[UPDATE: Winners!] free Razer earbuds?! - Page 10

On February 19 2009 19:44 kefkalives wrote:
Well. I'll try!

Ode to a Microsoft Keyboard.

Oh Microsoft internet keyboard.
You were the center of my starcraft universe
Bold, fat and plastic,
with keys that would only ever irritate;

Like that sleep button i pressed while playing on abyss,
What the fuck was that about?

Who designed that piece of shit, making me dead my computer whilst
in tense one on one action.

And yet i nurtured you.
Ofcourse, in sadistic fashion
i shaped you after my own motives
Carving your surface with knife
Throwing keys away so that i may play better.

So many fond memories are tied to what you let me have
The friends i met and typed to,
You, and you alone
were the messenger.

You would always remind me of the past
My rat would crawl about on you, shedding hair into your depths
and even urinating
Yet i still loved you like i loved that rat.

And the hair that i would clean out of my microsoft keyboard
Years after that rat had died, would bring me another reminder that he was alive.

Now the keyboard sits under my desk, replaced by shiny new plastic
keyboarding experiences. But the fun i had painting, defacing and modifying you
Will always be buried in my mind
Like that poor rat i had to bury in the yard.

On February 19 2009 21:18 Hammy wrote:
People get all hyped up when they want a new mouse. I know a bunch of people who bought a copperhead or a diamondback for two reasons: it's razer and it shines (but of course they won't say that ). And nowadays, what says you're a real gamer more than a Razer mouse?

Well i'm the kind of guy who likes to buy stuff based exclusively on how much my needs correspond to the specs. Don't get me wrong, I think razer makes awesome mice, but I do feel they are slightly overpriced and just have too many things I know i'd never use.

So when I was shopping for a mouse what was I looking for?
-A small mouse (I'm used to a Fingerstyle Grip on my mouse)
-A comfortable mouse (As in, a mouse I'M comfortable with)
-A mouse with at least 1200dpi sensitivity (With 800dpi I already had my mouse on max speed on windows and I wanted it to be faster)
-At least three buttons and a scroll
-A wired mouse (Faster response apparently, and it's just a hassle to change batteries)
-Not too expensive (I wouldn't spend 100Euro on a mouse)

Now the price wasn't such a big issue, but what I don't like about more expensive gear is that they tend to toss in gadgets which i'm just not interested in (like mouse memory, dynamic dpi switching, 7 buttons, cable holders, gold plated usb ports etc...). It's not that these additions can't be useful, it's just that I haven't got any use for them. So basically when I buy a more expensive mouse I get stuff I don't even want.

I guess you're all thinking: this guy needs a G1 or a Logitech mini-optical. Well I considered going for one of those, but I really wanted a more sensitive mouse (they're both at 800dpi) so I decided they were out.

Now you must be getting bored so i'll spare the details, but i tried out a bunch of mice, some good but overpriced, some just overpriced, and some great but didn't exactly fit my needs (too large or low dpi etc...).

In the end (I might be flamed to hell here) I settled for a Genius mouse! In the past I hadn't had the best experience with this brand but I just couldn't "not" try this mouse out. It was a perfect fit.
I'm talking about the Genius Ergo300 Mini Wired Mouse.
http://www.elive.co.nz/genius-ergo300-wiredmouse-dv0683.php

This mouse is equipped with 1200 dpi optical lens technology, it's small, comfortable and light. I had tried out some cheaper laser technologies and those were just terrible. They kept on skipping pixels and stuff. With this optical mouse the tracking is good and smooth.
Basically this mouse had everything I needed. The only additionnal gadget (they all have one...) is the horizontal scrolling, which I don't use, but whatever, it's not like that gadget made the price skyrocket anyways.

So to sum up, I needed a simple, relatively sensitive mouse so I got just that, and nothing more, and i'm really happy they still make simple mice for users who don't need a 4000dpi, gold plated, LED lit, titanium reinforced mouse

I'd say the razer mouse I hesitated most to buy is the salmosa but I just wasn't sure what more it could bring compared to the mouse i have now. And it was over double the price, so I decided pretty quickly. I think that razer should consider more mice for the fingerstyle gamers out there, and we sure are plenty.

In case this thread turns into a "What mouse should I buy?" I should mention that since I've only had this mouse for a few months I can't really comment on how sturdy it is. If it ever breaks down I'll be sure to edit this post.

On February 20 2009 05:56 -orb- wrote:
My favorite gaming peripheral is my Razer Tarantula. You see, many people on the teamliquid forums have debates on what the best keyboard for starcraft is. Many people seem to think the infamous Korean DT-35 is the best simply because almost all the professionals use it. Some people think that any generic cheap keyboard is good.

Personally, I much prefer the Tarantula. Before I had the Tarantula, I had tried a number of other gaming keyboards, such as the Saitek Eclipse II, the Logitech G15, and a couple of less well known ones. None of these compare to the Tarantula. The Tarantula is the perfect simple keyboard. Sure, it doesn't have a fancy LCD screen, but I have dual monitors, so there's really no need for that anyways. It has a large number of features that are very important to me. The layout, for example, is much more intuitive than most regular keyboards. When I first got the Tarantula I was a bit confused and it took a little while to get used to, but once I did I much prefer it. The F keys are slim, which makes it very easy to distinguish them with your fingers from the number keys when you are moving your hand quickly. The Delete key is double-sized, with a very nice layout above the arrow keys, which moves the Insert key over by the scroll lock, print screen, and pause/break key. The lack of a completely useless context menu key next to the right control moves the right control to the left, which allows the arrow keys to be moved to the left, which locks the layout together and makes the keyboard smaller than it would be otherwise.

Also, the wide array of non-standard keys on the sides of the keyboard make a lot of things way easier. On the right side are various media keys. One to open your favorite (customizable) music program, the general playback keys (play, stop, next and previous track), a shuffle toggle key, a volume up/down key, and even a mute key. These keys are so unbelievably useful because they work even when you are not in the music program. This means that when I'm listening to music while playing starcraft, I can skip a track, lower the volume, stop the music, etc. On the left side of the keyboard are a couple more useful keys. There is a home key, a snooze key, and some picture-based media keys: a rotate button (very useful when dealing with photos that could be sideways), a zoom in/out button, and a 100% button to bring a picture to its full size. I do a lot of graphic design so this is pretty helpful to me.

Another additional feature is the macro keys. While I can not use the macro keys for games like starcraft, they are very useful in a game like World of Warcraft. I also like using them to type out various things I get tired of typing out over and over, such as a username I use everywhere, or some command in a game like executing my config files in counter-strike source. One of the great things about the Tarantula is that every single key is customizable. You can change any individual key however you want, not just the macro keys.

I love my Razer Tarantula. One of the most important parts of it is the way the keys move. Unlike cheap keyboards with tall keys, the Tarantula keys are relatively slim and low to the keyboard, and when you press them they are very easy to press and move in a very smooth motion, but they are not too light as to accidentally hit a key you do not want to hit.

My Razer Tarantula is perfect in every way I can think of. I even penned over the PROFILE button so that my keyboard is constantly reminding me of how PRO I am.

My Razer Tarantula is easly my favorite peripheral. Thank you Razer, for making such an absolutely amazing product.