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Can Anyone Suggest a Good Mechanical, Backlit Keyboard?

99K views 46 replies 20 participants last post by  efficacy 
#1 ·
Hi, so last year when I put my PC together I bought a cheap wireless logitech keyboard for it. It's worked fine but now the battery is starting to die and obviously i want to get a real quality keyboard.

I recently read about the Cherry switches and have been doing some googling to try and find something that would fit my desires. I want a keyboard that is mechanical (black, red or brown switches as it will be used mostly for gaming) and backlit.

Here are some of the best ones i found:

Max Keyboard Nighthawk X8 Blue Backlit Keyboard:

http://www.maxkeyboard.com/max-keyboard-nighthawk-x8-blue-backlit-mechanical-keyboard.html

Cooler Master CM Storm Trigger

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823129004&Tpk=cm%20storm%20trigger&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=4003003&SID=1wzrq5icp9siq

I'm leaning toward the Nighthawk because it's blue backlit and blue is my favorite color...hehe... I think Razer has a black widow mechanical keyboard but it has blue switches and those are more for typing which i'm not using this for.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Advice? I'm a noob when it comes to mechanical keyboards. Pretty much all i want is a standard sized, backlit (either white or blue) mechanical keyboard with black, red or brown switches.

Thanks in advance.
 
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#3 ·
The best keyboard that I ever used has to be the Ducky mechanicals. I had a non backlit one which I fell in love with. I was about to pull the trigger on the backlit Ducky but I really needed macro keys. Therefore, I got the Blackwidow ultimate which has suited me well. Although they're both cherry blues, it was slightly easier and felt better to type on the ducky. My recommendation is:

If you dont need macro keys, look no further than the DUCKY backlit key board:
http://www.tankguys.com/mechnical-keyboards.html

If you need macro keys along with mechanical/backlit, then blackwidow ultimate is an option.
 
#4 ·
Dude go for the Max Keyboard Nighthawk X8. I was really into the ducky until I saw how nice those Maxkeyboards look.

FYI.

We have started a group buy for max keyboards that will give you a 20% discount on all Max Keyboard products.

Go to http://www.forums.custompcreview.com/f75/max-keyboard-nighthawk-x8-x9-group-buy-5-thread-838/

for a spot on the list. We only need five peeps left for the coupon.

Also with the 20% off will make
NightHawk X8 - $144.99 original --> $115.99 after discount

That's currently cheaper than the trigger. It's a no brainer
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#5 ·
those duckys look nice. i really can't decide between the nighthawk or the ducky shine dk9008s.

CptChiggs, that looks like a good deal but how long do you think we could get enough people for it? I kind of need a keyboard soon as this one is dying on me as we speak.

and can anyone tell me what macro keys are? Not sure what they do.

i think i'm leaning towards the ducky now actually--seems to have slightly more attention to detail, but still not sure.
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ParadoxEternal View Post

those duckys look nice. i really can't decide between the nighthawk or the ducky shine dk9008s.
CptChiggs, that looks like a good deal but how long do you think we could get enough people for it? I kind of need a keyboard soon as this one is dying on me as we speak.
and can anyone tell me what macro keys are? Not sure what they do.
i think i'm leaning towards the ducky now actually--seems to have slightly more attention to detail, but still not sure.
Fairly quickly, my educated guess would be within a week. The ducky is a great keyboard but from what I've seen is that it's cherry stabilizers aren't on par with costar stabilizers that the nighthawk has. Another thing too is that maxkeyboard has great customer service/ rma processes. Many stories about them throwing it bonuses like custom keys and other accessories when the customer is having issues. Also heard that the wristrest that comes with it is really nice memory foam.

I think it's personal preference after you consider these pros/cons.

Macro keys are just extra keys usually on the side of the keyboard that can be programmed to do certain tasks (a very big plus for mmos)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823816002 for reference(all those keys on the side)
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by kremtok View Post

You should have a look at Deck: www.deckkeyboards.com
I have three and they're great!
Those look good too! They don't seem to say which swithces they are tho, just if they are tactile or linear. I would imagine linear switches are better for gaming?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CptChiggs View Post

Fairly quickly, my educated guess would be within a week. The ducky is a great keyboard but from what I've seen is that it's cherry stabilizers aren't on par with costar stabilizers that the nighthawk has. Another thing too is that maxkeyboard has great customer service/ rma processes. Many stories about them throwing it bonuses like custom keys and other accessories when the customer is having issues. Also heard that the wristrest that comes with it is really nice memory foam.
I think it's personal preference after you consider these pros/cons.
Macro keys are just extra keys usually on the side of the keyboard that can be programmed to do certain tasks (a very big plus for mmos)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823816002 for reference(all those keys on the side)
Thanks for the macro keys example. About the stabilizers, where did you get that info from? I'd just like to know. I like to do a lot of research and have alot of info at my fingertips before i make a decision. Thanks!
 
#9 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ParadoxEternal View Post

Those look good too! They don't seem to say which swithces they are tho, just if they are tactile or linear. I would imagine linear switches are better for gaming?
'Linear' is black and 'Tactile' is clear.

http://www.deckkeyboards.com/keyswitches.php

I had a hard time transitioning to the black switches from a rubber dome keyboard, but once I got used to it there was no problem at all. Both of my gaming systems have black switches, Fire and Frost Linear, while my mom's computer has the Frost Tactile with clear switches because she uses it primarily for typing. I must say that it's a lot easier to type on the clear switches than black, so take that into consideration.
 
#10 ·
I think Black are horrid and too hard to press, while Red are awesome for gaming and typing. But it's different for everybody. I'd say your best bet would be the Max Keyboard, or a Ducky Shine. But the Ducky Shine uses Cherry stabilizers, keep that in mind. I'm not positive but I think the Nighthawk uses Costar, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
 
#13 ·
The longer keys like backspace, enter, shift, and spacebar have stabilizers because they are too long to be supported by a single switch. Cherry MX keyboards either have Cherry- or Costar-style stabilizers. With Cherry stabilizers those keys have something that resembles two additional MX key switches on the ends, which causes additional force to be required on the keys and contributes to a feeling that some would consider "mushy." Costar stabilizers use a thick wire insert, which results in the all keys requiring uniform pressure. Though the preference is not universal, more people seem to prefer Costar stabilizers. I would agree with those people.
 
#15 ·
I too am looking to buy a mechanical keyboard and from what I've read I'm contemplating between customized Max Keyboards and the Ducky Shine. With the 20% group discount on the Max's, both would be around the same price. However, the Max nighthawk is a rebranded Xarmor and I've heard that their quality wasn't so good so I don't know about that. The Duckys have a solid reputation while the Max offers more features. Hopefully if Max has quality control under control their keyboards won't have any problems. Max is a new company so hopefully their boards are better than xarmors ( monoprice.com also rebrands the same board [nighthawk] and their qualtiy is pretty good so...).
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by invena View Post

KBT pure and KBT race have not been mentioned if you like compacts.
I love my KBT Race! My only complaint is that some keys have lost their backlighting, but it's still amazing to type on.

400
400
400
400
450
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bion View Post

I too am looking to buy a mechanical keyboard and from what I've read I'm contemplating between customized Max Keyboards and the Ducky Shine. With the 20% group discount on the Max's, both would be around the same price. However, the Max nighthawk is a rebranded Xarmor and I've heard that their quality wasn't so good so I don't know about that. The Duckys have a solid reputation while the Max offers more features. Hopefully if Max has quality control under control their keyboards won't have any problems. Max is a new company so hopefully their boards are better than xarmors ( monoprice.com also rebrands the same board [nighthawk] and their qualtiy is pretty good so...).
Max keyboards are not rebranded Xarmor. Qpad, xarmor, iOne, Max are all very similar. However, out of those 4 Max and Qpad are of way higher quality. Just the build of Max/Qpad is way better than Xarmor/iOne.

Don't think for a second Max Keyboards are crappy boards. They're built very sturdy and have gold plated connections, braided cables, on-board memory, and get fantastic reviews. Heck, Xarmor and Max even have different color circuit boards.

Ducky's are good but I don't like Cherry stabilizers.

Not to mention Max customer service is superb. Heck you even get a 10% discount for liking their facebook page if you don't do the group buy. I didn't have $120-150 to spend on a Max, so I went with a Quickfire Rapid. But I wish I went with a Max in some ways because it has a lot more features.

But... Quickfire Rapid w/Reds + this for me.

*Disclaimer, I might not be completely correct on all of that but it's what I've read on various forums, such as CustomPCReview. I know for a fact though that Max is higher quality than XArmor, but very similar to QPad. I don't know a ton about Ducky's, but a lot of people on GH don't like them. The Shine is good though, no doubt.

*Edit* Kokin, that's one nice looking board.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by zorphon View Post

Max keyboards are not rebranded Xarmor. Qpad, xarmor, iOne, Max are all very similar. However, out of those 4 Max and Qpad are of way higher quality. Just the build of Max/Qpad is way better than Xarmor/iOne.
Don't think for a second Max Keyboards are crappy boards. They're built very sturdy and have gold plated connections, braided cables, on-board memory, and get fantastic reviews. Heck, Xarmor and Max even have different color circuit boards.
Ducky's are good but I don't like Cherry stabilizers.
Not to mention Max customer service is superb. Heck you even get a 10% discount for liking their facebook page if you don't do the group buy. I didn't have $120-150 to spend on a Max, so I went with a Quickfire Rapid. But I wish I went with a Max in some ways because it has a lot more features.
But... Quickfire Rapid w/Reds + this for me.
*Disclaimer, I might not be completely correct on all of that but it's what I've read on various forums, such as CustomPCReview. I know for a fact though that Max is higher quality than XArmor, but very similar to QPad. I don't know a ton about Ducky's, but a lot of people on GH don't like them. The Shine is good though, no doubt.
*Edit* Kokin, that's one nice looking board.
You "know for a fact" how? Have you owned both and observed clear differences between them?

Looking at the images, those keyboards are absolutely identical down to the fine details like the mesh patterns on the wrist rest and in the top right. They all even have the same light with mysterious 'G' label next to the Caps Lock light! XArmor came before all these other clones and they are produced by iOne, who is a well known OEM for many companies.
 
#21 ·
This is a lot to think about. The max keyboards seem to be high quality from the unboxings i've seen, but then again the ducky shines and those deck keyboards also look high quality as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaoticKinesis View Post

The longer keys like backspace, enter, shift, and spacebar have stabilizers because they are too long to be supported by a single switch. Cherry MX keyboards either have Cherry- or Costar-style stabilizers. With Cherry stabilizers those keys have something that resembles two additional MX key switches on the ends, which causes additional force to be required on the keys and contributes to a feeling that some would consider "mushy." Costar stabilizers use a thick wire insert, which results in the all keys requiring uniform pressure. Though the preference is not universal, more people seem to prefer Costar stabilizers. I would agree with those people.
Thanks for the heads up. I'm not sure what my preference would be, so that doesn't really factor into my decision. Coming from using a membrane keyboard i suppose anything would feel better. I've never touched a mechanical keyboard.

The KBT keyboards also look nice too. WHere can i buy those? A quick google didn't turn anything up.

Still not sure.
 
#22 ·
Just got the chance to feel the Razer Black Widow. Cherry Blues are pretty amazing. But one thing I noticed immediately was that the bigger keys such as space and shift (especially left shift) felt extremely mushy compared to the other keys (as though it were membrane ; even my g110 shift felt better). I've read that Razer uses crappier quality stabilizers but I understand why people prefer Costars now. I'm emailing Max to confirm if they use Costar stabilizers.

If they do, it just may be the deciding factor for me to go with Max.
 
#26 ·
Yo man there is only one spot left for the group buy that I was talking about. It went much faster than I had expected.

Better hurry though if you want in. That spot may fill FAST!

http://www.forums.custompcreview.com/f75/max-keyboard-nighthawk-x8-x9-group-buy-5-thread-838/

EDIT:

Darn it seems like the last spot was taken. If your still interested though I think that you may be able to squeeze a code out of the admin. It's been done before.

Actually it's not limited to 10 people, it's a minimum of 10. However it seem the admin only messages maxkeyboards once with the list of people. So if you hurry you can be the 12th or so guy
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