Digital Trends

Buying a keyboard/mouse is not a decision to take lightly. Though a PC may last a year or two before it needs to be upgraded or swapped out for a new one, your keyboard/mouse will likely be around for many, many years. Therefore, it’s important to look before you leap and get a combination that has all the features you want, is supremely comfortable, and will serve you well for many years to come. That said, here are the issues you must consider prior to making this oh-so important purchase.

1. Wired or Wireless?

Do you move your keyboard around a lot on your desktop? Maybe you like to recline a bit some times and pull the keyboard back a smidge. Or maybe the cable attached to your mouse catches on the edge of your desk occasionally and messes up your gaming. Going wireless is beneficial for a number of reasons, and the good news is today’s wireless mice and keyboards have finally caught up to their wired counterparts in terms of overall responsiveness. If you recall, older units (with a lower dpi sensitivity) can feel floaty and laggy, which is terrible for gaming and annoying for general use. We prefer a wired keyboard and mouse like the Logitech G15 and G9 Laser for desktop use, but if you have a home theater PC and need to operate it from your couch you’ll need a wireless combo like the Logitech diNovo Edge, which has built-in media center controls.

2. Advanced Gaming and Media Player Features

These days the keyboard (and mouse, but more on that later) market has splintered into two distinct camps: gaming keyboards and media center keyboards. Both groups have copious amounts of extra buttons for launching programs, adjusting the volume and more littering the sides of the keyboard. Obviously, you should get the keyboard that has the doodads you would find most useful. If you’re a gamer, you’ll appreciate the programmable macro keys on boards like the Razer Tarantula. If you’re a Media Player junkie, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without the media controls on the Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000.

3. Gaming Mouse, or Regular Mouse?

It can be argued that gaming keyboards are very similar to regular keyboards; the only difference is what the extra buttons do. That cannot be said for gaming mice, which offer features that are simply unheard of on conventional mice. For example, the Logitech G9 Laser and Microsoft SideWinder offer custom weight control, on-the-fly DPI tweaking, sky-high sensitivity, several programmable buttons and loaded software packages that lets you tweak every aspect of the mouse’s operation. The most important feature for gamers is the mouse’s sensitivity, as it dictates the overall accuracy of the mouse. The higher the sensitivity, the more accurate the mouse is generally. While a standard mouse might offer a modest 800dpi, most gaming mice go all the way up to 2000dpi, and Razer recently announced a mouse with an unheard of 4000dpi setting!

You will not find these features on run-of-the-mill mice, or if you do they are watered down and usually not as feature-packed as their gaming brethren. If you are a serious gamer, or want the ultimate in mousing precision you owe it to yourself to check out these flagship gaming mice. If you’re not a gamer, don’t bother paying the high price for features you don’t need.

4. Laser Versus Optical

Back in the old days, the mouse’s movement was tracked via a little ball inside the mouse itself. This was bad because inevitably lint, cat hair and other gunk attached itself to the ball and reduced accuracy. Then optical mice arrived, which used a little camera and LED light to take pictures of the mousing surface. They were great as they alleviated the need for a mouse pad. But optical mice didn’t work on all surfaces, so along came the laser mouse, which uses a laser instead of an LED to reflect the “image” into the mouse’s camera. The laser was able to pick up more details of the mousing surface, and was therefore compatible with a wider array of surfaces and generally considered to be more accurate than optical. Optical mice are fine for day-to-day use, but all high-end gaming mice sold these days use laser technology.

5. Curvy or Standard?

We’re all familiar with the standard “old school” keyboard, which lies flat on your desk and looks rather boring.

For some people, a standard keyboard may feel totally ergonomic, but if you’re looking for something that may be a better fit for the natural shape of your hands or wrists, you should know there are a wide variety of ergonomic keyboards available. Everything from the Logitech Wave which has lower keys for your middle fingers and taller keys for your shorter fingers to the Microsoft Entertainment Desktop, which has a V-shaped keyboard. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ergonomic accessories. For example, Microsoft offers a number of split-key designs that separate the keys into two distinct areas to more naturally fit how our arms curve toward the keyboard. There are also a wide variety of palm rests, split-key designs, curving keyboards and more.

Finding the “right” keyboard and mouse combo is largely a matter of personal preference. A keyboard that might not be comfortable for one person could be a dream come true for your fingers and wrists. Our advice: Go to a retail shop and take the keyboard you’re interested in for a test type to see what it’s like. If you can’t find one to test first, be sure to examine the company’s return policy before you buy it sight unseen online.

You can check out our keyboard and mice reviews here.