as i know there are lot of mech keyboard type. i supposed want to get the one with average clicky sound, form factor = i have no idea.

best bang for bucks as per your experience.

sorry by form factor i mean the size of the keyboard. the common ones are full-size/100% (104/108 keys), and tenkeyless/80% (87 keys). if you wanna have clicky sound, you should get those with cherry mx blue switches.

personally i suggest you check out coolermaster master s pbt, or ikbc c87. (these two are tenkeyless, i.e. without numpad) you can check out storeuni.com for more choices.

also, it's better for you to go to shops near you that have good amounts of demo units and try the different switches out first.

Dude/dudette, there are no short cut to this. You can't ask something like that hoping to get an "universal" answer out of it. Best bang for buck varies greatly from person to person. You need to do your research before hand. Know what you are doing with your board. Gaming? Working? Both? How do you like them switches to feel like? Clicky with sound? Tactile without sound? Or linear for smooth key presses? Do you need the numpad for keying in numbers? Do you need the arrow keys for navigation? How bout macro keys? You like bling bling? MOST IMPORTANT question, BUDGET. Cannot stress enough on this. Budget. When you have this, then you narrow down a shit ton from the ever growing list of keyboards. hahaaha...

* Kotaku uploaded an article perfect for this. Check it out.
https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/02/how-to-pi...nical-keyboard/

This post has been edited by antaras: Feb 7 2018, 05:15 PM

your points are all valid. however it will take some time for typical users to understand mkbs, especially on how to differentiate between good and bad boards, without experiencing them first-hand. to them, they are just keyboards, a type of input device.

this is why i die die also suggest boards that i think worth their money, with decent qualities, for them to get started. if the budget is too low, well, it's better for them to save more and get a good one hehe

this is just like ssd. most do not know why a performance ssd is more expensive than an entry-level, without experiencing them first-hand.

(before i had gk64, i also wondered why people like to spend their precious time building custom boards. now, crystal clear lol)

Perhaps so... that is why I found the link I posted earlier to be very informative. Very simple and with pictures! hahaha... Well, unless they are just lazy to read. T_T

I think I would also suggest to try hot-swappables like the Tecware Phantom. It's a cheap board that allow users to hot swap switches. They can try out different switches a lot easier and faster. However, no comment on quality as I had not try them yet.

yes of course they should read it. that article gives a good picture on the vast choices of mkbs lol

tecware phantom is less optimal as a starter board for beginners. yeah it's cheap that i agree (hot-swappable sockets are a plus too), but it doesn't reflect better qualities of a good board imo. (it's like the comment about team.wolf in that article you posted)

as always, don't take my words for it. just find some time and play with it in any shop that has demo units.

any affordable keyboard for mac to recommend ? must comes with light and sound control ... bought lofree and sucks ... to the max

is this the one with the typewriter-like keycaps?
man, i tried it at the store a few months ago, holy shit they were so difficult to type on. I'm not sure if it accurately depicts how typewriters are but I couldn't touchtype on that thing at all. something about the way the keycaps are shaped or laid out, it was difficult to tell where my fingers were when I was using it. Kept making mistakes typing on it. also, that hideous arrow key placement. wouldn't wish the board on my worst enemies. even standard layout membrane keyboards feel so much better to type on haha.

about mkbs made for mac, i only know two: ikbc g-series and varmilo va87mac. i believe there are more.

gons still reputable?

no idea. i usually get stuff from taobao/aliexpress. budget-oriented builds mainly lol

Hi, I have spare custom filco cable from pexon pcs that I want to sell. If interested please PM me.

Sorry for promoting sales. Just completed repaint and replace the caps for my filco and I accidentally pre-order another set.

tq man. tested & confirm will want to buy blue switch. now go to for form, you are also correct, i ll buy tenkeyless.

for brand wise, i duno. i ll checkup coolermaster master s pbt, or ikbc c87 as u suggested. what is the best bang for buck?

i read this https://www.lowyat.net/2017/135577/tecware-phantom-tkl-my/

under rm150

I think for that price, it's really not a bad deal. You get hot-swappable function as well.

either cm master s pbt or ikbc c87 should give you very good typing experience. cm master s pbt uses costar stabs, while ikbc c87 uses cherry style stabs. both come with pbt key caps, but cm master s pbt has some advantages: it's a more recent model in the market, and it has detachable cable. (ikbc c87 has fixed cable)

as for boards like tecware phantom tkl, certain qualities in a good board that affect typing experience are sacrificed in the name of a budget product. to me, it's pointless to explain these qualities in words, because they're best to be experienced first-hand. this was also why i suggested you go and try them all. do not take my words for it. it's about personal preferences after all. tecware phantom tkl does has a nice feature: switch hot swapping, so you can swap the stock outemu switches with kailh box white or something else. they're ok as a budget board, but not good enough to represent a good board.

the kbd-5 degree is here, with kailh box red. as i suspected, the lelf shift doesn't have stabilizers (but it works fine without them; no wobbles, no rattles)



this is a prebuilt version from kbdfans. i will use it for a bit before a total disassembly is done. the overall build quality is decent for a CIY board. i'm surprised that the stabs are actually solid. they are different from stock/prebuilt gk64 (Chinese-made cherry-style pcb-mount stabs; gold-plated wires; screw-in type)

This post has been edited by horns: Feb 12 2018, 02:36 PM

horns, u seems to be very interested with mech keyboards.

ummm... after all, this in the Mechanical Keyboard Club... people should be interested with mechboards in here. hahah...