I use Win+D and Win+E far too often to give them up. I do want to try a mechanical keyboard for gaming. I use an old one at work and I find I type much faster due to the feedback.
I use Win+D and Win+E far too often to give them up. I do want to try a mechanical keyboard for gaming. I use an old one at work and I find I type much faster due to the feedback.
Both the Meka and Meka G1 use the same Cherry Black switches, which do not click. The noise I produce on a Meka G1 is actually me bottoming out the keycaps. I could compare them both to any number of keyboards in terms of feel, but it all ends up being subjective. If you're used to an IBM Model M, though, I can more or less guarantee that the tactile feedback of any keyboard with Cherry Black switches will leave you wanting. (No exceptions, it's not just these two. It's the nature of the switch.) You want Cherry Blues, which click mechanically and audibly.
The one big drawback of the Meka G1 is that even though it does have a Windows key, it's on the right, between Ctrl and Alt. The G1 does have an ISO layout including properly sized backspace and enter keys, but the left 'Windows' key is actually the Fn key - does not work the same, at all. Having handled several other Cherry Black models, other than cost, most of the faults of the Meka G1 are easy to look past if you like the feel. The keycaps last MUCH longer than any of the coated ones. But the ghosting is much harder to look past, as is the pricetag. Telling you how long your keycaps will last is voodoo by and large, but mine were slippery and shiny within 4 months. Which has to be stacked against 1991 Model M13's, where I chew up the same key positions about every 9 to 12 months. YMMV - I drop 50K words a day easily, 7 days a week. BUt you can get replacements pretty easily, so don't let it be a major holdup.
In the world of upcoming mechanicals, you need to be watching Corsair for two models. First up, Vengeance K60. Cherry RED switches full board, and an aluminum housing. Tres chic. Very FPS oriented, but you'll find a use for it. MRSP of $110. Next up will be the Vengeance K90, which is MMO/RTS oriented. Reset expectations: aluminum chassis, Cherry Red primary, rubber dome ancillary, 18 programmable keys, ISO layout, dedicated function keys, onboard memory for macros, full-matrix anti-ghosting. I can tell you right now, it's going to shock a lot of people. (Good and bad ways.)
After reading reviews and watching youtube videos, and trying a Razer keyboard at Best Buy with Cherry Blue switches in it, I decided I wanted Cherry Brown switches in the mechanical keyboard I got. I ended up finding an Xarmor U9 on newegg with the brown switches and I got it for $80 and I like it a lot. Only 2 very minor problems - it doesn't have a USB hub built in, and the higher priced version of the U9 that does have the USB hub also has Cherry Blue switches, and after only a month or so, the letters on my WASD keys are faded a bit. Other than that it is great and more fun to use than the almost 10 year old Dell keyboard I was using before this U9.
I'm pleased to see the market embracing mechanical keyboards as true performance models. I've been put off by the marketing trend of taking a cheap keyboard, back-lighting it, putting a few macro keys on it and charging $80 for it. Real performance comes from the quality of the build, and you just can't build a true quality lasting keyboard without a good set of mechanical switches. If you are kind to one of these, clean it regularly, don't spill on it, you can type on it for a decade, and it will feel nearly identical to the first day you got it.
As far as to what color Cherry MX to favor, they are all really nice. I think there is a trend to the blacks and browns just because most users don't care for the clicky sound the other variations present. The blacks don't need to bottom out when you double tap them, so some say they are better for gaming. I type so heavy either way, it barely matters for me, but any way you go, it's going to beat the heck out of any cheap rubber domed keyboard you have likely been using.
I like my choice of Brown switches, but it'd be nice if they had heavier springs in them, 45 grams is a bit too light for me. Maybe 70-80 grams would be good. I guess the Cherry Clears would be the closest thing, but I haven't found any keyboards using them. It's all Black, Brown, and Blue.
I'd also like to get a spare Caps Lock key for my U9 and cut the right half of it off, as I hit the Caps Lock all the time when typing at any kind of speed and hitting A.
Has anyone noticed that I'm actually WITH the group on a piece of new technology for once?
Also, even though these keyboards advertise USB polling rates of up to 1000 Hz, the default rate in XP is only 125 Hz. I found a program to raise my polling rate to 500 Hz, but I had to uninstall SP3 and go back to SP2 to use it. It helped my mouse sensitivity in Starcraft 2, I had to adjust the settings a bit.
I do kind of want this keyboard because I'm stuck with an asus chicklet keybo. Which don't get me wrong is pretty great but there are some squeaks that can get annoying if don't have any sound but it's not crippling or anything.
mertesn
I am Bobby MillerYukon, OK Icrontian
Comments
Both the Meka and Meka G1 use the same Cherry Black switches, which do not click. The noise I produce on a Meka G1 is actually me bottoming out the keycaps. I could compare them both to any number of keyboards in terms of feel, but it all ends up being subjective. If you're used to an IBM Model M, though, I can more or less guarantee that the tactile feedback of any keyboard with Cherry Black switches will leave you wanting. (No exceptions, it's not just these two. It's the nature of the switch.) You want Cherry Blues, which click mechanically and audibly.
The one big drawback of the Meka G1 is that even though it does have a Windows key, it's on the right, between Ctrl and Alt. The G1 does have an ISO layout including properly sized backspace and enter keys, but the left 'Windows' key is actually the Fn key - does not work the same, at all. Having handled several other Cherry Black models, other than cost, most of the faults of the Meka G1 are easy to look past if you like the feel. The keycaps last MUCH longer than any of the coated ones. But the ghosting is much harder to look past, as is the pricetag. Telling you how long your keycaps will last is voodoo by and large, but mine were slippery and shiny within 4 months. Which has to be stacked against 1991 Model M13's, where I chew up the same key positions about every 9 to 12 months. YMMV - I drop 50K words a day easily, 7 days a week. BUt you can get replacements pretty easily, so don't let it be a major holdup.
In the world of upcoming mechanicals, you need to be watching Corsair for two models. First up, Vengeance K60. Cherry RED switches full board, and an aluminum housing. Tres chic. Very FPS oriented, but you'll find a use for it. MRSP of $110. Next up will be the Vengeance K90, which is MMO/RTS oriented. Reset expectations: aluminum chassis, Cherry Red primary, rubber dome ancillary, 18 programmable keys, ISO layout, dedicated function keys, onboard memory for macros, full-matrix anti-ghosting. I can tell you right now, it's going to shock a lot of people. (Good and bad ways.)
As far as to what color Cherry MX to favor, they are all really nice. I think there is a trend to the blacks and browns just because most users don't care for the clicky sound the other variations present. The blacks don't need to bottom out when you double tap them, so some say they are better for gaming. I type so heavy either way, it barely matters for me, but any way you go, it's going to beat the heck out of any cheap rubber domed keyboard you have likely been using.
Do Want!
I've never used a board with Cherry MX Red's, I'll be anticipating the review.
God bless you.
I'd also like to get a spare Caps Lock key for my U9 and cut the right half of it off, as I hit the Caps Lock all the time when typing at any kind of speed and hitting A.
Has anyone noticed that I'm actually WITH the group on a piece of new technology for once?