I had never bought a mechanical keyboard before, so I was thinking on getting the CM Storm Quick Fire Rapid or the Razer BlackWidow Expert. Any opinion on these keyboards? Or should I just splurge more for a more expensive ones?
Will use it mainly for gaming, but occasionally some typing. Most of the time I type on my laptop.

if you support branding, you can go for CM, razer not much good IMO (blue switch only), other brand like ducky or filco can consider, cause they specialize on mkb, more switch choices

there are various type of switch, u really need to try out urself..
if i were u, i will choose CM

Yeah, seems that there's various different kind of switch.
I saw a previous post about the Switch Try Numpad ? Should I join in and wait for my turn
Still very new in this mechanical keyboard, so never heard of Ducky or Filco. Are they readily available? And the thought of paying more than RM300 for a keyboard scares me.

zzz this is GdExpress courier service, express, WASD keyboard uses standard shipment right?
if you want me to post it to u with standard postage also can,
if you would take the risk, won't be over RM20 I think.

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Added on May 10, 2012, 12:46 pmdon't let that small amount scare you
wait until you see those Topre's crazy sh!t .

This post has been edited by kaysa: May 10 2012, 12:46 PM

there are 2 to choose from:

Priority Mail International $48.85
Express Mail International $62.35

of coz, just PM kaiserreich, and he will put u in the queue.. just post it to next member after u have done.
u can easily find those keyboard at the garage sales
Rm300? don't say it's expensive until u try them


hi, wonder if you customize the keycaps?

are you gonna get that for real?
good luck for that....

hmmm if you can wait, my sister in law from Penang are coming to My place next week, and she will be return to Penang next next week,
maybe an option for her to send it to you or COD you in Penang... need her to agree first, the keyboard is 2kg weight.
without the keycaps now selling RM350.00, hows that?

For 400 I can get only their Numpad..


This post has been edited by iddeen: May 10 2012, 12:54 PM

I suggest you try a variety of mechanical key switches to see what suits you. Everyone's taste is different - it's like clothes, cars, girls... you know what I mean, right? If you can spare a few ringgit for postage, the Switch Try Numpad is a good starting point. If you are in Penang (or Singapore), you are welcome to try my buckling springs keyboards (IBM Model Ms and Fs). I also have a Realforce 87U 45g and some keypads with Cherry MX black and brown switches. You are welcome to test these as well. Besides the feel of the switches, there are also things like keyboard layout, quality, and cost that you should consider.

Customize the keycaps you mean?
which one's keycaps?

The HHKB is black on black blank keycaps,
I put on a set of white and grey keycaps now.

The Steelseries have ABS keycaps, I put on Rainbow PBT keycaps,
but now selling it so I put the ABS back on.

The Leopold Red Switch have 86 PBT Purple on Black PBT keycaps,
which I originally brought for my Filco, and the filch are sold without these keycaps,
so I put them on my Leopold, but the Spacebar wouldn't fit, so it is the original ABS spacebar from Leopold.
thus 86 keys PBT mod, kindda weird.

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Added on May 10, 2012, 12:58 pmso what do you think of the Realforce 87 layout?
the numlock activate the number beside the Enter key right?
for imputing numbers or uses apps like calculators is it convenience?

This post has been edited by kaysa: May 10 2012, 01:02 PM

ain't all the keycaps are all the same? just the color different? (correct me if im wrong)

i plan to get ducky 1008 but i need to change few keys to red color(beside WASD), so wonder if you got sell them. or customize the kaycaps like have our own design on the print.

P/S: i have zero knowledge at keycaps

nope, most keycaps belong to DCS type

not at all!
there are different materials, like metal, plastic, even wood.
different printings method, like laser, drill, dye, print, subdye and etc

even in the plastic have varied type, like ABS, PBT, POM..
the most common one are ABS plastic, which most of the keyboards uses,
PBT are harder and more durable, and can sustain higher temperature, so they can use different method of printing method.
POM are the hardest plastic uses for keycaps, but some claim it is slippery...

some metal keycaps like Aluminum, Zinc and etc, and they have different printing way too,
I m not a huge fan of cold metal keycaps, so I do not know much about these.

wood keycaps are not that common in mechanical keyboards I think, so far I haven't seen any,
but I seen some normal keyboard with bamboo keycaps and wooden keycaps.

if you want customize print on the keycaps, you can order them from Taobao, each key are RM10.00++, before shipment.
you can have your own picture print on it, I think you can even choose the color of the keycaps,
but I think they uses only PBT, because the printing require heating the keycaps to certain temperature,
and it will not fade even heavily used.

if you are getting some keys, maybe we can order them together to save postage from China.
I have a few ideas of the keys designs myself.

This post has been edited by kaysa: May 10 2012, 01:24 PM

thanks for all the infor, will have a look at google after this
and yes, the last sentence is the one i need to hear pls let me know if u doing bulk or anything, me from malacca also

But it's backlit ability is 1st and unmatched in the market. Lets wait and see if the combination of BL ability(blink/press and shine) + Dragon year limited edition is enough to justify the high price.

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Added on May 10, 2012, 2:02 pmGood that you know...

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Added on May 10, 2012, 2:06 pmNope, not all keycaps are the same, in fact keycaps market is more serious business than mechanical kb itself.

It is back down into 3 main categories:
Height(profile), materials and printing.

Height most normally we saw DCS profile, but even the same DCS profile, you will find different manufacturer using different height.

Materials we normally saw 3 types of plastic, namely ABS, PBT and POM. ABS is the "weakest" and most common one found almost on every keyboard(and your LEGO, LOL). PBT and POM are harder than ABS, but PBT is more popular due to its texture and feel much better to be used as keycaps.

Printing methods are a long story, go google/GH it is faster than I type WOT here...

This post has been edited by Human10: May 10 2012, 02:06 PM

can you please write down what DCS, ABS, PBT, POM, stands for? easy for me to google

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Keycap_construction

on the other hand, I guess I'll go for quickfire rapid and buy blank keys separately since their layout is kinda standardized. sad leopold has no black switches in stock

Hi kaysa,

Yeah, the 87U has embedded numeric keypad, just like Model M SSK. I never use it. Call me old fashion but I just use the number keys on the top row. Of course, I have no such problems with the IBM Model F, my main driver, because it has its own numeric pad. I guess if I really had to use the 87U daily, I'd probably train myself to make use of the embedded numeric pad more. Then again, I still have a couple of USB keypads if necessary.

This post has been edited by epiguru: May 10 2012, 08:10 PM

Woah..
First you got the type of switches used, then you have the keycaps