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QOTW: Which keyboard and mouse do you use?

by Parm Mann on 8 July 2016, 16:31

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qac4ep

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We have a wide range of cutting-edge hardware in our PCs here at HEXUS HQ, but you could argue that all that power and performance would count for nothing without really good keyboards and mice at our fingertips.

But what constitutes good will vary from one person to another. For example, I'm surrounded by a wide array of new choices, yet on my main PC I still use my ancient Microsoft Explorer Mouse and a Logitech keyboard that's so old I don't even remember its name. They're familiar to me and now that the keyboard's starting to show signs of wear and tear (it has, for reasons unknown, started to drop connection), I dread the idea of having to move to something different.

There's no shortage of choice out there and some of the latest peripherals look as though they've come straight from a sci-fi flick. The SpacePilot peripherals used by our video crew seem particularly tasty. It's an area of the market that's often overlooked, so for today's QOTW, let us ask: which keyboard and mouse do you use, and how would you rate each in terms of comfort, functionality and value?



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Corsair K95 keyboard and a Roccat Kone XTD 8200dpi mouse
Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth 2014 mechanical KB, and a Razer DeathAdder Chroma

Both have been excellent for me, although I kind of wish I had spent the extra £40 for the chroma keyboard too, it would have been a waste of £40 :) I do love how Overwatch automatically changes the colours on my Chroma mouse to match my team…

Previously had a Corsair K95, but never again thanks to how awful their warranty process was when it stopped working (i.e. that postage costs to send it back was more than the cost of a new keyboard! Lucky I bough it from Amazon who's amazing service came through for me)

edit: you asked about comfort and value..

I paid £98 for the keyboard, and £42 for the mouse - considering that both are pretty high end, I would say they are good value, and broadly in line with their competition. Both are very comfortable - the mouse is a little too light for my tastes (I miss the variable weights from my old Microsoft Sidewinder) but it's very accurate and the perfect shape for my hands. I've got used to it's weight now. The keyboard has great keys and switches that are every bit as good as the Cherry Browns I was using on my old Corsair KB imo. Very happy with both and no plans to change anytime soon.
~£120 Razer Naga epic and a generic £5 PC world keyboard.

The Naga i now consider an essential device, i'm so used to the 12 button thumbpad i'm not sure i could go back to a normal mouse now. The extra buttons are useful for pretty much anything, even boring admin work (setting a profile for hardware cut/copy/paste/select-all keys is amazingly handy for example)
That said, if i ever need to replace it i'd go back to the cheaper wired ~£65 version of the Naga, the battery life is so terrible (<20hours) on the epic it's not really usable wirelessly as it's dead if you forget to charge it overnight. I just use it in wired mode instead.

The keyboard is cheap as i have a bad habit of killing them with drink spillages. I do however need to replace this one soon as the silk-screening is starting to wear off the keys. :)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 with Cherry MX Blue. Worth every penny.

Mouse: Cooler Master Storm Recon. Coming from a Logitech G400S, the Recon is better in almost every way. It's ambidextrous, support button reprogramming, more comfortable for claw and palm grip and RGB lighting (fairly limited RGB though). While the middle button (scroll) is more large and less sharp than the G400S, which feels great when you clicked it, the scrolling itself isn't completely smooth because it's inconsistent. Sometimes the scrolling is smooth and sometimes it feels like there's a lot of friction holding it down. The mouse is also a bit of a dust magnet too and may require frequent cleaning if you want it to look good. However, if anyone is looking for a comfortable and ambidextrous well-priced mouse, I would definitely recommend it.
Dell RT7D50 keyboard and MS Wheel Mouse Optical 1.1A - Bog standard!