But the extra keys are for macros for games. You can assign the G keys to any keyboard combo in a game. And unlike the Zboard, you don’t have to buy a new keyboard set, and you still have a keyboard that a touch typist can use. I have WoW set up with 12 Gkeys, and I’m setting up EvE online with about 8 Gkeys. Eventually I’ll set up AoE3 and Civ4 also. You can’t do that with the MS keyboard.
Lorini
I got this one. I loves it. Yes I do.
Call me old school, but I don’t find that so useful. If I can’t reach it with my fingers still at the home key resting position, it means I have to look or to move my hands and then feel around for the home position again. Either way, I’d rather do a CTRL-KEY or the like instead of having another row of keys.
I got this one. I loves it. Yes I do.[/quote]
I wonder how hard it would be to mod G15-style key backlighting onto that keyboard…
Amazon was selling the Saitek PC Gamer’s Keyboard for $42.99 and not a penny more with free shipping. So, you know, I bought it and stuff.
See, I have this kooky setup with 2 rigs on my desk, my work PC and my gaming rig, like I guess a lot of dudes have these days. I installed an AllSop keyboard shelf to stow my work KB (the free one that came with my gaming tower), and my gaming KB sits on top, an MS Digital Media Pro (I took Sharky’s recommendation for it).
But, I’d rather toss the gaming KB (which gets less use) down below, so’s I can stow it during the daytime when I’m working. But, I can’t see jack shit on it if I turn off the lights when it’s down thar. So, the Saitek. Is it a decent KB? I’ve heard mostly yes, but there some complaints on Amazon (but, you know how that goes, you always got some dummies who don’t even bother to update drivers or are trying to shoehorn it into some old-ass OS, or something).
Be sure to check out Synergy for sharing that kb (and mouse and clipboard) between your two machines over the network. You just mouse off the edge of one screen, and it rolls right onto the other. Just like a dual monitor setup, except it’s dual PC. It’s so incredibly sweet once you get it set up.
Not only is it dual PC, it’s cross platform. It took some work (the Mac OSX port is a bit flaky) but I can use one keyboard/mouse for my gaming PC and my docked iBook.
I’m not saying my experience is typical, but the Saitek Gamer’s keyboard is the worst keyboard I’ve ever purchased. First I had random driver issues where it decided to put itself into my game controllers list 3 times. Later, it would ask for the install CD if I so much as plugged it into a different USB port. This was on a machine with XP freshly installed. Then a few days ago, about 4 months after I bought it, the asdfjkl; keys all stopped working.
But it could just the specific keyboard I bought. I just hit that point where I said “screw it” and bought my new Logitech one.
That is fucking awesome!
When I get my second computer back, I’m totally going to set up systems like that.
Does it have quickkey functionality to switch between boxes? Because if it does, then it’s about the best software I could ever imagine.
[quote=“ciparis”]
Be sure to check out Synergy for sharing that kb (and mouse and clipboard) between your two machines over the network. You just mouse off the edge of one screen, and it rolls right onto the other. Just like a dual monitor setup, except it’s dual PC. It’s so incredibly sweet once you get it set up.[/quote]
Groovy, thanks cip.
:( yeah, that’s the sort of stuff I’ve heard about it. I guess we’ll see, no?
I’ve had the Saitek keyboard for about six months or so, no problems at all. The backlight doesn’t really help much, though the version with the light coming directly through the keys may work better in that regard.
I like the keyboard because it’s fairly compact, the keys are solid and the unit itself has a good, weighty feel to it. It only has four hotkeys if you’re into that whole multimedia thing.
Right now I am looking for any excuse to write something for it.
MMORPG DPS calculator on the fly, please, EQ1 specifically.
Sam
Scratch that WoW please. You could write some decent ones for WoW though like a loc meter and stuff.
The WoW problem is that external tools aren’t given access to anything useful, limiting what you can do without violating TOS. From what I’ve read, anyway.