** The Official OcUK Mechanical Keyboard Thread **

[Somnambulist]

We use a load of different keyboards at work and there's this particular Sun type 6 keyboard I'm typing on now that feels quite nice to use, not sure what's underneath the keys but I'm not going to start pulling it about lol.

 

[Chrisbes]

We use a load of different keyboards at work and there's this particular Sun type 6 keyboard I'm typing on now that feels quite nice to use, not sure what's underneath the keys but I'm not going to start pulling it about lol.

Do it. Do it when nobody is looking.

Just bought a Zowie Cekeritas (Link) Has Cherry MX Browns. Got a good feel, heavy and well built. I quite like the switches themselves, but its going to take a little getting used to. The clicky sounds are really satisfying

 

[schnipps]

Need a silent or extremely quiet gaming mechanical keyboard with a backlit keyboard, pref blue lighting to match my PC setup. Suggestions? Was gonna wait for the razer black widow ultimate stealth but theres no ETA on it at all :S

If you want a slient mech i wouldnt bother, there far from silent. Best stick to normal boards imo even the less clicky cherrys are from from silent.

 

[GraveYard]

i love the clicking keys on my black widow...

 

[alex24]

Yeah that's what I went with the semi custom as it's 10$ cheaper. You can still change the colors of the keys. You can choose 1 color for the whole board then a different color for the wasd and esc keys. I went with the wrist rest and I hate the standard gel wrist rests. I need something more sturdy.

Did you keyboard arrive yet? I'm curious to see what charges are involved, if any.

My original plan is waiting for the UK Filco Ninjas, but if WASD are doing a UK layout, that's certainly worthy of consideration. Heaps of customisation options!

 

[gropingmantis]

On the WASD blog they said they were getting ISO keyboards with Cherry Reds but no update since. Anyone know if Reds are coming with the ISO layout that you have been talking about?

Link

 

[NinetyOne]

Did you keyboard arrive yet? I'm curious to see what charges are involved, if any.

My original plan is waiting for the UK Filco Ninjas, but if WASD are doing a UK layout, that's certainly worthy of consideration. Heaps of customisation options!

Nope it's still "processing". Guess it's because of the holidays.

 

[alex24]

Nope it's still "processing". Guess it's because of the holidays.

Ahh that's too bad. I did notice on the site they say they're experiencing delays - it seems as though they are very popular boards! I hope it's with you soon.

I almost wouldn't mind converting to US layout, it's really not of much consequence to me, but if there is a UK layout coming soon, it would probably be better to wait.

 

[NinetyOne]

Ahh that's too bad. I did notice on the site they say they're experiencing delays - it seems as though they are very popular boards! I hope it's with you soon.

I almost wouldn't mind converting to US layout, it's really not of much consequence to me, but if there is a UK layout coming soon, it would probably be better to wait.

Yeah they're meant to be pretty solid boards. I'll probably do a small review when it arrives. They have great customer service as well. I must have e-mailed them 3 times asking to switch things about on my order. I ordered brown switches at first, then switched to blue then I changed the color of the keys twice.

 

[NinetyOne]

*missclick*

 

[PapaLazaru]

Just about to pull the trigger on a SteelSeries 6G v2. Black switches which are my second choice, after browns. Amazingly, the rubbish PC superstore which shall remain nameless near me has them in stock!

Should look good alongside my Steelseries XAI.

 

[NinetyOne]

Just about to pull the trigger on a SteelSeries 6G v2. Black switches which are my second choice, after browns. Amazingly, the rubbish PC superstore which shall remain nameless near me has them in stock!

Should look good alongside my Steelseries XAI.

If it's your first mech board I'd recommend a Cherry G80 clicky board, which can be had for £60 off a well known site. IMO blue switch boards feel the most different and black/red the least, compared to rubber dome. And in a good way! Sure lots of people like black switches, but when people buy them as their first mech board I feel that they're not getting the full experience of a mech board. So imo it's best to go blue first then if you really don't like it, try something like brown or black. Lot's of people will say brown is the safest route to go down for your 1st mech board but I don't entirely agree. People will also tell you blues and browns are the same apart from the clicky noise.. Not true with the boards I've used at least.

There's a lot more experienced people than me though over on GeekHack or Deskthority.

 

[NinetyOne]

*update* Just emailed WASD and the guy told me that he's making my board as we speak and will be shipped off today.

 

[alex24]

I also just emailed WASD and have been told that there are 105-key versions in production and should be available soon, pending the website being updated for the slightly different layout. They have been delayed by 2 weeks so far.

Also, the owner hopes to introduce a tenkeyless model by the end of the year, which would be great IMO!

For those who haven't looked at what they offer yet, it's well worth a gander over to http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/ to see the extent of customisation you can have fun with. You can make a completely personalised keyboard, and pricing isn't bad. I need to find out what the shipping implications are to the UK first though. I hope OcUK doesn't mind us posting info about these here as they don't offer anything comparable at the moment, but if it's a problem (mods), please be gentle...!

 

[WotDa]

QPAD 85. I believe they do a red backlit version.

Yup, the 85 has red backlights, and can be had with a choice of switches if bought from them direct at the moment (Black, Brown, Blue or Red). As a bonus over the Ducky boards they can be had with a UK layout and are probably easier to source too.

I'm pretty damn happy with my mk80 and brown switch combination, was built on a Tuesday and was at my door by that Saturday from Sweden.

 

[Combat Fighter]

Yup, the 85 has red backlights, and can be had with a choice of switches if bought from them direct at the moment (Black, Brown, Blue or Red). As a bonus over the Ducky boards they can be had with a UK layout and are probably easier to source too.

I'm pretty damn happy with my mk80 and brown switch combination, was built on a Tuesday and was at my door by that Saturday from Sweden.

Would you be able to tell me what the difference is between the MK80 & MK85?

Also is the rest support separate from the keyboard so you don't have to use it if you don't want to?

 

[NinetyOne]

Would you be able to tell me what the difference is between the MK80 & MK85?

Also is the rest support separate from the keyboard so you don't have to use it if you don't want to?

Rest is removable. The MK-80 and MK-85 are pretty much the same board other than the 85 can do full NKRO through USB and the mk-80 will just do the standard. Then you have different colored back lighting also. The board are pretty much the same as the Xarmor U9BL that Qpad bought out by the looks of it.

 

[WotDa]

Rest is removable. The MK-80 and MK-85 are pretty much the same board other than the 85 can do full NKRO through USB and the mk-80 will just do the standard. Then you have different colored back lighting also. The board are pretty much the same as the Xarmor U9BL that Qpad bought out by the looks of it.

Pretty much that.

I went for the Qpad because it has audio jacks for my headset, could have the brown switches, also a left windows key, something I use often and didn't want to lose.

 

[PapaLazaru]

If it's your first mech board I'd recommend a Cherry G80 clicky board, which can be had for £60 off a well known site. IMO blue switch boards feel the most different and black/red the least, compared to rubber dome. And in a good way! Sure lots of people like black switches, but when people buy them as their first mech board I feel that they're not getting the full experience of a mech board. So imo it's best to go blue first then if you really don't like it, try something like brown or black. Lot's of people will say brown is the safest route to go down for your 1st mech board but I don't entirely agree. People will also tell you blues and browns are the same apart from the clicky noise.. Not true with the boards I've used at least.

There's a lot more experienced people than me though over on GeekHack or Deskthority.

Thanks for the response but I am reading that they are very clicky. The keybozrd will be used for late night gaming quite regularly and so needs to be as quiet as possible, as to not wake up the good lady. I read that the blacks are a good one for gaming and not too noisy?

 

[NinetyOne]

Thanks for the response but I am reading that they are very clicky. The keybozrd will be used for late night gaming quite regularly and so needs to be as quiet as possible, as to not wake up the good lady. I read that the blacks are a good one for gaming and not too noisy?

Depends of what kind of gaming you're doing.