Controllers, Keyboards, Mice, etc.

[Dragon Lord]

Yeah, the keys can have multiple functions programmed to them, so if I miss having a mute button on my keyboard too much, I can just do that. I'm really interested in the analogue aspect of it though. The fact you can make it so the keys function kind of like a thumbstick on a controller is pretty neat. Instead of having to sit there and repeatedly tap W to get your character to slowly move forward on a cliff edge, you can just make it so barely press down the W key will make your character slowly move forward, like softly pushing forward on a controller.

Not sure how much that'll actually come into play for me, but hey! At least I'll have the option to do it if I want, haha. This keyboard is definitely a bit of a... luxury spend for me though. There's really nothing wrong with my current keyboard and I'm just buying this one because of how much it is hyped up and all the great reviews it got and the fact that it looks nice, sounds nice, and apparently has some of the best RGB lighting effects seen on a keyboard (I'm a sucker for that shit). Though one review did mention that they think being able to program two functions to the keys will actually be really great for MMO players, and since there is an MMO coming out this year that I plan to be heavily into, then it might end up becoming a great purchase for me.

[Moonface]

Yeah, the keys can have multiple functions programmed to them, so if I miss having a mute button on my keyboard too much, I can just do that. I'm really interested in the analogue aspect of it though. The fact you can make it so the keys function kind of like a thumbstick on a controller is pretty neat. Instead of having to sit there and repeatedly tap W to get your character to slowly move forward on a cliff edge, you can just make it so barely press down the W key will make your character slowly move forward, like softly pushing forward on a controller.

That definitely sounds like a good feature to have, especially since most games don't really have an input method outside of analogue sticks to control the speed at which your character moves. The only game I know of that ever implemented a system to control character speed without using a stick was the original Tomb Raider games, which used R1 to slow Lara down to slow walking speeds to line her up better for jumps due to the games grid-based system. Unfortunately with the advent of analogue sticks I think most games expect players to control character speed with that, and if you don't play with a controller then you're just out of luck.

[Dragon Lord]

It'll definitely be interesting playing around with it and seeing what it's like in some games. Even though the keyboard seems to be geared more towards competitive FPS players, I think I can find some really neat uses of its features outside of that scene.

It should be shipping sometime this month, so hopefully it won't be *too* much longer before I have it and I can find out.

As I mentioned in the latest purchases topic, I also bought another keyboard because Best Buy has it on sale for extremely cheap, haha. It's an older keyboard (released in 2016, I think?) and compared to my current board and the Wooting 2HE I'll have coming, it's absolute shit, but I just decided to buy it because it's a $100 board they are selling for $30. Not sure what I'll use it for yet. Perhaps just use it for my laptop.

Just one of those buys were I was like, man for that cheap I just gotta buy it because they the fuck not?

[ShiraNoMai]

Recommended a friend a controller that I've been using lately to play some platformers and other games on my PC:

Hyperkin X91 Wired Controller



I have an older version of this exact model (I bought it in 2017) but I imagine this latest iteration works just as nicely. It's got a lovely d-pad and all the buttons are raised enough to be responsive and snappy. Triggers are also analogue so they feel nice to use.

[Dragon Lord]

So as I mentioned in the Amazon Prime Day topic, I bought the Logitech G502 X, despite loving my Razer Basilisk V3, to see how it felt. Well, to give an update on it... I've switched back to using my Basilisk V3 on my gaming PC. Despite being very similar to each other, the G502 X just didn't feel nearly as good as the Basilisk V3.

One thing that really annoyed me about the G502 X was the scroll wheel. When pressing down on the scroll wheel button, the wheel would tend to also move at the same time, negating your press when you wanted to be able to use the fast scrolling thing. You'd have to try and position your finger directly on the very tip top of the scroll wheel and carefully press directly down on it, which was a pain to do. The Basilisk V3 in comparison is flawless in this regard. You click down on the scroll wheel and there's no movement whatsoever. Not even a tiny bit of give. It's also much easier to press down on. I found the G502 X required quite a bit more pressure to actually push down.

The one advantage I can give to the 502X is that you can replace the "sniper button" on the side with a flat button so it's flush with the shell of the mouse. That way if you don't play shooters and have no use for that button's function, you can just get rid of it and not have it in the way if it bothers you. Though after using the mouse for a bit and then switching back to the Basilisk, which doesn't have that option, I find that the button doesn't actually bother me at all in the end.

Another thing that annoyed me about the G502 X is that it has two additional buttons on top by the left click, and by default they are programmed to change your DPI. In turn this makes the left click button smaller on the G502 X compared to the Basilisk V3, and I would find myself constantly hitting those side buttons by accident. Yes, you can re-program them so they don't change your DPI, but it's annoying that you have to download their software and do that manually instead of those buttons just not being tied to the DPI for some stupid reason to begin with.

In the end, I would definitely recommend staying away from the G502 X. If you're looking for a higher end gaming mouse (either wired or wireless) and you like the ergo design of mice like that, definitely check out the Basilisk V3. Razer gets a lot of crap for some of their products, but so far I've had nothing but wonderful experiences with their mice (DeathAdder V2 Pro [Wireless] and Basilisk V3 [Wired])). I'm actually looking at maybe upgrading to the wireless Basilisk V3 Pro, or trying out the DeathAdder V3 Pro. I just can't make up my mind on which one I want.

[Moonface]

Hmm. I'm trying to work out what is different about the 502 X and the 502 Hero (the one I have), since I can't say I've ever had a problem with my mouse despite the fact both seem to share more or less the exact same design. I also have zero idea what the buttons on the side of my left click do because they're not changing my DPI, but I know my mouse used to do that and I don't recall downloading software to turn that off.

Edit: Found another button and discovered the one beneath the scroll wheel unlock changes the mouse profile and I was on a profile that doesn't allow DPI changing.

[Dragon Lord]

The G502 Hero was a great mouse, until I started experiencing the unfortunate double clicking issue that plagued a lot of those mice (not all, but a lot). Which is when I decided to get the Basilisk V3, which has been a GREAT mouse. I just decided to try the G502 X since I figured the updated switches and such in the mouse would make it just a better G502 Hero. Unfortunately I feel like that while the switches in the mouse are definitely better (love the clickyness of them), most everything else about the mouse is not much better or not better at all over the G502 Hero, which is a shame.

So yeah, I'll be sticking to the Basilisk V3 for now. It's basically a G502 but almost better in every way. Not sure if I want to stick with the wired version or just get the wireless one (wireless one has better switches, but most of the other specs are the same). Originally I planned to just stick to wired mice for better connection, but I think wireless mice have gotten to the point where they are so good that there's not really much difference between them and wired any more. Would clear up some wire mess on my desk too, which is an appealing option. At the same time though I feel like getting the Basilisk V3 Pro would be kind of pointless when I can just deal with the wired version, and if I want to try a high-end wireless mouse, I should instead try the Deathadder V3 Pro first. Then if I don't like it, I can just return it and get the Basilisk V3 Pro instead. Though I will say one perk to the Basilisk V3 Pro is that it Bluetooth, so I could use it on multiple devices. Have it with the wireless dongle on my gaming PC and then have it connected to my laptop via Bluetooth and then I don't need to take up room on my desk with a second mouse for my laptop.

Of course I could also just save the $150 and stick to my wired Basilisk V3 for the long term, but what fun would that be? I'm a tech junky addicted to buying new keyboards and mice even though there's nothing wrong with my current ones just because I love to play around with them, haha. I'm going to end up having like 50 gaming mice and 30 keyboards.

[Moonface]

The G502 Hero was a great mouse, until I started experiencing the unfortunate double clicking issue that plagued a lot of those mice (not all, but a lot).

I've never heard of this issue before. I'm guessing the left click bugs out in some way and registers every click as being done twice?


I had a wireless mouse once with my old laptop, and my biggest memory of that was the time I fell asleep with my laptop on my lap, it slid off onto the floor and landed on the side that had the USB dongle for the mouse plugged in so that thing got rammed entirely inside my laptop and shattered the port. I got lucky none of the loose metal from that ended up shorting out my laptop and that the only damage I had from all that was just one less USB port on that laptop. XD

I'd maybe consider a wireless mouse whenever I want to replace my current one, but my only concern with it (as with anything wireless) would be the battery life. The shoddy battery life on PS4 and PS5 controllers has made me a bit skeptical when it comes to devices having battery life that lasts more than a single day before needing to be recharged.

[Dragon Lord]

That's not too much of an issue with most wireless mice now days. A lot of them, especially from brands like Razer, Logitech, Asus, etc. can push 100+ hours of charge time before needing to be recharged. Wireless mice have really come a long way over the last however many years. Both in terms of use time per charge and pretty much eliminating any latency they had in the past that kept wired mice being a superior option for gaming. Unless you're using the mouse via Bluetooth, but anyone who buys a high end wireless mouse should have no reason not to be using it via the wireless dongle that it comes with.

As I mentioned, I originally got the wired Basilisk V3 because of worries that the wireless one might not perform as well, but it would appear those worries were for naught and the wireless Basilisk V3 is just as good, if not better, than the wired one (it does have Gen-3 Optical Switches compared to the wired having Gen-2, so that's a slight improvement there already).

I watched some reviews for the Deathadder V3 Pro though and apparently the build quality of the mouse is questionable. Many of the reviews mention a noticeable flex on both sides of the mouse when you press on it. The really weird thing is that the wired version of the Deathadder V3 does not have that flex. It's completely solid. So when it comes to the Deathadder V3, most people recommend actually getting the wired one for the better build quality, even at the cost of the convenience of the wireless.

So I'm thinking maybe when I have the extra money around bonus time, which will be around the time of Black Friday/Holiday sales as well, I may pick up the wireless Basilisk V3 AND the wired Deathadder V3 and see which one I like more, and then return the other one (or hell, maybe just keep both because I have an obsession). Unless Razer announces a Basilisk V4 by that time, but I feel like if they had that in the works, there would already be leaks about it.

[Moonface]

That's neat to learn wireless mouse battery life has improved so much. Shame controllers can't seem to ever make any improvements to their battery life in any meaningful way it feels like.

[ShiraNoMai]

The problem with controllers, especially these days, is they keep adding more battery-draining features, and won't compromise the weight of the controller by putting in a larger battery to compensate for the extra power draw.

[Moonface]

@ShiraNoMai: I'd have thought batteries would have improved to just put the same size one in but with better life to it though, since it's not like mice have gotten bigger or bulkier while improving on their battery life.

I did see this video recently about ways to improve controller life for PS5 controllers but I haven't tried it out yet to see if it makes a notable difference:

[Dragon Lord]

How long batteries last is usually dependent on their size, and when it comes to mice, the lighter the better (for competitive gaming, but recently even casual gamers have started to favor light-weight mice), and since putting a bigger battery into a wireless mouse is going to increase the weight, it's not something a lot of companies are willing to do. But most wireless mice still give 80-100 hours of use, which is more than enough in my opinion. Just plug the mouse in to charge while you sleep and there should never be any issues. Especially if you have the ability of wireless charging for the mouse.

That's one of the reasons why I'm really interested in picking up the Basilisk V3 Pro, even though I'm happy with my wired Basilisk V3. I want to get the Pro + battery puck + wireless dock so I can just place the mouse on the dock when I'm not using my PC and never have to worry about the battery going out on me in the middle of a game.

[Dragon Lord]

So I purchased the Razer DeathAdder V3 last week during Black Friday sales and so far I really like it! It's a lot lighter than the Basilisk V3, and the Gen 3 switches vs Gen 2 Switches is a nice upgrade. I liked the feel of the clicks of the Basilisk V3, but man the clicks on the DeathAdder V3 are so crisp and a little louder (which for some reason I like vs quiet clicks).

I am made the financially responsible decision to just go ahead and buy the Basilisk V3 Pro (Wireless) to try out, since it also has Gen 3 switches in it. Not sure if I'll return the DeathAdder V3 or just keep it around for when I want a lighter mouse (maybe for whenever I play shooters).

In continued financially responsible decisions, I also bought myself the Razer BlackWidow V4 75% keyboard. I like what I've seen of it in reviews and having a slightly smaller keyboard could be nice in certain situations. I do still loving my Wooting full size keyboard, but I've wanted to try out the BW V4 75% since it released and figured since my bonus check is dropping end of this week, might as well go ahead and throw some money around.

Very financially responsible adult btw. :^)

[Dragon Lord]

So after having used the BlackWidow V4 75% for about a week now, I can say that this is a very lovely pre-built keyboard. Sounds wonderful since they did a lot of things that custom builds use (several layers of foam, tape mod) so you get this nice sound to the key presses. Makes typing on it sound and feel very nice. I also like that despite being a 75% board, they still managed to get some media controls on it (scroll wheel for volume, button for mute). I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy a smaller keyboard since I love me my full size boards, but so far it's been great to use. I know Razer has had a bad rep in the past for their keyboards, but this one is very impressive and an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a high quality "gaming" keyboard without having to dive into the world of custom building your own board. While it certainly wasn't a purchase I needed to make, I am very happy with it.

Speaking of DualSense controllers, I'm STILL waiting on my Cobalt Blue one that I ordered on NOVEMBER 13TH. It's scheduled to arrive December 9th (today) - December 11th, but hasn't been shipped yet, so I'm expecting yet another delay in it pushing it closer to January. Amazon sent me an email asking if I still wanted it and stating that supply shortages are the reason for the delay. If it wasn't for the fact I'm only paying $25 for the controller through Amazon, I probably won't have selected to cancel the order and went and bought it some where else, because holy crap this is ridiculous.

In other DualSense news, there's now rumors of a DualSense V2 going around, with another rumor saying that these new DualSense controllers might use AI to "help gamers in games." Like bruh, if we get to the point where we can just have a controller with AI beat games for us, I'm going to have to start slapping some people.