Peripheral Hunting

[Illiad86]

http://www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-professional/ It's very basic. No fancy buttons, macro keys, all that hoopla.

 

Standard layout, gold plated, German engineered switches ;) This is the "louder" version. The switches determine how noisy they are going to be. For an extra $10 you can get the quieter version. I can see that keyboard lasting forever. If a switch ever does break, you can just buy a replacement.

 

I want this keyboard so bad haha. I have a feeling my boyfriend is going to get it for me for our 8 year anniversary :D Fingers crossed...

 

From many reviews, Rosewill also makes a nice mechanical keyboard:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201040

 

Also very plain, standard layout. It's a lot cheaper than the Das Keyboard. All the Rosewill products I've bought haven't failed me yet, so I might consider that one.

 

Don't know much on mice, I always find a $15 one on newegg and use it until it dies :P. I'm not a hardcore gamer much anymore. High DPI mice are more meant for FPS games, which I can't play, they give me horrible headaches.

Edited July 3, 2012 by Illiad86

[FMod]

Standard layout, gold plated, German engineered switches ;)

Have I missed something... last time I checked, Das was using the same US designed, Chinese built Cherry MX switches as the rest of them. Older Das weren't known for their build quality, the first version even had cheap switches. The latest model is the same Costar 104 that you find in a number of keyboards, and it's Costar that makes it good.

 

So unless you want blank keycaps, feel free to shop around and pick whichever CST-104 looks and feels best. The only differences are the keycaps and sometimes a bit of difference in the housing shape.

 

 

This is the "louder" version. The switches determine how noisy they are going to be. For an extra $10 you can get the quieter version. I can see that keyboard lasting forever. If a switch ever does break, you can just buy a replacement.

It's not so much a "quieter version" as that it's got different switches. Browns are not as good as Blues for typing, so there's that.

 

It's possible to order individual switches, but it's not straightforward, they usually want to ship at least 100, and you have to pick the right version (right mounting). What kills most mechanical keyboards is spilling something on them. If it just gets into the keys, they'll get sticky and you need a lot of time and distilled water to wash it out. If it gets on the board (usually does), there is a chance of damaging the board.