[DoctorEldritch]

Hello Legion Gamers!

Earlier this week we started talking about Black Friday plans. And both @ZaidH and @DracoTarot mentioned new keyboards.

Which got me thinking it'd be nice to ask about what everyone is using and why, so if someone ever chooses to change a keyboard, this could give some ideas. And there are choices to be made there, keyboards come in many shapes and sizes. Flat or tall keys, slim or normal, with or without Numpad or illumination, wireless or with a cable, and this is not mentioning shapes or materials! So much to pick from.

I'll start: currently, I am using a wireless keyboard+mouse combo.



Not the most "gamer" setup, perhaps, but my reasoning is like I mentioned in the Black Friday discussion, I am currently using a Lavolta laptop stand, and selected a keyboard that could fit under its legs, so I am a bit limited as to what keyboard size I can choose from. Wireless because I did not want to bother with tangled wires, not sure how popular this opinion is, and one good thing about the combo is that one USB plug can be used for both keyboard and mouse, which frees up a USB port.

This is my setup, and it works well enough for me for now. How about you?

What keyboard do you have and why? ⌨

[Saka]

I have a wireless TKL with red switches. I used a wired 60% before with MX Silent Red, but the wireless keyboard is pretty nice (and I won it in a raffle, which made a very bitter summer a little bit better).

[thecorf]

I am using a Svive Triton Mini 70 which i bought as i was looking for a cheap start to get into the keyboard modding hobby and this was on sale fitting my aesthetics and having the Nordic keycap layout. I have changed the switches to Akko CS Ocean blues and lubed, clipped and holee modded the stabs which with the surprisingly thick PBT keycaps that came with the board produce a nice deep sound. All i really want to change is add some kind of fill into the case to remove some of the hollow sound that's in the keyboard as well as try my first linear switches, so once i can i am gonna get some factory lubed linears which i might then do a custom job of afterwards.

As for the mouse i am using a Glorious Model O in pink which so far has been very nice to use in terms of weight and shape

[DoctorEldritch]

@thecorf those look nice! Do they only light pink, or can you make them any colour you want?

How did you come to be interested in keyboard modding, that never even occurred to me to try, I am honestly afraid to disassemble anything factory-made for the fear of making it worse. I'll need to research now what you mean by "lubed, clipped and holee modded the stabs". So you prefer your keyboard to make a sound?

[thecorf]

@DoctorEldritch Yeah they have RGB lighting so they can do whatever colour and a bunch of different presets for like motion etc, i just like it to be static pink

I got interested in keyboard modding after watching a keyboard review (can't remember which) by Badseed Tech and he modded the keyboard, think he only lubed the switches, but that was enough to open a rabbithole for me to look into what was possible 😅 And with mechanical keyboard, especially premade ones from the factory they do their best to cut costs and to make them more "jack of all trades, master of none" so it's usually pretty rewarding to do some modding (of course to the extent the user feels safe doing)
and basically clipping is cutting off some bouncy legs that are on the mounting plastic for the stabilizers for like shift, space, enter keys, those legs are clipped to lessen the sound of the mounting plastic hitting the PCB of the keyboard. And then Lubing is actually exactly what it says on the tin 😅 you put some lube (some use dielectric grease, i used one called Krytox 205g0) on the metal bar that is the other half of the stabilizer, where it meets the mounting plastic, to make it less rattle-y and smoother since there is less resistance. Holee mod is a mod where you add an extremely small piece of fabric bandaid in the mounting plastic of the stabilizer where the metal bar goes in, which also lessens the rattling sound from the stabilizer.

It's not necessary for most people to do all i mentioned, but it helps me enjoy my keyboard more, and i personally find it fun to do :D and it's a hobby that i could maybe compare to being deep into coffee, where you do a lot of steps to perfect something you enjoy, where most people are fine with the storebought starbucks 😊

So if you're interested in knowing more, you can look up "Keybored", "Hamaji Neo", and "Taeha Types" on Youtube.

And to answer the last question, i prefer my keyboard to make a sound, but a very specific sound 😅 so for example i don't like clicky mechanical switches like the Cherry MX blue, but i like the sound of the Akko Matcha Green.

[DoctorEldritch]

@thecorf Pink is interesting, I see it often as a colour of choice for gamers and streamers, but I never thought about why this is. Do you just like pink, or is it smoother or gentler light or better for picture contrast or something like that?

When you say "jack of all trades, master of none", what mastery are you aiming for with these? I mean, are you modding the keyboard to be better for gaming, or for something like speed-typing or coding, or something else?

All those procedures you describe sound so unfamiliar to me, I can only applaud your bravery. I'd be afraid to open up any device, I am not at all confident in my ability to make it better, and I am sure if I tried modding something, I'd end up breaking it.

Your comment about coffee made me remember that scene from the Bucket List:

@MoriMoonpaw could probably share more about coffee appreciation, I do not drink it. But it is good that your hobby is a more practical skill, something technical and useful.

I will take a look at those channels you mentioned, though I doubt it'd motivate me to try, but it could be interesting to watch. Like figure skating or ballet: you'd never see me doing something like that, but watching others do it can be nice.

Specific sound. Too bad there are no "keyboard tuners" like there are piano tuners who could come, stick a tuning fork in their mouth and tune a keyboard to the sound of the most pleasant pitch. I checked those sounds, and did not like Cherry MX blue either, too...I dunno, rudimentary? But, to be honest, not a big fan of Akko Matcha Green either, it reminds me of those movie scenes where some insects crawl about, like a bug running or somesuch. I guess I'll need to look for the keyboard sound I like.

[GoLLuM13]

I use a Logitech G915 with Linear Switches
Because I'm in the Logitech ecosystem for other peripherals (I don't like installing hundreds of apps just for RGB, Macros... etc) I wanted a wireless keyboard with a good battery life that had mechanical switches, with dedicated macro keys, multimedia keys with volume control and that has RGB of course 😜
And of course Num pad is a must for me, this is why I haven't ended with the TKL version.
While it's absolutely not something I look into a keyboard there is a nice option/gimmick on this keyboard, it also has Bluetooth so if I press the dedicated button I can type on my phone or my tablet.
There is one downside for me, it's that the keys are half illuminated, it means for the keys with 2 symbols on them only 1 is illuminated, even though I don't look at the keyboard when I type I think it's a shame.

[ZaidH]

I just started my mechanical keyboard journey with the insanely cheap Redragon K552 keyboard (red switches) 😀 Having a jolly good time with it, but I do wish that it came with a wireless option.

@thecorf My god that keyboard looks so good! Taking notes from your super detailed and informative post on modding keyboards📝

[thecorf]

@ZaidH i've seen a lot of channels mod that specific keyboard so you should be able to find some guides that will suit your very keyboard! :D you'll be surprised how much even a change of keycaps can change the entire aesthetic of your board 😂

[ZaidH]

@thecorf This thick slab of a keyboard is good enough to be wielded as a weapon during WW3, and yet I'm afraid of removing even the key caps like they show in the videos that you mentioned😭 That hole mod is something that I'll definitely be attempting in the future😁