I’ve been looking to move on from membrane keyboards and go mechanical, but no matter where I look literally every mech has some form of obnoxious RGB lighting on it. Are there any that just… don’t have it?
I’ve been looking to move on from membrane keyboards and go mechanical, but no matter where I look literally every mech has some form of obnoxious RGB lighting on it. Are there any that just… don’t have it?
Just turn it off? Or keep it as a backlight, set it to one solid color you like with brightness turned down to be subtle but useful.
You don’t need to keep it on rgb puke.
Snark aside, pick a keyboard you like for the size/feel/features and find out if its a software nightmare (razer) or not before worrying about rgb (just make sure rgb can be configured).
I don’t want my keyboard to have software configuration on my PC. It’s a fucking keyboard. It doesn’t need and shouldn’t have an app.
My Corsair keyboards do not require an app to be installed forever.
If I want to customize colors and whatnot I need the app, otherwise there are some presets on the keyboard itself.
If I customize the colors, I use the app and do it and then uninstall the app and move on. This is presumably MUCH easier than trying to do this without an interface directly on the keyboard which I suppose would be the alternative.
It WOULD be nice to just be able to edit a text file and copy it over.
My cheap Amazon RGB mech keyboards don’t need software to turn off/on/customize RGB or change colors or anything.
If you get one with QMK and Via you just set everything with a web app and everything is stored on the keyboard. Software is entirely necessary if you’re not using a QWERTY layout.
Ducky keyboards and most rgb mechs let you define the keyboard just with fn combinations. The software is for convenience
There are reasons you may want an app besides rbg: like if your keyboard supports macros, or if you have a hall sensor keyboard and you want to configure the activation and deactivation heights of your key presses.
But yeah, I kinda think rbg keyboards are lame
Install once, configure, uninstall
Razor needs the software running to remember the key map or macros. Any special keys such as play/pause needed the fucking software. Even the mouse needs the software running to remember I set it to a static color.
Don’t buy Razor.
Oof, I guess Logitech is better in that regard
*Assuming the keyboard has on-board persistent memory.
If the keyboard is unplugged or the computer is turned off, without persistent memory, it will revert to default. Always check the features of the keyboard before you buy. If you want to avoid using bloated, buggy OEM software, check to see if your keyboard is supported with software like OpenRGB. Typically this only supports the lighting configuration. Things like macros may still require you to install OEM software. And hopefully it has persistent memory to save it to the device.
Look up the Redragon VATA K580 if you are looking for modular with on-board keyboard LED controls via key combos (no software or system level lighting functionality.) I’ve been using that for a while with AKKO silent penguins, and I really like the thing.
Only downside I can think of is how narrow the sides of the included switches are, and how I accidentally damaged two of them while pulling the switches out. Might just be skill issue on my part, but it did come with a few spare switches anyways.
Late edit: other downside is that you can’t adjust the color or brightness of the media keys, lock lights, or macro buttons once you’ve saved a macro. Thankfully those are minor issues, albeit a tiny bit annoying.
Are there any keyboards without nightmare software. I’m coming from a Corsair keyboard and iCue sucks, and also the keyboard somehow stops controllers from working with Steam. (This is a known issue I’ve seen posts about on the official Corsair forum and they just won’t fix it)
Edit: Thanks for the suggestions, I will look at some of those brands and see what they look like. I was originally planning on getting a custom one from Glorious Gaming cause I tried them at Best Buy and liked how they felt along with the replaceable switches and how customizable they are. But if anyone else has used this brand and has thoughts I would love to hear them.
Keychron uses QMK and can be configured through their website or software and I believe it just flashes new firmware so you don’t have to keep the software running.
I have a Glorious custom keyboard and it’s pretty nice. Heavy, types well, and “luxurious” feeling. All that being said, most days I just use my Logitech MX Mechanical Mini (basically a 65% with some Logitech-proprietary low-profile brown switches), and enjoy it immensely. I would recommend that if you just want something zero frills and will be a great keyboard for years to come.
Nuphy boards use QMK which is configurable through VIA which is open source and web based. Pretty convenient. Otherwise you can just configure it using button combos as per their instructions.
Wooting’s pretty great with their webapp.
My cheap-o ($40; uses a knock-off of CherryMX switches) mechanical keyboard doesn’t have the option to turn the lights off or change how they display. It also doesn’t turn off when the system is in sleep mode; only when totally powered off. :(
That stinks. Have you tried using openrgb or even windows lighting control? Might be time to take a tiny hammer to each light :p