Need a new keyboard, advice needed

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
So i think i have worn my keyboard out, mostly due to long winded replies on here.

I need to get a new one because this cheap of one i got bundled in with a dell AGES ago (Maybe 2004-2005 ish) really is starting to play up big time. Trying to reply to a post these days is a game of spot the missing letter as i think the switches are getting heavily worn.

So that's where you lot come in, what am i looking for in a decent keyboard. I'm not the biggest gamer in the world so an absolute balls to the wall gaming keyboard isn't needed but some gaming features would be nice. Apart from that i have no clue about what makes a decent keyboard, i only do what goes inside the case, peripherals are alien to me.

Anything from the PCS range decent? I'm thinking i might get a SSD and some RAM at some point soon (hopefully!) so if they have anything decent I'd just lump it in with that.

So yeah pipe up if you know your keyboards...

EDIT cos i forgot.....

I don't want wireless, no need for it.
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
I don't really have a budget, but I'm not looking top of the range, probably not even top of the mid range just something half decent. Ii have no idea what decent is in a keyboard. Mechanical switches/no mechanical switches im not decided as yet, i really know nothing about keyboards.
 

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
I bought a CM Storm Quick Fire Pro Keyboard for around £60 to replace a basic Logitech keyboard which cost £9,and to be honest I see very little difference if any in using either,so I wouldn't go splashing out on a fancy mechanical keyboard when a basic one would probably do fine.
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Yeah I had though about that, interesting that you say you cant tell much difference. So basically your saying unless you need all the macro buttons etc then a standard one is ample? The one is so worn out now its unreal, im fairly sure it used to be silent when I types. now it sounds like im bashing down a door.
 

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Yes,unless you want or need the extra features and backlit keys the standard logitech (£10) or the microsoft (£15) are fine,even for gaming.
 
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keynes

Multiverse Poster
Could you try one? I do feel typing and gaming slightly better with a mechanical keyboard.
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Might be worth a look to see if I can hunt down some to try before I buy. I guess its not like picking a processor or something, its more personal preference.

Any reason to go spending £60 on a keyboard anyone can think of? I mean backlighted keys, some macro buttons and maybe a slightly better build quality doesn't seem to add up to being 'worth' £60+. But maybe im missing something (as I said I have literally spent 0 time looking keyboards up online) so maybe i'm missing something obvious here.

I get that gaming mice are a bit better, I can see why they would be but not so much keyboards...
 

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Yeah,pretty much a personal preference, a mechanical keyboard can be more responsive and so enable slightly faster typing for some people,so I can understand why some people might find them worth the money.
 
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steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
I think for the most part Vanthus hit the nail on the head. It is just personal preference, and lights, everyone loves lights haha. Try some out as tom suggested. See if it makes a difference to you.
 

Lex1970

Silver Level Poster
I bought a Corsair Raptor K30 keyboard for around £30 pounds it's got red illumination on the keys and I'm perfectly happy with it I couldn't see the point paying nearly double that for a mechanical keyboard. For gaming a good mouse is more important. I spent £40 on my mouse it's a CM Storm Recon and really notice the difference with a gaming mouse over a normal one. You can adjust the sensitivity as well to suit your gaming style.
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Hmm so just back from the shops trying out some different styles, the only one I could say I really didn't like was one priced at £5.69. I think I agree with most here and mechanical is a bit OTT. The other features of a gaming keyboard I think I can live without.

Just going to hold of till I can get everything I want in one go then get it all at once, cheers....
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
i think it depends which mechanical kb's you try. And which keys they are. I didn't like the feel of Corsair kb's with red switches. But my Cm storm quickfire tk with reds is a totally different feel. It's really pleasant to type and game on, the keys are nice and light and hardly require any effort to type on. The razer kb's looked pretty nice too, felt nice and solid where equally nice to type on although with blue mx switches. - totally different feel to reds.

I'd avoid mx black keys though, i think you see them on the steelseries kb's that are on display in curry's/pcworld. I didn't like the feel at all, they are like a red switched but a bit firmer and harder to press. - saying that, i am used to the incredibly light reds now.

Tell you what you could do, abuse amazons returns policy. Buy a mech kb directly from amazon. Or buy 3 or 4 different models and have a play on them all. The ones you don't like, just return them free of charge to amazon. I think this is a good solution when it comes to buying mice too. Buy 3 or 4, and give them a try. Or buy one kb, if its not for you send it back hahah.
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Hmmm never tough about that... I would probably just buy one, if it wasn't right I'd just send it back.

I had a play with the mice too, they didn't have too many gaming ones on display but yeah they were all so different.

Anyway yeah, not quite ready to buy just yet, as I said I'm going to have to wait a few weeks yet and then I'm going to splash out on everything at once.

Cheers for all the advice.
 

Surreal

Active member
I would suggest that you definitely try a steelseries 6Gv2 or steelseries 7G. both are top quality keyboards. I switched to the 7G after my previous keyboard started failing and it is without a doubt the best keyboard I've ever used. It will take some getting used to though if you're not used to mechanical keyboards. The 6Gv2 is pretty much the same but with fewer features.
 
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