Gaming Keyboard/Mouse Vs. Conventional Keyboard/Mouse?

_Gawd_

What's all this about? Is there really any difference or is it just a scam to get you to fork out more? I've been using this for years...



The keys are short and easy to hit. Going back to my old PC keyboard and pushing keys is like giving my fingers a workout. You have to push the keys right down to your toes to register the character. ie, this....



So I'm looking for a new keyboard for my PC. What gaming keyboards/mice do you guys recommend that have short keys like the Macintosh?!

fionny

Generally gaming keyboards are always longer and spaced out for accuracy, I know none of the gamers I play with would consider one of those apple style keyboards because:

Too compacted.
Not enough feed back (there is a big return to mechanical keyboards for gamers)

I use the Logitech G15 myself I have had it for a good few years now, I like the solid feel of logitech products etc...

If I was buying a new keyboard today my favourite on the market is the Corsair Vengence range.

Skerries

I suppose it's what you are used to as I have the Logitech G110 and the keys were a little closer together than what I was used to when I first started using it but it is second nature now.
I also like that it is backlit for night gaming and has a built in soundcard

CyberJuice

there is a few differences between gaming keyboards and regular..

always good to have a backlit keyboard so u can see the keys wen ur gaming at night time,good gaming keyboards will have backlit buttons

some gaming keyboards come with buttons that can be programmed into macros,this is great for gaming..

also the responce time on gaming keyboards can be better,thats the time between when you are hittin the buttons and it registers in the game

if your button bashing say for instance hittin multiple keys at once or in quick bursts gaming keyboards have special built in tech to handle this better than a regular keyboard..

i had a few keyboards.my last one was a razor and microsoft ones,they both had media keys on the top for pausing , playing and skipping to the next track on ur itunes or windows media player,also had buttons for highering up and lowering the volume,i found these buttons very handy while i was gaming in case i needed to change songs or mute or watever mid game..

CruelCoin

Actually, for most FPS games the standard mouse you have will be fine unless you have a massive tv and can make the best out of these 8000dpi mice.

All you really need to improve your mousing is to apply the "claw grip"

llustrated here

This makes you finger movement faster and more accurate.

Overheal

I have a logitech G11 hand-me-down and its worked out great. Dont need to press down the buttons with any special effort, it has macro keys which I don't bother using/mapping in most situations but the big thing is comfort. Backlighting helps too.

If I had the money to I wouldn't do anything silly like the Optimus Maximus (but dayamn), I'd do the Razer mechanical keyboard. Why mechanical? Because they have the best keystroke performance of anything, even if they are clacky as hell. And its backlit, so double-win. I do like Logitech stuff but I havent seen a keyboard of theres that quite boasts the same mechanical lovefest. Perfectstroke just doesnt seem right to me.

fionny

Bother with Razer stuff is it looks soo.... cheap. But is but pricewise

hal9000

You might consider a mechanical keyboard, in terms of gaming advantages, most of them use ps/2 connections which allows for NKRO and the cherry mx red switch has a very low linear actuation force 45g great for rapid double tapping in fps (not so good for typing)
Loads of tenkeyless versions which allows for a more ergonomic and comfortable gaming setup.
Also they are usually better build quality than most keyboards out there so should be able to handle the rage quits better :pac:

check out geekhack.org to get a peek into the weird world of mechanical keyboards!