Hi OzB family.
Looking at purchasing a mechanical keyboard for half gaming/half working.
I would prefer a full keyboard including the numpad and arrow keys.
I wanted to purhcase https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B082X8JN8R but its not at a price that it once was.
Any recommendations/bargains available would be greatly appreciated.
Tony
I've been looking for a cheap second Durgod Taurus K320 since I got one 2 years ago for $110 (one for work one for home). I've never seen it anywhere near that cheap again. Best price I could find now is on Banggood for $140 (could knock a few more dollars off with coupons). It's a nice well-built mechanical keyboard, though it is ten-key-less.
EDIT: Actually Aliexpress has $117.16 for TKL and $138.11 for fullsize (plus GST).
I liked the price of this, however find after daily use at work it tends to wear out. Keys stop working intermittently which messes up my typing.I might just be unlucky..
I have a corsair K65 one at home(from a deal), and that's lasted much longer but is pricer. Is still relatively cheap when it comes to mechanical keyboards.
I have a Logitech G710+ which was $100 odd.
It can control the volume and has a few function keys.
I've also tested a cheap Kogan mechanical KB and as a keyboard it works perfectly fine.
Next time I'd buy 3 Kogans over one Logitech.
However, the OP is looking for at a $250 KB so I'm sure they're not interested in a lower end KB (Kogan).
I bought one of these for work and have been very happy with it: https://www.geekbuying.com/item/Logitech-K845-104Key-Full-si…
It was $94 shipped when I bought it, so pretty comparable to the current price.
I'd second Ryanek above, and recommend one of the Keychron keyboards - I just opened my K2. I'm in Melbourne, and frustratingly the only Australian distributor is mwave, but once I got it, I was happy I waited.
Especially if, like me, you're keen on minimising clutter, the Keychron is one of the few wireless mechanical keyboards out there, and significantly, uses Bluetooth, and not their own transceiver. I would normally heistate to buy anything that came out of a Kickstarter/Indigogo etc (its most often idealistic junk that never works), but this seems to be an exception!
I have the one with the Gateron Brown switches, which I brought for the same reason as you - half work, half gaming. I bought it in preference to something like the Daskeyboard, which seemed very well built and rated, but actually was quite a bit more expensive (not to mention, wired)
BT is a good solution but may have a drawback if you need to adjust the BIOS or UEFI. Most and possibly all, don't have support in the UEFI or BIOS for BT support. If you need to adjust the UEFI then you need to keep a cheap wired keyboard or a wireless KB with its own USB dongle.
I ordered a Keychron K6 from Amazon AU recently. This is a 65% board tho. Keychron does have the K1 which is full-size.
Sounds like you want a full-size keyboard. Have a look at the GMMK keyboard. PCCaseGear stock them (looks like they're restocking quite soon). The full-size is just under $200. Also available on Amazon at varying prices. From what I heard, these boards are really good value for money.
Have also heard good things about the lesser-brand Durgod as @avgbowlofpho suggested. They also seem to carry full-size versions on Amazon.
As for key switches, the main types are :
- Clicky - like Blues
- Tactile - like Browns
- Linear - like Reds
Marketing will have you believe that Click = Typing, Linear = Gaming and Tactile = Hybrid. But you can use any of them for any purpose. Its purely preferential. Unfortunately, the only way to know is to try them for yourself. Only thing to bear in mind is that the clicky ones can have a high pitch clicky sound when pressed. Take your environment into account (e.g. not always appreciated in certain office environments).
Build your own?
You should post that up as a separate deal - looks great depending what the combo is.
As a Razer mechanical keyboard is already about $100 or more, looks like a great deal.
thanks guys - ended up getting the blackwidow elite on sale at amazon. very happy with it
what sale please?
I'd lean for something more practical looking without all of the bells and whistles. Something like a Durgod Taurus for $160. Here is a full-size version for $20-30 more
Would probably go for the brown switches if you want something tactile feeling. otherwise the red switches are also a good option. If you're switching from a dome keyboard then the brown switches are the way to go. Steer clear of any blue switches because it will most definitely drive you insane.
This Royal Kludge keyboard isn't too bad for the price either. It's got the RGB unlike the ones listed above, all for about $80 so there is a really big saving. Can vouch for the quality of RK boards and they're super nice to use and the RGB shines well.
Have fun!
(edit): feel free to message me about mechanical keyboards ;)