Does it matter wired/wireless keyboard & mouse for gaming

I notice while I was searching through newegg there are just as many wired mouses as there are wireless. Seems like there are more wired mouses for gaming too...?

Also I was surprised to see that logitec had cheaper and higher rated products than Razer.

I was so happy to get a blue laser mouse cause I have a glass table (never gamed with it though). I really thought wired products would be obsolete by now.

anyways. Should i get wired products if I will be gaming?

 

I've been using a wireless keyboard and mouse since 2003. Most gamers I know frown upon wireless, but I've not had a problem with them. I can't stand exposed wires, and I game enough to where at one point I was going through several wired mice a year (the cable coming out of the mouse usually bends/breaks/frays).

We'll see what happens when I get my M17x...I bought the TACX keyboard and mouse. I don't remember if the keyboard was wired but I believe the mouse is. If I don't like it, I've a spare Logitech MX1000 to use.

Basically, it shouldn't matter what you use, but you'll probably get various opinions to your post.

 

What type of games are you playing? What is your budget?

 

I have a Logitech G700. It's a wireless gaming mouse and is fantastic in every way except...battery life. It literally burns through a single (rechargeable) AA battery every single day. My wife has a G500 for her desktop and I'm sometimes tempted to steal it so I can forget this whole battery nonsense.

 

I only plan to play shooters but mostly RPG type (LOL, Diablo 3, GW2). I have a wireless mouse already. But if I was going to game better (therefore more gaming enjoyment) I wouldn't mind spending another $70 for a keyboard & mice).

Good point to burning through batters though... I should look into rechargeable batteries.

 

A wired mouse used to be a must for gaming, however modern technology has changed that. I have used 3 different wireless mice over the past 3 years and all of them have performed exactly how their wired counterparts would. Now, the only difference between wired/wireless is one needs to be charged. I don't particularly like wired mice due to having another cable laying across my work space.

In regards to Logitech having better reviews than Razer, I'm really not surprised. I've used a Razer mouse and returned it in 3 days. Logitech mice rarely have tracking issues and unless they are uncomfortable to you, there's really nothing to complain about. Their sensors are top notch and their buttons are tactile. Another great thing about their wireless mice is that they don't require a dock to recharge them. You just use a USB cable. Logitech also uses very tiny wireless dongles. They can be left in place even during transport. Usually a wireless dongle needs to be removed during transport due to the probability of snapping it off.

I personally have the G700 and it performs very nicely.

 

Wired vs. wireless is pretty much a matter of preference. Nowadays, you can get the same performance out of each, you'll just have to pay more for wireless. Pretty much any gaming mouse you can buy has 1,000Hz USB polling, which yields 1ms response time. With wireless, the best you could get used to be 500Hz/2ms, back when the Logitech G7 was pretty much the wireless gaming mouse. But since the Razer Mamba came out, and then the G700, R.A.T. 9 and a bunch of others, wireless mice are equally capable of full-speed 1,000Hz polling/1ms response. These mice just tend to cost more than their wired counterparts, and there are still generally more wired options available.

A couple of years ago, I went from a wired Razer DeathAdder to the wireless Razer Mamba (essentially the same mouse with a different sensor + wireless + a much heftier price tag ), and I can tell you firsthand there is no lag or interference to worry about.

 

Honestly, I doubt most people can tell the difference. Just go with what you're comfortable with.

 

G700 -> do high end mouses like the G700 not use batteries anymore? the amazon details says charge with a USB...

 

it has a cable to recharge the rechargeable battery inside, when I used mine I had a set of rechargeable eneloop batteries that I just plug on the g700 everytime it runs out (about 8-12 hours of gaming).

ended up with just keeping the cable plugged to it though lol.

 

OH so you still put batteries in it but you just don't have to put it in the recharger case. So i guess the mouse is kinda like a built in recharger too. 8-12 hours seems reasonable. just charge it while i sleep or at work.

 

you can charge it while playing as well by having the charger plugged in the mouse while it's being used, it just so happens I had extra sets of rechargeable batteries which I used with it as well (specially if I was using it away from my desk).

 

i use the rosewill slim 1600 ore something...if you wait for a sale it does as low as 30 bucks....thats why i have it lol....i am cheap and poor Also be noted that the scroller on it is not the most accurate after a lot of use. But decent for the price. Though if your serious about gaming spent more money on a nicer set. If your like me if i buy a nice set i am buying it from bestbuy so i can have a good warranty with out questions....i break a keyboard and mouse a lot lol. either dropping or smashing lately just dropping.

 

what about a bluebooth mouse/keyboard? do they have more input lag compared to the USB wireless ones?

 

About twice as much; typically 14ms compared to 8ms for non-gaming USB wireless.

 

oh wow! thanks...but there goes out the window my dream of playing Battlefield 3 with a bluetooth mouse/keyboard while sitting comfortably on the couch, with the laptop connected to the HDTV.

 

well if you get one of those wireless mice with a dongle instead of bluetooth you could still play bf3 pretty well, I don't really notice the delay as much when I'm using my wireless mouse

 

there's always the false myth that wireless mice have noticeable much higher latency then wired counterparts.
it's only true for low quality wireless mice. if you go for "gaming" or "premium" ones you won't have any latency increase whatsoever compared to wired.
Don't let narrominded and falsely informed people to tell you the opposite. Test it if you can and I can guarantee you 100% that you won't notice any latency.

 

I'll just reiterate what has already been said - nowadays wireless technology in mice has gotten to the point where the quality gaming/top end mice have about the same latency as a wired counterpart.

Do yourself a favor and get the G700. It requires only 1 AA battery, if you use a rechargeable battery you can recharge it in the mouse via USB. It was also the only mouse (when I was researching a new gaming mouse) that offered data-over-cable (ie: if you unplug the wireless dongle and just plug the mouse in with the USB cable, it works just like a wired mouse), and it will recharge your battery while in use. You can also customize your profiles and they're saved and switchable on the mouse, so if you go to a LAN or switch computers often, your profiles go with you (I have a low power profile for tasks, and a gaming profile for RPGs and a gaming profile for FPS where I can change the DPI on the fly). I've used plenty of mice over the years and this one keeps on impressing me the more I use it. My only gripe about it is that setting the extra buttons as "Custom Button 1, 2..." aren't really picked up by many games when changing the key bindings. In Diablo 3, when I try to bind the "Custom Button 1" button to one of the abilities on the bar, it'll register it as "Alt + Left". This is fine because it still gets the job done, however it doesn't pick up the Custom Buttons 3 & 4, so I had to change those to Alt + Up/Down just to get the game to register those inputs. It's just a software compatibility issue where the game doesn't properly read the drivers, I'm sure they'll add support for it by release, and if not it's an easy workaround. You can do what I did and pick one up for around $60 for a refurbished model sold by Newegg through eBay.

 

Ditto what everyone above said.

Just a few thoughts though--

The USB cable on Razer mice acts as both data and power. On Wireless mode, you plug the cable into the dock, and the dock acts as the wireless receiver. You can place the mouse on the dock to charge the mouse. Plugging the USB cable directly into the mouse also charges it and places it into wired mode at the same time.

However, if you're like me and tend to be forgetful about charging (or do long gaming marathons), your wireless mouse will run out of battery, often right as you're lining up for that perfect headshot or pentakill or whatever. Sure it takes only a few seconds to unplug the cable from the dock and plug it into the mouse, but those seconds could be vital.

More out of convenience and annoyance at my own forgetfulness, I just keep it plugged in all the time anyway now.

 

Best advice. Find one that fits your hand and feels comfortable.