Question What's the best peripheral you've ever used, and why?

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MMohammed

MMohammed

Community Manager
Sep 3, 2019
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Like a lot of other people, I've had to do some shopping this year to set up my home office. After a few months, I can honestly say that my Logitech mouse (MX Master) is my favourite part of it. Until purchasing that thing, I'd been settling for some (largely easy to ignore) hand discomfort!

How about you? What's the best peripheral you've ever used and why?
 
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thx1138v2 said:
IBM Model M keyboard lasted 20+ years, about 10 of which were in the DOS days while I was pounding a keyboard all day, every day. It had the right feel and the right sound. It was huge compared to today but I didn't care.
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Yep, typing on one now. I probably have almost 40 of these now in various different dates, configurations, and manufacturers--but my hands absolutely love them. I can type the whole day effortlessly at speeds up to 140wpm that I can't even half reach on anything else.
kanewolf said:
A Northgate mechanical keyboard.
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That being said about the Model M, I was lucky enough to pick up one of these in very well cared for condition and love it's feel too. Probably my second favorite keyboard that I have. :)
lordmogul said:
To this day I'd say one , if not the most favorite of mine is some old 19'' CRT I took used off a friend.
Yes it's a gigantic, heavy beast, but I could be convinced to run 2048x1536 when going down to 60 Hz or 1600x1200 on 85 Hz, going to 1080p60 afterwards (around 2011) was actually a step down.
Still got that thing sitting in the basement, got nothing to plug it in to nowadays, but it's still there.
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I actually used the same for many years because I was used to 2048x1536 and couldn't drop down to the 1080p or other dinky resolutions. But finally the prices came down on 2560x1600 30" Dells and I have those now. And my Lacie Electron Blue could actually run 2560x1600, which was awesome. But last time I went to check on it (it is attached to a group of systems as the monitor on the kvm), it doesn't show a picture anymore. 🙁 I also have a bunch of Eizo monitors with the same issue. But my 17" Nanoa is still going strong!

So the IBM Model M and the Logitech wired thumb trackball is my other 'best'. These are so essential to me that I now have several spares and even travel sets for using with my laptop. These will probably stay with me the rest of me life. :)
 
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I'm kind of shocked that nobody has mentioned this yet, but what springs to mind for me is the Logitech G305 wireless mouse. Sure, I've had dozens of other useful and impressive peripherals, over the years, but in most cases, you get what you pay for. The G305 is ludicrously good for the £34 I paid, in which a single lithium AA battery lasts almost an entire year!
 
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Lakhbir Singh said:
Past 25 years ...i have purchased, used and installed several IT products.....as far as PC is concerned...Logitech & Gigabyte products are highly reliable ....and I am fan of Logitech THX certified speakers....personally I am using Z623 but my favorite is z906
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everything of gigabyte is good except mouse. They do make gaming mouses with good pixart sensors but they su*k because of weight distribution and shape regardless of what hand size they are made for. Cheap small keyboards and headphones from Logitech are also quite bad. even brands like A4tech and Havit beat them when it comes to low budget keyboards and headphones. other than that they are great.
 
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AKRacing gaming chair with two of the lumbar pillows with arm rest in lowest position my forearm is at comfortable angle to use mouse on side storage shelving
Corsair M65 mouse with adjustable weights fits my xl hands well, adjustable dpi set at 4500
Corsair K70 keyboard
Logitech z623 speakers 330W adjustable bass
Samsung 32" UDH 4K monitor 60hz
 
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Quested studio monitors. Definitely the best sounding playback solution I've heard when combined with a good DAC (I use a Lynx L22).

A dual monitor setup improved my productivity. An upgraded mouse made CAD work easier. A mechanical keyboard improved the typing experience. The Questeds make me smile, and so far no other peripheral has been able to do that.
 
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The Midiman Oxygen8 MIDI controller, Well out of date now but I remember having Immense fun with this thing controlling Software VST' in Reason and Frruityloops and creating some amazing electronic music. Something I haven't done in a long time as my studies in Computer Science/Digital Forensics/Cyber Security etc have consumed all my time.
Dag__nabit anyways...
 
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I used to have the classic razer naga mouse with the 12 extra buttons on the side. A lot of people find that too clumsy, but after i got used to it, muscle memory made the whole experience seemless. Absolutely loved that thing, it was so useful. Especially since i was into MMORPGs at the time and i could basically play with just my mouse hand when doing simple stuff. It allowed me to bind 48 different spells and macros though the use of Shift, Ctrl and Alt modifiers. The razer synapse software also gave you the option to design custom macros which could have come in handy when doing other stuff besides gaming. I remember setting up rapid auto clickers and key combinations with it. The possibilities were endless and everything presented with a simple and easy UI.
That mouse served me for a good 3 years.

Unfortunately the left mouse button malfunctioned (my fault). I used to be prone to burst of rage and would abuse that thing every now and then. That lead to a small plastic piece breaking off one day and the LMB lost its bounce back. If razer didn't have such expensive products and still sold the first model, id be using one right now.
 
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How about a desk? I used to have a standard desk I got from a furniture store for some times. It's quite good, like it's not bad but not outstanding either.
Then I felt the table to be too tall for my taste. I sawed the joker's legs off to shorten it, but it ended up being too short, even with my adjustable office chair.
I discarded the table (it was getting bad anyway), and this time, I asked a desk specialist to build one for me. They custom-tailored the desk to fit my needs, the height, the size, the aesthetics, cable and monitor positioning, even my usage habits. When it was done, boy it felt like heaven working on it. It just feels right. I realized how much comfort I've been missing from using a subpar desk. Always thought it was the keyboard or the chair, no it was the desk. Should've thought about this long time ago considering I spent a lot of time working on my desk.

For actual peripheral, it's probably this logitech mouse I've been using. It's a silent type mouse, it makes no sound when clicking, and let me tell you, it actually feels.... serene. It's not for everyone's taste though, my cousin said it's too mushy and utterly useless for gaming because he couldn't tell whether it has been clicked or not. But for standard office work, it sure is a good one.

I'd like to point out a Samsung VA monitor I saw at a trade show some time ago. I've been using IPS or TFT my entire life, and when I saw one of those VA bad boys, the colors were astonishing. It's like I looked at a portal to a different world. It was a majestic experience. Owning a VA monitor is basically my lifelong dream now, of course it's still a dream, bills to be paid and all.

Speaking of peripherals, I'm still looking for that proper headset for me. Every headset I've tried had too much bass on them. I know, bass is cool and everything, but it just drowns out the vocals and instruments (again, for my taste, for my subjective standard). The search continues.....
 
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i currently have a very comfortable and great performing setup but i'd have to say the one out of it that i couldn't easily replace with some other similar piece of hardware is my Logitech G600 mouse.
NCSswDg.jpg

for some reason the description states it's an "MMO" gaming mouse, but i've never been into them at all and it is perfect for every game.
the size, the weight, the layout, and the available options are all perfect for me for browsing, in-OS tasks, or gaming.

it's 3rd click, or 2nd right-click, is the only time i've seen this feature on a mouse that gives the ring finger a dedicated resting place that is also a button.

on the fly DPI adjustments and a great sensor make it perfectly smooth and accurate.

the amount of buttons on top & side make every task and every game much easier. RCtrl, Home, End, Up, Down, Left, Right, Backspace, Enter, Delete, +, -, PgUp, PgDown programmed in and all at my left hand finger tips.
Plus the right\left tilting scroll wheel for the Mouse3 & Mouse4 buttons that most games and Windows has made use of for years now.

my next favorite would have to be my Alienware ultra-wide 1440p 1900R display. Alienware products never appealed to me in the past due to their mostly ugly appearances and over the top design but the AW3420DW is beautiful both aesthetically and with it's display capabilities.
6Sr5XY2.jpg
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I don't know if I have a "best" since I have a probably bad habit of switching things around every few years. But I'll throw down some memorable ones.

Keyboard: Logitech G710+, mostly for introducing me to the world of mechanical keyboards. It used it for about 5 or so years but it was one of the best keyboards I had.

Mouse: Despite having to ditch it after about a year and half of use, the Logitech G603. Even though it's wireless, it didn't feel like it had any real appreciable lag and the major selling point for me: it not only used AA batteries, but if you put it in "low speed" mode, the thing lasted for months easily. While I believe wireless technology is practically imperceptible compared to wired today, I can't deal with the fact most of them use internal rechargeable batteries that last for at best a week on the economy mode. The only reason I ditched it was because the scroll wheel had issues which apparently was common. So instead, I'm using its wired version, the G403.

Speakers: Creative's Pebble V2. While I have Logitech's Z906 speaker system, I was starting to feel I couldn't justify leaving it on all the time if I'm watching YouTube or whatnot most of the time I'm using it. So I wanted something smaller and when looking around I came across the Pebble V2. What really impressed me about it is while it's a USB powered speaker, to me, it doesn't sound like it. I'd argue for most people these speakers are great.

Headset: Logitech's Pro X. After being frustrated with separate mics for basically picking up everything in the room (for instance, I couldn't even type without the mic picking it up), I decided to get a headset just to keep things unified. What I really like about it is, as far as everyone else can hear, the microphone sounds clean and it doesn't pick up random background noise. And while I had reservations about the closed back and pleather cushioning warming up my ears, it's been pretty comfortable. And better yet, despite it being a gaming focused headset, it looks nothing like it.
 
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dag__nabit said:
The Midiman Oxygen8 MIDI controller, Well out of date now but I remember having Immense fun with this thing controlling Software VST' in Reason and Frruityloops and creating some amazing electronic music. Something I haven't done in a long time as my studies in Computer Science/Digital Forensics/Cyber Security etc have consumed all my time.
Dag__nabit anyways...
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Oh man, that would be so cool to hear! I hope you still have the midi files somewhere!
 
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exploding_psu said:
Speaking of peripherals, I'm still looking for that proper headset for me. Every headset I've tried had too much bass on them. I know, bass is cool and everything, but it just drowns out the vocals and instruments (again, for my taste, for my subjective standard). The search continues.....
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I'm like you--I like a natural response, not something artificially boosted. I've used the AKG K240 studio monitor for over a decade now and love it. The other contender back in the day when I was looking at the K240 was the Sony MDR-7506, another studio and professional staple. The newcomer is the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 which has now also become a studio staple. These headphones high point is their clarity and flat response, allowing professionals to render their audio creation how they want it. And since they're used for mastering, you get to hear everything exactly like they did in the studio, which is what I like about them.
 
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Anyone remember the Logitech Mediaplay wireless mouse?

I used three of them over the course of about a decade, paid quite a bit for new old stock on the last two. There was also an identical shaped bluetooth mouse from Dell made by logitech, didn't have the same sensor and features though.

I would pay quite a bit to have a mouse with that shape and up to date internals. Don't even really care about the media buttons.

26-104-168-01.jpg
 
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