Gaming Keyboards (FPS Small Ones)

Hello all. I'm going to be the proud new owner of a nice gaming laptop this week and perhaps many know or at least in my opinion laptop keyboards aren't great for gaming.

So I've been looking at these "mini" FPS keyboards and was wondering if anyone else uses them and if so what ones are good, bad and great?

http://www.zboard.com/experience/FANG/ This is one that I have been looking at for the moment. The reviews seem to be good. Please share your intellect.

!!!Please NOTHING about NORMAL FULL SIZE KEYBOARDS!!!! Just the FPS "smaller" ones. Check out the URL is you don't know what I am talking about.

*didn't realize I put this in the wrong category....sorry boss*

 

I own a Belkin Nostromo n52 which I play CS:S and CS1.6 on along with World of Warcraft. I've come to the point where I won't game without it.

I feel that the FANG was too ackward .. it didn't feel at all like a keyboard.

 

Yeah I've seen the Belkin around. I tried the Saitek Pro something or other and I totally didn't like it. wrong angle that cramped up my fingers.
The Fang looks very flat so i don't know how that would be.

 

Well, that's the smallest I have seen. The normal Z-Board is full size.

 

It took me a while to get used to my laptop keyboard for gaming, but now I am, and its fine. I use WASD now alot, I used to use the arrow keys.

 

another vote for the belkin n52. make sure you get the 52 not the 50. i use my n52 for all my games and for 3d modeling. very handy

 

Ethan, those 3D Modeling screenshots are really nice! Good job!

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread!

 

I personally like the "Cyber Snipa PC Gaming Pad", it's on Sale over at Xoxide.com

 

Any current thoughts on these? I am considering the Fang or Nostromo.

I like the feel of the Fang but am concerned about connectivity and response times. I am also curious about the programability and durability. They have been out for a while now, do they live up to the hype???

 

the problem with the nostromo is that it IGNORES LEFT handed mousers.
Up until a few months ago, I played FPS's with mouse in left hand and right hand on the keypad of my keyboard. so the nostromo was useless to me.

the Fang and other keypads like it are ambidextrous and can be used by anyone regardless of handedness. Problem was they were few and far between until a few months ago. Now the companies are finally figuring that out and there are a few more options for keypad only.
Other options;
Saitek Game pad Left hand only.
Genius Ergomedia Pad Also left hand only.
Wolf King Warrior the layout is a little left hand biased (large space bar key on the right side), but could easily be used with either hand.
Flexiglow Cyba Snipa This is what I have currently. It was the only "straight" (either hand) keypad that I could find when I bought it last June. It works pretty well, actually. It's recognized as a regular keyboard, so no extra software needed. But the buttons are a bit stiff (more work to push them) and it has some issues if you need to push more than 3 keys at a time (like when strafing + running + jumping)

If i were to replace my cyba snipa, I'd probably go with the Wolf King or the Fang. The Wolf King has a lot more keys which would make it easier to set up for whatever type of game you play.

 

Has anyone seen similiar issues with any other keypads.

OT - re: lefthanded, I feel for you, I had a friends years ago in school and it sucked for her. I remember her having trouble finding scissors for art class and always being harrassed about her handwriting. She told me when she was younger people tried to 'correct' her lefthanded-ness(this was > 25 years ago, hope this no longer happens).

 

This is true. There are some games (not shooters), that I will play with the touch pad even. You probably would get used to it over time.

 

I have both the Belking N50 and N52, both are good. I am disappointed to say that the quality of the N50 is slightly higher than the N52, but not by much. I used to use them a lot, but when I started programming and stopped gaming they lost their usefulness to me. Only complaint I have is the the software is akward to use with Steam.