Hands-On With SteelSeries Ikari Mouse and New 7G Gaming Keyboard

Engadget recently had the chance to review some high-end gear from SteelSeries. While they may be a little on the pricey side, it seems that both the Ikari laser mouse and the 7g keyboard received favorable reviews. "The Ikari laser mouse they announced last year is particularly great, with a built-in processor and sensitivity settings to allow for a customized and precise sensitivity setting in a plug-and-play setup particularly suited to professional gamers. Settings are easy to work, and the actual sensitivity and response of the mouse easily outclasses our prior mousing experiences. New to the market is the SteelSeries 7G keyboard, which is making its debut on Monday the 5th. The keyboard is fully mechanical, with no-click switches that give it a much stronger, smoother tactile feel, while simultaneously catering to gamers by registering half presses. The keyboard weighs a ton thanks to the heavy-duty iron-infused plastic and the gold electronics, and is quite capable of handling abuse. We grew up typing on heavy-duty keyboards, and this is easily the best one we've used this decade -- though the $150 pricetag also makes it the most expensive outside of the Optimus Maximus."

Not sure how this qualified as a review

[NeutronCowboy]

More like a cut and paste of a PR release. All I saw was short blurbs about "This rocks, you ought to buy it", along with some tech buzzwords thrown in. Not a single word breathed about ergonomics, how the programmable interface actually works, the details of the customizations and how effective they actually are. Really, the summary IS the article.

This is a slashvertisement if I've ever seen one.

Re:Caps Lock! Oh No!

[djohnsto]

In XWindows, try this in xorg.conf:

Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps"

In MS Windows, try caps-as-ctrl.reg [gnu.org]. You will need to reboot after installing.

Re:L shape enter/return key and small backspace ke

[jackbird]

That would be a rebadged Keytronic Ergo series. An awesome keyboard, but considerably cheaper if you buy it with letters affixed.

Re:IBM Model M

[marimbaman]

They're even available new from Unicomp.

(My Model M was born on March 16, 1990!)

Re:Prior mousing experiences

[Achromatic1978]

Oh lord, a superiority complex.

Gamers bleat that 4000dpi is needed for that "uber" control. It's not. Not even close. The day any human being on this planet shows me manual dexterity with an object weighing half a pound capable of precision control to within SIX THOUSANDTHS OF A MILLIMETRE is the day I'll personally fund the construction of an 8000dpi mouse just for you.

I want to tell you just how fine that resolution is. SHORT head hairs on an ANT measure 0.006mm.

You could survive on 1000dpi at the most, if not less. But that doesn't sound elite. Gamers are like audiophiles - it's just that their gadgets aren't as expensive.