this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2024
17 points (94.7% liked)

Mechanical Keyboards

8704 readers
11 users here now

Are you addicted to the clicking sounds of your beautiful and impressive mechanical keyboard?
If so, this community is for you!

Here you can discuss everything about mechanical keyboards (and only mechanical keyboards).

Banner by Jay Zhang on Unsplash

founded 4 years ago
 

As someone who's looking to to get into the hobby, I'm curious to hear if there are any recommendations for budget friendly mechanical keyboards. I had/have a Corsair cherry red mechanical keyboard that I used probably around 10 years ago at this point when I was into gaming, but now I'd be looking for something a bit more refined, and possibly vintage as I quite enjoy using old tech. Any suggestions? I'm in Europe if that matters at all.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] wjrii 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It would blow your budget somewhat, but there is certainly ONE manufacturer to at least look at and smile.

As others have been saying, Keychron is currently the go-to for recommendations for first keyboards. They have a bewildering variety of layouts, most of them at several price points, and they have better European "ISO" support than most pre-built companies.

For switches, if you want it to feel a little more like your old ThinkPad, the biggest move in that direction would be to switch from Linears like your Cherry Red to "tactiles" like Browns. Those recommending "hot-swap" boards have a good point, but you'll want to make sure the printed circuit board is well supported if/when you put in new switches. The most common damage people get with modern mechanical keyboards is a hotswap socket tearing away from the PCB.