New Keyboard Advice

KrustyThePirate

New member
The time has come for me to replace my aging piece-of-junk keyboard with something decent and I was thinking that this will be the best time to go mechanical as my budget is around R 1 300. I can't seem to decide on a particular keyboard though and this is where I was hoping the good folks of MyG would be able to help out, few requirements I have listed below:

- Must be a full keyboard as I absolutely have to have a numpad
- Must be backlit, preferably fully
- USB/Audio in are not vital but nice to have

Will be used primarily for gaming with some typing for reports etc.

Will be my first mechanical keyboard so switches I'm not too sure on but I think I would be ok with MX reds, my keyboard at home is quite stiff while my one at work is much 'softer' and I have no problem working with either if that helps at all

Thanks in advance
 
Have a look at the CM Quickfire PRO: Red. Here are the other keyboards - Link

I've also been looking at the Corsair K60 - but that doesn't meet your backlit requirement :p


Edit: From people who use Mx Browns and reds how has your experience been?
 
Have a look at the CM Quickfire PRO: Red. Here are the other keyboards - Link

I've also been looking at the Corsair K60 - but that doesn't meet your backlit requirement :p


Edit: From people who use Mx Browns and reds how has your experience been?

The Quickfire Pro is not fully backlit, however the Quickfire Pro Ultimate is. If you look at the photo in your link you can see that the wasd "region" with the F-keys are only backlit.

I have the Pro with brown switches at home and a Rapid with Blues at the office. Browns are significantly quieter compared to the blues but feel mushy in comparison. I prefer the blues and am quite fond of the "click clack" noise they make but that certainly won't be to everyone's taste. Unfortunately I can't comment on the Reds.

Corsair K70 is backlit I believe but not sure it falls within the price range.
 
Last edited:
The Quickfire Pro is not fully backlit, however the Quickfire Pro Ultimate is. If you look at the photo in your link you can see that the wasd "region" with the F-keys are only backlit.

I have the Pro with brown switches at home and a Rapid with Reds at the office. Browns are significantly quieter compared to the Reds but feel mushy in comparison to the reds. I prefer the Reds and am quite fond of the "click clack" noise they make but that certainly won't be to everyone's taste.

He said that he wanted it backlit(If possible fully), from the site I linked the ultimate is 1.5k which is out of his budget of 1.3k that's why I recommended the Pro. Thanks for the sharing your experience, my next keyboard will most likely have either one of those switches :)
 
Please see my edits above! I realised that I have Blues at work not Red (sorry) :P

Well just thought I should clarify as I was caught out with how much back-lighting there was on the Pro. If (s)he shops around it might be possible to find an ultimate within budget (Takealot lists it at R1.2K but no stock).
 
Thanks for all the comments/suggestions etc. keep them coming...

I do like the K70 but its just too expensive...
The quickfire ultimate or pro may be something to explore if I can stretch the budget a little, originally looked at the Gigabyte Aivia Osmium as it seemed to tick all the boxes but recently the price seems to have gone up in addition to there being stock problems.

Why can't we just get Ducky keyboards here, would make things so much easier... sigh.

Thanks guys I will keep looking and if there is anything else please post here

EDIT: Saw phools latest post now, if I can get an ultimate at that price I may just go with that, would have preferred red switches with blue backlit but whatever.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the comments/suggestions etc. keep them coming...

I do like the K70 but its just too expensive...
The quickfire ultimate or pro may be something to explore if I can stretch the budget a little, originally looked at the Gigabyte Aivia Osmium as it seemed to tick all the boxes but recently the price seems to have gone up in addition to there being stock problems.

Why can't we just get Ducky keyboards here, would make things so much easier... sigh.

Thanks guys I will keep looking and if there is anything else please post here

Because a decent ducky will set you back R2400 lol

In all honesty you can't go wrong with any of the new Corsair boards, your budget is just a little bit to low.
Save a bit more and pick up one of these:

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=11489

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=9655
 
Because a decent ducky will set you back R2400 lol

In all honesty you can't go wrong with any of the new Corsair boards, your budget is just a little bit to low.
Save a bit more and pick up one of these:

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=11489

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=9655

Really dont think I can stretch to the K70 but the Quickfire Ultimate may be an option.

Thanks for the advice, will have to think about it now.
 
Apologies for the minor necro but I have an update

Really liked the K70 but the one linked above didn't agree with me aesthetically (red LED) and something with blue/white LED in the K70 range with red switches was quite a bit more expensive/discontinued but then I saw that Rebel Tech had the K95 for R 1 639...

Long story short I got a K95, feels solid, is quite big due to the macro key section, stays put thanks to the rubber feet and is fantastic to type/game on... white LED works great and the per key custom profiles for lighting are nice. All in all happy with my purchase so far. Also looks great next to my black M65
 
Ok so i need some advice now always been a logitech fan when it came to KB's now i have a choice between the new G510 or the new Steel series Apex(not the RAW the lighted one)

Any feedback on those two i'm really leaning towards the Apex atm, joker your input here as well pls :D
 
I would take the Apex, but that is just because of aestetic appeal.
They both have the same sort of specs, minus the screen of course, you just need to decide how important the differences are and choose.
 
Personally, i would go Logitech, just because it is mech...

You could however wait until Steelseries release the Apex Mech (they are making one very soon)
 
Still waiting on jokers feedback here too :p

Ooh I have a lot of knowledge to offer on this subject :D but keyboards are very person specific items (Sounds weird I know).

My opinion, I love the Steelseries Apex (I own 1) I got it a s a review sample and I haven't stopped using it at all. Really a solid board that's very well made, although the software sometimes can conflict with other items, for example I had an issue with mouse where the software would conflict while using the board.

On the mechanical side of things, I really love Corsair...I can't really fault them on any of their boards, I wasn't a fan of their 1st range of mech boards because there were some quality issues, but they've sorted it out and I haven't personally had any issues with 1 of their mech boards and neither have any of my clients.

Coolermaster also offers some decent boards at pretty good prices.

The long and the short of it is, when you buy a keyboard do a lot of research, hell drop me a pm I'll gladly help you out.
Avoid anything made by Razer, their quality is piss poor and I've only used 1 of their products which lasted longer than a year which was a Blackwidow Ultimate, really good solid board that (I think someone else made this board and razer just stuck their branding on it lol).


My personal favorite mech board:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=9655

My personal favorite dome board:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=9658

The best budget orientated board:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=11180
 
Back
Top