Red, Brown or Black...

martos123

martos123

martos123

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6 Mar 2010
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I am in the market for a Mechanical keyboard and would be interrested to get peoples opinions on which type of switch would be better for me?

Ive currently got a Logitech MX5000 dome keyboard which has fairly stiff keys and i can rest my fingers on a key without it pressing (handy for MMOs) and quite like that feel.

I dont want one that is particularly noisy or clicky which is why I have ruled Blues out. I'm a fairly heavy typer too.

It will be a general use keyboard as well as being used for gaming.
 
I have the Corsair Vengeance K90. It uses red switches which are good for gaming.

This is the first mechanical keyboard i've owned so i did a bit of research on the various switch types before i bought this one. As you say, blue switches are loud and clicky. Brown switches are meant to be better for typing as they have a nice weight to them and tactile feel.

Red and black switches are better for gaming as they have a low actuation force.

The K90 is well built with mainly brushed alluminium finish. It is backlit with blue LED's which have 3 brightness settings, as well as fully off. It has a plastic wrist rest too but i took that off as it wasn't comfortable for me. It has a braided cable, multimedia keys and 18 extra macro keys on the side so can come in handy for MMO's and the like. There is also 3 profiles for these keys so you can have multiple setups for them. One profile for gaming, maybe another for photoshop shortcuts etc.

The main keys are fully mechanical, however the 18 macro keys, and the 12 functions keys and the printscreen/scroll lock cluster are rubber domed keys, something to bear in mind if that bothers you.

I've owned the keyboard for around 6 months now and would recommend it. It took a while to get used to and at first i made lots of typos as the keys are so easy to press. But now i don't think i could go back to a non-mechanical keyboard. Hope that gives you a bit more info.
 
I took a visit to a local retailer and had a try of a few keyboards and out of the ones I tried (Corsair K70, Steelseries 6Gv2, Logitech G710+ and Razer Blackwidow ultimate), I much prefered the response of the G710+. I guess that means Brown is the way to go!

Now to decide which keyboard to go for (Logitech, Gigabyte or Ducky)...
 
From what I remember when I researched getting mine, red and brown are very similar. Red require a little less pressure to activate I think. I have red at the moment but in hindsight would've got brown as I sometimes rest my hand on the board and even that can activate them.
 
Really not a good way to recommend switches. The best way is to actually go and try some.
I was set on getting reds but had to try the others and they were pretty different to what i was imagining.
 
Browns are a good choice!

I'd recommend for anyone wanting to find out about mechanical keyboards and their switches, to give RJK's guide a read in this forum section.
 
Ive only had red before and I found it exactly the same as a membrane keyboard but I felt as I was paying a price I would like to feel something different.
A friend of mine loved the keyboard so I offloaded it and now I am in the process of buying a new one.
I went to a local store and had a play around. I found blues amazing feeling but the noise i think would be too much and then tried the 710+ which has browns and it was perfect I can feel the switches but still not too noisy like blues.
so these are what Ive settled on but I seriously recommend trying out different keys.
but if you cant
then from what Ive seen

reds just like a membrane
blues feel amazing but noisy
browns between the two, feel good but not as noisy
 
reds are marketed as the gaming choice. I have red and don't have a problem..although I've never tried any others.

U get use to them regardless..
 
Yeah I like my reds, however next time (if this thing EVER breaks) I'll get brown. The bit more pressure required for them to actuate will do me good I think as I tend to fat-finger some keys a bit :P
 
Yeah, I still seem to give my browns a bit of a mash from time to time, but I'm getting much better :p
 
After a couple of weeks using the G710+ I couldn't be happier. The feel of the keys is both responsive and comfortable without being too noisy. It is good for gaming and lovely to type on too.
 
I have reds, and while they are great for fps games etc, they are a pain for typing because there is no feedback for when you have made a keypress. So if you are typing quickly and half press the wrong key, you have to check to see if it registered or if you can keep typing. Blacks seem to be the compromise there. It's not a deal breaker, but if you type a lot, keep it in mind when making your decision. Still miles better than my old membrane kb!
 
It's strange how just a little change in resistance can make such a difference. I find reds give too little resistance, blacks just slightly too much, blues I can't entertain due to the noise and browns seem just fine. I guess you can guess what keys I'm typing this on.;)
 
Brown switches have turned out to be the favorite amongst many as looking from the selling rates of the Ducky range browns have been dominant, I feel this is because these switches are the ideal "inbetween" Browns have Light tactile feedback. No click. 45g actuation force. unlike the blacks which requires 15g more actuation force and no feedback.
 
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