The Oracle Answers

[chzel]

Sorry, can't help with that!Until a while ago I was using an MX1100, but now I have switched to a Mionix Avior 7000.
On the keyboard side of things, do you need dedicated macro buttons etc?

[grieverheart]

Sorry, can't help with that!Until a while ago I was using an MX1100, but now I have switched to a Mionix Avior 7000.
On the keyboard side of things, do you need dedicated macro buttons etc?

Not really. I rarely, if ever, use the M1-M5 buttons on my board. Mainly cause they are out of the way.

Edit: May have found a winner! The Logitech G502 Proteus. Above average button count without too many in one spot. The local best buy has a demo one on display. Might have to fiddle with it!

[chzel]

Then maybe you could consider something else, like a Ducky Shine 3 or 4, or a Filco MJ2?
Also, if you provide more info(location, preferences, usage patterns) more suggestions will come!

Edit: That mouse is nice, but companies should cater for us jealous lefties!

[grieverheart]

Then maybe you could consider something else, like a Ducky Shine 3 or 4, or a Filco MJ2?
Also, if you provide more info(location, preferences, usage patterns) more suggestions will come!

Edit: That mouse is nice, but companies should cater for us jealous lefties!

I am a lefty. But like playing the guitar, I use the keyboard and mouse like a righty.

[Muirium]

But keyboards are a rare place where lefties get it easier! You guys can use the mouse, with your dominant hand, right beside the keyboard, even with a regular full size model. In fact, that's exactly what I have to do when I pull out one of my large models: mouse around like you, in reverse!

[chzel]

But..but...to game I need to change my key binds to IJKL...
Joking aside, at work (bank) I can work much more efficiently with the mouse on the left hand and the right hand on the numpad than the righties!

[shreebles]

But if I go with the Logitech keyboard, I am going to want a matching mouse.

Why? What benefit is there other than similar logos and the fact that you give more money to one manufacturer, instead of two? If I had to get a new mouse I'd definitely get something that has a good optical sensor with flawless implementation, regardless of the brand. I can recommend the Roccat Savu and the Zowie FK, I prefer the latter because it just feels solid and incredibly precise. Just get the best mouse you can, regardless of brand or looks. I actually hate the yellow logo on my Zowie.

For a list of "flawless" mice: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=56240.0
Don't worry, the G502 is also on that list.
But ask yourself these questions first:

Do I prefer light (Omron) or heavy clicks (Huano)?
Do I prefer light (Zowie) or heavy mice (Logitech)?
Do I prefer ergonomical or ambidextrous mice?

I use my board primarily for MMO's, like Tera, Archeage, etc. If you had to choose between the two (and they are only $10 apart in price), which would you go with? The Razor Blackwidow Chroma or the Logitech G910 Orion Spark?

As per your keyboard question, while I am definitely not one to care more about the shiny colors than the moving parts of a keyboard, I think the new Steelseries looks quite nice, it combines low profile keycaps with a light linear action switch if that's your kind of thing.

http://steelseries.com/products/keyboar ... g-keyboard

I'd definitely stay away from the Orion because, aside from looking like a toy, the keycaps are horribly malformed and have been reported to feel very weird. Plus the known quality issues with Logitech keycaps.
The Corsair K70 RGB is nice but expensive, but at least has real Cherry switches. And Razer... I refuse to support a company that changes their supplier to a cheaper one (Cherry to Kailh) and claims it's to the benefit of the customer, while keeping retail prices high.

[grieverheart]

But if I go with the Logitech keyboard, I am going to want a matching mouse.

Why? What benefit is there other than similar logos and the fact that you give more money to one manufacturer, instead of two? If I had to get a new mouse I'd definitely get something that has a good optical sensor with flawless implementation, regardless of the brand. I can recommend the Roccat Savu and the Zowie FK, I prefer the latter because it just feels solid and incredibly precise. Just get the best mouse you can, regardless of brand or looks. I actually hate the yellow logo on my Zowie.

For a list of "flawless" mice: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=56240.0
Don't worry, the G502 is also on that list.
But ask yourself these questions first:

Do I prefer light (Omron) or heavy clicks (Huano)?
Do I prefer light (Zowie) or heavy mice (Logitech)?
Do I prefer ergonomical or ambidextrous mice?

I use my board primarily for MMO's, like Tera, Archeage, etc. If you had to choose between the two (and they are only $10 apart in price), which would you go with? The Razor Blackwidow Chroma or the Logitech G910 Orion Spark?

As per your keyboard question, while I am definitely not one to care more about the shiny colors than the moving parts of a keyboard, I think the new Steelseries looks quite nice, it combines low profile keycaps with a light linear action switch if that's your kind of thing.

http://steelseries.com/products/keyboar ... g-keyboard

I'd definitely stay away from the Orion because, aside from looking like a toy, the keycaps are horribly malformed and have been reported to feel very weird. Plus the known quality issues with Logitech keycaps.
The Corsair K70 RGB is nice but expensive, but at least has real Cherry switches. And Razer... I refuse to support a company that changes their supplier to a cheaper one (Cherry to Kailh) and claims it's to the benefit of the customer, while keeping retail prices high.

I prefer heavy mice with heavy clicks. Something durable, but reliable. While I am left-handed, I use the mouse and keyboard like a right-handed person, so it doesn't need to be ambidextrous. Also, I took a look at the FK mouse. It has the same amount of buttons as the Razor Deathadder that I have, and I find myself wanting a few more. Maybe 4-6 on the thumb side. As for the Corsair board, spending that much isn't a problem. The logitech orion is $20 more. I believe that puts the Chroma at $10 more.

To be honest, I'm not all that familiar with the moving parts of a keyboard. I'm glad you guys are helping me make some good decisions though. I like match peripherals, but I'm not married to the idea. If the mouse is reliable, has comfortable button positions, and feels good to game with overall, I'll go with it, regardless of brand.

[chzel]

<snip>....I think the new Steelseries looks quite nice, it combines low profile keycaps with a light linear action switch if that's your kind of thing.
http://steelseries.com/products/keyboar ... g-keyboard
...

That spacebar...

[Muirium]

Holy shit, that's horrible!

The case isn't too bad though. They just need to ask us for input during their design process sometime. QUIT MAKING MISTAKES! PHATTY SPACEBAR IS ERROR!

[seebart]

That new Steel series is whack! But then again it's all relative, that might sell well. Who knows?

[Hypersphere]

First the Matias 60 with its double-height spacebar, now the Steelseries M800. Maybe there is a new trend in fat spacebars.

And the M800 is over 20 inches wide! With some kind of keys on the far left along with F-keys across the top, perhaps it is back to the future with inspiration from the IBM M122 or the Northgate Omnikey/Ultra-T.

[seebart]

That's exactly what I just thought about those F keys, looks familiar!

[shreebles]

Come on guys... Not a fan of the space bar either but if we are comparing Orions and Razers might as well throw the Apex in there to be fair!

[grieverheart]

What I do know from personal experience is to never go with roccat. They are a horrible brand. I have no experience with Steel Series, but if I had to choose to trust a brand with either new switches or SS, I'll choose Logitech. They have never let me down. As for the Corsair option, I don't like it's layout.

I appreciate all of you giving my options and expanding my knowledge on different brands and models. I have made up my mind on which keyboard I am going with, but I have yet to choose the mouse, but I will continue to look at the options. Thank you all!

[crunch]

Would it be possible to complement this keycaps set with ISO, even better nordic keys. Granite or Olivetti version.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mechanic ... 56442.html

[Halvar]

These are Tai Hao caps. They essentially make cheap sets with high MOQs. I haven't seen any ISO or international sets by them so far (except maybe their vintage stuff from the 90's).

Wiki:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Tai-Hao_sta ... hot_series

Last group buy:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=58110.0

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The group buy you cited had an ISO add-on kit. I think that's as much as I've seen to date.

[crunch]

Ok thanks. What are the options to get nordic keycaps at the moment except wasdkeyboards.

[TheNacho]

Ok thanks. What are the options to get nordic keycaps at the moment except wasdkeyboards.

Ducky makes some, I think.

[Abra]

I recently got a second model M. It's a 1391401 made on 01-10-1992 in the Usa. The text (ie Home, End, PgUp etc) below the digits on the numpad have a lightbrown colour.

This differs from my UK 1995 made model M, where the text on the numpad is black. Is the lightbrown colour something that is standard for all 1391401 ones?

[Halvar]

Yes, the older Model M keyboards had that second color on Numpad legends. This was given up, probably for cost reasons, in later models.

[Muirium]

Yup. As usual, the only innovation they came up with in later years was ways to make things worse!

Those nice little touches are some of the best things about IBM caps. Some of the better clones out there did a nice job replicating them, too. Like my NMB:


http://deskthority.net/review-f45/nmb-r ... t8469.html

[Abra]

Ah thanks for the reply Halvar and Muirium! It makes sense, different dye sub colours would probably be too costly.

[araif]

hello mighty oracle,
I'm searching for a (first) good keyboard suited for typing code, I spend a lot of time on the kb and prevalently using emacs, I'm beginning to feel some pain to my pinky and so I began searching in this realm of mech.

Now I'm evaluating to build one, I saw some ergonomic keyboard, or 60%, or ortholinear, or something that has a clit in the middle (because I don't want to leave the kb!), I really can't decide... From what I saw around I will be good with cherry mx clear and red for modifiers, I have somewhat small hands and sometime I type things that has non ansi chars èéìç. The keyboards that I saw and intrigued me was atomic, ergodox, poker II, http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/mini ... 5-120.html (this that has the clit), *probably* I'm not really ok with 40%..I already have a teensy 2.0 so let the fun begin!

I summon you oracle!

[shreebles]

Not cheap, but since you are looking at building something yourself definitely check out the Tex Yoda, as it has a Trackpoint... (out of all the names for it, you chose the least appropriate one )

[araif]

whait, why least appropriate?

[araif]

joking aside, of that yoda I like the trackpoint and the keycaps + case inclination, and the probable build quality, it seems I'll need to swap ctrl to capslock or similar, given it has the common modifier positions, I liked the atomic space saver layout because the space was somewhat smaller and there was room for modifiers controlled with the thumb, also 200$ (if reaches min price) is probably a little too much, I would prefer to pay less and don't have a trackpoint if that's the game changer.
again, thanks for the response!

[Muirium]

Yoda is the first thing to come to mind. But if you can supply your own clit - and I don't just mean the tip - well, 7bit has a few custom PCBs where you could install it. The 40% HyperMicro is currently in prototype stage. He also has a 60% planned and a TKL, if memory serves.


http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/hype ... t9454.html

I'm just using my HyperMicro as a keyboard without double-timing as a pointing device. But Suka has an appropriate firmware ready to run on that Teensy 2 of yours. And his prototype case just arrived here…

[copter]

I've been looking for a while to get compact keyboard like MINILA or KBT RACE / RACE 2. I already own original Ducky Mini / Poker II, which is perfect except that I really want to have dedicated arrow keys as I use them a lot. Trick here is that I want to have ISO layout and I'm not willing to sacrifice keys on left on Enter for arrows (as I have seen someone to do with their Poker II). Also I would like to have it with backlight, so this makes things a bit more complicated. Noppoo Choc Mini would be a perfect too, but it's ANSI only.

Any suggestions? I know that MINILA fills all my expectations except backlighting and KBT RACE 2 is supposed to come up with ISO models later this year, but is there any other options?

EDIT: It can be 5 or 6 row model, as I can live with normal function keys or ones behind FN.