Best Gaming Mouse/Keyboard

[jimmy_dog]

I'm looking at mice for gaming, and have come across Razer mice. They look really cool and have great reviews. I was thinking about getting the Razer Mamba and the Razer Blackwidow ultimate, but $270.00 is a bit high for a keyboard/mouse combo. Is it worth it? What are the advantages of these? Has someone else found something better?
If you are recomending a gaming mouse, it has to be wireless.

 

[HEXiT]

black widow is pretty much the worst mechanical keyboard you can choose.
it comes nowhere near many of the others on offer, and lacks features like nkr which will register every keypress. the black widow on the other hand will register up to 6 simultanious keypresses, notice i say up to. beause they use a gaming matrix around the wasd keys where you can press all 4 of them keys together and 2 more but if you were to pres w,a,shift z and say p,l its likely p or l wont show up this means that keyboard will limit what games you can play with it. certainly not 2 player games or teken type...
the mk 50 ,80,85 or cm storm trigger or many of the competition have full or better nkrol than razer, razer are pure style over content and in this case do not measure up by some margin... stay well clear.
dont be fooled like enhanced gaming matrix and rubbish like that it basically just told you they optimized the wasd keys at the expense of the rest of the keys on the keyboard, same with the advanced anti ghosting. it is actually referring to a feature of nkrol (number of keys it can roll over after 1 is typed) on most usb keyboards the limit is 3-6 keys and thats it. if you want the best dont buy razer

 

[jimmy_dog]

black widow is pretty much the worst mechanical keyboard you can choose.
it comes nowhere near many of the others on offer, and lacks features like nkr which will register every keypress. the black widow on the other hand will register up to 6 simultanious keypresses, notice i say up to. beause they use a gaming matrix around the wasd keys where you can press all 4 of them keys together and 2 more but if you were to pres w,a,shift z and say p,l its likely p or l wont show up this means that keyboard will limit what games you can play with it. certainly not 2 player games or teken type...
the mk 50 ,80,85 or cm storm trigger or many of the competition have full or better nkrol than razer, razer are pure style over content and in this case do not measure up by some margin... stay well clear.
dont be fooled like enhanced gaming matrix and rubbish like that it basically just told you they optimized the wasd keys at the expense of the rest of the keys on the keyboard, same with the advanced anti ghosting. it is actually referring to a feature of nkrol (number of keys it can roll over after 1 is typed) on most usb keyboards the limit is 3-6 keys and thats it. if you want the best dont buy razer

I'm wandering which is the best. I also saw the CYBORG R.A.T. 9 and it was very customizable. I also like all the buttons like the precision button. Thank you for your input. The G110 keyboard seems good. Is there any keyboard under $100 that is a good keyboard for gaming and has customizable g keys, but also has something similar to Alienfx where you can customize the keyboard through a program on your computer?

 

[jimmy_dog]

www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=216771429&sellerid=15339450
I found the rat 9 for only $119. I heard a lot of people say that no keyboard is necessary so I think I might just stick with my keyboard an get a razer vespula. The dual surface and wrist rest seems like a good upgrade from one of those calender mouse pads(mines 5 years old by the way).

 

[HEXiT]

rat 9 isnt a particulalry good mouse. the contagion and infection are better.
as for the keyboard the mk 80 with cherry reds or browns comes in at 120 if you buy directly from q-pad if you dont you will only have the option of cherry blues which are good for typing but gaming not so good.
look for keyboards that use cherry red or brown and if your particularity heavy handed then cherry black are for you. you can spend 60+ on a gaming keyboard but it wont be as good as a basic mechanical keyboard. i just ordered the mk 85 with cherry reds. i was gonna get browns on the mk 80 but as the mk 85 was only £4 more i decided against it and got the reds. which are great for fps which is what i play most.
like i say theres a lot of things to look at when considering a keyboard. if you want the best then mechanical is for you. if you want looks pretty then membrane/dome keyboards will do but they will never compete with tactile feedback or reaction time and essentials like true nkroll over...
the cheapest mechanical keyboards come from cherry themselves. they are just basic keyboards with no fancy things like usb or back lighting, typically you will pay 50-60 for a basic mechanical like the cherry G80 or qpad mk 50. if you need backlighting which many gamers do your looking at quite an increase in price. typically 100+ for the better 1s http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide#post_6025244 have a look at this list. there keyboards listed by keytype.
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?29596-Ripster-s-N-key-Rollover-Guide some great info here...

 

[jimmy_dog]

rat 9 isnt a particulalry good mouse. the contagion and infection are better.
as for the keyboard the mk 80 with cherry reds or browns comes in at 120 if you buy directly from q-pad if you dont you will only have the option of cherry blues which are good for typing but gaming not so good.
look for keyboards that use cherry red or brown and if your particularity heavy handed then cherry black are for you. you can spend 60+ on a gaming keyboard but it wont be as good as a basic mechanical keyboard. i just ordered the mk 85 with cherry reds. i was gonna get browns on the mk 80 but as the mk 85 was only £4 more i decided against it and got the reds. which are great for fps which is what i play most.
like i say theres a lot of things to look at when considering a keyboard. if you want the best then mechanical is for you. if you want looks pretty then membrane/dome keyboards will do but they will never compete with tactile feedback or reaction time and essentials like true nkroll over...
the cheapest mechanical keyboards come from cherry themselves. they are just basic keyboards with no fancy things like usb or back lighting, typically you will pay 50-60 for a basic mechanical like the cherry G80 or qpad mk 50. if you need backlighting which many gamers do your looking at quite an increase in price. typically 100+ for the better 1s http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide#post_6025244 have a look at this list. there keyboards listed by keytype.
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?29596-Ripster-s-N-key-Rollover-Guide some great info here...

I'm probably not going to worry about the keyboard at least for the time being. Why isn't the rat 9 good? I don't want a corded mouse. And aren't the contagion and infection just the rat 7 with different colors?

 

[HEXiT]

nah they have an upgraded sensor. the original rat 7 and 9 have the same original sensor wich was found to be a bit buggy. often it would cause the mouse pointer to move when the mouse is stationary... some mice were ok but others in the same range were buggy. its more to do with low build quality rather than the actual hardware used. the later versions increased quality control and used a new sensor.
if you want wirless mouse the rat 9 is a good mouse but only if you get a well built 1. which theres a 1 in 5 chance you will get a good mouse, but a much greater chance of getting a buggy 1.
there are other wireless solutions that are just as good and cost a little less. the razer mamba is 1 but that too has its own issues. not as bad as the rat 9 but issues all the same.
if you consider yourself hardcore/pro gamer than dont bother with wireless for gaming. get a cheap wireless for every day web surfing and get a decent wired for gaming... the issue i have with wireless is theres added latency form the wireless transceiver to the mouse and back again. often it will be comparable to a wired mouse running at 250-500poll rate but as the power drops in the batteries the latencies tend to grow. often becoming much worse than 125ms an hour or so b4 the batteries need changing. this is debatable as to whether it will affect your gaming but i would rather cut out the chances of lag altogether by using wired.

 

[jimmy_dog]

nah they have an upgraded sensor. the original rat 7 and 9 have the same original sensor wich was found to be a bit buggy. often it would cause the mouse pointer to move when the mouse is stationary... some mice were ok but others in the same range were buggy. its more to do with low build quality rather than the actual hardware used. the later versions increased quality control and used a new sensor.
if you want wirless mouse the rat 9 is a good mouse but only if you get a well built 1. which theres a 1 in 5 chance you will get a good mouse, but a much greater chance of getting a buggy 1.
there are other wireless solutions that are just as good and cost a little less. the razer mamba is 1 but that too has its own issues. not as bad as the rat 9 but issues all the same.
if you consider yourself hardcore/pro gamer than dont bother with wireless for gaming. get a cheap wireless for every day web surfing and get a decent wired for gaming... the issue i have with wireless is theres added latency form the wireless transceiver to the mouse and back again. often it will be comparable to a wired mouse running at 250-500poll rate but as the power drops in the batteries the latencies tend to grow. often becoming much worse than 125ms an hour or so b4 the batteries need changing. this is debatable as to whether it will affect your gaming but i would rather cut out the chances of lag altogether by using wired.

So the Contagion and Infection don't have those bugs? What about the Albino edition? Thanks for your input it really has been a help because I would have gotten the RAT 9.

 

[HEXiT]

i think the albino edition is just a basic rat 7 with upgraded software that gets 6400dpi out of the original sensor, it still sufferes the same issues as the origianl rat 7 in that when you lift off it will jump down and to the right... saying that all there mice do this just the contagion and infection do it less so...
as i have mentioned the rat does have build quality issues. i had to replace mine within a week to get a fully working 1. so its up to you if you want to risk it.
if you dont, check out the vengance mice or any of the corsair mice. they are pretty good by all accounts and maybe just the thing your looking for... they certainly dont have the hit and miss build quality of cyborg mice.
http://www.corsair.com/vengeance-gaming.html m60 is good
http://www.roccat.org/Products/ kova+ is good
http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/mice-pointers/mice g400 is very good, g700 wireless are pretty good.


anyways m8 i gotta go, im supposed to be on holiday and the surf is up and im gonna try it for the first time in my life today. can you believe it 41 and never surfed lol... have fun and maybe sum1 else can chirp up and give you there opinions on there own/fav mice

 

[jimmy_dog]

I'll get the contagion and take my chances because it is so customizable and has different buttons that can be programmed like a mmo mouse. Also, for future referene, do you know any mechanical keyboards with cherry mx brown keys and 18 programmable keys?

 

[Gothams Finest]

Also, for future referene, do you know any mechanical keyboards with cherry mx brown keys and 18 programmable keys?

Doesn't exist. The closest you are going to get is the Corsair K90 with 18 macro keys. However the K90 uses Cherry MX reds not browns. (They're very similar apart the browns are tactile and the reds are linear) http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-vengeance-k90-performance-mmo-mechanical-gaming-keyboard

Be advised though this isn't a fully mechanical keyboard meaning the macro keys, F keys and print-pause, insert-page up and delete-page down keys are not mechanical and instead are cheap rubber dome membrane keys. There are also a lot of people having driver issues with it. (Check the corsair forums).

The only other mechanical keyboards that use macro keys are the:

TT eSports MEKA G-Unit which uses cherry blacks
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-007-TT&groupid=702&catid=23&subcat=2107
Coolermaster storm trigger which uses cherry black switches
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coolermaster-cm-storm-trigger-mechanical-gaming-keyboard-cherry-switch-backlit-black
and the blackwidow which you already know about which uses cherrys blues expect for the stealth edition which uses browns but as hexit has said there are better mechanical keyboards out there.

 

[Gothams Finest]

anyways m8 i gotta go, im supposed to be on holiday and the surf is up and im gonna try it for the first time in my life today. can you believe it 41 and never surfed lol...

lol have fun

 

[HEXiT]

there isnt 1 in the uk. the only way you could possibly get a keyboard with cherry browns is getting in touch with the keyboard manufacturer directly.
at the moment zowie do a cherry brown keyboard but no macro keys.
thermaltake ttesports do macro keys but only in cherry blacks. qpad do any cherry key you want but i dont think the mk 85 has 18 seperate macro keys although it can through key combos produce 18 macros. but from what i gather its not a very good idea for mmo macros. being as your fingers will have to do some serious gymnastics to get to certain combos...
currently coolermaster and cosair do some good mechanical keyboards and seem to be expending there range of keytypes so emailing them may be your best option.

 

[HEXiT]

lol have fun

i did m8 it was 6am this morning and ferkin freezin... lol smacked myself in the back of the head with the board about a half dozen times but eventually managed to stand up and catch a wave... went for about 30 seconds b4 face planting... absolutely fantastic lol...

 

[Gothams Finest]

If cherry brown is the key switch you want then there are the:

Filco Majestouch
http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_details.asp?PRODUCT=646

ZOWIE Celeritas
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-004-ZW&campaign=pcm/googleshopping

DAS
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_30011.html

Razer Blackwidow Stealth edition
http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_GB/pd/productID.235198600

 

[jimmy_dog]

Ok, so I'll take my chances with the rat 7 cotagen, and I'll also get the Vengeance K90 further down the line. P.S. cool avatar hexit.

 

[Gothams Finest]

Ok, so I'll take my chances with the rat 7 cotagen, and I'll also get the Vengeance K90 further down the line. P.S. cool avatar hexit.

If your going to get a wired mouse you might as well just get the Razer DeathAdder. The DeathAdder uses the Avago 3888 sensor which is a much better sensor than the PTE sensor the R.A.T mice use.

 

[jimmy_dog]

If your going to get a wired mouse you might as well just get the Razer DeathAdder. The DeathAdder uses the Avago 3888 sensor which is a much better sensor than the PTE sensor the R.A.T mice use.

The rat mouse has a lot more dpi and programmable buttons and the precision button.

 

[Gothams Finest]

lol you've been suckered into believing that marketing crap.

Have you actually used a mouse with stupidly high DPI such as 6400? I'm guessing not...

 

[HEXiT]

i run my rat contagion at 1600/900 in game and 1925/1075 when on windows... no more... high dpi means nothing really especially in fps gaming where accuracy goes out the windows 1s you go over your screen size. hi dpi is only really useful for rts games or multimonitor setups even then its not that much use... high dpi does have 1 advantgae over lower dpi mice. prediction is a lot less intrusive so circles are a lot more accurate when you draw free hand. but saying as i use a pen and tablet for my artwork and i dont play rts, ultra dpi has no real use for my system.
in the most part hi dpi is a gmimic but it does give you an idea of how good the sensor is. and to be honest the contagion/infection/naga (yes its the same as in the razer naga) is 1 of the better 1s even though it does have a liftoff bug(personally i dont find the pte bug a problem but some do but they seem to be trying to run the mouse at max dpi).

 

[mercer95]

i have the Microsoft sidewinder x4 keyboard and the R.A.T 5 mouse, and i think there are really good both are solid construction and feel naturally Comfortable too me, also if you do go for a R.A.T mouse get the R.A.T 7 infection, it has a lot more features than all of the other mice, or you could get the M.M.O 7 witch is the same but aimed at MMO players.

 

[jimmy_dog]

i run my rat contagion at 1600/900 in game and 1925/1075 when on windows... no more... high dpi means nothing really especially in fps gaming where accuracy goes out the windows 1s you go over your screen size. hi dpi is only really useful for rts games or multimonitor setups even then its not that much use... high dpi does have 1 advantgae over lower dpi mice. prediction is a lot less intrusive so circles are a lot more accurate when you draw free hand. but saying as i use a pen and tablet for my artwork and i dont play rts, ultra dpi has no real use for my system.
in the most part hi dpi is a gmimic but it does give you an idea of how good the sensor is. and to be honest the contagion/infection/naga (yes its the same as in the razer naga) is 1 of the better 1s even though it does have a liftoff bug(personally i dont find the pte bug a problem but some do but they seem to be trying to run the mouse at max dpi).

There is a switch to change dpi and its nice always having that 6400 dpi option.

 

[Gothams Finest]

There is a switch to change dpi and its nice always having that 6400 dpi option.

Why?...

I'll bet that you will never set your DPI any higher than 1800 for long term use, 99% off people don't. Most professional gamers use low to medium DPI for a reason.

but...... as it sounds like you've made your mind up and fallen for the marketing gimmicks any more advice would just be falling on deaf ears.

 

[jimmy_dog]

The mouse is really customizable to my hand. Also I like to have the mouse really heavy and with high dpi so I dont have to mave my hand around a lot.
Yeah 6400 is really high I like it around 2600. Also I like the buttons on it that are similar to g keys and you can set it to do the left mouse rapid fire (the corsair keyboard doesn't support mouse) so I can have a sniper rifle with a 3 round burst.

Is there something wrong with that?

 

[voiidwulf]

My friend has a Black Widow Ultimate. He really likes it, I'm not a big fan of mechanical keyboards though. I have a Razer Orochi mouse. It is wireless and really comfortable and accurate. I would recommend it.

Also, I agree with above poster. No one uses 6400 DPi. I have my mouse set to 2000 right now, and it is too sensitive for most people.