A few days ago I decided since I now have a proper gaming PC, I might as well take advantage of it and not just use it for my racing rig. I figured I’d get a small desk, monitor, keyboard and mouse and set it up right next to my rig. Trying to find these simple things turned out to be a lot more difficult than I expected.
Finding a monitor was probably the hardest mostly due to the costs involved. Keyboard and mouse if you make a mistake you’re not out much, but with a monitor you’re stuck with it. I flip flopped a lot from budget to premium, from IPS to OLED and in the end, after a lot of research I narrowed it down to two options not he opposite end of the spectrum:
Asus ROG Strix OLED XG27UCDMG 27″ 4K QD-OLED, 240 Hz
Price: KD 311
LG 27G810A-B 27″ UltraGear™ 4K UHD IPS 180Hz
Price: KD 135
At one point I was looking at 32″ screens but based on the size of table I was looking to get it would have been too big. Plus they’re more expensive.
In the end I decided to go with the Asus. I figured I spent all this money getting a high end gaming PC it didn’t make sense to cheapen out on the screen now. The fact I only found one piece in the market helped create a sense of urgency to get it as well. The only place that still had one left from all the online stores was Blink, so I ordered it from them and it got delivered a few hours later.
Next step was picking a mouse and keyboard. 25 years ago picking a keyboard and mouse was pretty easy, you just went Microsoft or Logitech. My favorite used to be the ergonomic keyboard pictured above my Microsoft, it was ground breaking when it was released. Now the number of options is crazy. especially if you search for gaming gear. Suddenly new terms started popping up like hall effect, rapid trigger, DPI, polling rate etc.. when back then all I had to pick from was either a trackball or optical mouse and either use a random keyboard I had or get a Microsoft one. The fact that people also care if the mouse weighs 60g or 84g or whatever is also such a new concept to me. But it goes to show how seriously gaming is being taken, it’s fascinating, I love it, but it’s also so overwhelming.
I’m still trying to figure out what keyboard and mouse to go with. I think with the keyboard I’m going to go with looks. I found the Redragon K681 Cyrus PRO locally which looks good, is mechanical and should be good for casual gaming. It’s wireless and costs KD22, plus I might swap out the AWSD keys with some pink ones to give it a 90s vibe. Game Store also have some cute stuff, but most are out of stock.
The last time I passed by Blink they had keyboards on display so might pass by and check them out as well. It needs to be a keyboard with no Arabic, so Keychron or Ducky our out of the question since the ones in Kuwait are bilingual.
For the mouse I’m also thinking of going with the HyperX PulseFire Haste 2 Core because of the color combination that gives it a 90s vibe. It’s KD15 so not expensive and should be ok for casual gaming. Second option is possibly the white colored Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro since it’s a bit larger and so I think better for my wrists. But looks a bit too boring.
Back in the 90s Case Logic used to make these really great mouse pads that had a gel wrist rest and similar one for keyboards. They were life savers. I noticed some brands have similar ones now and mouse/desktops pads are a big thing as well. So might pick up a SteelSeries desk pad with RGB while I’m at it.
If you guys have any recommendations on keyboards and mice you’ve used let me know. Oh and if there is a store you know of that has a large selection also let me know. At the moment I’ve just been searching online but I’m sure there are a few shops that don’t have a website but have a good selection of stuff.
15 replies on “What keyboard and mouse do you guys use?”
Go to Al-Rihab Complex, you’ll find a plethora of Keyboards
Rihab? I didn’t think about that. Might head there then before I got to bin Khaldoon. Any specific store? I think Game Store have a shop there if I remember.
Just left Rihab. Other than Game Store and Blink there wasn’t much else to see. A couple of stores in the basement had keyboards but not a lot and most except for Aula are at Blink and Gamestore.
Congrats on the rig!
If you’re getting a mechanical keyboard, think about what switches you want… Red for no noise and no tactile bump while blue for example is clicky and theres a bump. Theres a lot of options, but the ones u buy at the store will generally be red (for gaming) and blue.
I use HyperX Alloy Origins Tenkeyless and a logitech G502X for mouse.
Rihab have accessories, or Ibn Khaldoun, or Quadra in Aswag gurain have a lot of mice and keyboards on display if u wanna test them out first since everyones hand size is different.
These devices are extremely subjective, so anyone in your position should go and test out the mice and keyboards before buying. All the keyboards/mice that do not come with happy meals are good enough, so it’s always about prefence (except the magic mouse; that is garbage).
Things to look out for; for keyboards: switch type (feel & sound), size. For mice: size, ergonomics, number and placement of side buttons, weight.
yeah thats the issue, trying to figure out what to get without trying them. thats why I was going with looks because like you said, most keyboards and mice are good enough anyway, so its just finding one that works for me.
Think you meant the SteelSeries mousepad, they are good but all that rgb really got annoying after a point and i just turned it off, guess its a matter of taste.
yes, SteelCase is a different brand
If you are looking for a retro looking mouse – check the Glorious Forge Series One pro. They have one grey and red color combination that looks like old school Nintendo. Not sure of local availability, I got mine for nearly half the price from Amazon UAE.
If you are looking to get into FPS games seriously – then you would want to look at keyboards with hall effect switches. The better ones include Wooting 80HE, Keychron Q1 HE, and SteelSeries Apex Pro.
For mouse – the new Logitech G PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE.
Both of these are trending right now because they give you a great degree of customisation – you can set when you want the switch to activate and cut off.
Ok the Logitech mouse seems very cool but there is no way I’m paying 65kd for a mouse 😅
Oh wait till you hear about the Zaunkoenig M3K – it is made out of carbon fiber, in limited batches. So tough to get one of these xD
It would easily cost you double of the Logitech xD
There was a wireless Razer Viper Mini Signature – magnesium alloy, super light, ridiculously priced at launch. I have seen a few resale ads on instagram priced between 25 to 35 KD. Decent for that price point if you get one in good condition. It is a small sized mouse – which not everyone is comfortable with. But its light, has good switches and one of the lowest input latency.
For a decent do it all mouse – the Razer Viper 8k is good. Blink and PCKuwait were selling this last year for around KD 20 (half its launch price). Low input latency, firm swtiches, suitable for medium / large hands.
Word of caution – when using 8khz polling rate on the mouse – check if the CPU and game can handle it. My CPU would stutter after 2khz. Does not make a huge difference, unless you are among the top 1% of the players in the game.
While we are at this topic, here are some mousepad recommendations:
SteelSeries QcK Heavy (padded mousepad without stitched edges, easy to clean)
Logitech G240 (small mousepad, very consistent, 1mm thickness)
Logitech G640 (larger version of the 240, thicker and larger)
Pulsar Paracontrol v2 (if you want something that feels a bit slower than the above three. It comes in red !)
I can’t believe I need to also research desk/mouse pads as well 😭😭
I’m coding, so I type a lot. I use a Keychron Q6 QMK Blue with Gateron Oil King switches. Very sturdy, heavy body, and has a very satisfying sound.
Razer Deathadder V3 pro mouse
Razer BlackWidow v3 pro keyboard