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A_Random_Username_0 t1_j1f9627 wrote

Reply to comment by _matty- in Keychron V1 brown or red by Syrox3105

Keychron charges $10 or $20 extra for a built board compared to barebones. If someone doesn’t know preference, getting built and buying extra switches or keycaps if wanted is cheaper since it’ll function out of the box too. Keychron’s default keycaps also have legends for what the default mapping will be. There aren’t many switches worth buying you can get for the upcharge amount, and you get keycaps too.

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_matty- t1_j1fbdmj wrote

I’m not sure that the keychron reds or browns are a very good switch with which to determine preference, while the gateron milky yellows are both one of the most affordable switches on the market and routinely ranked as one of the best linears available. If the goal is to get a good prebuilt that is better than those available from the bigger companies, like Corsair/Razer/Logitech/etc, then the stock prebuilt V1 is the way to go. If the goal is to get a legitimate enthusiast-grade keyboard for a very, very good price, then I stand by my recommendation. Spend $70 or $80 (depending on knob version or not) on the DIY, $40 on keycaps, and $25 on switches for a total of $135 or $145 for very good entry-level custom enthusiast board vs $90 or $100 for the pre-built. For me, the better switches and keycaps are worth $45. There is a reason that keychron offers these self-branded “k-pro” switches on their less-expensive prebuilts but better switches from gateron on their higher-priced/“nicer” keyboards

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_matty- t1_j1fbz5x wrote

Also: the keycaps on the v series prebuilts are not very nice to type on. Both feel and sound are disappointing - though they do look good. Multiple reviewers have commented to this effect. I regret buying them and immediately swapped them for a set of cherry profile pbt double-shot caps. SO MUCH BETTER

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