards and they are just absolute dog****. What makes it worse is when brands [especially well known ones] jump on the peripheral bandwagon and come to me with a cheaply made bag of rubbish with some cherry switches in it and decide they are going to allow me to make <10% margin and charge premium prices.

I do the towel test. grab both sides of the keyboard and twist like you are wringing out a wet towel. if it is solid then the keyboard will likely not be cheap junk. Do this to a Strix keyboard and report back with your findings...


tldr
anyone can make a gaming keyboard.
anyone can buy a gaming keyboard.
everyone has the option to buy a great keyboard instead.
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Thanks for the honest assessment. Can't believe you didn't get your knuckles rapped over that.

Personally I wish someone would release a cheap keyboard with backlight keys and whatnot, it may be cheap tacky bling but I like tacky bling. :p I'm using a £15 logitech jobbie atm and I'm happy with it, but bling is bling...
 
I agree with most of what rjk said, except for the raised keys on the Corsair K keyboards, I think they are great, and makes it a hell of a lot easier to maintain a clean look, but that's personal preference at the end of the day.

RGB is a gimmick to be honest, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for my K70 RGB else I'd be sorely disappointed, it's lost its quirky aspect to me now and I'm looking towards the Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate as I would like to keep the volume wheel.

I also dislike Cherry red keys, and I miss my blues an awful lot so that is influencing my decision a lot too.
 
Rowlii said:
I agree with most of what rjk said, except for the raised keys on the Corsair K keyboards, I think they are great, and makes it a hell of a lot easier to maintain a clean look, but that's personal preference at the end of the day.

RGB is a gimmick to be honest, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for my K70 RGB else I'd be sorely disappointed, it's lost its quirky aspect to me now and I'm looking towards the Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate as I would like to keep the volume wheel.

I also dislike Cherry red keys, and I miss my blues an awful lot so that is influencing my decision a lot too.
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I love Cherry Red keys :)
They are my favourite....

I have 2 Cherry Red keyboards.

I know what you mean about RGB keyboards, I tend to just change them to one colour and stick with it.

However the main thing I like about RGB is that you CAN choose a colour for your device, it's much cheaper for the manufacturer to market a single RGB device than a Magenta one, a blue, red, green, white etc....

So from that perspective I do get it.
 
I personally have mine to no colour when no keys are pressed, and each key press has a ~2 second fade of a random colour. Took a few seconds to set up and it's pretty cool watching yourself type, but otherwise, I could live without it.
 
Can someone give me some recommendations for a mechanical keyboard. I like the sound of the cherry mx black switch + don't need a numpad.
 
I've just today received a das keyboard 4 with cherry mk brown keys. Absolutely love it, and would highly recommend it.

I previously broke my corsair K70, although it looked nice, the raised keys weren't to my fancy and ended up being easily broken (Ok, i dropped a pair of pliers on it by accident, and snapped two of the key heads...could happen to any keyboard i guess, but i feel the raised keys made it more susceptible to that kind of damage) ......... Then i broke it even more trying to repair it :p but i won't go into that haha.

My requirements in a keyboard, beside the UK layout, is small descrete media keys as i like to play games with music in the background and control the audio within game. A simple and basic enough requirement but one that a lot of keyboards haven't quite got right to me feel.

Love the fact this keyboard is nothing more than a standard keyboard though, no silly lights, no gairish edges darting out from it making it look like a fighter jet, just a solid (very solid!) built keyboard that's nice to type on and has simple discrete media buttons :)

Only negative is that it's a little expensive for what it is, but i'll see it as paying for my happiness :D
 
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