There are many types of quality keyboards out there to choose from. Not just aesthetics, functions and also useful things that might go a long way. Razer to me, i'm totally not bought over by their quality and also their products just do not find anywhere in my gaming arsenal.
I will just run through briefly on what you can aspect from a mechanical keyboard.
Switches:
There are many type of switches in market. There are Cherry MX, Omron, Matias, Topre, Kailh(Razer's uses this) and the list goes on.
You can read more
here
Know what you like and what you feel when you type. I know that there is a lot of users switched from Blue switches to other type (based from my experiences while i may be wrong). Simply because it is noisy. And Razer Blackwidow series is one of them. It has the tactile feedback that makes noises each time you let go the keys.
Features/Functions/Usage etc:
This is a mix bag. There are a lot of features and functions of various mechanical keyboards. Choose the ones that has most of your needs.
So in my honest opinion, these are the few features that i personally find it useful and is a basic thing that a mechanical keyboard should have.
- Basic multimedia keys on F1-F12
- Detachable USB chord
- Know what kind of stabilizers are being used
- OEM Keycaps profile for easy swap of keycaps in future
- Provided with keycap puller (optional)
Other things below are wants:
- Bluetooth features
- N key rollover
- PBT material keycaps
- Type of material used on exterior of the keyboards
- USB input
- Microphone & Headphone jack
Keycaps, i highly stress this, NOT ALL keyboards have standard sizing of keycaps. There are some keyboards that has different sizing for bottom rows of keycaps. Such as the CTRL, WIN, ALT and Spacebar. Standard sizing is 1.25, 1.25, 1.25, 6.25 respectively.
Some keyboards have it differently such as 1.5, 1, 1.5, 6. Which is not of standards, and it is very hard to find replacement for the last row. Especially with different gradient slope in different position. IIRC, Corsair and older models of Coolermaster Quickfire TK has this type of odd sizing.
Backlit LED:
LED is not a must. But to me it is a double edge sword. It can be good to a certain advantage, and it can be bad to a certain extent.
Having LED is good for dark usage. It can be good for one to view where are the keys. But if you are a well versed typer, you wont be looking at it. And it can render useless.
Another bad point of having LEDS are, more point of failure. LEDS do blow after a period time of usage. Usually it happens when the current running through the LEDS are usually more than usual and it can cause the LEDS to blow up at times. And when it does, it is like a virus, it spreads. Lastly i hate it when it is at night, it can be a distraction and it is quite bright even if i were to set the LEDS to be lower.
Although it is probably a mixed reviews, i personally feel that it is good to have a keyboard without backlit LEDS.