A Keyboard Choice
The keyboard for you
Thought the time I have been gaming on pc I have got through a fair few keyboards, mostly because I am so clumsy, however it has let me find out what type of keyboard I like the most.
A lot of people only use mechanical keyboards, however I think you can get some good alternatives. I also usually like to get keyboards and similar parts for cheaper because once you have bought a gaming PC and a nice monitor, adding on everything else does add up to a lot of money.
The keyboards I will talk about are all keyboards that I have owned or used for a while because I think you need to use a keyboard a few times to be able to tell how good or bad it is.
When it comes down to getting a new keyboard there is a few points that I would consider important;
Price:
I usually go for the cheaper options but have owned more expensive keyboards.
Sound:
The sound is just personal preference, whether you like to hear a loud or quite noise when playing games or typing.
Keys:
Every keyboard feels a little different to use with the keys feeling different to press from keyboard to keyboard, most keyboards will also have slightly different key spacing.
Size & weight:
Every keyboard I have owned has always been a different size and weight, having a wider range than I thought so it’s important to get a keyboard the right size for you.
Colour:
A lot of gaming keyboards are back-lit with various colours, and i think back-lighting can be good but can sometimes be to much.
Add-ons:
A lot of gaming keyboards nowadays have unique add-ons to make them more appealing, whether it be extra keys or added functional buttons.
Three keyboards i would recommend:
I am only going to talk about three keyboards to stop myself from making this blog pages and pages, so these are three of my favorite keyboards i have used over the past few years that are also good value for what you are getting and are long lasting.
TECKNET Gryphon Pro LED:
Price: £20.00+
Size: 23 x 3.5 x 48.5 cm
Weight: 1.3kg
I have only had this keyboard for a few months now, but I really like a lot of the aspects it has to offer.
The keyboard is non-mechanical so you don’t get the clanking when you use it, it still makes a light clicking sound and you can hear each key you press but it isn’t intrusive.
The keys themselves are relatively soft to press, you only have to lightly press each key for it to work, and the lightness of keys can sometimes be an issue as it doesn’t always feel like you have fully pressed a key down. The keys are slightly spaced out which is something you have to get used to, but it doesn’t take long as there is only a tiny gap.
A feature that I like about the keys is that they are slightly slanted with the top and bottom rows being subtly higher up than the middle, in all honesty I am not sure how much of a difference this makes but I do think it makes the keys slightly easy to hit when quickly hitting multiple.
The keyboard has three back-lit colours;
Red, Blue and Purple, you can set it to rotate through the colours by hitting FN with F12 and the same to make it stop on a colour, then to change colour without rotation you hit FN with scroll lock which is next to prt scrn. You can also change the brightness level with a wheel at the top, or you can turn them of completely
There is also a few unique keys like the game key which allows you to toggle it when in game to stop you from getting tabbed out, it also house M1 though to M10 buttons along the top that can be bound to what you want.
Nemesis Kane Pro:
Price: £15.99+
Size: 20 x 3 x 48 cm
Weight: 0.99kg
I used the nemesis for around a year, and for the price you really can’t complain as it gives everything you need.
The keyboard is again non-mechanical, however it feels like it has a bit of resistance when you press a key but they still are smooth to press. The sound when you press the keys does sound a little clunky and is slightly quieter and deeper than the TECKNET, but still not as loud as something mechanical.
The Nemesis is back-lit with three different colours;
Red, Purple and Blue, you can switch between each colour by pressing the colour pad key that is next to the spacebar. There is also three different brightness settings and the option to turn of the back-lighting, controlled by a key next to the coulour key.
As the keyboard is so cheap it doesn’t have any extra keys or buttons for binding, but I don’t think that is a huge issue as they are not needed, however some people just like to have them.
Razer BlackWidow:
Price: £69.99+
Size: 50.2 x 6.2 x 26.2 cm
Weight: 2.4kg
The Razer is a mechanical keyboard so it is slightly different than the prior two, being mechanical means that under the each key there is a switch that activates when you press a key. This is what gives a mechanical keyboard its sound and feel. When you press the key it sounds like you are actually pressing something in with a loud click every time, similarly to an older IBM Model M.
The Razer is relatively loud so you can clearly hear each time you press a key, you can also feel that you have fully pressed the key as it feels like it clicks in. This stops the issue of not knowing weather you pressed a key when typing fast or in the middle of a game.
The Razer also processes each click of a key slightly faster than a cheaper keyboard will, the difference is only a fraction of a second but that can make an impact in a lot of games.
You can also get a few different variations of the Razor, the classic is just the keyboard without back lighting, and then you can get two back-lit versions one that is green and another that is multi-coloured.
There is also a tournament edition that is more compact, the measurements are 43 x 5.6 x 19.6 and it weighs 1.5kg. This edition still has all the required keys but leaves out the numbers on the right. It still cost the same price but is just useful for people who may not have a huge amount of space, its also helpful if you regularly move your keyboard around.