Seasonic Topre REALFORCE RGB AEAX01 USB Wired 108-Key Keyboard

Background: I have owned 3 mechanical keyboards using Cherry Mx blue, green and red switches. I have also used many standard membrane switches on office computers. I tend to have heavy fingers and usually prefer switches that provide more resistance like mx green.Looks: They keyboard is really nice looking. The colors on each key really "pop" and the light reflects off the material between each key which lends a nice ambient glow effect. There is a small glossy area on the top right surrounding the volume keys that attracts fingerprints and doesn't really fit with the rest of the keyboard, but in the grand scheme of things it is small and doesn't really detract enough from everything else to matter.Feel: This is incredibly sturdy and has a nice weight to it. If you used it as a weapon you would do more damage to the other person than the keyboard. However, the switches and keys are the real start of the show. The Topre switches are very different from most mechanical keyboards. With a Cherry mx green or blue, as you push the key down you feel more resistance up until you hear the "click" and the switch actuates. With a Topre switch it stiffness is at the very top. You feel a little surface tension right away as you start to press, and then the key gives way and smoothly goes down to the bottom. The easiest way I can describe it is to imagine the keys floating on top of a few inches of water. If you start to push a key down the surface tension gives you a little resistance, but once it starts sinking the motion becomes smooth until you hit the bottom. It is definitely unique compared to other mechanical keyboards.Experience: I have been using this for about 2 months, and I can say it has quickly become my favorite keyboard. The adjustable actuation point is really useful, especially being able to do it on a per key basis. Do you have keys you hit accidentally all the time? You can just set them so they don't register a key press with a light touch. They keys are a standard layout, so if you want to replace keycaps it is no problem. Keyboards are very subjective, and the one downside to Topre switches is that they are very rare, you will have a hard time finding one to test. In my opinion it is probably the best blend blended feel out of anything I have tried.Value: I bought this for around $230. Very expensive compared to other mechanical keyboards, even some that are considered top of the line. It really boils down to what you need. If you want tons of macros, or a tenkeyless, or something with a million gaming presets this is not for you. If you can't really tell the difference between keyboards and a dell keyboards feels the same to you as a mechanical one, then don't waste your money. This is more for the person who prefers a luxury car like a BMW or a Cadillac compared to an expensive sports car. The fit, feel, and finish are all perfect. It is not the fastest and doesn't pack the most features, but everything it does have feels "right".Edit 12/21/18 - I have now owned this for over a year and it is still a joy to use. Everything has held up beautifully. The standard cherry mx stems have allowed me to try a variety of different keycaps and I ended up changing them to all white, which looks even better with the backlighting. All in all I am very happy with my purchase.

Update 2: Another LED has gone bad. I now have three keys I need to turn the light off completely or they will be a different color to what I have set.Update: removed a couple more stars because two of the LEDs have started to go bad. One of them only shows green and another will not show any green at all so I basically cannot have the keyboard all one color without seeing odd coloring on those two keys unless I use all red... No thanks. I have seen led issues mentioned by other people around the internet. It absolutely should not be happening and to me indicates they used very cheap components to make this very expensive keyboard. This is the first keyboard I have owned that has developed led issues and is the last keyboard of this brand I will ever buy.First things first. You are basically paying double the price of any other keyboard for the switches alone. Other than the switches this keyboard is nothing special. It is a plastic build and not overly strong plastic really. The keycaps are ABS. They are doubleshot ABS so they do feel nice but they are still ABS. For this price I think PBT would have been in order. The lighting effects are cool but every major keyboard company has similar lighting effects. That leaves the switches as the main thing increasing the cost by at least $100. One standout feature is that you can change the actuation point of the keys. So you can have them actuate at 1.5mm, 2.2mm or 3.0mm. The key travel is the same but the key presses will register at different points. It doesn't seem like much but it is significant. It's like the equivalent of being able to switch between Cherry red switches and cherry mx speed switches whenever you want. The topre switches do feel unique. They are like the smoothest mechanical switches you have ever used combined with the best rubber dome you have ever used. Are they worth the price? Well I would say you should really try them out to see for yourself. I could easily see someone being just as happy with some Cherry Clear switches or or whatever and saving $150. I really like them though. Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars. The reason it loses a star is because for the price I think the case should have been made of metal and the keycaps should have been PBT. At $150 it would be a 5 star keyboard.On a side note Amazon sent this to me and the packaging was terrible or should I say non-existent. They simply slapped a shipping label onto the keyboard box and shipped it to me. All the corners were smashed. The keyboard was fine but if I knew they were going to send it like that I wouldn't have bought it through Amazon. If you buy this make sure to click that you want it sent in an Amazon box. I didn't care if the contents of the package were known but I had no idea that meant they would use the product package as the shipping container which I think is completely unacceptable for something that costs this much.