I am a heavy gamer but only offline non-competitive gaming. I have been using Logitech G1 Gaming Desktop for a year now. I think it is the cheapest keyboard/mouse combo with a gaming tag. Recently, I got myself a Razer Deathadder black edition mouse. I was really surprised to find that it was much better than the Logitech mouse. Now, my keyboard is starting to go bust. I am in a dilemma what to get next/ Will a keyboard with a gaming tag be much better than a normal one? I am thinking of getting Flipkart.com: Steel Series Keyboard Merc Black: Keyboard which seems to be good value for money. This model has a optimized gaming layout which I think is very useful. The only other model that I could find that is within my budget is Razer Arctosa. I find that the selling point of the Arctosa is its ultra-quick response and anti-ghosting, both of which seem unnecessary for offline non-competitive gaming. So which one should I go for? If you feel that a gaming keyboard is not necessary for me, please suggest me a keyboard that is at least as good the one I have.
Is a gaming keyboard necessary?
- Thread starter unixguru
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vivacious_tg
Discoverer
for gaming you can use any keyboard which is comfortable to use and has good build quality.
The main difference in gaming and normal keyboard is that with gaming kb you get customisable keys, anti ghosting. if these are not important to you, you can go for any decent keyboard.
I have played Far cry, Bioshock, halo,hitman,serious sam on a normal wireless keyboard from microsoft without any issue or lag.
Decide yourself depending on your priorities.
The main difference in gaming and normal keyboard is that with gaming kb you get customisable keys, anti ghosting. if these are not important to you, you can go for any decent keyboard.
I have played Far cry, Bioshock, halo,hitman,serious sam on a normal wireless keyboard from microsoft without any issue or lag.
Decide yourself depending on your priorities.
fLUX
Galvanizer
i did a lot of research on gaming keyboards in past few weeks , had almost finalized on buying the g15 or lycosa , then after lot of reading reviews and other things me despite being active in online comepetitive gaming i decided to go for a normal MM keyboard and i am pretty happy with my decision . I have saved 3500 bucks 
which i can invest in something which will really make a difference in performance like a earphone , RAM etc.
which i can invest in something which will really make a difference in performance like a earphone , RAM etc.
I'm using the normal cheap Logitech wired keyboard and don't feel the need for a gaming keyboard apart from the bling factor. 
If you aren't into competitive gaming, then you really don't have the need to get one. If you want to get one, that's a different matter. The Merc is a cheap keyboard compared to others so you won't have to justify the high price.
If you aren't into competitive gaming, then you really don't have the need to get one. If you want to get one, that's a different matter. The Merc is a cheap keyboard compared to others so you won't have to justify the high price.
well I bought a sidewinder X4 some time back; just to satisfy the urge (same with gaming mouse); for an average gamer like me (do not use macro; actually do not need them really); I have not found any difference in gaming.
Good was the backlit part; it helped a lot.
but I doubt it (the KB) will really make much difference (if any). May be you can buy a wireless one which helps while watching movies from distance.
Good was the backlit part; it helped a lot.
but I doubt it (the KB) will really make much difference (if any). May be you can buy a wireless one which helps while watching movies from distance.
fLUX
Galvanizer
@captain183
I bought a iball smart multimedia keyboard , good decision not going with the gaming keyboard , unless you game heavily at night with lights off and use the macros regularly gaming keyboards are a waste of money unless you got lot of moolah to buy it but saving cash to buy a gaming keyboard certainly not needed.
I bought a iball smart multimedia keyboard
, good decision not going with the gaming keyboard , unless you game heavily at night with lights off and use the macros regularly gaming keyboards are a waste of money unless you got lot of moolah to buy it but saving cash to buy a gaming keyboard certainly not needed.just continuing on this same topic, i'm looking to get a good keyboard which will serve my gaming purposes, not much into RPG.. All I intend to play are EA or Codemasters Cricket, PoP, GTA 4, and of course, my favourite on pre-order, FIFA 12...
What would be a good kb/mouse combo for 2.5K combined?
What would be a good kb/mouse combo for 2.5K combined?
Have you guys tried using more than 3 keys at once on a wireless multimedia keyboard?
I have a MS Arc keyboard, and it will not read even a 3rd key pressed simultaneously. example: I cant run with (SHIFT +W + D) I either move fast straight or side ways but not diagonal, if I move diagonal I dont run ...so it only registers 2, where as my MS wired one is better it has a higher limit I believe...I dont knw telling from experience.
Then another example is from Dirt 3, or the older CMR series, I played them a lot on keyboard as well as wheels, try a normal wireless keyboard if I remember it was a logitech one, first I get a warning about "Sticky Keys" Then I have issues with key strokes not registering when I do a quick tap to correct the Cars direction....
And yes most of the so called gaming keyboards have macros and backlights etc yeah you can call em bling, but the backlight helps to just get a quick look at the keys in the dark, most of us who type a lot know where which key is even in the dark, but it helps. Macros, even in FPS many gamers use....Reload and Quick Switch Guns or anything....I personally dont use any.
My use of a gaming keyboard is one that would last me a while after all the key smashing I do. I am not able to keep any keyboard more than max 6 months or so and its not a joke any more. Do you guys realize how many more times ASDW is pressed while playing a FPS compared to when one is doing regular typing? Its gonna be way way more, How quickly are you gonna reach a million key strokes on those 4 keys alone whereas compared to the rest of the board? I hope you guys can tell what I am trying to point out here.
I am not saying go and get a gaming keyboard, but just to understand what they are for and they are not really there for you to higher you FPS score, or RPG but maybe give you a bit more of comfort while gaming, maybe give you a handy macro so you can cast all those spells at once (Razer, Logitech even MS has some now...), or maybe a glowing key which you can see in the dark, or maybe what your core temps reading is at, or maybe nothing but a bullet proof board that one can smash fellow gamers with (Steelseries has no bling!!!). They are all there just make a conscious decision.....
I have a MS Arc keyboard, and it will not read even a 3rd key pressed simultaneously. example: I cant run with (SHIFT +W + D) I either move fast straight or side ways but not diagonal, if I move diagonal I dont run ...so it only registers 2, where as my MS wired one is better it has a higher limit I believe...I dont knw telling from experience.
Then another example is from Dirt 3, or the older CMR series, I played them a lot on keyboard as well as wheels, try a normal wireless keyboard if I remember it was a logitech one, first I get a warning about "Sticky Keys" Then I have issues with key strokes not registering when I do a quick tap to correct the Cars direction....
And yes most of the so called gaming keyboards have macros and backlights etc yeah you can call em bling, but the backlight helps to just get a quick look at the keys in the dark, most of us who type a lot know where which key is even in the dark, but it helps. Macros, even in FPS many gamers use....Reload and Quick Switch Guns or anything....I personally dont use any.
My use of a gaming keyboard is one that would last me a while after all the key smashing I do. I am not able to keep any keyboard more than max 6 months or so and its not a joke any more. Do you guys realize how many more times ASDW is pressed while playing a FPS compared to when one is doing regular typing? Its gonna be way way more, How quickly are you gonna reach a million key strokes on those 4 keys alone whereas compared to the rest of the board? I hope you guys can tell what I am trying to point out here.
I am not saying go and get a gaming keyboard, but just to understand what they are for and they are not really there for you to higher you FPS score, or RPG but maybe give you a bit more of comfort while gaming, maybe give you a handy macro so you can cast all those spells at once (Razer, Logitech even MS has some now...), or maybe a glowing key which you can see in the dark, or maybe what your core temps reading is at, or maybe nothing but a bullet proof board that one can smash fellow gamers with
(Steelseries has no bling!!!). They are all there just make a conscious decision.....
fLUX
Galvanizer
I have been playing cs from past 3 years and the keyboard never died on me the asdw fine print went dats it and i was a avid fifa gamer before that with a normal keyboard.(the keyboard lasted for 6 years )..... regarding the response time yeah the gaming keyboards do a better job and i think it will help mostly in racing games if not elsewhere.
and i was a avid fifa gamer before that with a normal keyboard.(the keyboard lasted for 6 years )..... regarding the response time yeah the gaming keyboards do a better job and i think it will help mostly in racing games if not elsewhere.I received my Merc day before yesterday. I have mixed opinions about it. The dedicated gaming buttons have a nice felling to them, and they are positioned perfectly. Running keyboard test, I find that 5 simultaneous key presses is no issue at all, and sometimes even 6 works. It also easily does > 40 chars/sec. That being said, I do have a number of complaints. The first issue is that the keyboard is really long, and it does not fit my keyboard tray. The gaming keyset is just awesome to press, but the same cannot be said of the alphabet set. They really do not feel nice at all. I have used much cheaper keyboards which felt nicer. Maybe they would start to feel better after they "burn-in". The numpad is also screwed up. I must say the keys on the numpad are much better, they really feel good to press. But the layout is screwed up. The numpad doubles up as the arrow keys and the Insert, home cluster, when numlock is not on. When numlock is on it behaves like a traditional numpad. Another complaint is that it does not come with a palm rest, and I like having a palm rest.
The biggest issue in my opinion is the Z engine software. The biggest stupidity is that this program actually has skins! Why in hell would a keyboard remapping software need skins? Apart from that, it is pretty decent compared to the usual nonsense, but it has not been updated in quite a while, and it seems to have a memory leak or something. It runs in the background by default. It slowly gobbles up RAM, but after a point it frees up this RAM. I have not experienced any frame rate decrease while gaming because of this, so I guess it is not an issue. This software is not entirely necessary, one can just extract the drivers from the package, in which case one loses the ability to remap the keys. Unfortunately, it does not seem like it is possible to use this keyboard without any drivers. The normal keys work, but the gaming set does not work properly without the driver. When the drivers are installed the gaming key set is mapped to what is printed on the keys. The default setup is well thought of, and it is entirely possible to just use this setup, and junk the z engine software. But, the Z engine has one nifty feature. It has a lot of game profiles that you can edit, and it can automatically detect the game, and set the appropriate profile.
At the end of the day, for 1699 is seems like a decent deal. But, with the alphabet key set being bad combined with the screwed up numpad, it seems like this device is solely dedicated to gaming, and ignores other uses of the keyboard!
The biggest issue in my opinion is the Z engine software. The biggest stupidity is that this program actually has skins! Why in hell would a keyboard remapping software need skins? Apart from that, it is pretty decent compared to the usual nonsense, but it has not been updated in quite a while, and it seems to have a memory leak or something. It runs in the background by default. It slowly gobbles up RAM, but after a point it frees up this RAM. I have not experienced any frame rate decrease while gaming because of this, so I guess it is not an issue. This software is not entirely necessary, one can just extract the drivers from the package, in which case one loses the ability to remap the keys. Unfortunately, it does not seem like it is possible to use this keyboard without any drivers. The normal keys work, but the gaming set does not work properly without the driver. When the drivers are installed the gaming key set is mapped to what is printed on the keys. The default setup is well thought of, and it is entirely possible to just use this setup, and junk the z engine software. But, the Z engine has one nifty feature. It has a lot of game profiles that you can edit, and it can automatically detect the game, and set the appropriate profile.
At the end of the day, for 1699 is seems like a decent deal. But, with the alphabet key set being bad combined with the screwed up numpad, it seems like this device is solely dedicated to gaming, and ignores other uses of the keyboard!
I must be the only gamer who does not use the WASD keys for games. I have always found it more comfortable to play with the arrow keys. And with almost every game supporting a controller these days, the use for a gaming keyboard is rare. I have a gaming keyboard "Razer Lycosa Mirror" but I have never felt the need to use any of its macro keys, to be honest I just bought it for the looks, it is extremely sexy.
So, in short the answer to your question is NO, you do not need a gaming keyboard especially if you are not into MMORPGs or any game where you need a lot of commands. With that said, if you have the budget then go for it because not only do gaming keyboards look good but they are usually built very well too.
So, in short the answer to your question is NO, you do not need a gaming keyboard especially if you are not into MMORPGs or any game where you need a lot of commands. With that said, if you have the budget then go for it because not only do gaming keyboards look good but they are usually built very well too.
Likewise, always used the arrows and right control, numpad zero, 6 key set above the arrow keys.
But switched to regular WASD when I switched to a laptop, since then got used to WSAD.
If I end up buying a Gaming Keyboard, it would probably for the visual aspect.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
But switched to regular WASD when I switched to a laptop, since then got used to WSAD.
If I end up buying a Gaming Keyboard, it would probably for the visual aspect.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
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