Wireless Keyboard and mouse suitable for gaming ?

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a wireless mouse and keyboard to go with my system.

Trouble is I've owned a wireless mouse before and whilst fine for
office type applications, the reaction time is far to slow for games.

This product was brought some time ago so I'm things have improved
since then.

Anybody got any suggestions reccomendations ?

TIA.

"andyw"
wrote in oups.com:
Hi,

I'm looking to buy a wireless mouse and keyboard to go with my system.

Trouble is I've owned a wireless mouse before and whilst fine for
office type applications, the reaction time is far to slow for games.

This product was brought some time ago so I'm things have improved
since then.

Anybody got any suggestions reccomendations ?

TIA.

Unless you are putting your keyboard out of reach of a normal corded
keyboard, why use a cordless keyboard and have yet another set of
batteries go dead? You start to wonder why you are missing keystrokes
or the keyboard went dead. Some cordless keyboards and mice have their
software popup a warning about "low battery" but that means you get your
work interrupted. If you're going to put the system case far enough
away that the keyboard's cord won't reach then cordless makes sense.
But remember that you still must have the receiver and keyboard so they
"see" each other. I don't know of any that use infrared anymore so
direct line-of-sight isn't required, but you can't bury the receiver on
the other side of the system case, behind the monitor, or anything else
that might shield the RF between keyboard and receiver.

For cordless mice, the weight of the batteries will make the mouse much
heavier. You can get units that use AAA batteries but then you
obviously have less charge and they drain faster. You might find your
pinkie fatigues much faster having to squeeze the mouse when repeatedly
having to lift and move it over (and one of the reasons why trackballs
are sometimes preferred along with no interruption in movement or
limitation in movement). However, unless you have a free area ahead of
a corded mouse so its cord moves freely without hitting anything (to
cause torque) and the cord slides freely (little resistance) then you
might want cordless.

If you are in an environment where you cannot guarantee at least 15 feet
between multiple users of cordless keyboards and mice, stay with corded.
Otherwise, you can end up with users wondering why their cursors are
mysteriously wandering around their screen. I've even seen users
interfere with each other that were 50 feet apart and one floor apart.

I've had cordless keyboards but realized no benefit from it being
cordless. I don't type with it on my lap or sitting in a recliner away
from the computer. I did use a cordless mouse for a long time but had
to give up due to pinkie fatigue (and overall fatigue) because of the
extra weight. When I did have cordless, it was a Logitech. When it got
broken, I decided to try other brands that were lighter. I tried the
IBM (black) cordless mouse and Microsoft Blue cordless mouse. Both had
problems never encountered with the Logitech. The IBM and Microsoft
would go to sleep too soon. I was constantly moving the mouse only to
find the cursor wouldn't start moving on the screen until 1 to 2 seconds
after I had started moving the mouse; i.e., they would go to sleep too
soon and had to be awakened but their poll interval to detect movement
was too long. This conserved power but at the expense of response.
Then IBM was worse (i.e., long wakeup lag) than the Microsoft. Both had
jerky movement so bad within games that it was like I was running a
low-speed shutter over my eyeballs while playing. You would miss
something happening or overshoot. Syncing the device with the receiver
didn't help. Upping the sampling rate (a property of the mouse device
in Device Manager) would reduce the jerkiness but it was still pretty
bad, so bad that I wouldn't bother playing my games. Although they were
lighter and would reduce fatigue under long use, I had to go back to the
Logitech cordless mouse. Even at the default (lowest) sampling rate,
the Logitech was smooth during gameplay. However, it takes a lot longer
for it to go into sleep mode and it polls much more quickly (so it will
come out of sleep mode much more quickly) which results in shorter
battery life. Alkaline batteries in the Logitech cordless mouse would
last around 17 to 22 days when I was doing gaming for several hours an
evening along with all my other normal work during the day.
Rechargeable NiMH batteries lasted 14 to 17 days. Logitech claims that
the batteries should last a couple months. Nope. With no gaming, the
batteries might last 1 month. I had returned 4 of their cordless mice
where even they thought they were defective. The IBM and Microsoft
units would've lasted longer on batteries but I couldn't stand the bad
response from them. There was one other cordless mouse but it was some
generic brand that I don't recall (wasn't any worse than the IBM or
Microsoft but it wasn't any better, and all were to laggy during
gameplay and to slow to wakeup even during non-game use compared to the
Logitech).

If you don't get cordless devices with rechargeable batteries integrated
into them (which means you also cannot [easily] replace them when they
go stale), make sure to get 2 sets of rechargeable batteries for each
device, and a charger. Then when the batteries get low, you can slide
in the already charged set and start charging the depleted set so they
are ready for the next swap.

If you really need to get rid of the cord, remember the mouse will get
heavier due to the battery weight and can accelerate fatigue. Batteries
do deplete which means you'll get erratic behavior when they get low and
eventually the device goes dead (and you could be right in the middle of
something time critical). Some cordless units have software that will
alert you when batteries are low, but you won't see that popup while
playing a game, and you might be busy at the time and decide to do it
later, forget, and end up with a dead device when you need it right now.
Some cordless mice are just too jerky during gameplay and upping the
sampling rate won't entirely eliminate the jerkiness. I have since
switched from a cordless Logitech to a corded Logitech (to reduce
fatigue) and subjectively I can't say that I've noticed a difference
(i.e., improvement) in performance during gameplay. I might eventually
go back to a trackball to eliminate the nuisance and fatigue of
constantly having to pickup and move the mouse.

--
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On 23 Sep 2004 01:26:16 -0700, "andyw"
wrote:


Hi,

I'm looking to buy a wireless mouse and keyboard to go with my system.

Trouble is I've owned a wireless mouse before and whilst fine for
office type applications, the reaction time is far to slow for games.

This product was brought some time ago so I'm things have improved
since then.

Anybody got any suggestions reccomendations ?

I think there's still a very slight lag but some people
don't seem to notice it. If that's what you want you'll
just have to try one.

Try the Logitech MX series, separates or bundled, mainly the
mouse need be MX for best gaming. They're sculpted for
right-hand use though, which some people dislike even for
right-handed use.

They have improved over the past few years, but still the
mouse is a bit heavy, I prefer a corded MX300 and still take
the added metal weight (slug) out of it.

I am not crazy about wireless mouse and keyboards. I get very upset, when I
start getting the low battery warning while working for many hours with
these.

I would think that working by wire is the best and most reliable. If you
stay with the wire types, you will also save a few dollars to get something
that is more usable for your gaming.

--

Jerry G.
==========================


"andyw" wrote in message
oups.com...

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a wireless mouse and keyboard to go with my system.

Trouble is I've owned a wireless mouse before and whilst fine for
office type applications, the reaction time is far to slow for games.

This product was brought some time ago so I'm things have improved
since then.

Anybody got any suggestions reccomendations ?

TIA.

Very informative post Van

I've been using cordless ball mouse for some time and would never go back.
I agree though, that I wouldn't want a cordless keyboard. It's just too
huge to be turned over and change the batteries on that. so I keep mine
ps/2.

For the logitech mouse though, I have the acceleration at "low" and slider
all defaulted. I don't find myself constantly lifting, I don't lift at all
actually. But if you're running resolution above 1600, you might need to
lift it with default mousespeed. For the pad, this is important if you have
a ball mouse, buy the 3M mouse surface. It's 8 times more expensive but
it's worth it. It's clean and grabs the ball like mad. I clean it once
every 6 months with running water. The surface traps dusts below the
contact surface so there's no more need to clean the rollers or the ball. I
am not kidding, I never need to clean my ball ever since I got this pad 3
years ago.

For opticals, the newer opticals all have decent refresh rates, excluding
the cheap ass no brand ones. When using optical mouses, use them on a light
colored surface to maximize battery life and accuracy. I still find that
the corded mx300 has a higher refresh rate than the cordless version.

Yes the cordless is heavier. But the corded cord likes to bump into objects
on the desks.

Van, I love your concern on fatigue Worked for 9 hours in office, and go
home for 4 hours of CS:CZ hehe.


"Vanguardx" see_signature ???
???...
"andyw"
wrote in oups.com:
Hi,

I'm looking to buy a wireless mouse and keyboard to go with my system.

Trouble is I've owned a wireless mouse before and whilst fine for
office type applications, the reaction time is far to slow for games.

This product was brought some time ago so I'm things have improved
since then.

Anybody got any suggestions reccomendations ?

TIA.

Unless you are putting your keyboard out of reach of a normal corded
keyboard, why use a cordless keyboard and have yet another set of
batteries go dead? You start to wonder why you are missing keystrokes
or the keyboard went dead. Some cordless keyboards and mice have their
software popup a warning about "low battery" but that means you get your
work interrupted. If you're going to put the system case far enough
away that the keyboard's cord won't reach then cordless makes sense.
But remember that you still must have the receiver and keyboard so they
"see" each other. I don't know of any that use infrared anymore so
direct line-of-sight isn't required, but you can't bury the receiver on
the other side of the system case, behind the monitor, or anything else
that might shield the RF between keyboard and receiver.

For cordless mice, the weight of the batteries will make the mouse much
heavier. You can get units that use AAA batteries but then you
obviously have less charge and they drain faster. You might find your
pinkie fatigues much faster having to squeeze the mouse when repeatedly
having to lift and move it over (and one of the reasons why trackballs
are sometimes preferred along with no interruption in movement or
limitation in movement). However, unless you have a free area ahead of
a corded mouse so its cord moves freely without hitting anything (to
cause torque) and the cord slides freely (little resistance) then you
might want cordless.

If you are in an environment where you cannot guarantee at least 15 feet
between multiple users of cordless keyboards and mice, stay with corded.
Otherwise, you can end up with users wondering why their cursors are
mysteriously wandering around their screen. I've even seen users
interfere with each other that were 50 feet apart and one floor apart.

I've had cordless keyboards but realized no benefit from it being
cordless. I don't type with it on my lap or sitting in a recliner away
from the computer. I did use a cordless mouse for a long time but had
to give up due to pinkie fatigue (and overall fatigue) because of the
extra weight. When I did have cordless, it was a Logitech. When it got
broken, I decided to try other brands that were lighter. I tried the
IBM (black) cordless mouse and Microsoft Blue cordless mouse. Both had
problems never encountered with the Logitech. The IBM and Microsoft
would go to sleep too soon. I was constantly moving the mouse only to
find the cursor wouldn't start moving on the screen until 1 to 2 seconds
after I had started moving the mouse; i.e., they would go to sleep too
soon and had to be awakened but their poll interval to detect movement
was too long. This conserved power but at the expense of response.
Then IBM was worse (i.e., long wakeup lag) than the Microsoft. Both had
jerky movement so bad within games that it was like I was running a
low-speed shutter over my eyeballs while playing. You would miss
something happening or overshoot. Syncing the device with the receiver
didn't help. Upping the sampling rate (a property of the mouse device
in Device Manager) would reduce the jerkiness but it was still pretty
bad, so bad that I wouldn't bother playing my games. Although they were
lighter and would reduce fatigue under long use, I had to go back to the
Logitech cordless mouse. Even at the default (lowest) sampling rate,
the Logitech was smooth during gameplay. However, it takes a lot longer
for it to go into sleep mode and it polls much more quickly (so it will
come out of sleep mode much more quickly) which results in shorter
battery life. Alkaline batteries in the Logitech cordless mouse would
last around 17 to 22 days when I was doing gaming for several hours an
evening along with all my other normal work during the day.
Rechargeable NiMH batteries lasted 14 to 17 days. Logitech claims that
the batteries should last a couple months. Nope. With no gaming, the
batteries might last 1 month. I had returned 4 of their cordless mice
where even they thought they were defective. The IBM and Microsoft
units would've lasted longer on batteries but I couldn't stand the bad
response from them. There was one other cordless mouse but it was some
generic brand that I don't recall (wasn't any worse than the IBM or
Microsoft but it wasn't any better, and all were to laggy during
gameplay and to slow to wakeup even during non-game use compared to the
Logitech).

If you don't get cordless devices with rechargeable batteries integrated
into them (which means you also cannot [easily] replace them when they
go stale), make sure to get 2 sets of rechargeable batteries for each
device, and a charger. Then when the batteries get low, you can slide
in the already charged set and start charging the depleted set so they
are ready for the next swap.

If you really need to get rid of the cord, remember the mouse will get
heavier due to the battery weight and can accelerate fatigue. Batteries
do deplete which means you'll get erratic behavior when they get low and
eventually the device goes dead (and you could be right in the middle of
something time critical). Some cordless units have software that will
alert you when batteries are low, but you won't see that popup while
playing a game, and you might be busy at the time and decide to do it
later, forget, and end up with a dead device when you need it right now.
Some cordless mice are just too jerky during gameplay and upping the
sampling rate won't entirely eliminate the jerkiness. I have since
switched from a cordless Logitech to a corded Logitech (to reduce
fatigue) and subjectively I can't say that I've noticed a difference
(i.e., improvement) in performance during gameplay. I might eventually
go back to a trackball to eliminate the nuisance and fatigue of
constantly having to pickup and move the mouse.

--
__________________________________________________ _______________
******** Post replies to newsgroup - Share with others ********
Email: lh_811newsATyahooDOTcom and append "=NEWS=" to Subject.
__________________________________________________ _______________