Gaming keyboards

[Pifanjr]

My job is going to give us a €1000 budget to buy equipment to help us work from home. It's going to be a limited selection of course, but I'm thinking of getting a monitor, keyboard, mouse and office chair and then buying a budget PC from my own money this spring when I get my vacation money.

Also, I didn't realise that office chairs are so insanely expensive. The cheapest is €350 and they quickly go to €500+. I could buy an entire new budget PC for that money.

So I got the login to the web shop yesterday and spent a bunch of time comparing different desk chairs, monitors, mice and keyboards.

At first I just picked the cheapest mouse and keyboard option because I don't typically care much about having anything fancy, but then I noticed they had gaming mice and keyboards available as well. So I picked a mouse with a bunch of side buttons, of which I'll probably only ever use two of.

Then I had a look at all of the keyboards and spent probably an hour comparing a whole bunch of them, until I noticed something. All of the gaming keyboards have a different layout for their keys than regular keyboards do. Where a normal keyboard has, for example, the number keys like

!
1

Gaming keyboards do either

1!

or

1
!

Obviously, this makes them utterly unusable. So I ended up picking a €22 Logitech k120 keyboard, which I'm pretty sure is the exact same one I have for my PC right now.

Anyone else ever refused to buy a gaming accessory just because you didn't like the way it did something different, even if it might have been better?

 

[Colif]

What exactly is the problem?

Mine has 1! layout, in that 1 is next to the ! but that doesn't make much difference? Its just how they show on the key.

its likely they are cheaper chinese keycaps that use a different layout, Pretty sure I could get keycaps that are right, I just never bothered as I like my keycaps as they are and hadn't really noticed. I never even botherred to swap the windows key onto the keyboard, instead leaving an apple key there since I know its the windows key, it doesn't matter what it looks like.

The keyboard came with spare keycaps

so I can change some colours if I ever get bored. Or just buy an entire new set. I can replace almost everything on this keyboard.

Corsair K80 RGB MK 2 keycaps show
1
!
And they aren't cheap keyboards.

I had never really noticed as regardless of what keys look like, they function the same as normal keyboards. You still need to press shift 1 to get the !

Its just a superficial difference, it shouldn't effect typing as such. Its not a reason I would avoid using my Nuphy, that is for sure

the Lotro keycaps match the format you like for numbers but all the letters are.... um

Drop + The Lord of the Rings™ Gondor™ CSTM80 Keyboard | Mechanical Keyboards | TKL Mechanical Keyboards

Drop exclusive product, price and reviews: Drop + The Lord of the Rings™ Gondor™ CSTM80 Keyboard | Ends 6/29/2025 | Why settle for a steward when you can...

drop.com

this one would be interesting... none of the keycaps match

Star Trek Klingon USB Keyboard

Perfect for home or office use, this membrane keyboard features all Klingon language keys to bring glory to you... and your house! The Star Trek Klingon USB Keyboard is compatible with any Windows, Mac, Linux, LCARS, or almost any other computer interface with a USB port. Neural Interface...

mycherrytree.com

it doesn't type in klingon unless someone has added that language to windows

 

[Colif]

Anyone else ever refused to buy a gaming accessory just because you didn't like the way it did something different, even if it might have been better?

Does refusing to buy anything made by Razer count? I mean, they must make something good that I am ignoring... its different was its software package. Not sure if the new version of it is any better. I don't need anything right now so I not buying just to find out.

Most things I buy start from a comparison stage, as nothing is perfect. Have to way up pros and cons, and I have rejected some things which are better just because they don't have the right colors - fans come to mind. Or they didn't allow passthrough of power connections. But I am tired of talking about fans

 

[Pifanjr]

What exactly is the problem?

Mine has 1! layout, in that 1 is next to the ! but that doesn't make much difference? Its just how they show on the key.

Nevermind the layout of the special symbols, whose idea was it to stick the F-keys and the escape right against the rest of the keyboard?

 

[Colif]

That is by design. Mine isn't a full sized keyboard, I think its 80% meaning there is no space between the key groups. I am missing a few keys but I have never really missed them as such.

I have never used most of the keys near the num pad. If I had known I would have got a smaller one.
The key that looks like scissors is print screen in Windows mode and opens Task Manager in Apple mode. Sure can be confusing if you in wrong mode.

Its also not really a gaming keyboard though the latest version of it, is closer. They do have gaming keyboards now.

 

[Colif]

Not a gaming keyboard

Actually, it contains a key for everyone of the most common words in English.
1000 of them anyway

Only way it be faster than speed typing on a normal keyboard is if you used the thing your entire life. And even then the speed at which you learned it might be slower. Helps if you don't know any other words except those 1000... it does allow for more words as it has keys for prefixes and suffixes, and plurals etc

The special keys should be along side or top, not just on one segment.
I would want it in a more compact form too. Or add spacing and making it 6 panels that can be stacked vertically. Would look better anyway...

 

[Zed Clampet]

I'm proud to say that the keyboard I bought for my new system is a disaster and impossible for me to type on, so I'm giving it away to the next person I see, which will either be the mailman bringing my new keyboard or my wife who's been out of town.

 

[Colif]

wonders what forum to post this in... Its both a KB and a Mouse

Though its from 1990 so finding a working one outside of the video might be hard.

that would work for me, I wouldn't need a mouse pad on bed. Just need to adjust to where trackball is.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I want to watch all these videos you are posting on keyboards. The keyboards look really interesting. Is it weird that, without having watched the video, I really want that ridiculous one with all the words on it? I wouldn't actually buy it, I just think it looks pretty cool.

My new SteelSeries keyboard is very good. I'm used to responsive keys that you don't have to press two inches for it to register. I was actually dreading every time I had to use that other keyboard. I really liked how it looked, though.

 

[Colif]

Is it weird that, without having watched the video, I really want that ridiculous one with all the words on it?

Yes.

You would need to start from birth to learn how to type fast enough to make that make any sense tp use other than a novelty

 

[Zed Clampet]

Yes.

You would need to start from birth to learn how to type fast enough to make that make any sense tp use other than a novelty

But it looks so cool!

 

[Colif]

But it looks so cool!

I feel you will like some of these then

 

[Colif]

what

ASUS Republic of Gamers Demonstrates Commitment to Esports Excellence With Latest Offerings at Computex 2025

ROG Computex 2025: Falcata keyboard, Harpe II Ace mouse (co-developed with Demon1), new gaming chairs & ZywOo partnership! Esports excellence redefined. Subscribe to ASUS Pressroom for the latest tech updates!

press.asus.com

 

[TimGarcia1991]

What I use is a Logitech K380. Not sure if you can call it a Gaming keyboard but it does the work and is capable of switching devices with a press of a button.

 

[Colif]

i don't want but I may need to replace by Nuphy Halo96

It causes USB errors when plugged into new PC,. and I was getting similar on my old PC as well. I thought the problem was the cable I was using but its the actual port. Bummer.
It also refuses to sync with the new one over Bluetooth

it stopped working mid post and I had to restart PC to get normal keyboard action back again.
Sigh, it works fine on my old PC... guess mum gets a new keyboard and new PC this week. She already has my Logitech Mouse... just needs a bigger monitor and better GPU... lol
It may not work wired but I can probably still charge it.

the port thing is my fault, I know exactly when that happened

So. I like their keyboards, might choose a smaller one

NuPhy X BH65 Magnetic Switch 8K Wired Aluminium Gaming Keyboard

220 Mesh All-aluminum body 8kHz USB Polling Rate 16kHz Full-keyboard Scanning Frequency Ultra-low Latency of 0.125ms 0.01mm RT Sensitivity Super Stable,Super Responsive Ultra Stable, Ultra HiFi Free Shipping on New Arrivals

nuphy.com.au

or a more traditional one:

NuPhy Halo75 V2 Wireless QMK/VIA Mechanical Keyboard

NuPhy Halo75 V2 Wireless QMK/VIA Mechanical Keyboard

nuphy.com.au

I don't really want Hall Effect, not at the expense of a quiet keyboard or lighting or some of the other things.

 

[Colif]

I didn't have to think about it for long. Bought a Halo75 V2, now just have to wait.

Can't handle using this Corsair keyboard, its too loud - can even hear it over my music... open backs not good with corsair keyboards.

didn't take much convincing, I already liked my keyboard. Wireless still sucks but I either use Bluetooth or a cable.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I didn't have to think about it for long. Bought a Halo75 V2, now just have to wait.

Can't handle using this Corsair keyboard, its too loud - can even hear it over my music... open backs not good with corsair keyboards.

didn't take much convincing, I already liked my keyboard. Wireless still sucks but I either use Bluetooth or a cable.

Amateur. You didn't even get a numpad.

It's beautiful, though.

 

[Colif]

Amateur. You didn't even get a numpad.

Those were some of the keys I never used on my previous one.
I got this one with a numpad and the entire time I had it, I never used it

So I figured I could do without.
Glad new one still has a screenshot button.

I have used a keyboard before without a numpad though it was 15 years or so ago...
It technically had a numpad but you could detach it. I never used it.
my first gaming keyboard

I can't remember why I stopped using it. Last non mechanical keyboard I ever used.

I was tempted to get the Blue one but one guy says the blue isn't exactly the same as it appears on screen, so I didn't risk it. Lime green didn't appeal and I didn't want black keys. So I went White... its shipped already.. or Auspost know the package code already.

The delete key isn't where I expect it to be on this Corsair. On my other keyboard it was where the pause/break keys are. On the other one, I don't have those buttons. Its a 96 key layout, its missing a few. New one is 75, its missing more. Most of the ones I don't use... I think 65 key layout is a step too far.

We really need more than one working keyboard in the house with 3 computers. Mum resorted to pulling out an old dell keyboard we were throwing away. Eww.

 

[Colif]

its greyer than I was expecting it to be

But way more rgb on the bottom than last board. It had a strip of rgb, this ones base glows.

Since this one likely live on a wire I will need to look at RGB choices as I have way more now,,, possibly too many. lol. I think i like the one I have now, every key I press causes a green explosion. Might take a while to cycle through all the colours to blue, I went from gold to lime green so far. Probably faster in software.

I didn't get it for that, I just like their keyboards and it didn't take me long to adjust to this. I don't even miss the numb pad. It puts itself to sleep after 6 minutes of idle which is a nice feature and likely saves on battery for those who use it wireless. As long as it wakes up again, I don't mind.

I haven't even looked at the instructions, plug in, swap to Microsoft mode (as it can also work on Mac), switch to wired mode... start typing. It is louder than my Halo96 was but not in a springy way like Corsair keyboards do.

admits he just buys the keyboards for the stickers

I wonder if those are the same ones again.

til if you looking at a photo in a post and have it expanded and press F it makes it fullscreen