Need help in my decisions

ThatGamerGuy · May 5, 2014

Hello everybody.
If you are here, I'd like to say thank you for stopping by and maybe helping me make a decision here...
I am a bit torn between a few things. I am looking to purchase a full suite of gaming peripherals, i.e. the mouse, keyboard, mousepad and headset, and I have narrowed down my options to pairs for each one. I would like to know if I could get any input on these products, whether from personal experience, or you know a guy, or your friend of a friend's aunt's brothers cousin has one or something that could help me decide...

First up...

Keyboard:
I am a bit torn between this board: Click me!

and this one: Click me!

I am looking at both of these for several reasons. They have strong build quality, they are mechanical, they offer a lot of customization options, they are backlit, they offer on-board usb hubs, and other reasons.The obvious difference in them, aside from the asthetics, is the massive price gap. Depending on the reviews of the Mad Catz STRIKE 7, it will be determined if the price increase is really worth the pick...

Mouse:
This one is a bit funky for me... Both of these mice have... a peculiar design... I think most of you already know one of them...
Here is one: Click me!

and the other: Click me!

WE all knew one of them was a RAT-esque type mouse... Don't deny it. Anyways, both of them also offer programmable button mapping, they have adjustable weight, adjustable color, the palm of both can be adjusted, and they both have high DPI. This choice is obviously again a bit different in price range, but both have their uniqueness about them.

Lastly, the headset....
First thing to note about me. I love me some sounds. One might call me a bit of an audiophile. I have scowered the market back and forth multiple times, looking at headsets that shouldn't be called a headset, and headsets that only James Cameron could afford... I've looked from turtle beach, to razer, to seinheiser, to SteelSeries, Logitech, Sony, Astros, Tritton, and damn near everything else, and I THINK that I have narrowed it down to a final 2. These 2 may or may not even be my final pick, but they are way up there on my list of options...
Number 1: Click me!

and Number 2: Click me!

Both look good, have good reviews on youtube, apparent good sound quality, 7.1 sound, comfortable builds, good microphones, and good build quality...

Thanks to anyone who did research and replies to this topic, as I would not like to waste money... College student gotta eat!

Echocookie · May 5, 2014

Keyboard: First off, the Strike 7 is NOT mechanical. It uses a membrane rather than individually mechanical keys, so that might be a deal breaker for you. Personally, I have never used a mechanical keyboard, I simply don't have the money, so I don't even know if it is a dramatic difference. The Strike 7 does have a LOT more features than Tesoro Lobero though. The Tesoro doesn't have any assigned keys that you can program, while the Strike 7 has many programmable keys AND you can switch between 3 profiles to have 3 different actions for each programmed key. The touchscreen is a nice feature, and if you feel like you could afford the Strike 7 (and don't mine not having mechanical keys) I would say that one. If you want mechanical, go for the Tesoro. You can choose between 4 different switches on their website so you get the keyboard you want and the switches you deserve.

Mouse: For the mouse, I would say to go with whichever one matches the keyboard you are gonna get. If you get the Strike, get the MMO 7. If you get the Lobera, go for the Gandiva. If you don't really care whether they match or not, it all comes down to what you need. The Gandiva has an 8200 DPI gaming-grade laser sensor, a gold plated USB, 8 programmable keys with 5 profiles to a total of 40 programmable keys, on-board memory and on-the-fly DPI adjustment. The MMO 7 is the more customizable mouse, but doesn't have as many hardware features. It does have 15 programmable keys compared to the Gandiva's 8, but that could get out of hand anyway. It claims to have 6 profiles, but I count 5 (there is a 99.99% chance that I missed the sixth one, though XD). With those 6 profiles it comes to 90 programmable buttons giving you much more than the Gandiva's 40. The MMO 7 only has a 6400 DPI laser sensor, but I don't even think you would want your mouse to go 8400 DPI like the Gandiva. Of course, on both you can change the DPI settings on-the-fly. You can also change the LEDs on the MMO 7, but they look hardly noticeable. Perfect your grip with the custom weight system, adjustable palm wrest, and interchangeable pinkie and thumb rests. Of course, the MMO 7 is much more expensive
Here is a short summary - Gandiva: Simpler with 8 keys, and faster DPI, significantly cheaper
MMO 7: Much more adjustable, slightly slower DPI, much more expensive

Headset: Again, if you would like it to match your other peripherals you could just base it on looks. The Kuven has a 50mm driver, 7.1 VIRTUAL (not true/real) surround sound, enhanced noise cancelation, very comfortable, and a gold plated 3.5mm audio cable. The TRITTON has very similar specs, except the mic is detachable and flexible. Personally, I don't like flexible because the set ones are the ones that will not bug other players with "Get your mic away from your face" and they are usually set to the perfect angle. If you want to move your mic around, get the TRITTON. Also, the TRITTON is much more expensive (like always with Mad Catz products), and still boasts very similar features.

In all, I would say go for the Tesoro line of products. The only one I would debate on is the STRIKE 7, because I am in love with that thing. You could get the Strike along with the Tesoro mouse and headset if you wanted, and just change the backlight to purple to match it up. You are a college student so you should save a little (or a lot) of money and go for the Tesoro mouse and headset.

I recommend this configuration: S.T.R.I.K.E. 7, and for the mouse and headset the Tesoro brand.

Hope this helps you out! Sorry for this wall of text XD

ThatGamerGuy · May 5, 2014

Echocookie :

Keyboard: First off, the Strike 7 is NOT mechanical. It uses a membrane rather than individually mechanical keys, so that might be a deal breaker for you. Personally, I have never used a mechanical keyboard, I simply don't have the money, so I don't even know if it is a dramatic difference. The Strike 7 does have a LOT more features than Tesoro Lobero though. The Tesoro doesn't have any assigned keys that you can program, while the Strike 7 has many programmable keys AND you can switch between 3 profiles to have 3 different actions for each programmed key. The touchscreen is a nice feature, and if you feel like you could afford the Strike 7 (and don't mine not having mechanical keys) I would say that one. If you want mechanical, go for the Tesoro. You can choose between 4 different switches on their website so you get the keyboard you want and the switches you deserve.

Mouse: For the mouse, I would say to go with whichever one matches the keyboard you are gonna get. If you get the Strike, get the MMO 7. If you get the Lobera, go for the Gandiva. If you don't really care whether they match or not, it all comes down to what you need. The Gandiva has an 8200 DPI gaming-grade laser sensor, a gold plated USB, 8 programmable keys with 5 profiles to a total of 40 programmable keys, on-board memory and on-the-fly DPI adjustment. The MMO 7 is the more customizable mouse, but doesn't have as many hardware features. It does have 15 programmable keys compared to the Gandiva's 8, but that could get out of hand anyway. It claims to have 6 profiles, but I count 5 (there is a 99.99% chance that I missed the sixth one, though XD). With those 6 profiles it comes to 90 programmable buttons giving you much more than the Gandiva's 40. The MMO 7 only has a 6400 DPI laser sensor, but I don't even think you would want your mouse to go 8400 DPI like the Gandiva. Of course, on both you can change the DPI settings on-the-fly. You can also change the LEDs on the MMO 7, but they look hardly noticeable. Perfect your grip with the custom weight system, adjustable palm wrest, and interchangeable pinkie and thumb rests. Of course, the MMO 7 is much more expensive
Here is a short summary - Gandiva: Simpler with 8 keys, and faster DPI, significantly cheaper
MMO 7: Much more adjustable, slightly slower DPI, much more expensive

Headset: Again, if you would like it to match your other peripherals you could just base it on looks. The Kuven has a 50mm driver, 7.1 VIRTUAL (not true/real) surround sound, enhanced noise cancelation, very comfortable, and a gold plated 3.5mm audio cable. The TRITTON has very similar specs, except the mic is detachable and flexible. Personally, I don't like flexible because the set ones are the ones that will not bug other players with "Get your mic away from your face" and they are usually set to the perfect angle. If you want to move your mic around, get the TRITTON. Also, the TRITTON is much more expensive (like always with Mad Catz products), and still boasts very similar features.

In all, I would say go for the Tesoro line of products. The only one I would debate on is the STRIKE 7, because I am in love with that thing. You could get the Strike along with the Tesoro mouse and headset if you wanted, and just change the backlight to purple to match it up. You are a college student so you should save a little (or a lot) of money and go for the Tesoro mouse and headset.

I recommend this configuration: S.T.R.I.K.E. 7, and for the mouse and headset the Tesoro brand.

Hope this helps you out! Sorry for this wall of text XD

What would you call the 3 keys on the bottom of the Tesoro then that are programmable? Also, as stated by Tesoro and reviews, the Lobera Supreme has 5 different modes, and you can program any key to do whatever you want... pressing i could actually be % or something like that. At any rate, it does come with full RGB and better lighting effects.

As for the headset, what exactly is the difference between real and virtual surround sound?

Echocookie · May 5, 2014

Sorry, I didn't see those 3 keys at the bottom of the Tesoro. Those are programmable. Actually, I think that you can program all of the keys except the F1-F12 with the software. But you might want to keep all of your keys the way they are for typing in chat or whatnot, so those are the only 3 dedicated macro keys.
Also, yes it does have 5 different modes. I think I skipped over that feature in my comment... Woops

And yes the lighting on that is pretty sweet :3

True surrounds sound has many speakers in each ear cup, to give you a "true" surround sound. Virtual has 1 speaker in each ear, but it manipulates your brain to think it is completely surround sound by the volume and time duration it takes to get to your ear. Most (99% of) people don't even notice the differences between the two, but I thought I'd point it out

realchaos · May 6, 2014

Keyboard:
There is no way you can justify spending over $200 on a keyboard that is not mechanical. $200 can get you a premium quality mechanical keyboard. Sure it has a ton of macro keys, but I doubt you'll use most of them. The wrist rest is weirdly designed and while the screen is a decent feature, that itself does not justify the price. I have personal experience with mechanical keyboards and I can tell you that they are far superior in terms of quality and feel. They just feel so much better to press on. In order to help determine the best keyboard for you:
1. Switch type? (Cherry MX Blacks, Reds, Browns, or Blues)
2. Need macro keys?
3. What color backlighting would you prefer?

Mouse:
Again, I wouldn't really recommend either of them. I wouldn't really recommend any laser sensors in general. Laser sensors have acceleration which accelerates your mouse speed and makes it faster, which results in your pointer usually going further than what it should have gone. Optical sensors do not have this problem and are a lot more accurate. The Razer Deathadder 2013 is a very popular mouse for a good reason. With its highly accurate sensor, you shouldn't have a problem with the mouse despite the Razer branding.

Headset:
If you want a headset, the Astro A40 offers great quality sound with a decent mic. Not too big of an expert in headsets/headphones but I know for sure that if you want the best audio quality then you'll probably want to opt for a headset without a mic and then buy a desk mic like the Blue Snowball or the more premium Blue Yeti.

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Need help in my decisions

ThatGamerGuy

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Echocookie

Echocookie

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ThatGamerGuy

Honorable

Echocookie

Reputable

realchaos

Distinguished

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