Keyboards and Mice: Do They Matter for casual gaming?

[BraveCowardlyPancake]

Do keyboards and mice really make a difference for CASUAL gaming? Or should I replace my MK235 KB+M combo for gaming-grade peripherals?

[Enderman]

Describe what "really make a difference" means.

[BraveCowardlyPancake]

I meant like input lag prevention, better typing accuracy, but mostly reliability in general.

[minibois]

20 minutes ago, Grayxol said:

I meant like input lag prevention, better typing accuracy, but mostly reliability in general.

The advantage of whatever other keyboard/mouse over for example Logitech's MK120 set will mostly be comfort/personal preference.

 

You could argue some mice are more accurate than others and that you might personally type better on one keyboard over another.

[PriitM]

Casual gaming imho means comfort rather than skill. Therefore I would go with something that feels good. Key travel distance, actuation force, noise. Mouse should fit to your hand and not be too light. In terms of accuracy and lag, its all debatable. Most of the time, user will be the cause of lag/inaccuracy (either reaction time or poor motion skills). Cant rule out hardware issues tho, especially in the el cheapo category.    

[Otto_iii]

Mouse? Absolutely but you don't have to spend big bucks, just walk into Walmart and get a $25-30 Logitech G203 or a Corsair Harpoon based of which shape you like better (namely go for Corsair if you have a pronounced claw grip iirc.)  They are 95-98% the performance, namely being fairly consistent and offering higher polling rates, reasonably good shapes but 200-400% cheaper then absolute top-of-the line mice.  Likewise i would say buying a 450mm wide/16inch wide mousepad and halfing your sensitive ingame (keep it at 800dpi if you are already used to that) can help alot especially in FPS titles, if you have desk space for it.  The SteelSeries QcK is cheap (about 10-15$) and proven, there are fancier pads but you dont need them, many pros still use the QcK. 

Try these and if you get into having a nicer mouse, say you want a top of the line lightweight mouse with a perfect sensor (3360 or newer) the Oden mice are really great at 50-60$ (Model O for bigger boxer-style hands, Minus for medium and smaller), as is the G-Wolves Skoll at about 70$, but see how one of the cheaper mice treats you first, you won't regret those as they bearly cost anything and you can get them/return them if you don't like em, at almost any Walmart.

Personally what i found was a better mice won't make you play better, but it will help you improve much faster, if that makes sense.  Its the consistency that pays dividends trading up from a crap 8-10$ OEM mouse. 


Keyboards? I would say no so long as you have a keyboard you like the feel of.  One of my favorite keyboards ever was some old membrane dell OEM thing, yeah it was a membrane but it felt fantastic (precise, soft and consistent, quiet too!) i used it so much i wore the letters/numbers off the keys.  That said i eventually ended up wanting a 450mm wide/16 inch mousepad so i ended up with a cheap 10-keyless (no numpad) so i could comfortably fit all the mouse and keyboard space on my desk, not a issue for everybody but was for my desk. 

[BraveCowardlyPancake]

13 minutes ago, Otto_iii said:

Mouse? Absolutely but you don't have to spend big bucks, just walk into Walmart and get a $25-30 Logitech G203 or a Corsair Harpoon based of which shape you like better (namely go for Corsair if you have a pronounced claw grip iirc.)  They are 95-98% the performance, namely being fairly consistent and offering higher polling rates, reasonably good shapes but 200-400% cheaper then absolute top-of-the line mice.  Likewise i would say buying a 450mm wide/16inch wide mousepad and halfing your sensitive ingame (keep it at 800dpi if you are already used to that) can help alot especially in FPS titles, if you have desk space for it.  The SteelSeries QcK is cheap (about 10-15$) and proven, there are fancier pads but you dont need them, many pros still use the QcK. 

Try these and if you get into having a nicer mouse, say you want a top of the line lightweight mouse with a perfect sensor (3360 or newer) the Oden mice are really great at 50-60$ (Model O for bigger boxer-style hands, Minus for medium and smaller), as is the G-Wolves Skoll at about 70$, but see how one of the cheaper mice treats you first, you won't regret those as they bearly cost anything and you can get them/return them if you don't like em, at almost any Walmart.

Personally what i found was a better mice won't make you play better, but it will help you improve much faster, if that makes sense.  Its the consistency that pays dividends trading up from a crap 8-10$ OEM mouse. 


Keyboards? I would say no so long as you have a keyboard you like the feel of.  One of my favorite keyboards ever was some old membrane dell OEM thing, yeah it was a membrane but it felt fantastic (precise, soft and consistent, quiet too!) i used it so much i wore the letters/numbers off the keys.  That said i eventually ended up wanting a 450mm wide/16 inch mousepad so i ended up with a cheap 10-keyless (no numpad) so i could comfortably fit all the mouse and keyboard space on my desk, not a issue for everybody but was for my desk. 

In that case I'm gonna replace my MK235 mouse with a better wireless mouse in a few months. Still keeping the keyboard though.