@@AlanDike fell down the mechanical keyboard rabbit hole simply due to the thought that it would be good to have a separate numpad next to my mouse due to my desk layout.
@@collinmarquardt3997 That exactly how I did it. I started out with an rk61... and I liked it enough I got a second one when I went to a work from home setup (one for my system, one for the work system)... then I got a 68% keyboard because I really wanted discreet arrow keys (I was fine without for a few years, then I was in a job that I used the arrow keys a LOT more so I wanted that upgraded).. and that 68% became my travelling keyboard between work and home. I'm now running a 75% because I saw an all aluminum barebones kit for 89, and I had everything else to build it so I couldn't pass it up. I just wish it was wireless.. its the Inland gaming mk75 pro.. and honestly I like it a lot.
My 1st keyboard (which isnt mine) its from work just some dell basic office wireless keyboard which dont have any special features bout it. I got my own 1st personal keyboard for a start as idk anything bout mechanical keyboard, the cherry keyboard G80 3000s TKL which i love it n using it until now though it isnt hot swappable but i could change the keycaps ❤. My 2nd n will be my last one is im waiting for the Mchose gx87 ultra (wif hot swappable & the most expensive thing i ever buy for a keyboard😅) which will come ard Nov by the time i receive it n im out. 😂 I thought 2 personal own keyboard r more than enough for me. I can just play ard wif changing keycaps & switches.
The struggle with mistake #4 is real... then just when you think you have it contained you get into GMK, Osume and or other keycaps for the boards you already have.. then you start trying different switches in those boards to get a different feel or sound... lol. Great video and I love the colorway on the Neo80, my QK75n has a very similar look.
My mechanical keeb collection rn is at 2 and i am DONE!!! Same as my touch typing progression done at 70 wpm. It may naturally increase but no longer actively trying to get faster. Still will watch these channels tho.
my 1st and mainly issue is my language layout is no existent outside extremely mainstream brands :/ so most % of the custom ones are out and there's only
I got 2 Razer keyboards before I knew what I really wanted and I really regret it. They are overpriced and are meh in quality. I finally moved away from Razer and the quality difference for cheaper is staggering.
My Ornata barely lasted a week before I had keys start to stick. Sure it's their cheaper keyboard but it's still not cheap and should be better for the price paid. Still a big fan of my Tartarus V2 and LH Naga but not planning on buying another keyboard from them.
I suppose you are European like me, not much of a mistake if ISO is the way keyboards are on your continent, its just how you grow up. Its not better or worse, its just different.
Shipping really makes the hobby difficult My dream board has been wood with ceramic keycaps. Wood board from kbdfans…$25 shipping Ceramic set from Cerakeys…another $25 I ordered switches from ashkeebs….$15 shipping Keycaps will probably be another $10-20 shipping Basically $100 in shipping alone…
great video! I initally bought 2x very cheap kbs off Temu and was ready to write off custom keyboards. Finally took the plunge and got a Bridge75 following a very similiar process. The quest is now done, l love it and it will be my daily driver. I 'm sure this vid is going to help alot of people getting into the keyboards, great content :) One thing to mention tho is ansi vs iso, I'm happy to adapt being UK based, you can access much more variety of the wonderful world of keycaps going ansi :)
I would love to see you review the keychron q11. It'd be cool to see how you can make it thock for one, and how silent you can make it for two, (Two different mods, maybe two mods in one vid, or two vids?)
thinking about that i like barebones a bit more, because when i get prebuild i tend to keep it stock and use it "as it was intended" like my aula f99, i stayed with stock reaper switches and stock keycaps for 2-month, until I finally decided to swap switches to MMD INK Green(p-type heavy tactile with sharp tactility and short travel(3.1mm)) and XVX Yuki Aim keycaps (1.8mm dyesub pbt) and these combo is godly, now i regret not doing it immediately, same was with my previous aula f87 pro, swapped stock terrible "space gold" switches with gateron smoothies and it feel like totally different keyboard
I built my first custom back in 2013, and since then, I've learned some difficult lessons. But I'll say this, I certainly don't have any regrets. Building and modifying keyboards is therapeutic for me, and I would never have guessed that an obscure hobby could produce such a feeling.
I'm really going down this rabbit hole now. I started off with lofree for thock, then I got rainy 75 for clack, now I'm changing keycaps, switches and getting another keyboard, and I'm so happy :-)
Yep, me RN not really regretting buying a 65% but you know I kinda miss the function keys. There are times where not having the function keys is a hassle for me. Soo yeah imma buy another keyboard 😆
This is very thoughtful! I appreciate the approach you took and I hope this saves a lot of people from the impulse buys or getting boards that are all hype. That blue painters tape idea (taping off extra keys) was actually quite brilliant!
Great advice and a really good video, financial responsibility is a need in this preference based hobby. I definitely have more than a few things I've bought in the last year for keyboards that I haven't used more than once lol
Hey, I'm new to this hobby. Actually, I haven't even entered it yet. I'm still using a membrane keyboard with a typing speed of 120 WPM. I play type racing games and just want to hold on to this skill for as long as I can. Otherwise, my maximum requirement is simple home studying or using Excel. I haven't looked at my keyboard for years now, so RGB or any kind of backlighting is useless to me. I don't do much gaming either. All this talk about blue, brown, red, purple, linear, nonlinear, etc. is really confusing me. I want my keyboard to last long and feel good. I've crushed two keyboards now (I know I type a lot). I hope a mechanical one will last longer, and if the keys are replaceable, it will be an easier fix. Humble community, I ask for your suggestions.
Hey there, im not sure if mechanical keyboards will fix your board breaking problems. The board itself will be more sturdy if you opt for metal cases (you have to do a mod called force break mod (its really easy and there are tons of tutorials on youtube) for it to sound good) membrane switches are supposed to survive more clicks tho because there is no mechanism involved. Now to your question about blue, red etc. theres something called a switch tester (i‘d recommend the one from keychron as it is massive for the price) and it has 100 switches on it from different brands. It costs about 40 bucks where i live and its the best way to choose a switch imo. If you have any more questions just ask, im also quite new to keyboards tho :)
I guess they're still good, haven't used Logitech in a while. They are one of the biggest players for PC peripherals. But as with any big brand, you pay a bit extra just for the brand name.
@@transformerstuff7029 they are alright but i dont think you should spend your money on them. There is far better keyboards out there for a fraction of the price like epomaker, keychron, tofu 60 etc. (tofu might be more expensive)
I live in Finland. I'd love a custom keyboard, but it would be a struggle: 1) I would pretty much have to switch to the ANSI layout. Or at least buy the key caps separately. 2) No local Amazon. The international alternatives (ebay, aliexpress, temu) are a mess. 3) Deliveries from outside of Europe are expensive and slow.
You definitely do not need to switch to ANSI and can find plenty of reasonably priced customs that support ISO (like the Neo series from QwertyKeys). The expense from China to US or Europe is about the same and it's pretty quick at about 2 weeks max and as fast as 3-5 days.
@@albertko1 Thanks for the input, I'll look into it. It's been over a year since I last considered getting a proper keyboard. ISO by itself is quite common (as far as I know), but back when I tried to look into it, the Finnish/Swedish ISO keycaps specifically were really hard to find. Hopefully my info is outdated.
its hard to buy a keyboard (or basically anything) from amazon because customs in my country so corrupt that they will charge you up to 10 times the price of the keyboard + shipping combine. nice tips though, nice
If possible, try to find local stores that sell what you want, online or not. This, of course, heavily depends on how big the keyboard scene is where you are (here in Vietnam it is relatively large)
regarding the 3rd one, hotswap sockets wear out, and they do that rather quickly (something like 10-15 swaps), so I would disagree, if you are not sure yet what type of switches you are after, and if you do know, you probably won't be switching them.
"regarding the 3rd one, hotswap sockets wear out, and they do that rather quickly " stop scaring me with your horror stories, im not ready for these kind of truths.
you dont really lose anything from having hotswap though, even if its not utilized much, it'll still be useful in case a switch breaks or doesn't work and can be replaced easily. I doubt many beginners would be willing to solder.
There's a whole channel of a guy changing switches on a tofu65 every couple days to see what new switches test like lmao. I don't think that has ever been true.
