MaximumPC 2007 11

W

e’ve long considered gaming keyboards the PC equivalent of

spinning rims and ground effects—they’re pointless acces-

sories that deliver no performance benefi t but cost a ludicrous amount

of money. Initially, keyboard manufacturers did nothing more than slap

a special button or two and a fancy color scheme on a $10 board and

then jack up the price 1,000 percent. At Maximum PC , we won’t stand

for those shenanigans. Sure, we have no problem spending a bunch

of cash to eke out a 10 percent increase in 3DMark, but blinging out

our PC isn’t worth the extra cash.

However, gaming keyboards have advanced beyond their origi-

nal cash-grab origins and now come with tons of gaming-specific

extras. The question in our minds is, do they deliver enough value to

make up for those exorbitant prices? And are the features they boast

actually useful?

Gaming Keyboard vs. Standard Keyboard

PERFORMANCE

For the most part, a keyboard’s a keyboard’s a keyboard. You press a key, a

signal travels at nearly the speed of light, and then the computer registers the command. From

the free keyboard that comes with your Dell to one of those $3,000 gold-plated, diamond-

encrusted jobbers, the time the signal takes to travel from your finger to the PC is the same.

But there’s an exception. In unusual circumstances, you can press enough keys on a

normal keyboard at once to lock it up—that is, prevent it from registering additional key-

presses. Some gaming keyboards, such as the Razer Tarantula, purport to allow you to

press every key at once, but many normal keyboards will allow seven or more simultaneous

key-presses.

However, typical gamers will never need this feature. Unless you play RTS games

competitively in South Korea, this is something you need not be concerned with.

WINNER: TIE

GAMING KEYBOARD

Ideazon Merc Stealth

$90, http://www.ideazon.com

AESTHETICS

We love cool, sci-fi-looking keyboards with flashing lights. Even

though we can touch-type, and even though we usually work in well-lit rooms,

we like backlit keys—especially now that said lights are actually bright enough to

illuminate all keys, regardless of their proximity to the actual light source. That’s

right, we’re looking at you Esc.

And sure, there have been some backlit keyboards built for nocturnal types

who don’t also happen to be gamers, but those planks have universally sucked

due to poor ergonomics or unusual key layouts.

WINNER: GAMING KEYBOARD

head 22 head TWO TECHNOLOGIES ENTER, ONE TECHNOLOGY LEAVES

round 1

round^2

BY WILL SMITH

20 MAXIMUMPC NOVEMBER 2007

INPUT DEVICES