Gaming Keyboard - Fatal1ty

VirusType2

VirusType2

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If you don't like to read as much as I like to type, please reply andrecommend a great keyboard for games, and I'll be your best friend. :) I'm about to buy the 'new' Creative Fatal1ty keyboard unless I am swayed.

Large image of Fatal1ty gaming keyboard:
http://images.creative.com/iss/images/corporate/artwork/hirs_Fatal1ty_Keyboard_pdt.jpg

Fatal1ty Keyboard features:
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=493&subcategory=495&product=15332


OK, so I saw this Creative Fatal1ty keyboard at the store the other day, and what caught my eye, besides the sleek design, was the fact that the arrow keys are merged with the alpha keys, making the keyboard probably 3 or 4 inches shorter. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's keyboard is way off center and to the left, so the mouse can be closer. So I find myself reaching and leaning to the left to type.

The Creative Fatal1ty Keyboard is said to be high quality, the fastest keys (patented short throw switches), back-lit (and you can see the letter through the light), it's low profile, and the keyboard is the smallest I've ever seen (mine doesn't really fit on my desk well, since I have a CRT monitor and I like my mouse closer to me, instead of way off to the right, which is necessary because most keyboards are too long). To me, these are all key selling points. The price is on the low end of the spectrum for gaming keyboards as well.

One thing I've been looking for is a keyboard that doesn't beep and works right when you press 3 or more keys simultaneously. I'm under the impression that this is because it is cheaper to manufacture like this, but I fear it is a design flaw of the way keyboards work... I don't know. I am hoping a game KB won't have this problem, but again, I don't know.


The things that bother me about the Fatal1ty KB are:

-There are no customizable keys, or special keys. Now, I don't use the handful of extra keys on my emachines keyboard, in fact, I never even notice them, but a key to execute several buttons at once might be handy, though I've never used anything like this.

-The back-light can't be dimmed, though I don't know if I'd care or need to, but it might be too bright?

-Even though the price isn't too bad, there are other keyboards that might be better, though I haven't found a good (recent) comparison guide


I'm using an emachines keyboard (KB) that came with my 3 year old $200 sale priced Celeron PC. If the PC was that cheap, imagine the keyboard quality... I actually am very impressed with the durability of this KB, for I have played Street Fighter, and every other fighting game on it, smashing the keys like arcade buttons, and it never glitched. The paint has worn off some of the keys, but I don't look at them to type anyway.

Anyway, I'm interested in a keyboard with a much better feel to the keys though, which was my main complaint with it, until I realized that I could get a smaller KB, which is now my biggest draw. The keys on my KB just feel weak, springy and make plastic sounds, which I have always been annoyed by. I seem to type faster and make much less mistakes on this KB than on the low profile ones that laptops use, but this is probably because I have been using the raised key type KB's for my entire life, and never owned a laptop though, so I'm hoping I'll get used to the low profile ones.


Sorry for the length, I tend to be overly descriptive. :(

Thanks.
 
Qonfused said:
Fatal1ty Keyboard:
Shitty back lighting (who plays in the dark, you wouldn't need lights to see the keyboard if you were)
$60

Logitech UltraX:
Low profile, like the Fatal1ty keyboard
Solid, study design
Sexy
$13

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126022
Click to expand...

Fatal1ty:
$60 at the store where I have to head to anyway + I can try it (today) and easily return it if I am disapointed. It looks cool, and I am still lured by the short design, but the backlight, an expensive feature, although something that always interested me, isn't really necessary since my monitor lights it up enough, and plus I never really need to see the keys. This KB wasn't on display, it was in a sealed box, so I don't know how it feels to use, and I have heard that the keys might be too small, but IDK...

Logitec UltraX:
$13 + $5 shipping, 3 day wait. That's cheap as dirt. Do you own one? I was wondering about how the keys feel. I tried some logitec kb's at the store, and the higher end ones felt fantastic, but as the price went down on the various Logitec KB's, the nice feel of the keys on those keyboards gradually diminished (although still better than what I have). It looks to be slightly shorter than my current KB, and it looks better.

Thank you so much for the suggestion, I never would have considered it.
 
Imo, any keyboard or product in general that uses text/l337 language in it's name isnt worth it. Are they hiring kids nowadays???
 
ĐynastҰ said:
Imo, any keyboard or product in general that uses text/l337 language in it's name isnt worth it. Are they hiring kids nowadays???
Click to expand...

ya, i don't like that either, but doesn't bother me enough to worry about it.

here are some reviews, mostly very positive.
reviews:

(review of earlier release)
http://gear.ign.com/articles/425/425192p1.html
8.8 for the older version probably scored lower becuase you couldn't switch off the illumination, but mostly from the old price ($100)


http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Cust...sm/oid/162031/rpem/ccd/productDetailReview.do

score: 5/5, 5/5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823200007

score 5/5, 5/5, 2/5

I think I might buy the Fatal1ty, check it out, and if I don't like it, I can return it. No loss. I will see if they have the logitec ultra there at the store so I can get a feel for it as well.

Thanks.
 
I have the Logitech UltraX, as well as my friend, who ordered one minutes after using mine. It's sturdy, sleek, responsive and crisp. A light touch is enough to type. Switching from the normal "depth" keyboard, I noticed my typing speed and gaming responses increase. It's a spectacular keyboard. At that price there is NO reason for you not to buy it. I bought it when it was at a $30 price tag. I've had it for more than a year, and it still types as brand new.
 
Qonfused said:
I have the Logitech UltraX, as well as my friend, who ordered one minutes after using mine. It's sturdy, sleek, responsive and crisp. A light touch is enough to type. Switching from the normal "depth" keyboard, I noticed my typing speed and gaming responses increase. It's a spectacular keyboard. At that price there is NO reason for you not to buy it. I bought it when it was at a $30 price tag. I've had it for more than a year, and it still types as brand new.
Click to expand...

Thats what I wanted to hear. Killer, thanks
 
X-FacToR said:
Microsoft Reclusa

http://www.razerzone.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=52
Click to expand...


Never heard of this one.

I like how only the keys that the game uses light up, and how the letters on the keys light up, instead of the keys themselves. I also like the jog dials, but wonder what they are used for? Volume? mouse scroll wheel alternative? I like the hot-keys and extra buttons, but this is also a drawback, more than likely making this keyboard even bigger than my current, plus, with my pretty massive 19" CRT (2-3 feet deep I guess ((lol))), the wrist rest will hang over my desk. I'll check some reviews and dimensions though.

Something interesting is the Reclusa's vista driver availability, but I assume the Logitec and Creative ones are standard KB drivers though so I don't think that will be an issue. I'm a bit worried, since they never made my creative Sound card drivers fully compatible with Oblivion, which was game of the year 2006 no less. This in itself is enough to make me never want to buy another Creative product.

I like Microsoft peripherals better than most other brands, but I prefer Logitec's peripherals over Microsoft's any day, after comparing many products.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will consider it.
 
Am I the first to suggest the Logitech G15? Woah. It's a littly pricey but worth every penny. There's not a single thing I dislike about this thing. It's a bit big but that doesn't matter to me. There are some really nifty plugins for the LCD that's on it, and I can't imagine living without it.
 
The Brick said:
Am I the first to suggest the Logitech G15? Woah. It's a littly pricey but worth every penny. There's not a single thing I dislike about this thing. It's a bit big but that doesn't matter to me. There are some really nifty plugins for the LCD that's on it, and I can't imagine living without it.
Click to expand...

Is the LCD actually useful? I mean, don't games have OSD? It would be cool to use the LCD instead of the OSD, or HUD rather, so the game screen will be more immersive, and less cluttered with icons (by using mods to remove things like ammo and buffs, so the game plays more cinematically). Is the G15 LCD compatible with Oblivion? I'll have to check a review of this KB as well, to hear more about the LCD, unless you would like to take the opportunity.


I have been reading about the MS Reclusa, and it seems nice, in particular, something like this ..
The Microsoft Razer Reclusa feels great when having to press a lot of keys at once and during no time did I hear the dreaded beep of low cost keyboards, which denotes that too many keys were pressed at once.
Click to expand...
..is a must have for me, so I'm asking Qonfused if he can press more than 3 (or 4 or whatever) keys at once without triping the PC beep sound with his Logitec Ultra.

After checking out the MS Reclusa, I have been more interested in the MS Tarantula, which looks the sex, and has a load of extra features:
review:
http://gear.ign.com/articles/744/744617p1.html
Images:
http://media.gear.ign.com/media/865/865065/imgs_1.html

It appears the Tarantula goes head to head with the Logitec G15, and IGN says each has unique features, it's a matter of preference which KB to go with. They did mention that the Tarantula has better key action than the G15, which is pretty much the whole point of getting a new KB for me.

I'm still considering all options. $100 is about 60 more than I wanted to spend, since the $60 fatality was a little more than I wanted to spend, however, a great KB that should last years and years, and does everything I want would be worth something extra.
 
This is all you need dog
godshandut6.jpg
 
Qonfused said:
Fatal1ty Keyboard:
Shitty back lighting (who plays in the dark, you wouldn't need lights to see the keyboard if you were)
$60

Logitech UltraX:
Low profile, like the Fatal1ty keyboard
Solid, study design
Sexy
$13

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126022
Click to expand...

Me. I play in the dark. and one of the things I like about my KB is the backlight.

The Brick said:
Am I the first to suggest the Logitech G15? Woah. It's a littly pricey but worth every penny. There's not a single thing I dislike about this thing. It's a bit big but that doesn't matter to me. There are some really nifty plugins for the LCD that's on it, and I can't imagine living without it.
Click to expand...

Totally agree there. Happy with my G15, little bulky and over sized but who cares, the thing has lightning response, more game keys than you can handle and yes the backlight comes pretty useful when playing and chatting at the same time in the dark and all alone.

Good Luck.
 
I have a friend with a keyboard that monitors his cpu and memory usage, as well as his cpu and gpu temp.

It's small and I like it, except it has food and crap under the keys. I don't know what it is called. It could be a logitech or something...
 
wakiwaki said:
I have a friend with a keyboard that monitors his cpu and memory usage, as well as his cpu and gpu temp.

It's small and I like it, except it has food and crap under the keys. I don't know what it is called. It could be a logitech or something...
Click to expand...

The logitech G15 can do that on it's LCD. Very cool indeed. Not just a gimick. I mean, who wants that info pasted on their game screen. Not me - but that information can be vital.

But, I have a hotkey set to display all that and much more, then I press the key again to turn it off, or flash every minute, or whatever. ATI tray tools and Ati Tool though... I'm sure Nvidia must have some app to do that right? I'm thinking about getting the 8800GTX, or two, but I want to put some miles on my X1900.
 
The G15 LCD isn't so much for gaming imo. Very little support. But it's really great for the things it can do. I'm using the SirReal's LCD plugin and it's quite nifty. It shows the date and time, cpu usage, memory usage, network upload usage, network download usage, etc. No temps though. But this thing has a lot of nifty addons of its own. It has a timezone clock, stopwatch, speaker settings, network usage history, it shows who's talking on teamspeak, it shows the fps if fraps is running, music information, fanspeed if speedfan is running, it has an itunes thingy, and a really handy one too is that it recognizes when a program is unresponsive and you can terminate the process with the buttons.

Yeah, I couldn't live without it.
 
I have a G15 which is great. It's big but if you have a small space then any normal keyboard probably can make the space cramped. The back light design is well thought out. The letters are lit so they are easy to see instead of the whole key being lit so all you'd see is a shadow letter surrounded by glow. Has adjustable brightness. I use the LCD and controls all the time. Control my media playing. View vent/teamspeak names of who is in the chan and who talks etc. The only time I really used the LCD for a game was in WOW for character stats. Otherwise it's for the OTHER stuff while I'm in the game.

For smaller keyboards I've heard of a Raptor K1 keyboard but I don't know too much about it. Reminded me of the fatality one but without the back lighting.
 
Asus said:
I have a G15 which is great. It's big but if you have a small space then any normal keyboard probably can make the space cramped. The back light design is well thought out. The letters are lit so they are easy to see instead of the whole key being lit so all you'd see is a shadow letter surrounded by glow. Has adjustable brightness. I use the LCD and controls all the time. Control my media playing. View vent/teamspeak names of who is in the chan and who talks etc. The only time I really used the LCD for a game was in WOW for character stats. Otherwise it's for the OTHER stuff while I'm in the game.

For smaller keyboards I've heard of a Raptor K1 keyboard but I don't know too much about it. Reminded me of the fatality one but without the back lighting.
Click to expand...

yeah the G15 is a monstrosity. It's freaking enormous. That is not a bad thing though, I just don't have room for it. The height and width(i guess) is too much for my desk though.

The extra length is off to the left however, so it won't make matters worse for me, but what I aim to do, is buy a keyboard that has buttons that are more like the highest quality game buttons, instead of keys.

I mean, the keyboard is half of the input, or even all of the input for many games. When you have as many games as I do (20k-30k), you really want it to be a joy to play them, with perfect controls.

You don't want it to be a pain (literally and figuratively), with a $6 keyboard, which is what I've been suffering through with my sloppy used and abused eMachines KB.

I'm really holding high hopes for the Fatal1ty. I want to try it. I may end up returning it and considering a MS Tarantula or just a basic logitech KB.

/EDITED/
There is also the Wolf pad and the like...*searches Wolf+gamepad* OH, some new ones I haven't heard of. But these pads only make my situation worse, having to have my WASD so far to the left it's not even funny. Plus, it's basically just a half of a new KB, all jumbled up. I'd be better off just getting a whole keyboard. LOL A good one.

Check these out anyway, they might be good for someone though.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...53_296&zenid=37e588c11aaf3da0b158cf18f5efc257



Hey. This here is interesting! Not for games, but wow, that might be nice to have if you enter a lot of data into a little PDA or pocket PC.

See it:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21373

a proper mobile phone keyboard that fits in your pocket...

The I-Tech Virtual Keyboard uses a light projection of a full-sized computer keyboard on almost any surface. Used with PDA's and Smart Phones, the Virtual Keyboard provides a practical way to do e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet tasks, enabling users to leave laptops and computers at home. VKB's adaptable technology studies the user's finger movements to interpret and record keystrokes. Because the virtual keyboard is an image projected by light, it disappears completely when not in use.
Click to expand...

It's just over 3 inches tall. I don't imagine it would be fun to tap on a kitchen table or anything, but if you are on the go...
 
VirusType2 said:
yeah the G15 is a monstrosity. It's freaking enormous. That is not a bad thing though, I just don't have room for it. The height and width(i guess) is too much for my desk though.

The extra length is off to the left however, so it won't make matters worse for me, but what I aim to do, is buy a keyboard that has buttons that are more like the highest quality game buttons, instead of keys.

I mean, the keyboard is half of the input, or even all of the input for many games. When you have as many games as I do (20k-30k), you really want it to be a joy to play them, with perfect controls.

You don't want it to be a pain (literally and figuratively), with a $6 keyboard, which is what I've been suffering through with my sloppy used and abused eMachines KB.

I'm really holding high hopes for the Fatal1ty. I want to try it. I may end up returning it and considering a MS Tarantula or just a basic logitech KB.

/EDITED/
There is also the Wolf pad and the like...*searches Wolf+gamepad* OH, some new ones I haven't heard of. But these pads only make my situation worse, having to have my WASD so far to the left it's not even funny. Plus, it's basically just a half of a new KB, all jumbled up. I'd be better off just getting a whole keyboard. LOL A good one.

Check these out anyway, they might be good for someone though.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...53_296&zenid=37e588c11aaf3da0b158cf18f5efc257



Hey. This here is interesting! Not for games, but wow, that might be nice to have if you enter a lot of data into a little PDA or pocket PC.

See it:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21373

a proper mobile phone keyboard that fits in your pocket...



It's just over 3 inches tall. I don't imagine it would be fun to tap on a kitchen table or anything, but if you are on the go...
Click to expand...

EDIT:

Well, I got the Fatal1ty Keyboard. I've been using it for a day or two.

Here is my brief review, for anyone interested:

It's incredibly fast, and remarkably accurate, the keys feel just right, and it's footprint is the smallest of any other keyboard, yet it still has all the keys. My typing speed really increased quite dramatically, and now I don't really make any errors, since there is no play in the keys.

Some of the special keys (home, page up, end, arrow keys) are in different places so that will take getting used to, but I accually like the placement of them better, so it's worth it. The only thing I don't like is that there is no gap between f4 and f5, so it took a few times to learn where the quick save button is, but I've learned it now, so I guess it's no big deal.

I was going to buy the tarantula as well, to compare them, and bring back the one I liked less, but I won't use most of the features, and it's expensive and huge, so I didn't bother.

The back-lit keys look cool, and it is actually helpful when playing FEAR, DOOM and games like that in the dark, especially if you play multi-player and want to chat,and it has a unique key on the board to turn it on and off.

Especially if you don't have a lot of desk space, you should consider this board, if not for any other reason. I recommend it. The creative and eluminX badging looks cool, but if you don't like the fatality badge, you can put a black label or sticker over it which is what I might do, cuz I don't like it.

sorry, this was supposed to be an edit, my entire edit was lost when I was trying to type F5, and accidentally actually pressed F5. I had to re-type it, and I guess I pressed the wrong button. Sorry for the double post basically.
 
Meh..looks like any other compact keyboard.

I love my G11. Backlit, macro keys, and sleek...perfect for my gaming needs...
 
Ridge said:
Meh..looks like any other compact keyboard.

I love my G11. Backlit, macro keys, and sleek...perfect for my gaming needs...
Click to expand...


I normally typed very fast, maybe 70 wpm. All I know is I can type with no typos, like 100% faster, because the buttons are very quick. They don't have to move as far to register, and they are like the perfect tension to return to rest after you press them, and my hands don't get tired because they don't stair-step, where you have to lift your fingers higher like most desktop keyboards. My typos pretty much are just gone. Before they were a common occurrence, practically every sentence.

Also, the key presses have a barely audible positive click sound, instead of that really loud garbage plastic clanking sound that my old KB had.

I absolutely love it. I'm sure any quality keyboard would have been a vast improvement over my emachines OEM board, though.

And since it is much shorter, My keyboard is now centered with my monitor, instead of being off to the left 6 inches. Now I don't have to reach to the left to put my hands on the touch typing spots, and I don't have to reach to the right to reach my mouse, since the numpad doesn't hang over several inches. Also, the page up, page down cluster is merged with the alpha keys, so I don't have to reach as far. i don't know I just like everything at my finger tips, I don't want to have to move my arms too much, or hunt for shit.



:)
 
sorry, this was supposed to be an edit, my entire edit was lost when I was trying to type F5, and accidentally actually pressed F5.
Click to expand...

I lol'd :LOL:

I wanna try this fatal1ty keyboard now :D
 
VirusType2 said:
I normally typed very fast, maybe 70 wpm. All I know is I can type with no typos, like 100% faster, because the buttons are very quick. They don't have to move as far to register, and they are like the perfect tension to return to rest after you press them, and my hands don't get tired because they don't stair-step, where you have to lift your fingers higher like most desktop keyboards. My typos pretty much are just gone. Before they were a common occurrence, practically every sentence.

Also, the key presses have a barely audible positive click sound, instead of that really loud garbage plastic clanking sound that my old KB had.

I absolutely love it. I'm sure any quality keyboard would have been a vast improvement over my emachines OEM board, though.

And since it is much shorter, My keyboard is now centered with my monitor, instead of being off to the left 6 inches. Now I don't have to reach to the left to put my hands on the touch typing spots, and I don't have to reach to the right to reach my mouse, since the numpad doesn't hang over several inches. Also, the page up, page down cluster is merged with the alpha keys, so I don't have to reach as far. i don't know I just like everything at my finger tips, I don't want to have to move my arms too much, or hunt for shit.



:)
Click to expand...

Yeah, my keyaboard is centered, too...
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/1858/1004657sv4.jpg
 
Ridge said:
Yeah, my keyaboard is centered, too...
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/1858/1004657sv4.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice setup man. Looks sweet as hell. That keyboard on the floor over there, that looks like my eMachines keyboard that is lying on the floor next to my desk ATM as well. LOL

Yeah, absolutely, if I added one of those slide out keyboard things, I could get any keyboard. I had thought about doing this, but I was afraid it would be too rickety. My desk is solid as a rock. I use my Keyboard to play arcade games, I mean really smashing the keyboard up, I can't have it moving at all.

I lean on the edge of my desk often, and I'd be afraid to bend it as well. there's a couple other reasons, but I might consider adding a pull out KB tray. I used to be a carpenter and I built my desk so, it was already something I considered from the start.


I might buy a Tarantula keyboard this weekend, just to see if I like it any better. It says it has 8 times faster key press recognition. But I don't know how much of a difference 7ms faster will make. I don't know if I'll be able to detect an incriment of time that small, but I'll take it for a test drive and let you guys know.
 
LOL good eye. Thats my old emachines system, which Im about to put on Craigslist...
 
G11. Its a little bit wider than your run of the mill keyboard, simply because of the Macro buttons...but its got a clean look to it, smooth (no texture), is lightweight and has awesome carrying handles for taking to LAN games or expos...
 
Right now I am on the look out for one of those Fatal1ty boards. They look sweet. I have a Zboard with a WoW TBC keyset and it kinda sucks.
 
Yeah i was sick with an abcess and emergency root canal, so I was drinking alot of water and sprite to pass the days in bed and wash down all those awesome drugs they gave me :p
 
wakiwaki said:
I loled at the pile of pop bottles.
I shall never get an E-Machines ever again. My $2500 top of the line acer (with 4 megs of ram, and a modem not measured in K) lasted longer than that piece of sh*t E-Machines.
Click to expand...

U Sharp eyed SOB. How did you see that? I was looking at the pic for days and didn't see anything below the joystick. :afro:
 
If you can find the Half life 2 box you don't need glasses.
 
Id say they are both equally easy to detect, lol!
 
I'm so sick of all the merchandise with "Fatal1ty" on it.

FFS, Corporate World, way to make a gamer sell out, and put his name on everything so the consumer can "relate" to your shit product.
 
WhiteZero said:
I'm so sick of all the merchandise with "Fatal1ty" on it.

FFS, Corporate World, way to make a gamer sell out, and put his name on everything so the consumer can "relate" to your shit product.
Click to expand...

I don't like it either.

It's a good thing his name isn't 'gogglie flower' or something at least fatality isn't too bad.

lol
 
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