Some help regarding mechanical keyboards please. :)

I've finally decided to make switch from this awful Logitech G19 to a proper keyboard but I'm having trouble with a few bits.

Firstly is the switch type, from my understanding (after reading the mechanical keyboard guide) is that Blacks and Reds are similar to standard membrane boards in that the key must be bottomed out to register and that Reds are lighter than Blacks. Also AFAIK Blues and Browns don't have to be pressed all the way down and Blues are typing orientated. My issue is that as I'll be doing a lot of gaming and normal typing, you could make the arguments for Blacks, Reds or Browns being the best for me (arguably also Blues at a stretch). Also because I live in the UK AFAIK there aren't any shops near me that are specialised enough to carry different switch boards to try out, so when it comes to choosing the switch, I'm basically arbitrarily picking. Could anyone give me some insight into some of the switches? I know Blacks are heavy but are they comparably heavy to membrane keys?

My next question is a bit of a controversial one, are Filco and Ducky generally the same build quality? I hear both are excellent but I'm intruiged if one is intrinsically better.

Another question I have is are the keycaps for mechanical boards fairly universal? I realise there are different type of switches than Cherry but would I for example be able to buy a keycap set from WASD and use them on a Filco or Ducky board?

My last request is for some recommendations of keyboards if possible, at the moment I'm fairly stuck between Blacks, Browns and Reds but I'd like a board with media keys if possible, preferably Filco or Ducky (I've heard bad things about some boards by Razer) but I am open to other brands. Backlighting is not neccessary (I have the G19 and honestly the backlighting options are cool, but I never really play in the dark.

Any answers to any of these questions would be appreciated as I'm stepping into the unknown here.

Cheers!

Ok Brown switches it will be, and tenkeyless would make sense, I never use the number pad.

Now just to decide on whether LED backlight is worth it and if I should go with Filco or Ducky.

Thanks everyone!

@Roman5 - I've tried a mechanical board before, I believe it was the Steelseries 6GV2, but I can't remember what switches it had and there wasn't a selection of others to try for comparison.
Edited by Paradigm84 - 7/1/12 at 5:39pm

I will end up going for blanks eventually when I get better at typing.

Until then I'm tempted by the Filco Camo tenkeyless, I'm not fond of the camo as it feels a bit childish but I like the contrast of the keys to case.

At the moment it's between the Ducky Shine White LED, Ducky Tenkeyless or Filco Majestouch-2 Tenkeyless (Standard or Camo) [All with Browns]

Opinions?

I only really look down occasionally, but I'm thinking I could always buy an LED backlit board and when I don't need it anymore just buy some cool blank keycaps.

Thanks for the help.