FiringSquad: Home of the Hardcore Gamer - Games, Hardware, Reviews and NewsSubmit your own or view users' CPU overclocking results!

  
 Home   News   THE MATRIX   Deals   Hardware   Games   Features   Media   Products   Forums   FS China 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Home : Guides : Choosing Components : FiringSquad Keyboard Guide
» Join the Greatest Gaming Community NOW! (It's free)

Already a member? Login
 



Random Gallery >> 
Click to view high-res Image!
Elemental: Fallen Enchantress January 2012 Screenshots [24] (0)

ENTRY FOR CONTEST (4) by Alexander470
2nd Entry for Crank That S#!t Up! (2) by CamoDaGreat
My crank that S#!T up entry (9) by iamcj
[FX] 3-Screen Effect - Guide (part-3) (0) by nGAGE
Crank THIS sH!t up! - 3DforREAL (71) by nGAGE
[FX] 3-Screen Effect - Guide (part-4) (0) by nGAGE
My Entry for the Crank that SH#!T Up Contest (12) by TheGamesHD
Crank That S#!t Up!!!! (6) by CamoDaGreat
Crank That S#!t Up! ENTRY :) (2) by CamoDaGreat
My Entry For The Contest. (6) by D4rk Force

More Blogs >>




FiringSquad Keyboard Guide
November 10, 1998   Dennis Thresh Fong > [View My Other Articles]
Kenn Hwang > [View My Other Articles]
Product Info | User Reviews | Article Images | Image Gallery | Comments | Forum Thread
Virtues of a good keyboard

Thresh's comments in BLACK

Kenn's comments in BLUE

Weight and Build Quality

Kenn:
The weight of a keyboard usually directly reflects on its quality. Good keyboards are heavy (usually due to more metal parts or heavy-duty plastic), whereas cheap keyboards are light. A quick way to tell whether a keyboard is really cheap is to pick up a keyboard by both ends and twist one end to the left, and the other to the right to test its torsional rigidity. Stay away from keyboards that bend and warp easily. Really good keyboards have a metal plate on the bottom of the keyboards to stabilize it and to keep it from moving while typing. (The Northgate Omnikey, IBM Lexmark, and CVT Avant Stellar keyboards all have metal plates and weigh 5lbs or more).

Thresh:
Hmm. I care about my keyboards, but that's a pretty interesting "test." So you're saying a "torsionally rigid" keyboard will have a better feel than a flexible one? Sounds kind of dubious to me. I'd have to say aside from the weight of the keyboard, it is important to look at the quality of the key caps. Some keycaps can be very cheap, and the printed letters rub off after a few months of use. In general, if the letters on the keycaps appear poorly applied, they probably are. Get one of these $5 deals and you may have a problem with anonymous keys later on. In fact, the earlier Microsoft Natural Keyboards had this problem - the lettering can be easily scratched off with your fingernails. The new ones (including the Elites) don't have this problem, and in general, keyboards with letters which are deeply injected or embedded on the keycaps are better.

Function Key Layout
One of the features I like the most are function keys on the left side of the keyboard rather than on the top, but fewer and fewer manufacturers make those nowadays. Having function keys on top can be a real pain to press, especially in the middle of a game! Even the best touch-typists have a hard time reaching for those keys in the heat of battle. Function keys on the left on the other hand are easy to press, and with just a little practice, it is quite easy to press the right keys when you need them. Unfortunately, not many keyboards have this layout, and the ones that do can cost quite a pretty penny! (Again, the old Northgate and new Avant Stellar models have function keys on the left and top. The Focus 9000 series used to have function keys on the left and top, but they aren't being made anymore).

Back! Page 1     Keyboard performance issues Next!
Blog + Share: Digg Del.icio.us Reddit SU furl • More: AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Send This Article to a Friend!  
Table of Contents
  Print Entire Article  

MATRIX CONTENT » RANDOM MEDIA BLOG More Blogs >>
No ratings yet
» Please rate this
Read this Media-Blog entry!» [Entry] Crank That S#!t Up Video Contest (5)
by Animehero (1) Talk with this user on their Shout Box (My other blogs) Posted 18 months ago


 Hottest Topics
Blizzard appealing to block Valve trademarking DOTA (7)
Skyrim mod toolkit and Steam Workshop integration arrive with free official high-resolution texture pack (6)
Bethesda shows modders how it's done: see what Skyrim developers added during free-form 'Game Jam' week (5)
Diablo 3 dev diary explains nightmare mode difficulty (5)
Obsidian has 'Kickstarter fever', asks for suggestions (3)
Today's News >>
Today's Siteseeing >>


 Table of Contents


 Quick Facts
Have comments or questions? Click on the "Messageboards" button on the top right to join the discussion!


FiringSquad is powered by... Back to Top Site MapContact UsAdvertise With Us Privacy StatementAbout Us  
News RSSSiteseeing RSSArticle RSS   © 1998-2012 FS Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved