iBuypower Expands Into Gaming Peripherals With MEK Keyboard

iBuypower announced that it is expanding its business into peripherals. For the first time ever, the company will now be selling its own mechanical keyboard. iBuypower was first founded in 1995, and for its entire 20-year lifespan it has been making customized PCs for gamers, developers, LAN centers and eSports tournaments. It has never developed a peripheral before.

For its first attempt at a peripheral, iBuypower opted to develop its own mechanical keyboard in-house. The MEK keyboard has been engineered with high-level gaming in mind. The company said it kept the design simple in order to offer a dependable product at a very affordable price.

Simple doesn't mean feature free, though. The MEK comes equipped with linear actuation red switches, with red LED backlighting that can be cycled through five different modes. Noting the reliability, iBuypower said the switches are rated for 50,000,000 clicks.

The MEK features a 1000 Hz polling rate and the ability for up to 21-key rollover. iBuypower has also included memory in the MEK keyboard that can store up to six different profiles with individual programmable macros. The macros can be created on the fly and selected by a manual button assignment, or through the optional HERA software. When it is used, HERA will detect the game being launched and automatically assign the appropriate macros.

iBuypower said the MEK has the ability to play sound effects for different notifications, such as when different profiles are selected. The company has included the ability to record custom notifications that can be played when specific actions are done. Voice-Over-Function will even let you set any a personalized recording to any key on the keyboard.

iBuypower's MEK mechanical keyboard is available now for $59 and includes a key cap puller, as well as a quality braided cable.

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 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.