Here is a guide for all the different profile Keycaps so you can get an understanding between the different profiles
I am a Cherry Profile guy myself but some of the other’s are very nice as well
Here is another plastic board by Keychron that you can get fully built or are a barbones and Keychron boards are very well made and can be used with QMK/VIA which is used to remap your keys if you want to remap a key to a different spot
Keychron is definitely a good jump off point to get started on Customized Keyboards
The V Series and K series are their plastic keyboards and their Q seriers are their Aluminum Keyboards and they have a wide selection of Keyboard Profiles to choose from
Tiger Lite would be my number one recommend to all beginners.
3 Likes
That is defiantly a good one for sure, didn’t think of that one right off the top of my head earlier so good call @ice
1 Like
There are some decent quality TKLs that come as DIY.
The GMMK TKL is great. I have one. My only complaint is that I wish there were a “high profile” case for it.
The Drop CTRL is another good TKL keyboard. My only complaint is that it has plate mounted stabilizers which are really not a big deal. It may be more expensive than you want for an entry-level build though.
The Tiger 80 Lite is inexpensive and a decent board. I don’t have the Lite, but I have the Tiger 80 original. The gasket mounted polycarbonate plate is too flexible for my typing preference. But it is a super fun keyboard to put together and it has good acoustics (and an F13 button). Be aware that KBDFans customer support is pretty crummy if anything goes wrong and their keyboards aren’t supported/maintained for very long.
As @Dozill mentioned, Keychron boards are great for getting started. They aren’t too pricey and are compatible with everything. Most of their boards have plastic cases which, IMHO, makes typing on them louder than expected. The aluminum boards are ok though.
I haven’t tried the MK870, but it looks nice.
2 Likes
As far as switches go, the Gateron Oil Kings are the current “King of the Hill” in linear switches.
Glorious Lynx switches are top contenders. It’s almost like they took the top tactile switch (the Holy Panda) and made a few profile adjustments to make it linear. They have a great fit and very little stem wobble.
Kailh Speed Silvers are great switches if you’re looking for a quieter setup. Especially if you use o-rings to keep the keycaps from bottoming out on them. With o-rings, they’re nearly silent.
The Cherry Reds are the “OG” MX-style linear switch and they’re still widely used for a lot of builds. They are the “sweet spot” for a lot of users since Cherry (presumably) did a lot of prototyping and market studies on them before manufacturing millions (maybe billions?) Other manufacturers have provided different mods of the design (e.g. different spring types, spring weights, stem materials, etc.), but it all began with this guy. A lot of off-the-shelf gaming keyboards will have Cherry Reds or the cheaper Gateron Reds installed. Once Cherry’s patent on the design expired, the switch market exploded with a lot of cool evolutions.
2 Likes
Keydot co has some great beginner budget friendly in stock boards as well like the portico 75
2 Likes
TKC also has some nice switches. I like the Kiwi switches (tactile). They are what I have in my Tiger 80. I really want to try the Tangerines (linear) and the Blackberries (tactile)
2 Likes
I love my Tangerine Switches
2 Likes
You can start by buying a mechanical keyboard that supports how swapping. So if you want to replace them or mix and match you can easily swap them out.
Definitely avoid the glorious gmmk pro, 3/4 of mine aren’t reliable keyboards. They randomly miss key presses and randomly show 2 characters for a single keypress. Overall, not usable as a keyboard. I loved the idea of a nice customizable keyboard ecosystem, unfortunately, whoever manufactured the early PCB’s and switches did a poor quality job.
1 Like
Yeah I’ve been hearing that, I did some more research and decided to by a keychron q1 version 2 and it’s on it’s way!
1 Like
Thank you everyone for all your help!
1 Like