Mechanical Keyboard worth it?

Worth keeping in mind that overall construction of the keyboard, as well as the material of your desk will change the typing feel and sound. You'll have a far better experience with a solid wooden desk than the usual hollow chipboard from Ikea.

Build quality, as with anything, can vary. I have a Pok3r (60% keyboard so not for everyone) that comes in at around £100, however the mounting plate and the enclosure are solid, thick milled aluminium, rather than the traditional plastic. This may make it noisier than other options and result in more harsh feedback, depends what you like.

In short, go and try however keep in mind that the sound and feel in store or on another desk will almost certainly be different to how it feels at home.The same switch on different boards will have subtle-to-significant differences.
 
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lamboman said:
Worth keeping in mind that overall construction of the keyboard, as well as the material of your desk will change the typing feel and sound. You'll have a far better experience with a solid wooden desk than the usual hollow chipboard from Ikea.
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Very true and exactly what I have experienced with my k70 used on a ikea linnmon desk. Now the desk look wise is great but the hollow construction means my k70 sounds so much louder and thumpier (new word) on this desk compared to a solid surface which actually makes the mech clicky sound a lot more satisfying.
 
I have the Corsair strafe RGB.. its my first mech... i wouldn't ever go back to a standard keyboard again... the mech keys are nice but its more the led customization I love.. amazing piece of kit!
 
Have to say while mechanical keys won't make you a better player than you max potential they can help to let you play better - MX blacks while not that great as an overall general use key do wonders for my FPS gaming - nothing else is as close to reproducing what I intended to happen ingame into what happens ingame. I know some RTS players who can hit certain levels of play on reds or browns that they can't come close to with other types of keyboards.

It certainly isn't an I can win button or for everyone though.


EDIT: Actually not entirely true - I had some generic noname keyboard with MX clears in that was very good for FPS gaming (though my perspective changed a bit since using blacks) but that aside nothing comes close to black switches for me personally.
 
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I too am a mechanical keyboard believer, but they are not w/o downsides. They are great for typing - gaming is just a recent hype, but you should get one for work more than for gaming - it's very easy to sense when the key has 'typed' there's tactile and audible click so no doubt about whether you hit or missed the key - it does wonders for touch typing. Even then, it's a lot of noise so might not work at night when others are asleep or in the office or when you are on a Skype call - people will hear you typing.
 
So any mech recommendations that arnt too expensive? Not too fussed on RBG, needs to look smart and not overly gamey. Full size joby as well.
 
I've slowly moved over to using a K95 (rgb, like it matters) for everything but I still have no issue at work on membrane keyboards.

Still have a soft spot for low rise, laptop style keyboards.
 
Jayman said:
So any mech recommendations that arnt too expensive? Not too fussed on RBG, needs to look smart and not overly gamey. Full size joby as well.
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There was a few K70 V2 corsairs around cheap not so long ago (not here but... around. They were about £60). You may find some refurbs if you hunt a bit.

Otherwise, keep eyes peeled. A mechanical can be had for £50 on a good day, you'd need to seriously convince me of the benefits of a £150 mech over a £50 mech tbh. Once you're backlit, pretty much everything else is cosmetic.

Cosmetically, for me at least, once you've removed the plastic surround so it's all nice aluminum backplate and exposed switches there's little else I really want/need.
 
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The Func KB460 looks decent in the £50-£60 category thats MX Red & I think brown would suit me better as an general user, not spied anything else as yet.
 
I have one with cherry reds, and its really nice for typing and gaming, overall yes a membrane keyboard feels really bad after using mechanical, also the clicky noise is good if you like that sort of thing.
 
Jayman said:
The Func KB460 looks decent in the £50-£60 category thats MX Red & I think brown would suit me better as an general user, not spied anything else as yet.
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This is what I have, I am happy with it and no problems, also has a nice rubbery texture to it and feels good quality.
 
I like my mechanical but I actually type worse on it than I do on other membrane keyboards with shorter travel. I make a lot more typos but I like it's clear presses in dota and other games.
 
I would kind of like to go back to a membrane provided it has ghosting protection on my fps keys. Never had trouble with the lycosa and that remains my fave keyboard i think. Mechanicals just tend to look ugly and i much prefer low profile keys. But having blown over 100 on my mechanical i cant justify replacing it for now lol
 
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