Controllers, Keyboards, Mice, etc.

[Dragon Lord]

So I recently bought a cheap gaming mouse that I saw featured in a "cheap tech" video on YouTube, because it looked pretty nice and I was really curious to see how it was. Have to say, it's actually pretty damn good for a $50 mouse that you can find on sale pretty often for $30-$40.

It's the Darmoshark M3SPRO Wireless Gaming Mouse. I got the Grey/Orange one because I really liked the look of it, and I've been using it for the past couple of weeks and have been satisfied with it. It definitely feels cheap, but it is light weight and has nice clicks. If I had one nitpick with it, it's that the scroll wheel could stick out a little more, but that's a pretty minor gripe in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't have all the fancy shmancy things you'll find with high-end gaming mice like Razer, Logitech, ASUS, etc. have, but so far it's worked perfectly for my casual use and I haven't had any issues with it lagging or clicks not registering.

So if you're in the market for a cheap gaming mouse that looks pretty nice and doesn't break the bank, I would have to say that this one is a very good pick up. $50 for a wireless gaming mouse is pretty nice, considering that a high-end wireless mouse will cost you $150+.

If you don't mind a wired mouse, I would 100% recommend sticking to something like the DeathAdder V3, Basilisk V3, G502, etc., which you can find for around $50 each as well, but if you want a wireless mouse and not break the bank but still seemingly get quality out of it, this Darmoshark mouse seems to fill that need pretty nicely. Of course, as I mentioned before, I've only had it for a little over two weeks now, so I'll find out eventually if it has any issues with durability over time, but it's been getting used for hours a day, every day since I got it and hasn't shown any signs of wearing out on me.

Just wanted to share this here in case anyone was looking for something cheap and wireless. I like to try out different cheap mice/keyboards when I see them and can afford to pick them up, just to see if they are good buys or not.

Speaking of keyboards, I don't think I shared this one, but months ago I bought a cheap budget keyboard that had some pretty insanely good reviews on it. The EPOMAKER x Aula F75 (Light Blue, Reaper Switches) keyboard. It's $80 (often on sale or with a coupon to reduce the price more), but I saw people comparing it to $150-$200 keyboards and saying how good it was, so I picked it up to try it out. As soon as I took it out of the box and started using it, I was in love with it. The switches feel great, the keyboard sounds amazing for being a budget keyboard, the RGB on it is good enough. It's a very wonderful keyboard to type on and to game on. It's wireless (again, most high end keyboards that are wireless will cost you at least $150), there's a nice perk there. I also have not experienced any kind of issues you might fear with a cheaper wireless keyboard like latency or any thing like that. The keyboard has worked wonderfully every time I use it. I do switch a lot between using it and my Razer BlackWidow V4 75% that I put clicky switches in, so I don't use it all of the time. So if you're also looking for a wireless keyboard that won't break the bank too much, I can highly recommend this keyboard if you want something that works perfectly fine, but also sounds wonderful to type on.

[Moonface]

What made you pick up another mouse anyway @Dragon Lord? Asking in the sense of not really getting why someone wouldn't just use a singular mouse for their device and seemingly swap between multiple like I get the impression you're doing.

[Dragon Lord]

Because I like new, shiny things. And when I see something like a mouse or keyboard getting rave reviews for a cheap price (in its market space), then I just have to try it for myself.

And yes, I do swap between my mice as I feel like it. The Basilisk V3 Pro is quite a bit heavier than the DeathAdder V3, so I'll switch between them depending on how I feel or what I'm playing. Using the much lighter DAV3 is nice for when I play FPS games.

I'm also terrible at remembering to plug in my BV3P when I'm not using it, so of course I come to that point where it dies on me. So having the wired DAV3, which is already plugged into my computer, ready to go for when that happens is just a nice quality of life thing.

I also have other uses for mice than just my main PC. I use a mouse on my laptop and for my tablet as well (which is where the Darmoshark is currently being used since it also has BT connectivity).

[Moonface]

Didn't know where else to put this, but Xbox have a new controller coming out and I love the look of it!



More companies need to bring back the retro translucent plastic look.

[ShiraNoMai]

They really ought to: it caters specifically to millennials who have money to spend on the nostalgia stuff now.

That said, this looks fantastic. Blue was a stellar choice, though green would've also been acceptable knowing the company colors.

[Mr EliteL]

I don't think I got and controller like that in the past, but did miss seeing them about. Yeah hopefully it becomes a bit of a fad and more start releasing in that style.

[queenzelda]

I never really liked the clear plastic look of some of the retro controllers. Personally, they always felt a bit flimsy when I went to hold it in my hands. But again, I'm kinda picky when it comes to my controllers. xp Still if ya like it, ya like it and that is fine by me. :3

Recently my husband told me he's going to be building a Linux PC for himself, so I picked myself up a new LED keyboard for about $30. I bought a ROCAT PYRO which was on sale at Meijer. Next while at Best Buy, I found myself a new LED mouse, for about $25, I bought an AEROX 3 and it is so pretty! I wanted something wired since I'm tired of using my wireless one and wasting $$ on batteries. So, I invested in a new one, and it is so nice to have it plugged in.

I also bought myself a new controller, an 8Bitdo Ultimate C Wired Controller for Windows PC (Lilac Purple) for about $20 and it's so much nicer than the Xbox controllers I had. A lot of them had terrible drift issues. I'd rather just buy a cheap new controller like the 8BitDo then deal with drift. <_<

[Moonface]

They really ought to: it caters specifically to millennials who have money to spend on the nostalgia stuff now.

That said, this looks fantastic. Blue was a stellar choice, though green would've also been acceptable knowing the company colors.

I want to imagine a future where the transparent look went away again for a while and then comes back, and all the kids of today go all "OMG retro translucent controllers are back!" while all of us in near retirement grab a piece of paper to write our wills.
Actually maybe I don't that sounds kinda depressing...

I think trying to find a shade of green that isn't too dark or too garish can be hard for a controller, especially when it's also translucent so light becomes a bigger factor for how the color shows.

I wanted something wired since I'm tired of using my wireless one and wasting $$ on batteries. So, I invested in a new one, and it is so nice to have it plugged in.

I'm not big into wireless mice myself, but I know @ShiraNoMai has one and the thing I like about it is you can use it wired while it charges and then just remove the wire if and when you want, similar to most modern controllers. That's probably the only type of wireless mouse I'd ever want to get if I were to replace my current mouse.

[Dragon Lord]

So I recently purchased a Logitech G Pro, considered by many to be one of the best wireless gaming mice on the market. It just arrived today, so I haven't had a chance to use it at all, but I ended up buying it because it's a $130 mouse that's currently on sale for a whopping 51% off, bringing the price down to $64, and at that price I couldn't resist picking one up to try it and compared it to my other mice. I'll post what I think about it after using it for a decent amount of time.

It is a bit of an older mouse (2018), but is still considered one of the best picks on the market today. There is one huge downside to it though -- it uses Micro USB for charging. Obviously in the age of USB-C supremacy, you want everything to use that, but thankfully I still have some Micro cords around, so charging it won't be a problem.

Another purchase I made, although it won't be here until towards the end of August, is the FLYDIGI Vader 4 Pro PC controller ($79.99 -- currently out of stock). This is a newer release and I came across some reviews of it and it looks like a pretty freaking good controller. While I am very happy using the 8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth controller for my PC gaming, I was drawn to the Vader 4 Pro because not only does it have better HE sticks than the 8bitdo, but all of the buttons are mechanical switches as well, while the 8bitdo still uses membrane for all of the buttons. I look forward to getting it later this month and giving it a good test drive. If it ends up being as good as it sounds, it'll definitely become my new PC controller and then my 8bitdo will be regulated to being my dedicated tablet controller. It looks a bit bigger than my 8bitdo as well, which should make it feel even better in my hands.

Oh, speaking of controllers with mechanic buttons, I forgot to talk about some Joycons I bought back in March. They are the Mobapad M6 HD Pro Joycons. These babies are bit expensive ($80), but wow are they amazing. The only bad thing about them is that they only come in white currently. The buttons are Omron Mechanic switches (what you commonly find in gaming mice), and they sound and feel fantastic. HE joysticks to eliminate the fear of stick drift. If you're a big Switch gamer and you don't mind shelling out a bit more money for joycons that are just pure amazingness, then these things are more than worth the purchase. Been super happy with them since I got them. Forgot to share them here with you all though.

[Moonface]

That FLYDIGI controller looks really nice! I've also never seen a controller that has six face buttons like that one does, not with both Start/Select and Home/Share buttons on it either, yet it doesn't look overcrowded or busy by having 4 extra buttons on the front that aren't normally present. I probably won't ever get one myself because I'm happy just using one of my DualSense controllers for PC gaming but when it comes to third party controllers that one is definitely among the nicest I've seen. Definitely a far cry from the era of when third party controllers were mostly garbage like MadCatz and stuff.

[Dragon Lord]

Yeah, I'm pretty excited to get it later this month and try it out. I've always heard pretty good things about FLYDIGI controllers, but ended up going with the 8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth one for my PC use, but seeing the reviews on the Vader 4 Pro, I couldn't resist at least trying it out. The entire controller having mechanical buttons is a huge plus. They feel better to press, they sound better, and they are built to last much longer.

I've been loving playing on my Switch more often since I got the Mobapad M6s because of that reason, so hopefully the Vader 4 Pro will bring me just as much joy for PC gaming as they have for Switch gaming.

[Moonface]

I've never heard of the brand before now, but I also rarely see anything about third party stuff in general because it seems to not really get covered by any gaming outlets.

I should probably look into linking up one of my controllers to my PC via Bluetooth so I don't have to always use a wire to connect my DualSense. I just need to learn what to do though.

[Dragon Lord]

It's really easy. Just put your DualSense into pairing mode (I believe by holding the PS button + share button for a few seconds), and then on your PC it should show up in your list of connectable items.

Do keep in mind though that the Bluetooth abilities of the DualSense can be... kind of bad. So it might be better just to play wired regardless. Just kind of pay attention for anything weird happening like dropped inputs or input lag when playing with a DualSense via BT.

[Moonface]

Oh, if it doesn't work as well wireless (or rather as good as it does when using one with a PS5) then maybe I won't bother then. Especially if it also means I have to re-pair it with my PS5 whenever I want to swap back to playing on that because going back and forth will get annoying.
Is it just the DualSense that has issues with wireless use on PC gaming or is it a thing any controller can experience?