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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Monday, 22 February 2016 15:51
Just when we thought every company had jumped into the peripherals market at some point and time Patriot showed off their new product line back in June. They introduced a gaming mouse, headset, and a mechanical keyboard, basically the staples. Well late last fall they sent over the headset and mouse but I was a little slow to get into my testing. That said I’ve been testing them both out for a while now and today I’m going to break down what both the Viper V560 Gaming mouse and Viper V360 7.1 Headset are all about and see how they perform. With the peripheral market having so much competition, especially from a few well establishes brands Patriot has an uphill battle, but let’s see how they do with their first try.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Tuesday, 09 February 2016 21:39
Almost a year and a half ago I took an in depth look at different ways that you can customize your mechanical keyboards. In that article we took a look at custom keycap sets, novelty caps, custom keysets, even ways to spice up your USB cable and keyboard case. While doing all of that I took a quick look at Artisan keycaps but at the time the only example we had were the molar keycaps and frankly the teeth creeped people out more than it peaked their interest. In the time between then and now I have been following the community and have picked up a few Artisan keycaps along the way that I found interesting. I’ve picked up keycaps from Martin at Hot Keys Project multiple times now and I thought it might be interesting to talk to Martin and find out a little about HKP and then check out their caps. He was nice enough to include a pair of caps along with my last order and answer a few questions I sent over as well. So let’s dig in and find out what Hot Key Project is all about.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Monday, 01 February 2016 23:15
Almost exactly one year ago I sat down and took a look at the original Massdrop ErgoDox kit. A few months after that Massdrop in combination with what would later be called Input Club announced that they had been working on a completely new designed called the Infinity ErgoDox. It’s important to note that the original ErgoDox was originally designed by Dominic Beauchamp aka Dox. Later the Geekhack and Deskthority keyboard community’s worked with Massdrop to provide a full kit. The ErgoDox isn’t exclusive to Massdrop but the specific design that I reviewed last year was. There are actually multiple places where you can put together your own parts or now even buy a pre-built model as well. The Infinity ErgoDox though is a new design based on the original but taking into account what they learned from the 60% Infinity Keyboard that Massdrop worked on with Input Club. The overall shape is the same but the Infinity ErgoDox uses a proper backplate and makes big steps forward with things like USB 3.0, NKRO, an LED screen, backlighting, and stabilizers. So today I’m going to dig into the new kit and see what it is all about, have a little fun building it all, then test out the new design and see how it compares to the original.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Saturday, 23 January 2016 14:16
By now a lot of you have most likely picked up or at least tried a mechanical keyboard. After years of membrane keyboards being the norm, mechanical keyboards have burst back on to the scene over the last few years. This is great, but have you ever been in the same room or office as someone typing on a loud mech with blue or greens? I love them, but man it’s enough to drive you crazy. For me I’ve stuck with Cherry MX Browns or Clears on my personal keyboards whenever possible for my wife’s sanity. Even then people have tried O-Rings and other options to keep things toned down. Well Cherry recently introduced a new silent switch and for the first six months it is only available from Corsair. Lucky for us we got the new Corsair Strafe RGB Cherry MX Silent in. Not only does that give us a chance to check out the new key switch, but it’s also our first look at the RGB cherry switches and the Strafe as well.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Wednesday, 13 January 2016 14:38
While we’ve been focusing mostly on MSI’s latest offerings in the motherboard and video card departments they’ve stayed busy filling out a fairly robust peripheral lineup. Many would consider a mouse pad to be the least exciting of the roster, but I’m blessed with just enough obsessiveness to be concerned with how a mouse pad feels, fits, and performs. We recently received the ThunderStorm from MSI, a reversible aluminum mouse pad designed with quality in mind. I’ve spent some time with the surface both at home and on the road to see if it hits the mark.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Friday, 08 January 2016 23:04
When it comes to keyboards it feels like after all of these years the only thing that manufactures can do is work with lighting to make their keyboards stand out. Recently though I came across a fairly new company who only makes one keyboard but still caught my attention. KeyedUpLabs only sells the ES-87, a tenkeyless keyboard. It doesn’t have backlighting or anything else flashy. Instead they have focused on making a keyboard without cutting corners to get the highest quality with a simple design. What stood out to me though was a small feature where the keyboards case can actually be replaced with a variety of cases in different colors. Being a TKL keyboard this stood out to me as a great way to match your keyboard with your build or with a different keyset put a little of your own personality into your keyboard, much like how we do with our PC builds. Because of that I reached out and KeyedUpLabs sent over a keyboard as well as a few different cases and I set out to customize the ES-87 to match my wifes personality as the ES-87 would be her LAN keyboard.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Thursday, 17 December 2015 15:12
Its funny, as much as things change there are some areas where things stay the same. A great example of this is with a lot of today’s gaming mice. The fact is, with mice like the G5 and the Deathadder, they just got almost everything right. This is why we have seen both reintroduced multiple times with just small changes to keep up with what people are looking for. For the Deathadder, Razer’s biggest change or update was the introduction of the Razer Mamba. I first saw the Mamba back in 2009 at CES in a tiny little booth that wasn’t even on the show floor. Back then Razer was still a very small company. The reason I associate the Mamba with the Deathadder is they share a lot in their shape. Anyhow, here we are six and half years later and I finally have a Mamba in the office. Only this time around it’s not the original, this year Razer reintroduced the Mamba under the same name but with a new design. I’ve been testing it for almost a month and it’s not time to dig into its features and tell you all about it.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Monday, 16 November 2015 10:04
Well over a year ago we first had the chance to check out a keyboard from Cooler Master that I had been excited about for a long time, their Novatouch TKL. This was their first Hybrid Capacitive keyboard, they worked closely with Topre to design it with a unique stem design that lets you run keycaps designed for Cherry MX switches on it. This is important because as we found out about a year ago in our Keyboard Customization article, you can do a LOT to set your keyboard apart. So over the past year Cooler Master has been working to show everyone why the Novatouch is different, but at least in my opinion the price has been a bit hard for some people to get over. Well over time the price has some down, but in addition to that they have recently been selling a special Barebones model that brings the price down even more. The barebones Novatouch TKL is specifically for people who already plan on replacing the keycaps with something else, cutting the costs down by selling it without keycaps. Well I got the Barebones Novatouch TKL in as well as a new set of custom keycaps, today I’m going to show you what you can do with the Novatouch and reflect on over a years’ worth of use in the performance section.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Wednesday, 14 October 2015 08:12
Back in June I tested and wrote about one of Tesoro’s new full RGB keyboards, the Lobera Spectrum. While I liked a lot of the keyboards features, the styling wasn’t exactly what I would look for in my own keyboard. So when they mentioned their other full RGB keyboard, the Excalibur Spectrum I jumped at the chance. The share a lot of the same features, but the styling on the Excalibur line is a lot cleaner and simpler compared to the Lobera, so I was excited to take a look at it and find out if it would really be a better fit for me and anyone else who prefers a little bit simpler design. Well I have been testing it for a few weeks now and I can finally sit down and talk a little about how it performed, find out if it lived up to my expectations!
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Friday, 02 October 2015 16:47
It’s weird, for a long time it felt like I was testing a new mouse every week or two week. More recently though that has almost completely flipped and my peripheral testing has been all keyboards. Well just before vacation and then the LAN I did have a bit of a chance of pace. Mionix sent over their latest mouse, the Castor and asked us to take a look at it. So I’ve been putting the new mouse to the test in the office while I have been getting caught up on work. Well I finally have a little time to be able to sit down and talk about Mionix’s latest mouse and how it performed, so hang on I’m going to go over everything.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Friday, 14 August 2015 15:41
In spring 2014 Cooler Master introduced their Quickfire Rapid-I backlit TKL keyboard. As soon as it launched my old Quickfire Rapid was put aside for the new model in my LAN bag and I’ve been recommending them along with the Code keyboard that I use on my main PC to anyone who would listen. The reason I also pushed the Code is because the Rapid-I was only available in the TKL form factor. After all of the waiting Cooler Master has finally introduced their full sized model, the Quickfire XTi. I’ve been spending a little time with the XTI and I can finally sit down and talk a little about its features and let you guys know if it was worth the wait. Going into testing I was especially curious if I would like it enough to get me to swap it with the Code on my main PC.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Thursday, 23 July 2015 19:32
While I have been a huge fan of TenKeyLess keyboards, for those who don’t have a lot of desktop space and especially for LANs. I recently jumped into smaller form factors, I took a look at the 60% Infinity and even bought a Poker 2 as well for my personal collection. I love the 60% boards but if you are used to a TKL you might miss a few things. For me it is the direction pad. Well because of that I had my eye on an interesting keyboard from Keycool called the Hero 84 that pack most of the keys that you get on a TKL into a smaller format, similar to the 60% keyboards. Well Massdrop was nice enough to help get a sample from Keycool and I have been using it off and on for nearly a month in between our other keyboard reviews. Today I can finally sit down and recap how it has performed and go into detail on what the Hero 84 is all about.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Wednesday, 15 July 2015 09:00
There are so many companies that make mechanical keyboards these days that I would completely forgive you for not knowing who Epicgear is. Unlike a lot of those companies though Epicgear is actually an offshoot from GeIL, just about anyone who has shopped for parts for a budget gaming PC will know them. You see, GeIL it known for making gaming focused RAM that is typically found at a good price as well. So when I was talking to a friend over at Massdrop about upcoming deals and they mentioned sending over the Epicgear Dezimator X I was interested. So today I’m going to find out what the Dezimator X is all about and find out if it follows in the footsteps of its parent company in being a gaming focused product for people on a budget.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Thursday, 02 July 2015 13:43
With mechanical keyboards coming back in popularity the need/demand for wrist rests has been rising as well. A while back I covered the Grifiti wrist rests that I had picked up for myself. While I have enjoyed them as I mentioned in their coverage they aren’t exactly designed to hold up. As mine has gone downhill I have been keeping my eye on other wrist rest designs looking for something that would work well for me. One of the designs that stood out to me was the custom made leather Noko wrist rests. I saw their drop on Massdrop and then later explored the gallery of custom designs on their website. Lucky enough they were about to start a drop with Massdrop and were interested in us checking one of the TKL wrist rests they would be doing in the drop.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Monday, 22 June 2015 14:54
With Corsair locking in an exclusivity deal on the Cherry RGB key switches for their first year and in general with Cherry switches being on backorder sometimes over a year out it’s no surprise that a lot of the manufactures have been reaching out to other options. Razer uses an MX style knockoff with their specifications, SteelSeries introduced their QS1 switch with their new mechanical keyboard, and Logitech actually introduced their new Romer G switches all the way back in September of last year. Well the G910 that houses the Romer G switches has been extremely popular and only a few weeks ago did we finally get one in to test out. I loved the G710+ but with the G910 changing everything from the ground up I really have no idea what to expect. That said I’m excited to see how the new switches perform and find out if the new design is a good as the changes they have made in their mouse lineup have been.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Wednesday, 17 June 2015 12:51
This past January Cherry revealed an upcoming keyboard design called the Cherry MX Board 6.0. We have taken a look at the 3.0 but the 6.0 that they showed was a complete departure from anything they have done in the past. For one the entire keyboard was backlit and it had a heavy duty aluminum casing. But more importantly with it they were showing off a new technology called RealKey. Basically Cherry designed a way to almost completely drop any key lag while also giving full N key rollover and no ghosting. To do that they actually had to step back and go back to analog rather than the standard digital signals that all of the keyboards use today. Well after a few delays, I can finally say that I have spent nearly two weeks testing the Cherry MX Board 6.0 and I’m finally ready to sit down and talk a little about the keyboard and RealKey technology that it introduces.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Monday, 15 June 2015 13:36
At the start of this year I had the chance to work with Massdrop to check out their version of the community designed ErgoDox. When doing that review I especially enjoyed building the keyboard myself. So when I saw that Massdrop was developing their own keyboard the Infinity, I had to get my hands on it. Well like most things working out the bugs takes time so while we got a first gen infinity keyboard, we did have a few problems that pushed us back to checking out the second drop’s version. Needless to say this review has been a long time coming, but I’m excited to finally show everyone about my experience with the Infinity from start to finish.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Wednesday, 10 June 2015 14:37
Last fall, when the initial wave of RGB keyboards were first coming out, I had the chance to check out the Lobera Supreme from Tesoro. While the keyboard wasn’t perfect I was impressed with its value. One of the issues I had with the keyboard was the lack of individual key RGB lighting but recently that changed. Tesoro introduced the Lobera Spectrum with a similar design but with the spectrum backlighting. Today I’m going to dig into it and see if anything else has changed and find out if it is still a good value like their first RGB keyboard.
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Friday, 29 May 2015 17:25
One of the more up and coming company’s in the gaming keyboard market for me has been Thermaltake. They have introduced a wide variety of keyboards over the past few years including their Poseidon line. We have seen well priced keyboards from the Poseidon lineup that have also included backlighting and a clean look. For a lot of gamers this is the only way to get that clean styling and backlighting without completely breaking the bank. Today I have the chance to take a look at their newest Poseidon keyboard, the Poseidon Z Forged. The Z is how TT distinguished their non-Cherry keyswitch models but now they only make the Z. The Forged in the name however is completely new, this is because this specific model has a metal plate across the top, giving the keyboard a more solid construction and adding to the styling. So let’s dig in and see what it’s all about!
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Category: Input Devices
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Published: Thursday, 14 May 2015 15:11
I’m not sure if everyone else has been watching, but Kingston has been slowly expanding their product lines a little. They are obviously known for their memory and later their SSDs and flash drives. But they have also been dabbling in headsets with their HyperX brand. They started out by partnering with other manufactures but recently they have introduced their own headsets and they have been very popular from what I have seen. Well around that time they also quietly introduced a line of mouse pads. I guess they figure that a HyperX fan might be interested in keeping the HyperX trend going with a mouse pad. So today I’m going to take a quick look at the HyperX FURY Pro Gaming Mouse Pad and see what they have going on.
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