this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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Mechanical Keyboards

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I want to buy a new mech board but not looking to drop a lot of money on it. What's the best pre-built budget mech keyboard you've ever tried? ~$100 or less.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Can't go wrong with Keychron: https://www.keychron.com/collections/normal-profile-keyboards

But it does depend on what you're after

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I love Keychron. I have a K2. Was thinking about a C1 Pro Custom. Only $80.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

So many options from them, really. You could also look at epomaker, and even Drop has a few options, but you'll get most bang from Keychron

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

The first board that made me fall into this rabbit hole was a K2, it's a great budget board! My friend has a C2 and is quite happy with it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Can't really go wrong with that, if you like it, go for it!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

@2tone

@jcrabapple

This is a personal choice. I've had Keychron and theyr'e very good entry level .. but I DESPISE the fact that they have Bluetooth only. The fact that you have to press a key to wake the keeb up and then wait 2-3 seconds for Bluetooth to pair before you start typing bothers me to no end.

I ended up selling mine to buy a RoyalKludge one which is an amazon clone ... it's pretty much the same thing but it has a 2.5GHZ dongle that doesn't have that same delay.

It also has RGB LEDs programmable software, hot swappable switches and it costs under a hundo ....

Been using it for 2 years now, very happy with it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I really think those Amazon brands would see noticeable sales improvement if they paid a native English speaker $10 to come up with a better name than "Royal Kludge".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Hmm I don't think you're using the right Keychron boards. Mine has USB.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'm not worried about that because I hard wire my keyboards anyway.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I agree, my current daily driver is a Keychron and so far I haven't had a problem with the Bluetooth when I use it. I use it wired most of the time but a 2.5Ghz dongle would be fantastic.

I just saw the Royal Kludge RK918 today and it looks just like the out of production Anker keyboard I have. It is solidly built and looks great. The only drawback I see is it appears to be like the Anker in that it is a hardwired cable, no customizing with aviator cable or such. Not all RK keyboard are like this and many have the dongle like yours.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

What are you talking about? All of my keychron boards have a hard wired connection and Bluetooth

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

My Keychron has a dongle, although it was one of their more costly models.