In which we nerd all over each other about peripherals.

So cnahr and I were having a lovely little man-hug in another thread about how utterly amazing the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 is, and I thought to myself, "Self, we should have a thread where everyone can dork out about the peripherals they own and love and/or hate, not just those who have seen the light of the MNEK4K."

Fortunately for us all, we have a communal solution to this problem.

Aside from the Omega Keyboard Before Which All Keyboards Cower In Inadequacy, I also love the hell out of both my home mouse (the only Logitech I've liked since my G7, which I loved, bit the dust after only like a year and a half) and my work mouse. My work headset is the best sub-$300 headset I've used by a damn mile, as well.

I'm super-impressed with Roccat so far, between the mouse and the headset. Could be that they just fit my exceptionally large head and hands really well, but I adore both of the Roccat products I'm currently using.

edit: fixed link, thanks Hanzii

Your work headset is a keyboard - I trust none of your opinions!

My only headset. That man on the cheesy picture looking like he just peed himself a little, that's me going to work every day blissfully unaware that there's a world and people outside.

My keyboard.

My workmouse and my home mouse. I actually have Ben Sones to thank for that one. I had the mouse but stopped using it because I ran out of power too often, instead I used this, which is also pretty good, but not as pleasant to hold. Ben gave the advice of having an ordinary charger and a handful of batteries, so some were always recharging instead of using the built in charger and USB-cable, and that did the trick.

My Logitech G5 Laser Mouse is the best mouse I've ever had. Surprised to find I like the weight adjustment feature. It's comfortable to use, doesn't bother with two buttons on the left only a single well placed button, and having the scroll wheel move left and right is now essential for me as I map it to browser back and forward.

Also my AKG K271 MkII headphones are amazing.

Yeah, trying to use the charging cable with that mouse would be an exercise in frustration (it needs charging almost daily if you use it for gaming), but it's easy enough to swap out the battery.

Mine died, alas, so I'm no longer using it.

I can't unlike this enough.

Two thumb buttons is a minimum for everything from FPS games to internet browsing.

My G400 has two side buttons but a day doesn't go by where I don't miss my trusty old G5, which somehow saw me through 5 years of WoW raiding before finally giving in. That thing was solid as a rock.

A mere pretender to the throne of the once and future king.



Once you go clack, you don't go back.

I do love keyboards without windows keys.

For gaming, yes, but I actually use my windows key all the time at work. For realsies.

Also, Kalle, I'm impressed at the new levels of utter wrongness you've achieved. Future generations will study this thread for its historic value.

The opposable thumb was instrumental in mankinds evolution as we learned to use tools. Future generations will indeed study this thread and marvel at the genetic dead end that refused to use our thumbs to their fullest potential.

Back to the Future 2 says to you:

The side buttons try to confuse you into using them as back and forward, except when there's two one of them will be a stretch for your thumb, or neither will sit comfortably under it. Far better is using the left/right action on your scroll wheel as back and forward.

The proper successor for the G5 is the glorious G500 which also got a second thumb button.

If there's two buttons then you're always moving your thumb for one of them. If you have to move to get to the button, the button has failed as a gaming button. At that point I may as well bind it to a key because what's the difference?

I splurged and got on of these like 3 days ago for my home mouse. It's veery nice so far, but definitely into the category of overpriced just because.

Much like elyscape my thumb rests on the dividing gap between the thumb button and reaching either is easy - either push with the back part of my thumb, or push with the front.

One annoyance so far is that the battery basically lasts about a day, maybe two tops. The old dead logitech one it replaced went for at least a fortnight. Fortunately it comes with two batteries and the charger is built into the receiver.

Work mouse is some mid range logitech, cant remember the model. It is cordless, has a good middle scrolly wheel and a back button, which are my only requirements for a work mouse.

Headphones are Logitech G35

I'm not actually that happy with them, they are a bit too big and get uncomfortable after a few hours (probably should stop then). Also I wear glasses and the cups press against the side arms of my glasses (annoying) and it has already worn out the covering on one side. Recommendations for a half decent open / semi closed set of headphones welcomed. I think I would also like non USB ones so I can use with iPad etc. (I did look closely at various sennheiser ones before buying these). probably this will require the purchase of a dedicated sound card as well.

Keyboard is Logitech G110 It's nice, but the "gamer" features consist of being able to change the keyboard LED colour from red to blue. There are a bunch of features I never use - programmable macro keys on the side (12 keys x 3 different sets) and in incorporated sound card so you can plug headphones in the back, There is a USB slot back there as well. One day I will upgrade to one with an integrated LCD screen, so it can tell me very important information like if I have new mail or not.

Joystick is a now very old Logitech Extreme 3D pro I hardly ever use.

(yes I like logitech)

I have that headseat and keyboard now. DO NOT LIKE the headseat, but apparently you can get faulty ones and I have gotten a few. The sound cuts out and reconnects constantly for me and has on a replacement as well. I'm not fond of the USB connection for charging but seeming inability to just use it for data instead of the wonky bluetooth thing that seems to be the root of my problem.

The keyboard is okay, but I still cannot get used to the extra function keys. The fiance got it for me for christmas and I cannot manage to put my hands down on the keyboard in the correct location and keep hitting the wrong keys since everything's offset from the left edge an extra two inches. This is a failure of my brain more than the keyboard, but I will hate on the keyboard anyways.

edit: and I'm rocking a R.A.T. mouse, which for all it's comical looks and bullshit is an amazing little mouse. Which reading Talorc's post again makes me wonder why he's playing at my house and who let him in apparently.

I prefer laptop style flat keys and quiet keyboards for typing, and I find that apart from having strange quirks when it comes to working in the bios or what have you, the wired Logitech Illuminated Keyboards are cheap, quiet, and work relatively well for gaming, although almost all of my reflexes-oriented PC gaming is on a gamepad these days.I guess I should stock up since no doubt Logitech will soon phase them out for ones that have bluetooth or some other awful feature I don't need. I might also look into something nicer someday, but not enough people seem to prioritize quiet keyboards when it comes to rating them. I expressly avoid GAM3R FEETURES because I don't play games that would use them like MMORPGS and prefer a slim, utilitarian profile. The Logitech has volume controls that work, and that's about all the extras I need beyond a numeric keypad.

I don't like rechargeable peripherals for most things, so my preferred headphones, a Plantronics set, are also inexpensive and wired. I thought being USB would make them troublesome, but apart from games with dodgier implementation like Dark Souls where you just have to make sure to have them plugged in before loading the game (and not changing your mind without reloading the game), it's been really painless. The sound quality is about as good as I expected, and the nice thing about not using the audio jacks is that they seem to have a lot of vibration or something around them that makes them awful for my higher quality earbuds.

I like my Logitech G9, although we're on the less comfortable hand grip that it comes with because the first one started to peel after a few years. It's fine, but I don't really need the buttons and expect to downgrade to an MX518 like I have at work because it's not that much better.

Also, I have a tiny wired Zalman microphone that I use with my laptop docking station, which I then run up my desk lamp and clip on the edge. It makes Skype conversation really, really clear and is one of my favorite el cheapo peripherals.

I had a (relatively) cheap Plantronics USB headset for years and loved it. Lightweight, comfortable (super bonus shoutout to the somewhat-open cups that allowed enough airflow that my ears didn't overheat after hours of use), and acceptable sound quality. Unfortunately the in-line control was shoddily made, as most seem to be, and a connection started going and soon after that I was sufficiently enraged to replace it.

I use this mouse at home. I don't want a wireless mouse because I don't like having to change the batteries at inconvenient moments. It glides across one of these to avoid having to come into contact with my desk. At work I use the pointing device of kings, the Microsoft Optical Trackball Explorer, sadly discontinued these past several years. My home trackball died after about 10 years of use which prompted the purchase of the RAT7.

Generally my game sound,music etc is blasting out through an Altec Lansing 5.1 speaker system but when I need a headset I turn to one of these. The sound quality is excellent, it's comfortable to wear and I can go make tea or take a bio break without having to take them off or losing the wireless connection.

For typing, I have this beastie. I don't really want programmable macro keys or an LCD display so this is fine and the action is pleasant to use.

The tip of my thumb rests over the front thumb button, while the first joint of my thumb covers the back button. In that way I can press either without moving my thumb out of position, proving my evolutionary superiority.

I just picked up a RAT9. It's a true nerd's mouse. I find myself still pulling out the little allen wrench and tweaking the ride side thumbrest, or shifting the palmrest back and forth.

I'll have to give that one a look when this one inevitably fails. I settled on the G400 because of its reputation for excellent tracking and thus far it hasn't disappointed.

What has disappointed is my utter inability to use two side buttons.

i'm still pretty much in love with my Roccat Kone[+] for my mouse, but i'd like to 'upgrade' to the Roccat Kone XTD mostly just because i can.

i used to use the Logitech G110 as my keyboard, but i wanted.. no.. NEEDED! MOAR! KEYS!, a better/more full palette of colors to choose from, and the nifty little LCD display, so i picked up the Logitech G510 and now lurv it sooo much. also, it's the true replacement for the ol' G15, so what's not to love?

Logitech Illuminated Keyboards are good stuff if you like very flat keyboards with short key throws, and also feeling like a spaceship commander when the lights are off:



I'm still not sure if I should try to take it apart to clean it though.

I love my loud, clacky keyboard, a Razer BlackWidow mechanical keyboard. Feels nice and solid when I'm typing and like the IBM keyboard of old, can double as a blunt weapon in a pinch.

I have a Razer Naga Epic from my hardcore raiding days (which weren't all that long ago). The 12 side buttons had their own dedicated hidden actionbar in WoW which held all of my mouseover macros for blind, gouge, deadly throw, etc. The harder to reach buttons, 11 through 12, contained my ground mount, flying mount, and hearthstone keybinds.

To compliment my too-many-damned buttons mouse, I used a Logitech G13. I preferred the ergonomics of this to the old Razer gameboard (can't remember what it was called), even though the entire bottom row of buttons were more or less useless. Between the G13 and the Naga, I would never have to stretch to hit an ability or remember every set of shift, ctrl, alt funtions for alternate binds. Coupled with voice chat, I wouldn't use the keyboard at all.

My "headset" is a set of the long-discontinued Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Ultra speakers. These things get loud. I use a Xbox360 wireless headset as a microphone. Unfortunately, the wireless receiver died a while ago, and the only way to buy a new one is to buy a whole new controller, MS doesn't sell them individually any more.

I also have Promedia 5.1, although I only use 2 of the satellites in my current home desk setup. I love them, and I've had them since 2001 or 2002.

Not unless you really know what you are doing or maybe if you take out the plastic frame around the keys and clean from there. Trying to take out the keys for cleaning as a certain someone near and dear to me did recently has killed one of these just this week, and I'm sure it had another good year of largely imperceptible hair/dander accumulation to give.

Is a remote control a peripheral? Because I see in the news that Logitech is selling its Harmony division, which reminds me of how the Harmony One has gone from being a product I absolutely loved loved loved (in 2008 when it was introduced) to a product that I kind of hate but which is still by a mile the best product in its class (now, five years later, as it is totally unchanged).

Based on their treatment of Harmony and Slim Devices -- both acquired when they made excellent products, then left to stagnate for years while the industry was in rapid flux, then dumped or killed -- I am increasingly firmly of the belief that Logitech should just stick to keyboards.

Fortunately, the K810 keyboard (Bluetooth, multi-device, scissor-switch, backlit) that I got recently is a really nice keyboard, so at least they are good at keyboards.

I was going to make a thread about remote control systems for PCs. Are you using the Harmony with an IR-usb receiver?

Can we use this thread for soliciting advice and recommendations for peripherals too?

I need a new mouse for my new laptop. It's for programming, not gaming, so a lot of the expensive mega-mice being appreciated in this thread aren't really appropriate.

I would have said I want a wired mouse, but I've been seeing these nano receiver wireless mice on amazon, which looks very appealing, assuming the battery life is good. A cheap one I saw mentioned 3 years battery life on it. Is that the norm?
But a lot of the nano receiver ones are tiny mobile mice, and I'm pretty sure I don't want one like that. Portability is nice, but comfort trumps it. I need a full-size mouse.

Has anyone used a Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse? It looks a good size, but I don't know if that shape is actually comfortable, or how durable it is, or whether touch scroll is an adequate replacement for a nice clunking scroll wheel.

I used one of those in a Staples for a moment. It... didn't particularly impress me, I think it had terrible ergonomics which means the only thing it has going for it is how it looks.

I always figured a trackball would work better for a laptop.

Most of the page layout people that used GUI's loved trackballs.

Personally, I've found that with good laptops, I don't actually want any external pointing device. TrackPoint(tm)-style pointing devices are an acquired taste, I'll grant, but once you've acquired it, they're really excellent for regular pointer purposes. And while old-style (small, sunken, sucky) trackpads are horrible, new-style (large, flush, responsive, with easy scrolling) ones are really nice.

If you're used to a mouse, switching over is going to mean you take a bit of a hit at first as you adjust; but it's worth the adjustment, because you'll end up just as productive (or more productive, in the case of a TrackPoint, which lets you keep your hands in typing position at all times) no matter whether you're at a desk or on your couch, with no fuss.

Bah, laptop pointing sucks. I picked up a Logitech M315 mouse (with the tiny little USB receiver) for my laptop a few months back ($10-20 from a retailer of your choice) and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It's simple and has few bells and hardly a whistle at all, but the scroll wheel works well, it fits my hand as well as any $10 mouse, has no problem tracking on whatever surface from desk to hotel bedsheets, and lasts for freaking ever on a single AA battery. Highly recommended.

How about desk / office chairs? I'm in the market for a new chair for my home office, and I've really only ever bought cheap shitty chairs. Any recommendations for solid, comfortable, durable chairs that won't (completely) break the bank?

I had to re-learn

I have a Herman Miller Mirra. I've gone through a number of ergonomic chairs, including an Aeron, a Leap and a HumanScale. But the Mirra (which costs less than the previous three I owned, though it's still not cheap) has been the best. It's adjustable, but not so much that you can't find the right spot. The arms swivel and height adjust independent of the chair height. I find the vented plastic back more supportive than the mesh on the Aeron.

The Leap was okay, but took adjustability to ridiculous ends, and it was too easy to change adjustments, so I was constantly fiddling with it. The HumanScale was a disaster, because apparently it's not built for someone like me (long waisted, fairly short legs.)

I never liked the Aeron, and its abrasive fabric wore through several pairs of work pants at the edge of my wallet, where there was like an edge.

I had a Leap, and did like it quite a bit, but I can understand Case's criticism.

These days I just have a laptop and tablet, so am pretty much out of the office chair market.

God yes, I HATE touch pads or those horrible little knob things, the loss of pointing efficiency drives me bonkers trying to use them. I'm so used to a mouse I guess, I cant face the no doubt week++ of use it would take to burn through the mouse muscle memory to get the efficiency up.

I got something similar a while back, Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000. It's smaller than a gaming mouse, but not teensy tiny. Also has a back button and a scroll wheel, which I find indispensable. The website reckons 8 months battery life, which is probably about right, I don't ever remember actually changing the single AA battery inside. I used it a lot when travelling with the work laptop and it was comfortable for a few hours use, no worries. It has a little slot underneath to hold the receiver too, which was useful for travelling so as no to lose it. (i'd pull it out if you are packing laptop, a little nub sticks out which will snag on things)

Also the point about tracking on weird surfaces is important, glass desks especially seem to throw off some mice. The mobile mouse I have also works fine on bed sheets, couch arms etc as well.

Size comparison: