Vortexgear Poker 3 - Cherry Mx-Red

I've used a Happy Hacker Keyboard (HHKB) for years, and only recently looked into mechanical keyboards after hearing about them. I went with the Cherry-MX Brown version of the Pok3r first, then got a red for home when the brown was backordered. I think I probably would've preferred another brown or clear Cherry-MX. I was worried that the brown was going to be too stiff, but now I wish for something with a little more resistance. The red switches are still good, but feel a bit anemic.Aside from all that, I love this keyboard. It's very small, but the keys are standard sized. Despite not having things like arrow keys or distinct F# buttons, I don't find myself missing them at all. I used the programmable layers to set up keys that were much more convenient and faster to get to. If you can, change your Fn key from its original position to right-alt. That puts it right under your right thumb, within quick reach. Then I mapped Fn+WASD to up,left,down,right, which felt natural after years of playing games. Fn+Q and Fn+E became PgUp and PgDown, respectively, and Fn+Z, Fn+C became Home and End. Finally, Fn+\ became ~, which is useful if you're spending time in a Linux/UNIX environment.I really can't say enough good things about the keyboard. It's very solid, the metal base with sticky feet means it doesn't shift at all, and after ~2 months of 8-10 hours of typing a day, it's still a joy to use.There are only two cons: limited availability, and other keyboards don't have the same mappings, meaning I fat finger input quite a lot on my laptop when programming.Highly recommended.

One of the keys stopped working intermitently shortly after buying and after a while the one next to it started acting up the same way. On top of this the keycaps are made with expensive PBT plastic but the legends aren't doubleshot so they get dirty after a while. Very sad with the purchase, plus I can't take it back to warranty and can't afford to try my luck with a new board :(

It's been a good keyboard but lately the "E" key has not been working properly, requiring lots of extra force and multiple presses to work. I've had it almost two years but I have a Model M from 1986 that works perfectly =/

It works amazing, however mine came with a broken space bar, and I didn't realize until after the return date since I was waiting for key caps before using it. The spacebar still works, but i had to take it apart to shove the little orange piece back into the board.

I was scammed by a Chinese vendor on Amazon, so be careful who you buy from. I was refunded my money, no worries there. I bought a different Pok3r later and it's great! Very well made keyboard. Solid metal case, nice Cherry switches, and expensive feeling keycaps. This keyboard has several layers so you can access the function and other "missing" keys, and you can even assign your own keys to the other layers. This is a very popular 60% mechanical keyboard, and for good reason. It's great quality, looks great, and is customizable with different keycaps and USB cable.If you are considering getting your first mechanical keyboard, I would spend the extra money on this over a cheaper model. I made the mistake of buying a couple cheap ones first, and I wish I had just gotten this one from the start. Once you start getting into mechanical keyboards, hold on to your wallet because it really can become addicting. Hard to explain, since you only need one keyboard per computer, but it's a phenomenon that seems to be growing these days.

This was my first mechanical keyboard, and I must say, I can never go back. I chose the reds because I do a lot of gaming, and they suffice for extended typing. They can be a bit touchy, but I'm relearning how to type in a sense.The POK3R is incredible. The keycaps feel great (PBT). The aluminum case is a plus. The construction in general is fantastic. The only frustrating thing about the keyboard is that there are no media keys, but Vortex has said they'll release a firmware update to add them.

So well built. I love the 60% layout when it is this programmable. I didn't know how well I'd like a 60% keyboard, but with the fn buttons I don't find it any less convenient than a TKL keyboard. Just takes a couple days of getting used to.Heft weight, very solid construction. I ditched a full size keyboard with numpad for this and I'm so glad I did. I am strongly considering getting a second one for work.

best keyboard I own. the tactile feedback is excellent with the cherry reds.the only drawback is that the programmability is not as flexible as it could be (for instance, what about volume up, down, mute, play, next?) and it would be nice if they keyboard was wireless.