CM Storm Quickfire Rapid vs ErgoDox EZ

The QuickFire Rapid keyboard is often recommended as a great beginners' keyboard on pretty much every enthusiast community out there due to its value for money. Its build quality is great, it's easy to find online & it comes with a good selection of switches for about half the price of the top-of-the-line options.

The CM Storm QuickFire Rapid uses genuine Cherry MX key switches which are generally considered the best available mechanical switches. Their reputation is well-deserved, due to their excellent durability and superior performance and reliability. They go through vigorous testing to ensure they meet the desired quality standards.

Moreover, because they're standard Cherry MX switches, they are interchangeable with custom keycaps. Down the road, if you prefer you can get your own custom keycaps and totally change the look of your board. From a minimalist design like this to a custom image like this, or even different shaped keys like this you can modify them to your hearts content.

Not only is the braided cable detachable, but it has cable routing as well. If you want, you can swap out the included braided cable for a longer/shorter/different coloured one that suits your setup better. Also, if you break the cable (or your pet does), it's cheap to get a new one and very easy to do. Cable routing helps organize your cables in a more pleasing way. Instead of having the cord come right out the middle of the back, you can have it go on either side of the back which can help make your setup look cleaner.

The soft touch coating on the the keyboard's surface makes wear marks minimal, as it tends to hide small scratches and doesn't wear off as easily as some paints do. It has the bonus of making the surface pleasant to touch, because of its softness.

There are 4 different kinds of Cherry MX switches (Blue, Red, Brown and Green) to choose from. There are also alternate versions of the Quickfire Rapid that offer options the original version doesn’t have, like backlighting, numbers pads or media function keys.

This keyboard is made by the same OEM as the Filco keyboard, so it's of comparable build quality. Given that the Filco costs a lot more money and has one of the best reputations in the industry for quality, this is a great selling point for the Quickfire Rapid.

One of the main objections against getting a mechanical keyboard is how much it usually costs. This keyboard combines good quality and an affordable price. This makes it a good choice for beginners that aren't positive the investment on a mechanical keyboard will pay back.

Included with the keyboard are 6 extra keycaps as well as a keypuller. The keypuller allows for easy removal of the installed keycaps, in order to switch them out with caps of the users liking.

The USB cable connecting the keyboard to one's computer is easily detachable at the base of the keyboard, thanks to the micro USB connection. This makes it easy to detach and reattach the keyboard at will. Couple this with the fact that this is a tenkeyless keyboard that weights just 2.1 pounds, and you can understand how easy it would be to remove the keyboard and throw it into a bag in order to travel with it.

The included rubber feet and fold out back feet allows for a sturdy hold on one's desk. This keyboard does not move or slide around in the slightest, whether the back feet are folded out or not.

Costar stabilizers offer less friction in their key motion use. Often Cherry branded stabilizers are a bit more mushy when the key is pressed, which is why many prefer Costars stabilizers.

You can map any key to any position easily using a simple GUI, including making hardware key layers. And, since the firmware is open source, you can modify it to do anything you want. Many of the hardware components can also be altered/replaced by equivalent parts.

You can arrange each side of the keyboard to match your hand positions. Helps keep your body straight and improve your posture.

Because of its split design, the ErgoDox lets you optimize the positioning of its halves according to what's best for your body shape, even if you have broad shoulders and large hands.

The ErgoDox has an open design, so if you want to modify anything at all, you can fork the Github repository.

There are more keys which are easily accessible for touch typists than on common keyboards.

Unlike other keyboards, like the Lexmark M15 and Cherry G80-5000, where the only action performable by the thumbs is punching the spacebar, ErgoDox has extra keys placed near the spacebar, within thumb reach. This prevents the thumbs from being a bit redundant.

Almost all the keyboards have a small row offset (for example, on a standard QWERTY keyboard, the A key is not directly below the Q key. On the ErgoDox, this isn't the case: keys form straight columns. Together with the movability of the two parts you can stretch your fingers straight on, not slightly sidewards. This helps with touch typing, since you just need to stretch your fingers straight onward to reach the key above, rather than stretching it onwards and sideways.

Because of the nature of ErgoDox, within an open source community, there are advancements in firmware being made continuously.

With most programmable keyboards, you have to use their software in order to save and reuse your customizations. Using such keyboards on other systems "degrades" them to their default setting. Since with the ErgoDox the settings are saved directly on the keyboard, no matter the system where you're using it, your macros, tap dances and layers are always available.

The Ergodox doesn't allow you to reach over the centerline to hit T and H with a single finger, or whatever other bad habits you might have. The split design forces you to keep your hands in the right position.

The pre-assembled version offers an extensive 2-year warranty, provided you haven't taken it apart or physically broken it.

You can put the keyboards together, making it very easy to carry around.