mkb users that have sufficient know-how will not go for commercial boards anymore. it's really easier for them to get parts that they want, tune, and build one themselves.

with the right basic tools, building customs is actually a relatively painless experience.

in that case, get those from leopold, varmilo, or filco. these are top-class commercial boards, in terms of typing experience. they are built nicely from inside out. remember to look into their respective features first before purchase.

time is gold alright, but time spent to fine tune something that you will use for a long time, with all the right parts, is a very practical investment imo. alternatively, you can also subscribe to experienced builder services. quovadis123 and GRexer both have good, no-nonsense experience and skills.

sweet

well, for a custom build, you don't need to diy it, or get tools to use them only once. builders that i suggested above can help you with that. they have all the right skills and tools for the job.

If you never encounter an enthusiast's custom tuned keyboard, you could buy anything other than "budget" brands and be perfectly happy with it. Ignorance is bliss as they say.

Yes actually. My tuned MKB is at my desk in the office most of the time. I bring it home on the weekend if I have some modification in mind. Haven't had a gaming PC at home for more than 7 years now.

clearly we are discussing the same thing, but with different contexts. mkb modding is our hobby, while you're looking for prebuilts. that's why we have different views, use cases, and conclusions.

you asked for suggestions based on my points of view. my points of view are based on long-term typing experience on different prebuilts and custom builds. i suggested the above because i have them, among other brands, and imo they are relatively closer to entry-level custom builds, but much cheaper. for instance, a leopold with mechanical switches has solid build qualities; comes with thick pbt cherry profile double-shot key caps (1.5mm thick), detachable cable, tuned stabilizers, and foamed at the right locations. you simply cannot find something like what leopold can offer in most brands, at that price.

however, it's really fine to get whatever you want. as long as you like it, it's all good

yeah, it's still cheaper to get leopold at shopee or local shops, compared to else where.

the key caps are thick double-shot. they are very durable for normal typing use case, and their legends will never fade away. you can always clean them up with soap and water from time to time. that's how we maintain our sets to always look new

edit: if you're interested in learning more about tuning a leopold, i can tell you this: it can still be tuned to get to its full potentials. for now, just use it as is first

usually i do this for actively used units after few months (subjective; depending on how dirty the plate/pcb surfaces are):
1. take out key caps and wash them with ultrasonic cleaner + warm water + dental cleanser tablet;
2. use brush to sweep weird stuff out of plate/pcb surfaces (do this out-door); use wet cloth to clean it up again;
3. use brush to sweep the internal of case;
4. reinstall everything.

the more frequent one are step 1 and 2 (subjective also; depending on how dirty they look)

for key caps, i wash and dry them before putting them back into their box/bag/tray.

I have the RK71 and so far, for me, pretty good for entry level mkb. I got the RK71 to test out before deciding if I wanted to drop more money into other mkbs too.

Can. It is a mkb, after all. Not sure about the typewriter keycap model you linked though but RK64 and RK71 can swap keycaps.

Can. It is a mkb, after all. Not sure about the typewriter keycap model you linked though but RK64 and RK71 can swap keycaps.

I love both my RK71 and RK988. But they're cheap budget boards that has lottery quality in it.
My RK988 is very smooth and sturdy with prelubed stabs and RK brand black switch. Changed the caps to cheapo pbt SA keycaps and they're butter smooth. Feels like my endgame board already for a fullsize 104 keys.
My RK71 however is a weird mess. Rattly unfixable stabs and weird bluetooth disconnect problems. The Outemu reds I had on them are very scratchy. Plus if you change keycaps on these the right side third row is a bit off with different height. And I personally think RK61 will have more useful function with less keys than the RK71

Again I love both my boards but with my RK71 it's definitely becoming my practice experiment board for modifying switch/stabs in the future if I got money without buying a GK61/GK64

Depends. Some of their new offerings are standard such as huntsman mini and blackwidow v3 pro are standard row. While others that involves weird 1u switch on bottom row or weird 7u spacebar will make you headache with more expensive keycap sets.

Generally gamer branding boards are not popular in the mkb market. If you lurk around people will either recommend you to save money and go tecware phantom elite with choice of special switch (gat yellow for example) or go slightly nicer boards like Akko, Leopold or Ducky for prebuilts with fancy keycaps

As far as I know starter boards to MKB poison is always the GK61/GK64 hotswap 60% board since it's a good empty base to get into the hobby.
I personally haven't gotten one yet but they look like a very nice starter kit with vast options like metal or wood body, 5pin switch compatible means any switch fits, crazy customizable software as well as large community support for any errors you faced.

I'm just a beginner and still surface level in this hobby but you can take it a step further with mods/maintenance such as lubing stabilizers to make any keyboard sounds amazing

Going advanced will be disassembling every switch and lightly lube the rails with Krytox 205g0 for some smooth movements and makes your keyboard sound crazy premium. People even get car soundproof dampening material to dampen the body so it sounds extra solid
Haha thanks for reading through my "brief overview" on what got me started into this hobby.

Not sure about RK61 but I'm using RK87.

Used for less than half a year and a couple of keys stop working properly. Click 10 time maybe only managed to read 7 times. Been using wired and bluetooth on and off.

Depends. Some of their new offerings are standard such as huntsman mini and blackwidow v3 pro are standard row. While others that involves weird 1u switch on bottom row or weird 7u spacebar will make you headache with more expensive keycap sets.

Generally gamer branding boards are not popular in the mkb market. If you lurk around people will either recommend you to save money and go tecware phantom elite with choice of special switch (gat yellow for example) or go slightly nicer boards like Akko, Leopold or Ducky for prebuilts with fancy keycaps

As far as I know starter boards to MKB poison is always the GK61/GK64 hotswap 60% board since it's a good empty base to get into the hobby.
I personally haven't gotten one yet but they look like a very nice starter kit with vast options like metal or wood body, 5pin switch compatible means any switch fits, crazy customizable software as well as large community support for any errors you faced.

I'm just a beginner and still surface level in this hobby but you can take it a step further with mods/maintenance such as lubing stabilizers to make any keyboard sounds amazing

Going advanced will be disassembling every switch and lightly lube the rails with Krytox 205g0 for some smooth movements and makes your keyboard sound crazy premium. People even get car soundproof dampening material to dampen the body so it sounds extra solid
Haha thanks for reading through my "brief overview" on what got me started into this hobby.

When I used the Keychron with both my Mac and PC (using a bluetooth dongle) via bluetooth there wasn't any lag when in operation. But when it comes to operation from sleep mode, yes, I experienced it with the Mac once in a while. I got used to it already.

I use RKG68 on bluetooth. During use no delay, but of course when it go to sleep there is the reconnection lag (a second or so). This is unavoidable with battery based, unless you can find a keyboard using BLE to maintain consistent connection without going to sleep.

This is not an issue for me because I type consistently, but if you're going to be typing sometimes and then leave it a long while and don't want a short time when it needs to wake up and reconnect, highly suggest wired (you can use USB extension for example to cross the tables).

it will surely have lag when waking up ... as suggested better get a usb cable or aviator cable

i think once u use cable u wont use BT anymore hahaha

i bought a gaming table with 2 side gromets for better cable manegement. so i can fit my mouse and keyboard wires through these holes :} very convenient.

If you got like an ikea wooden table you could probly mod and do your own gromet with the right drill type