PC Peripherals
I’ve mentioned it before that I seem to get through a lot of PC peripherals. I don’t consider myself heavy handed but I find that keyboard and mice just tend to wear out after about a year to eighteen months. Certain keys on the keyboard become unresponsive and have to be giggled to actually register use. The right hand button on my mouse often suffers a similar fate. Plus, I must have extremely acidic sweat as the plastic on both my current keyboard and mouse have shiny patches where I’ve worn through the surface. A few weeks ago, I took off my gaming headset after chatting with friends and the plastic headband just snapped in two. It was just over a year old and no, before you ask, I don’t have a head like The Mekon. All of which is a timely reminder that we live in a very disposable world and that plastic is a convenient but not necessarily durable material.
At present I’m using a generic Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600 which is beginning to come to the end of its lifespan. My Logitech G203 Prodigy Gaming Mouse, which is about 18 months old, is playing up. When I play Call of Duty Warzone, it doesn’t seem to want to aim down the sight when I press the right button. And I’m using a spare Logitech H600 Wireless Headset that works but the plastic creaks every time I talk and the mic picks the sound up. Plus the foam ear covers are perishing. So I decided that it was time to replace these items. My first port of call was Amazon and I was amazed to find such a wide range of brands and prices. I found some interesting bundles but a lot of them are manufactured by companies that I’m not familiar with, such as Havit. Although some of the product reviews were positive, I didn’t feel inclined to take a gamble. So I decided to go with Razer as I used their products before.
I bought the “Razer Epic Gaming Bundle” from Currys PC World for £110. This includes the Cynosa Chroma Gaming Keyboard, DeathAdder Essential Gaming Mouse, Kraken X Lite Gaming Headset and a Goliathus Mobile Stealth Edition Gaming Surface. Yet despite the self aggrandising titles that these PC peripherals have, they’ve all received favourable reviews and are built to a high standard. Sometimes it is worthwhile spending a little bit more on the items you use the most. The bundle is also very good value. If I bought all three items separately they would cost £150 plus. However, there is one minor downside. In fact it’s something common to all PC peripherals that are specifically marketed at gamers. And that is the penchant for adorning everything with lurid LED lights that change colour. A man of my age does not consider such ambient lighting or any superfluous adornment “cool”. I just find it irritating and a distraction when gaming.
My PC is a multipurpose tool that I use for both work and pleasure. I use it for writing, editing audio, gaming and watching streaming services. It is also my primary means of online access. I put a fair amount of time into researching what would be the optimal purchase within the budget that I set and my specific technical requirements. Yet often, we do not apply the same scrutiny when buying our peripherals. We either keep using what we have or go with whatever is thrown in with a new PC purchase. But a poor quality keyboard and mouse can be a major impediment to content creation and gaming. At the very least, their respective lifespan is relatively short and you find yourself in the situation that I now find myself in. I’m not advocating the profligate buying of top of the range items just for the sake of it. But it is important to buy to your particular need and cutting corners to save cash may cause inconvenience at a later date.
