Reasonably priced Silent Mechanical Keyboard and Silent Mouse?

Lpumpkinpieblah on 22/09/2020 - 11:41

Hey all

First time poster, long time observer!

Hoping to grab some recommendations on a not so expensive silent mechanical keyboard and silent mouse. I am building my first PC with only the peripherals left to purchase. Primary use will be for gaming.

Personal experience is that I like the feedback from mechanical keyboards but due to having young children in the same bedroom I am weighing up options to minimise the noise levels (if that is possible)

Any assistance, advice, suggestions would be valuable!

Computing

Comments

  • Indomietable on 22/09/2020 - 12:07

    Kogan have $39 sale from time to time on their mechanical keyboard - you might want to get the brown ( clicky but less noisier than blue ) or red ( not clicky ).

    I train my young ones to be a heavy sleeper. I can vacuum the room or typing a meter away on my blue switch keyboard without disturbing their sleep.

    • pumpkinpieblah on 22/09/2020 - 12:42

      Right, brown thanks will have a geezer at Kogan.

      I have two, one is a heavy sleeper I could get away with watching movies or the TV running. The other one is practically a ninja / black belt / SAS / Solid Snake Jr at the age of 2 and a half.

  • Ryanek on 22/09/2020 - 12:18

    You'd want to look at brown switches. What is your budget?

    • pumpkinpieblah on 22/09/2020 - 12:43

      If I could get both for around $100 max I'd be happy!

    • YeemaiI on 23/09/2020 - 08:23

      I would have to disagree. Browns are actually nearly as loud as blues. Go for the silent series of switches is you want membrane keyboard silence

      • Ryanek on 23/09/2020 - 08:26

        He wants a mechanical and under $100

        • YeemaiI on 23/09/2020 - 08:28

          Yeh, so? There are plenty of silent series switch keyboards out there for under $100.

      • YeemaiI on 23/09/2020 - 08:26

        *if

  • tspec on 22/09/2020 - 12:52
    +3

    TBH - most mechanical switches are fairly noisy if you're aiming for "silent/quiet enough to sleep through"

    Most PC stores (although difficult to get to with lockdown if you're in VIC) will have Mx Cherry varieties for testing (and yes there are lots available out there) - even JB has these.

    Additionally, it's not just about the switches themselves, but also about the noise dampening when bottoming out (i.e additional O-ring layers) and the lubrication on the stabilising bars - which is typically quite poor on budget keyboards (i.e. Kogan).

    I had a similar predicament when we had our 2nd child, and I ultimately went with a membrane type keyboard (Logitech Mx Keys) - yes the tactile feedback is comparatively poor but it was much quieter c.f mechanical - although for me, typing experience is acceptable as my main comparator is my laptop.

    My mouse is comparatively quite noisy (Logitech Mx Master 2) - haven't really looked at quieter/silent mice.

  • RobBoss on 22/09/2020 - 21:15

    IDK why Amazon link is recognised as a referral. Anyways, search for Razer BlackWidow Lite on Amazon currently $116 (exceeds your budget by 16) via Amazon UK. Designed for office use and you can put O rings to make it quieter. I bought on a month back, loving it.

  • steve109 on 22/09/2020 - 23:24
    +1

    If you haven't used one in person, the brown switches are still louder than you'd expect. More of a quiet for mechanical than truely quiet. The only truely silent ones I'd recommend are the cherry MX silent reds. I have a Leopold fc 980m and it's fantastic. But nowhere near as much of that satisfying tactile experience that brown gives, but if you really need silent like I do, it's still miles better than any non-mechanical ones.

  • YeemaiI on 23/09/2020 - 08:29
    +1

    Don't go for the typical red, brown, blue or black if you want silence. Their are still extremely noisy if you're wanting to sleep. I have a brown switch, black and blue switch keyboard and all of them are actually around the same volume, it's just that the blues are a bit higher pitched because of the click jacket.

    Go for the silent series of switches e.g. Cherry MX silent reds

  • AlextheMeertkat on 23/09/2020 - 10:03

    I saw one at KMart for $39 few days ago and I liked it.
    https://www.kmart.com.au/product/full-mechanical-gaming-keyb…
    All reviews are 5-star. Reasonably priced.
    To be honest, I have had only positive experience with all my purchases at KMart, so I am pretty sure it is fine if don't expect a $200 keyboard performance.
    Not sure about the noise level though, you can easily check in store.
    Their return and warranty policies are also good.

    Anyway, that is my 2c.

  • abctoz on 23/09/2020 - 10:34

    if you want silent membrane or laptop style keyboards can be pretty good, particularly if you lube it

    i got microsoft desktop 600 keyboard/mouse about a few years ago because the keyboard was the most silent one i could find in that price range, it was really awesome initially but with heavy typing it started to get more noisy after a year. i got greedy and overlubed it with coconut oil and its kinda ruined - i think i have to open/clean it when to fix it, so be careful not to use too much but with a small amount of lube you can make it pretty much silent.

    for mice if you can find one with old style standard switch then you can make it pretty silent by tweaking the distance from contact, i have done this with my 2 older mice:
    https://youtu.be/xeBX71eRiDQ

    the microsoft mice that came with 600 is terribly loud, and it uses this new style switch that i can't even open so that was dissapointing. so to apply this trick you'll need an older one like in the video that you can adjust

    • confidantduk on 06/11/2020 - 08:29

      can confirm membranes are defo ridiculously quiet, and if you're particularly ansy about keypress feel, ridiculously disgusting to type on after you know how mechs are like

      I've got a custom kb with sakurios (dampened red switches), and although pricey (200+ ish), they're the best thing I've even typed on.

      • abctoz on 06/11/2020 - 19:47

        def a lot of options for ~$200

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