Cheap but good gaming keyboard?

I plan on using my laptop for playing games once I receive it. I have no problem typing on a laptop keyboard, but gaming on them is terrible for me. Could anyone suggest a good but relatively cheap gaming keyboard? (40$-70$)

I've got a mouse picked out, but I'm still looking for a keyboard.

 

What do you need in it? Anti ghosting? Macro keys? And, to be honest, keyboards won't make much difference except maybe the macro keys.

 

I got my logitech g15 on sale at frys for 70 dollars.. best keyboard I have ever used

 

Stick with your normal keyboard and get a Belkin N52te keypad. One of the best investments I've ever made.

If it has to be a full-blown keyboard, check out the Razer Arctosa. Basically the same as the Lycosa, but without backlights and thus cheaper. MUCH better tactile feedback than the Logitech G-series; it uses laptop-style scissor switches as opposed to the awfully mushy rubber domes of Logitech.

 

I got this Saitek board and love it.

Newegg.com - Saitek PZ30AUR 104 Normal Keys 4 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Eclipse Red Backlit Keyboard

 

I find the tactile feedback of the Razer Arctosa keyboard to be much more annoying to game with versus the dome-switch keyboard that the Logitech G-series keyboards employ. I am also concerned about the longevity of scissor style switches with prolonged heavy gaming use.

Having used the Logitech G15 for a couple of years now, however, I wouldn't neccessarily call pressing the keys on this keyboard "awfully mushy". They provide the same consistent downward keystroke pressure today as they did when I first pruchased it. This cannot be said of lesser, low-end keyboards that use dome-switches such as the Microsoft Digital Media Pro keyboard.

 

Personal preference, I guess. I've always preferred scissor switches to rubber domes. And maybe I just got two lemons in a row, but my G15's (old and new versions) both had very soft keypresses, almost no click at all.

 

What I think I'll end up doing is just buying the mouse I picked out, and using an extra keyboard we have for now. Just dropped 1800$ on a laptop, I can use the extra keyboard we have for now. I'll get the g15 though eventually.

 

Logitech G110. no doubt. Best keyboard I ever owned.

 

I'll throw in a vote for the Logitech G15. Now granted, I'm a bit of a fanboy given that the amount of Logitech peripherals that I use; but hey, it's generally quality stuff. Mainly I bought the G15 for the backlight, and it's served me well ever since I bought it. I've considered buying a keypad (like the Belkin N52te) a few times, but I tried out the Saitek Command Unit for a while and hated it. Can't remember exactly why, sadly. I think it had to do with the tactile responsiveness. Too slow for my tastes.

 

Does the G110 have a separate color zone on the WASD keys? It's the G110 or the Lycosa for me I think, but it comes down to that WASD...

 

Am I to understand that your keyboard purchase decision hinges on whether or not the WASD keys are clearly identifiable, by color no less?

Suffice to say, not everyone uses WASD when gaming (I'm an EDSF guy myself). Having a separate color zone for the WASD keys as being the determining factor in a keyboard purchase seems a little goofy to me.

I would be more concerned with the gaming/ergonomic performance of a keyboard, not its aesthetics. This is especially true when companies make gaming keyboards "hard core" by lauding the highly touted WASD keys with special accents and "features".

 

No it does not color any keys differently. However other than that (which I can live without) it is an amazing keyboard.

 

Well, it's also based on cost. I have the opportunity to pick up a Lycosa for $30 used. A brand new G110 would cost double that. While I loved my old G11 to pieces (unfortunately it has mostly fallen to pieces), this time around I'd be interested in picking up something that makes it a little easier to home in the WASD when playing in the dark.

I don't need loads of macro keys either. I use all of what, four tops?

Not buying it on aesthetics. My typing experience on the Lycosa and G11 have been mostly similar, with a slight preference towards the G11 (I have been using it for ages, so...).

How different would you say it is compared to the G11/G15?

 

All keyboards today already have a built-in feature for finding particular keys: the home row. Using EDSF for gaming allows the correct orientation of your fingers without having to even look at the keyboard. Your left index finger naturally rests on a ridged or bumped "F" key when typing, which just so happens to conveniently correspond to the left movement action in games.

And besides, the "F" and "J" keys on a keyboard contain bumps (see link) to assist with locating keys and properly positioning your fingers without looking at your keyboard.

 

The N52te has a tactile bump on the center key, which corresponds to "S" by default on a normal keyboard, although you can bind any key to whatever you like.

 

I'm fully aware of that (you're talking to someone who can hit 140WPM on junky Dell keyboards with zero errors... typing with a blindfold on). However, in near total darkness, when you're reaching for your four keys of choice to react, you sometimes don't have time to position on F/J to relocate on the home row (I use WASD so I can reach the macro keys). It would be vastly easier to jump for the only four illuminated keys in that sector.

Edit: We seem to have gotten off on the wrong footing with each other. If I offended you in any way, I apologize.

 

Not at all! I hope I haven't offended you either. I was just trying to understand why you needed easily identifiable EDSF keys on a keyboard, that's all.

 

They're not paramount to my decision making process, but it's just one of those features that would be "nice to have". I mean, I'd be happy if the keys were different colors, or came with two color schemes to hot swap. I just want the WASD (or ESDF) keys to look visibly different compared to the rest of the keyboard.

 

This is going a bit off topic and i'm sure you've thought of it but here goes.

Most keyboards today (depending on low and regular profile of course) have the same key standard, i believe.
By just eyeballing my several keyboards here it appears that way at least.
Of course they have different mechanics (like the rubber and scissor types) but the size of the keys should be the same.

Why not pick up a keyboard you like (without illuminated WASD-keys) and then find a cheap $2-5 keyboard and just switch them out?
You could paint the switched out ones bright pink for easy spotting. You are free to use whatever colour you want of course but fuschia is always a hit @ lan parties
If you don't care about the keyboard you're buying, just paint those then and skip the part in getting a cheap one and replacing the keys. Ghetto mod at it's finest.

 

sway away from logitech, they make the worse keyboards...all their keyboard are garbage with rubber dome switches they are designed to die within few years so that you'll have to constantly replace them.

brands that you should consider are

filco

realforce

happy hacking

 

I'd love some statistics on that.
Actually i see it all the time on different forums, the hate on rubber dome switches. Never seen any statistics on it though.
Everything is designed to die really.

I still have rubber dome keyboards working just fine after ten years. Hell, some of them have withstanded a bunch of fluids as well.

Thread was also about cheap (but good) keyboards. The ones you mentioned are not cheap at all.
http://www.elitekeyboards.com/
Was what i could find after a fast search. While some of them aren't that bad, and some might be priced about the same as the G19, they still don't seem to carry for example any extra macro keys. Something that might be considered a key feature for a gaming keyboard.

 

not a gamer but, what are macro keys and why are they important? are they like short cut keys.

I don't know much about gaming keyboards, but for computing and typing, mechanical keyboard is definitely the way to go.

logitech always had a pretty low standing in keyboarding community-geekhack

 

I wouldn't say important as it's up to the user but, they're basically extra keys (usually to the left) that's bindable/scriptable.
I've found them crucial in most mmorpg's. They are also nice to have for starting up different software.
You can pretty much do anything with them.

By searching i find that mechanical keyboards are usually more durable, more tactile feel (which is a subjective pro/con feature) and louder (which according to some, aids typing?)
I would think noise would be much more distracting. It sounds "pro" and geeky to type on a mechanical keyboard but it doesn't really aid me ;p
I can never find any failure rate statistics though.
I also can't find any objective tests about it being better/faster to type on mechanical keyboards. Probably because it's just subjective.

I'd recommend logitech gaming series as i've only had experience with their line and razer's line when it comes to gaming gear. Razer's software is horrible and the quality is worse.

 

from memories, rubber dome is about 10 million strokes, cherry switch is about 50 million strokes.

 

That's... actually how I broke my G11.

 

Haha sorry to hear that.
How if i may ask? I remember spray painting some of my old keyboards and they worked fine.
Looked horrible, but worked fine.

 

razer arctosa?

 

Microsoft Sidewinder X6