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You are here: Home / 2017 / Archives for August 2017

Archives for August 2017

Gaming: Corsair K70 LUX Keyboard Review

08/26/2017 By Hakan Can

Corsair K70 LUX keyboard review

Unless you’ve been living in a cave the past 15-20 years, you’ve almost certainly heard the name Corsair. If you’re a hardcore gamer, then you’ve surely heard of one of the gaming sector’s biggest brands. Heck, you’re probably using one of their accessories right now. Not too long ago, we received our first Corsair product–the K70 LUX mechanical keyboard, and have been learning every detail of it ever since. How does the K70 LUX stack up against the higher-end gaming keyboard competition? Is this keyboard a worthy addition to your gaming rig? Without further delay, let’s take a close and detailed look in this Corsair K70 LUX keyboard review.

Corsair K70 LUX keyboard review

Key Features of this K70 LUX Keyboard

  • Red LED illuminated backlighting
  • Seven lighting effects
  • Cherry MX Blue, Brown, Red, & Rapidfire switches
  • 100% anti-ghosting support
  • 104-Key rollover
  • Media controls
  • USB 2.0 pass-through
  • Aircraft-grade aluminum front plate
Read:   Gaming: HyperX Alloy Elite Keyboard Review

Corsair K70 LUX Keyboard Review

K70 LUX Design and Features

Whether it’s Gamdias, HyperX, Patriot, etc.,numerous hardware brands are creating gaming keyboards in the style of Corsair. As the phrase goes, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

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The K70 LUX is a mechanical gaming keyboard with a 50 million push button life cycle thanks to its use of Cherry MX switches. There are eight versions of the K70 LUX. Half come with RGB LED backlighting, three with Red, and one with Blue. This Red LED backlit Cherry MX Red switch version has seven lighting effects, four brightness levels, five polling settings via hidden switch, six media controls, and a USB 2.0 pass-through. More on these features under CUE.

This keyboard is a bit smaller in length than its newer rivals, the closest being the HyperX Alloy Elite by a ¼”. Without the rubberized full-length wrist rest, the K70’s dimensions are 17.2″ x 6.5″ x 1.5″ and weighs in at 2.97 lbs. In fact, if I were to close my eyes, I would have a bit of difficulty telling the difference between the two. Like I stated, imitation and flattery.

The finish on the keyboard is quite attractive and appears to be fingerprint resistant. Keys are top-mounted over a dark brushed aluminum face plate. Beware, the aluminum edges are sharp, so don’t go knocking the keyboard off your desk. It could strike your foot and cause some pain.

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The underside is plastic with four rubber foot pads and four retractable legs. The location of the braided cable is slightly left of center. While we like it off-center, another inch to the left would have been preferred.

On the back end of the braided cord, there are two USB plugs to connect to your gaming desktop. If you’re connecting via USB 2.0, use both connectors. If you’re connecting via USB 3.0, use the connector with the keyboard icon.

Package contents include the keyboard (w/textured space bar), palm rest, ten textured platinum key caps for FPS and MOBA play, one key cap puller, quick installation guide and warranty policy.

The K70 LUX has all these features for a hair under $120. This price is give-or-take within $10 of other higher-end mechanical gaming keyboards with Cherry MX switches. What it doesn’t have are pre-configured lighting zones for different genres of games like with the Tt esports MEKA PRO, or a place to stash the key puller.

[envira-gallery id=”9128″]

There were some issues with the media controls, and I’ve yet to get four of the buttons to work accordingly. Using Amazon Music and Nero MediaHome, I was unable to get the Stop, Rewind, Play/Pause, and Fast Forward buttons to work. The Mute button and Volume wheel worked without a hitch. We’ll continue to play around with the media controls and update this post accordingly.

Read:   Gaming: Gamdias HERMES P1 RGB Keyboard Review

Specifications

• Key Switch:
• Switch Lifecycle:
• Dimensions:
• Weight:
• Processor:
• Polling Rate:
• Programmable Keys:
• Multimedia Keys:
• Graphical User Interface:

• Cherry MX Red mechanical switches
• 50 Million
• 17.2″ x 6.5″ x 1.5″ w/o the wrist rest
• 2.97 lbs w/o the wrist rest
• 32-bit ARM
• 1000 Hz
• Yes, 104
• Yes, 6
• Yes, CUE software

Read:   Gaming: Tt esports MEKA PRO Keyboard Review

CUE — Corsair Utility Engine

As previously mentioned, the K70 LUX keyboard comes with the Corsair Utility Engine software support. Also known as CUE, this software support (Version 2.16.87) configures the Red LED lighting, macros, buttons, acceleration, and DPI, just to name a handful.

From the main page, seen in the first two images, you can update the keyboard’s firmware as well as CUE’s software version. Without having to go any further, you can adjust the Brightness, the Current Layout, and Change LED Color. You really can’t change alter the LED color as this K70 LUX keyboard is backlit red only.

[envira-gallery id=”9097″]

Taking it further, click on the K70 LUX image immediately to the left of the Global Setting gear icon, and get started with making adjustments. Over the next three images are the Actions, Lighting Effects, and Performance screens.

The Actions setting is where you record your macros, and build an Actions Library. Click the Macro drop down menu to proceed with the following: Text, Remap Key, Media, Launch Application, Time, Disable, and Profile Switching.

Under Lighting Effects is where you select one of seven styles, and customize the type of Red you want via the color wheel or Basic/Custom settings. Effects available as of this date are Static Color, Visor, Rain, Pulse, Wave, and Type Lighting Key and TL Ripple. Within each of the seven effects, you’re able to adjust one of more of the following: opacity, speed, direction, or duration. Before I forget, the richness and brightness of the Reds are spectacular. I firmly believe you’re going to like these lighting features a lot.

Under Performance is where you select “If Win Lock is on:” options. There are four choices available, and you can pick any-and-all. You can adjust the Brightness indicator color here too.

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To the right of the Global Setting gear icon is the Advanced button. Click that, and make additional adjustments to Lighting Effects like Static, Gradient, Ripple, Solid, and Wave. This is shown in the fourth and final image. And don’t be surprised when the Red LED lighting disappears until you create said adjustments.

Profile names can be whatever you want them to be within Actions, Lighting Effects, and Performance screens.

Read:   Gaming: Sennheiser GSX 1200 PRO Amplifier Review

Final Thoughts

Pros:
• Sturdy build, great wrist rest
• Switchable FPS/MOBA keys
• Complete customization
• Seven lighting effects

Cons:
• No place to store the key puller
• No pre-configured lighting zones
• Sharp edges
• So many other K70 (LUX) choices to choose from

If you couldn’t tell by now, we truly enjoyed testing this keyboard. For the record, we feel it’s in a dead heat to slightly up on the recently introduced HyperX Alloy Elite for our favorite mechanical gaming keyboard of 2017. And the K70 LUX wasn’t even introduced this year. We’ve performed more than a handful of gaming keyboard reviews this year, and to date, nothing else compares to these two. Whether you like the solid (red or blue) color or the RGB for backlighting, you need to put the Corsair K70 LUX on your radar and wish list.

The K70 LUX mechanical gaming keyboard has a list price of just under $120. It’s available for purchase on Amazon and the Corsair website. Pay attention to both websites as we’ve seen it for $20 less on occasion, see Amazon link below.

All-in-all, this gaming keyboard (and software) earned a 4.6 out of 5-star rating. There are scores of gaming boards available (not just from Corsair) with a variety of features, so compare away until you find what’s right for you.

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What do you think of this Corsair K70 LUX keyboard review? Do you agree or disagree with our verdict? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.

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Don’t hesitate to head over to the Corsair homepage to see their current line-up of products. The Corsair K70 LUX gaming keyboard comes with a 2-year warranty.

All photographs are the copyrighted property of Corsair or Beantown LLC © 2017.

FTC Disclosure: Corsair provided Beantown LLC with one (1) K70 LUX Backlit Red LED Mechanical Gaming Keyboard sample for review purposes. This writer’s opinion is 100% his own and not a paid product ambassador.

Read:   Lexar JumpDrive C25i Review for iPhone or iPad

Filed Under: Gaming Hardware Tagged With: Cherry MX, Corsair, gaming keyboard, K70 LUX, mechanical keyboard 10/17/2017

Gaming: Gamdias HERMES P1 RGB Keyboard Review

08/23/2017 By Zach Can

Gamdias HERMES P1 RGB Keyboard Review

It seems like a month doesn’t pass without the folks at Gamdias introducing something fresh to the PC Gaming market. Back in July, they’ve expanded their line by one with the introduction of a new mechanical gaming keyboard with Kailh blue switches. This new board–the HERMES P1 RGB yields 16.8 million colors, four game modes, and a dozen lighting patterns. There have been some design changes since the previous HERMES RGB keyboard such as an all aluminum front plate. How does this keyboard stack up with Gamdias’ others keyboards? Without further delay, let’s take a closer look in this Gamdias HERMES P1 RGB keyboard review.

Gamdias HERMES P1 RGB Keyboard Review

Key Features of the HERMES P1 RGB Keyboard

  • 16.8M color illuminated backlighting
  • Four pre-configured lighting zones
  • Twelve lighting effects
  • Kailh Blue mechanical switches
  • On-the-fly record macro key settings
  • Six key / N-Key rollover
  • 100% anti-ghosting support
  • Aircraft-grade aluminum front plate
Read:   Gamdias HERMES RGB Keyboard Review

Gamdias HERMES P1 RGB Keyboard Review

Hermes P1 RGB Design and Features

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Like its predecessor, the HERMES P1 RGB is mechanical gaming keyboard with a 50 million push button life cycle. It comes with 16.8 million colors, a dozen different lighting effects to choose from, and four preset gaming modes: League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, and World of Tanks. You can change the brightness (4 levels) and speed of the effects to your liking. The brains of the keyboard are in the ARM® Cortex®-M3 32-bit microprocessor.

The keys have a new font design that is refreshing and still easy to read. The aircraft-grade brushed aluminum front plate is a nice touch which doesn’t smudge easily. Metal plate stabilizers return from the HERMES 7 Color keyboard adding more flair. (The metal front plate have become quite popular in 2017.)

Consecutive attack mode also makes a return. The keyboard comes with its own key puller. It has all those standard Gamdias’ features like the multimedia keys, two macro buttons, and the key locker if you wanted to vacuum your keyboard real quick.

[envira-gallery id=”9058″]

The HERMES P1 RGB can be used with or without the HERA software. One option which pleased me is the ability to switch out the Windows Key with the Fn button. I was like, “Oh yeah. That’s a nice touch.”

Flipping the keyboard over, you’ll notice three channels to direct the 1.8 Meter braided cable. The keyboard legs have improved over its predecessor and are now much wider. (We hope it was our suggestion that led to the upgrade.) The key puller is now attached to the underside.

To be completely honest not too much has changed from the HERMES RGB to the HERMES P1 RGB. It’s more of a hybrid combination of its former self and the HERMES 7 Color keyboard bringing their greatest features into one keyboard.

Sadly, there are two disappointments to report, first being the removable wrist rest. In our tests, it came off too easily. We wish it fit more securely because as soon as you even move the keyboard, it pops right off. Finally, most of the lighting effects are one color only. On the 7 Color board, the lighting effects played across all colors. The HERMES P1 RGB would have been near perfect if it were not for these two small issues. The keyboard handles and performs very similarly to the HERMES RGB.

Read:   Gaming: Gamdias HEBE M1 RGB Headset Review

Specifications

• Key Switch:
• Switch Lifecycle:
• Dimensions:
• Weight:
• Built-in Memory:
• Polling Rate:
• Programmable Keys:
• Multimedia Keys:
• Graphical User Interface:

• Kailh Blue mechanical switches
• 50 Million
• 17.64″ x 6.16″/7.97″ x 1.45″ w/o and with the wrist rest
• 2.86/3.44 lbs w/o and with the wrist rest
• 72 KB
• 1000 Hz
• 2
• 6
• Yes, HERA software

Final Thoughts

Pros:
• New keyboard font
• Switchable Fn/Windows key
• Complete customization
• Twelve lighting effects

Cons:
• Most lighting effects are one color only
• Wrist rest pops off quite easily
• Very similar to the Hermes RGB

If you were having trouble deciding on whether to purchase the Hermes RGB or 7 Color keyboard, then you need to look towards this newer one. It’s got everything they do and a little more. I’m pleased with this Hermes P1 RGB keyboard. Still, I’m kind of sad about the lighting effects being mostly one color though. I unquestionably recommend this board. It’s already become my new main gaming keyboard.

The Gamdias Hermes P1 RGB mechanical keyboard has a list price of just under $120 and is available for purchase at Amazon and the Gamdias website.

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What do you think of this Gamdias Hermes P1 RGB keyboard review? Do you agree or disagree with our verdict? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.

• Follow Gamdias on Twitter
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• Follow Gamdias on Instagram

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Don’t hesitate to head over to the Gamdias homepage to see their current line-up of products. The Hermes P1 RGB Mechanical keyboard comes with a 1-year + 2-months warranty.

FTC Disclosure: Gamdias provided Beantown LLC with one (1) Hermes P1 RGB keyboard sample for review purposes. This writer’s opinion is 100% his own and not a paid product ambassador.

All photographs are the copyrighted property of Gamdias or Beantown LLC © 2017.

Read:   Gaming: Tt esports MEKA PRO Keyboard Review

Filed Under: Gaming Hardware Tagged With: Gamdias, gaming keyboard, Hermes P1 RGB, keyboard review, mechanical keyboard 10/17/2017

Gaming: Tt eSPORTS Black FP Mouse Review

08/19/2017 By Hakan Can

Tt esports Black FP Mouse review

Here at Beantown, we have a little nostalgia for the Thermaltake brand. Back in March of 2016, our very first gaming accessories review was none other than the Tt eSPORTS Commander Gaming Gear Combo. Seven months later, they introduced their first gaming mouse with a built-in fingerprint sensor. Now it’s 2017 and we’ve spent the better part of a month with this gaming mouse customizing and learning every detail of it. Is it a worthy addition to your Thermaltake gaming rig? Let’s take a closer look in this Tt eSPORTS Black FP mouse review.

Tt esports Black FP Mouse review

Key Features of the Tt eSPORTS Black FP Gaming Mouse

  • Ergonomic FPS/MOBA design with smooth finish and grip
  • Four on-the-fly resolution settings up to 5700 DPI
  • Avago 9500 laser sensor and Omron switches
  •  7 Programmable buttons w/35 programmable macro keys
  • 5 Custom tailored profiles
  • Adjustable 5-weight system
  • Ironveil Tech biometric fingerprint sensor
Read:   Gaming: HyperX Pulsefire FPS Mouse Review

Per the press release, “The BLACK FP is a FIDO UAF certified fingerprint sensor security mouse that provides strong, safe and secure password protection for your PC. Using the state-of-the-art 256-bit advanced encryption standard (AES), it provides users with a fast and secure passwordless experience to login into their system and web pages with the utmost of ease.”

Tt esports Black FP Mouse Review

Black FP Design and Features

There’s much to like when it comes to the Tt eSPORTS FP Black gaming mouse. If you’re familiar with their product line, then you’ll have noticed that this mouse is the current iteration of the Black V2 gaming mouse with a few notable changes. First, the patterned grip on the left side has been removed. Not a biggie, but I would have probably kept it. What’s new is the 256-bit encryption and fingerprint sensor.

The gaming mouse is aesthetically pleasing with its black matte finish, red buttons, and red lighting. The surface is smooth yet has a bit of grip. It’s designed for the right-handed user, which is a drawback for you lefty gamers. Like the Black V2, the FP Black has seven buttons from left and right click, forward and back, DPI and Profile loops, and wheel click. All buttons are preset and make audible sounds.

All buttons fit my thumb and fingers well. Initially, I wasn’t sure how the ring finger would feel in contact with the right side edge, yet surprisingly, there was little-to-no discomfort. What I haven’t figured yet is whether a two- or three-finger top grip is best. I suppose whatever you’re comfortable with is best.

[envira-gallery id=”9014″]

The single greatest feature of the Tt eSPORTS Black FP mouse is its fingerprint scanner. Setup was quick and easy. Right after registering my fingerprints, I could easily log into Windows 10. More on this feature in the Performance and Command Center sections.

The DPI resolution and Profile buttons functioned flawlessly. The former cycles through the four DPI settings. Upon hitting either button, a visual indicator appears on your screen. This way you’ll know with certainty what value you’re at. Where your palm meets the mouse, there’s the red Tt esports logo. The scroll wheel is a bit thin for my taste, and it’s in need of more rubber. Both the logo and scroll wheel can have their lighting turned off.

Within the mouse, there are an Avago 9500 laser sensor and Omron primary switches. On the underside, there are four Teflon skates (foot pads) which allow the mouse to glide across any flat surface. The mouse includes an adjustable 5-weight system each weighing 4.5 grams.

Package contents include the mouse with its nicely braided 6′ cord and a multi-language quick installation guide.

Read:   Gaming: Patriot Viper V570 Mouse Review

Mouse and Sensor Specifications

Tt esports Black FP Mouse review

Read:   Gaming: HyperX Alloy FPS Keyboard Review

Performance

Per Zachary: This smaller sized mouse allowed for improved control as more of your hand covers it. Until now, I’ve been going back and forth with the Gamdias Zeus eSport Laser and Zeus P1 RGB gaming mice, but something about the Black FP feels right. The lighting isn’t as awe-inspiring as the Zeus P1 RGB, and neither Gamdias mouse has a fingerprint scanner to log into websites and Windows 10 with. Going forward, this will be my primary mouse until something comes by that impresses me more. With the fingerprint scanner, the Black FP stands out from the crowd.

There is one BIG issue with the mouse, and it’s worth mentioning. More than 3/4 of the time upon startup, the following words appear on my Samsung monitor: “One of the USB devices attached to your computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.” This confusion is not okay, nor is it an isolated incident as I know of this happening to another Black FP owner. I’ve never had the USB connection on a mouse fail to be recognized by a computer before. In fact, I’ve never had it happen with a keyboard or headphone either. Unplugging and plugging it back in resolves the issue, but it shouldn’t be occurring in the first place. Without this connection, you don’t have an operational accessory. Enough said.

Read:   Gamdias ZEUS eSport Laser Gaming Mouse Review

Tt esports Command Center User Interface

Tt esports Black FP Mouse review

If you’re new to Tt eSPORTS , they have a user interface (UI) product that works in tandem with the mouse. It’s called Tt Command Center. Unlike many UI products, this one works quite well, albeit not without incident. Once downloaded and opened, you’ll see the image above.

As you can observe, TtCC is straightforward and easy to maneuver around. It offers much to the gamer like Profiles 1-5 settings, Normal and Battle mode controls, Language, Macro settings, Performance, and Light Options.

Tt esports Black FP Mouse review

Under the Performance button, you have the option to create up to four levels of (DPI) resolution. There’s also the option to have independent or shared X-Y axis values. Resolution is adjustable in increments of 100 starting from 100 all the way up to 5700 on both the X and Y axis. When you press the DPI button on the mouse, wording appears in the lower center of your monitor informing you of the setting value.

Lift-off and polling rate controls are adjustable as well. You can change these settings, store four different DPI’s to switch to on-the-fly and store all of these settings to five different profiles.

Under Light Option, you have the ability to toggle on and off the scroll wheel and logo lights.

[envira-gallery id=”9004″]

Another major part of TtCC is the Macro Setting. In the image below, you can see how macros are created, deleted, copied, imported, and exported.

Tt esports Black FP Mouse review

As mentioned earlier in this review, the single greatest feature of the Tt eSPORTS Black FP gaming mouse is its fingerprint scanner. I was skeptical of this feature, but it worked like a charm. Right after registering my fingerprints, I could easily log into Windows 10. Further details and instructions can be found in a 28-page PDF document titled BLACK FP Gaming Mouse with Fingerprint Security on the Tt eSPORTS website. This will answer any-and-all of your questions.

[envira-gallery id=”8991″]

Tt eSports Plus+ is an additional software that monitors the stats of the mouse and gives access to a whole community of Thermaltake users.

Read:   Gaming: Tt esports MEKA PRO Keyboard Review

Final Thoughts

For $60, this Tt eSPORTS Black FP gaming mouse delivers many high-end features at a fair price: up to 5.7K DPI resolution, customizable profiles, adjustable weight system, and 35 programmable macro keys. There is the one issue we encountered, so it would be remiss if we didn’t mention it again. Since many months have passed since this product’s release, we hope the folks at Tt esports have addressed and corrected the issue.

This mouse leans toward the higher-end of the gaming accessories spectrum. If you need a gaming mouse that gets the job done at a reasonable price, then place this one on your short list. There are over a dozen Tt esports gaming mice currently available. I’m sure one or more are worth your time and consideration.

All-in-all, this gaming mouse (and software) earned a 3.75 out of 5-star rating. There are plenty of gaming mice available with a variety of features, so compare away until you find the right mouse for you.

[envira-gallery id=”9013″]

The Tt eSPORTS Black FP gaming mouse is available for purchase on Amazon linked here and the Tt eSPORTS website.

What do you think of this Tt eSPORTS Black FP mouse review? Do you agree or disagree with our verdict? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.

• Follow Tt esports on Twitter
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• Follow Beantown on Twitter
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Don’t hesitate to head over to the Tt eSPORTS homepage to see their current line-up of products. The Tt eSPORTS Black FP gaming mouse comes with a 2-year warranty. Should you need to reach Customer Support, click on this link.

My nephew Zachary co-wrote this review. All photographs are the copyrighted property of Thermaltake or Beantown LLC © 2017.

FTC Disclosure: Tt eSPORTS provided Beantown LLC with one (1) Black FP gaming mouse sample for review purposes. These writers opinions are 100% their own, and neither are paid product ambassadors.

Read:   HyperX Cloud Revolver S Headset Preview

 

Filed Under: Gaming Hardware Tagged With: Black FP, gaming mouse, Thermaltake, tT eSports 12/21/2017

Gaming: HyperX Alloy Elite Keyboard Review

08/15/2017 By Hakan Can

HyperX Alloy Elite keyboard review

August 21st is a big day for the folks at HyperX. It’s on this day they introduce not one, but two new mechanical gaming keyboards to the consumer market. Following the successful launches of the Alloy FPS keyboard and Pulsefire FPS mouse, HyperX is set to launch a second Alloy FPS model, this time tenkeyless, as well as their Alloy Elite. We’ve spent the past couple of weeks playing with their top-of-the-line board. How does the Elite stack up against its high-end gaming keyboard competition? Without further delay, let’s take a close and detailed look in this HyperX Alloy Elite keyboard review.

HyperX ALLOY Elite keyboard review

Key Features of the Alloy Elite Keyboard

  • Red LED illuminated backlighting and light bar
  • Six lighting effects
  • Cherry MX Blue, Brown, or Red switches
  • Anti-ghosting functionality
  • N-Key rollover
  • Media controls
  • USB 2.0 pass-through
Read:   Gaming: HyperX Alloy FPS Keyboard Review

Per Marcus Hermann, Senior Business Manager at HyperX, “Further raising the bar for personalization and comfort, HyperX is excited to reveal the new Alloy Elite Keyboard with Cherry MX Mechanical switches, detachable palm rest and custom lighting features. Ensuring that gamers connect and play immediately, keyboard customization options can be accessed without the assistance of software via keyboard functions.”

HyperX Alloy Elite Keyboard Review

[envira-gallery id=”8951″]

First Impressions

  • Very nicely packaged with excellent use of wording and imagery.
  • Keyboard has a sleek, steely, modern, top-mounted look.
  • Cable is braided and centered; two USB desktop connections and a USB 2.0 pass through.
  • The red LED lighting and light bar look great. They illuminate nicely, especially in a dark setting.
  • There’s a well-balanced layout with lighting effects on the left and audio controls on the right.
  • Partially textured palm rest feels great and holds on tight.

Specifications

HyperX Alloy Elite keyboard review

Specs Property of HyperX

Read:   Gaming: HyperX Pulsefire FPS Mouse Review

Alloy Elite Design and Features

If there’s one thing I dislike about specifications, it’s the use of the Metric System. So for all of you in North America, here are the standard units. The keyboard measures 17.48″ x 8.93″ x 1.43″, and weighs in at 3.23 lbs.

If you’re familiar with the Alloy FPS keyboard, then consider this second keyboard release from HyperX the big brother. The Alloy Elite not only looks similar to the Alloy FPS, but it has nearly every feature of it too, plus some more of its own.

There’s the same beautiful matte black finish, top-mounted and steel frame appearance, Cherry MX switches, USB pass-through, red LED lighting, and dynamic lighting effects. What’s new is the red 18 LED bar, dedicated Game and lighting mode/effect buttons, media controls, and a detachable palm rest. The location of the braided cable is now dead-center.

[envira-gallery id=”8970″]

On the underside, there are two rubber foot pads and two retractable legs. Alloy Elite package contents include the keyboard, palm rest, eight platinum key caps (WASD are textured), one key cap puller, quick installation guide and warranty policy.

It has all these features for a hair under $110. This is in line with high-end mechanical gaming keyboards from other top brands. What is doesn’t have, and I’m sure others will note this, is macro recording capability and pre-configured lighting zones for different genres of games.

There were some issues with the media controls, and we’ve yet to get all four buttons to work simultaneously. Using Amazon Music and Nero MediaHome, I was unable to get the Rewind, Play/Pause, and Fast Forward buttons to work. The Pause button worked without a hitch. And the Volume Wheel worked well with all but one speaker. It wasn’t able to adjust the audio of the Libratone One Click speaker. We’ll continue to play around with the media controls and update this post accordingly.

Read:   HyperX Cloud Revolver S Headset Preview

Performance Testing – Everyday Use

As a daily keyboard, this Alloy Elite with Cherry MX Red switched keys worked flawlessly. The surface of the key caps are soft and the sound they make when pressed is minimal. Conversely, if you were typing with Cherry MX Blue switches, then you know how loud they can be.

There’s no noticeable resistance between keys. I’m sure this is due to the optional change between the gaming mode and the typing mode. More keyboards should seriously have this feature–it’s incredible!

I don’t think I’ve ever loved it more; it allows one to have regular keys and then super reactive keys.

[envira-gallery id=”8969″]
Read:   Gaming: Gamdias HERMES 7 Color Keyboard Review

Performance Testing – Gameplay

Gameplay consisted of the following games: Rainbow Six: Siege, RimWorld, and Titanfall 2.

Unlike the Tt esports MEKA PRO, I didn’t notice as much of a disruption with the F2 Key when playing Rainbow Six: Siege. Regardless, the keys are quick and responsive. I truly like the way this keyboard is designed.

With RimWorld, the keys are nice, snappy, and move quite accurately. When compared to the MEKA PRO, I enjoy and prefer the snappiness of the Alloy Elite’s keys. It feels much more organic rather than as if I were pushing super hard keys. However, RimWorld is a strategy game, so there isn’t much that’s noteworthy. It works, so that’s what matters.

On Titanfall 2, here’s where the keys shine. I found the controls were quick and snappy; it’s just what you would want from a gaming keyboard. The Alloy Elite made it easy to move around the map, and I’ve dodged more than one artillery round from a titan. Once again, the keys are quick and responsive in the gaming mode. I love the ability to switch between Gaming and Standard Mode with the use of the Game Mode button.

HyperX Alloy Elite keyboard review

Read:   Gaming: Tt esports MEKA PRO Keyboard Review

Pros:

  • The custom LED settings. These are impressive settings; one lights up all the way, one turns off LED features, one causes a wave, one causes dimmer settings, one “explosion feature” (lights up rest of the keys when one key is pressed, and one causes only the AWSD keys to be lit up. Overall six different LED options. Very much enjoyed the ability to change up the lighting features.
  • The threaded cable screams “Nice Keyboard” along with its decent length. The feel of the keyboard is most pleasant on the fingers, plus there’s that steel frame.
  • Custom gaming mode allows toggling in between Game Mode and normal typing. It’s a feature which helps when you’re typing up a letter/resume versus swinging around in Titanfall 2.
  • Keys during Gaming Mode are friendly and responsive. Excellent accuracy when moving around; a lot of quick tapping helped. I never had one case where I felt it was the keyboard’s fault.
  • The removable palm rest is a comfortable addition for those who use them. It appears to be fingerprint-proof.
  • No software needed to operate the keyboard. It’s Plug-n-Play.

 Cons:

  • The keyboard is a bit larger than we would have liked, but that’s what you get when there are so many buttons and keypads.
  • It’s a bit heavier than most gaming keyboards, but you have to weigh that against the use of great materials of construction. Maybe it’s not so much of a Con.
  • There’s no travel pouch like with the Alloy FPS.
  • There are no programmable macros.
  • Media controls didn’t work under all conditions.
[envira-gallery id=”8971″]
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Ratings

• Appearance: 9.5/10
• Usefulness (gaming): 9/10
• Overall: 9.1/10

• Space/compactness: 9/10
• Usefulness (Typing up essays and whatnot): 9/10

Final Thoughts

If you couldn’t tell by now, we truly enjoyed testing this keyboard. For the record, we feel it’s in a tie with the Corsair K70 LUX for our favorite mechanical gaming keyboard of 2017. We’ve performed more than a handful of gaming keyboard reviews this year, and to date, nothing else even compares. You need to put the HyperX Alloy Elite on your radar and wish list.

The Alloy Elite mechanical gaming keyboard has a list price of just under $110.

What do you think of this Hyper Alloy Elite keyboard review? Do you agree or disagree with our verdict? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.

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Don’t hesitate to head over to the HyperX homepage to see their current line-up of products. The HyperX Alloy Elite gaming keyboard comes with a 2-year warranty. Should you need to reach Customer Support, feel free to call one of these two numbers: 714-435-2639 or 800-435-0640 or check out their Support page.

This review was co-written with Gamer Jack Yang. All photographs are the copyrighted property of Kingston or Beantown LLC © 2017.

FTC Disclosure: HyperX provided Beantown LLC with one (1) Alloy Elite mechanical gaming keyboard sample for review purposes. Both writers opinions are 100% their own, and neither are paid product ambassadors.

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Filed Under: Gaming Hardware Tagged With: Alloy Elite, gaming keyboard, HyperX, mechanical keyboard 10/17/2017

Gaming: Tt esports MEKA PRO Keyboard Review

08/12/2017 By Hakan Can

Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review

If you’re a fan of gaming, then there’s an excellent chance you’re familiar with Thermaltake and its accessories brand Tt esports. We’ve used hardware from Thermaltake for nearly a decade, but have shied away from Tt esports until recently. A few months ago, Tt esports introduced a new mechanical gaming keyboard with Cherry MX switches. We’ve spent the better part of the past month with the MEKA PRO mechanical gaming keyboard customizing and learning every detail of it. Is this keyboard a worthy addition to your gaming rig? Without further delay, let’s take a closer look in this Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review.

Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review

Key Features of the MEKA PRO Keyboard

  • Red LED illuminated backlighting
  • Four pre-configured lighting zones
  • Cherry MX Blue (Brown and Red) switches
  • Anti-ghosting support
  • On-the-fly record macro key settings
  • Six key / N-key rollover
Read:   Gaming: HyperX Alloy FPS Keyboard Review

Per the press release, “The MEKA PRO Cherry MX Mechanical Gaming Keyboard comes in a simplistic durable design packed full of features and functions for the most avid gaming enthusiasts. This includes the use of the latest and highly responsive Cherry MX Blue Switches with a 50 million click lifespan, individual per key red backlight illumination with 7 stunning lighting effects, 4 pre-configured game mode lighting zones, 100% anti-ghosting support, and on-the-fly macro recording for ultimate customization of your gameplay settings.”

Tt esports MEKA PRO Keyboard Review

Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review

First Impressions

  • Clean, well-packaged box, big keyboard.
  • Keyboard has a modern look and nice feel. It’s not as big as initially thought, surprisingly slim for the box size. It functioned well with a laptop pictured (see the bottom of this post.)
  • While the keyboard cord is a good length of 1.8 meters, we would have preferred it a bit longer making it easier to reach more desktops. Also, we would have preferred a braided cable
  • The deep red lighting is a nice touch. It illuminates nicely, especially in a dark setting.
  • Initial tapping of the keys are smooth and quick, but the Cherry MX Blue switches are loud.  

Specifications

Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review

Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review

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MEKA PRO Design and Features

If you’re familiar with Tt esports keyboards, then you’ll notice how closely the MEKA PRO resembles the Poseidon Z Illuminated and RGB models. The key difference is internal–the switch. This new design incorporates Cherry MX Blue, Brown, or Red switches.

As you can see from the bulleted Key Features list, the MEKA PRO offers plenty in the way of gaming features. These are all pretty much standard among ~$100 gaming keyboards. One feature not included in many gaming keyboards are pre-configured lighting zones. The MEKA PRO has four of them: FPS, MMO, MOBA, and RTS. The matte black finish across the board looks great.

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On the underside, there are five rubber foot pads and two retractable legs. Whether you use the legs or not, the keyboard will grip a flat surface well.

Package contents include the keyboard, eight red key caps, one key cap puller, quick installation guide and warranty policy.

Performance Testing – Everyday Use

As an everyday, standard keyboard, the keys are a bit annoying to type with. They sound too much like a typewriter. It’s almost obnoxiously loud and would wake my family if they slept next door. It’s one of those things you have to get used to when using Kailh or Cherry MX Blue mechanical switches.

Typing up documents wasn’t too bad. The draw back here is that words are typed up too quickly. It’s an awkward feeling as words are rapidly misspelled. This was due to the rapidness of keys. It requires you to change their style a bit.

Then some keys appear to be a little slower than others. I often found myself mistyping things which typically doesn’t happen with non-Blue switch boards. However, it might be from lack of experience rather than work.

Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review

Another item was that the Backspace button was super soft, almost too much in comparison to the rest of the keys. At first, I thought there might be a manufacturer defect, or it was somehow damaged. It just felt abnormally soft compared to most other keys. The same experience was observed with the Enter and Shift keys. These three keys threw me off whenever pressed. It might be intentional on the part of Tt esports; nonetheless, I was thrown off.

Another thing to note about the Backspace key is that I noticed it sticking. It held for a certain length of time and caused the delete area to go past what was intended. I tried to delete a sentence and ended up erasing a bit more. I found that the standard keys have a bite, a precision to them when pressed down. Overall, I found the MEKA PRO somewhat disappointing for use as a regular keyboard.

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Performance Testing – Gameplay

Gameplay consisted of the following games and times:

• Rainbow Six: Siege – 2 Hours
• RimWorld – 3 Hours

• Mount & Blade: Warband – 50 Minutes
• Total War: Shogun 2 – 2 Hours

With Rainbox Six, I found the MEKA PRO had some difficulty pressing some of the video game “hot keys.” For example, to pull up the Ubisoft screen, one had to press Shift-F2. This was rather difficult to accomplish and took a lot of time, one which players usually don’t have.

Also, I don’t like the Enter Key. Some games like this one require quick hits to the Enter button, and it felt unresponsive. I noticed that the mechanical keys tend to make my fingers and wrists a lot more tired as the game went on. With long-term games such as Siege, it requires a lot of holding down buttons and rapid pressing which can be rather tiring.

Overall, it’s just okay for shooter games that keep you under tension or require quick dodges. I found my fingers tiring quickly, beginning to lose a lot of their mobility as the rounds went on, and often when crouching, my pinky would start to tire of holding down all the buttons.

[envira-gallery id=”8911″]

With Rimworld, the MEKA PRO was much kinder. The quickness of the keys made things much easier to move around the map. It was still tiring, but not nearly as much as the previous game. I found this game worked perfectly with a mechanical keyboard. After 3 hours of play time, I liked using these Cherry MX Blue mechanical switches a lot more.

However, the distance between keys was bothering, and the relative softness of the larger keys was a bit off putting, Again, this could be personal bias/preference.

On Mount & Blade, I couldn’t stand the super hard keys. It’s a problem with the F1-F9 keys. They require the top fingers to reach, and considering that the game involves using F1-F9 a lot, it makes it very hard to arrive at these keys without feeling like one is uncomfortably stretching their hands.

Finally, on Total War, there was no noticeable change. A good game play could have been achieved just as easily with a non-gaming keyboard.

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Pros:

  • Relatively Compact. It fit well with two laptops and a bunch of other stuff on my desk.
  • It has excellent ambient lighting in the background, works perfectly at night.
  • The alphabet buttons felt fantastic! There’s good response on most keys, and there’s nice feedback.

 Cons:

  • Clicking noise on the keyboard is obnoxiously loud thanks to the Cherry MX Blue switches. Fortunately, there are other switches available such as the Cherry Brown and Red. The keys sometimes sound like an M1 Garand reload ping when typed.
  • The Enter and Backspace keys felt a bit too soft. It threw the nice tapping of the other keys off a ton. This feels like a gaming keyboard, and those other keys have vast uses when typing. I found that a regular keyboard works much better with it.
  • I’m not sure about the issue I have with the F1-F9 keys. I dislike them; it makes it so that for highly tactical games such as Mount in Blade where the F1 key plays a significant role, it is incredibly uncomfortable. It’s possible to key bind these to different keys, but the difficulty of using these in the first place offsets it I felt.
  • With the mechanical keys, there’s the issue of my fingers getting tired, especially in games which require a lot of finger dexterity. Fingers lost a lot of strength quickly and were tired by the end of the game. Plus, there was one sticky Backspace key.

Final Thoughts and Ratings

• Appearance: 9/10
• Usefulness (gaming): 7/10
• Overall: 7.3/10

• Space/compactness: 8/10
• Usefulness (Typing up essays and whatnot): 5/10

The MEKA PRO mechanical gaming keyboard has a list price of just under $90. Fortunately, it’s available on Amazon for $20 lower at the time of publishing.

There are scores of gaming keyboards available each with a variety of features, so shoppers will compare until they find the right keyboard for them.

Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review

Read:   Enermax Ostrog ADV Case Review

What do you think of this Tt esports MEKA PRO keyboard review? Do you agree or disagree with our verdict? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.

• Follow Tt esports on Twitter
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Don’t hesitate to head over to the Tt esports homepage to see their current line-up of products. The Tt esports Black FP gaming mouse comes with a 2-year warranty. Should you need to reach Customer Support, click on this link.

This review was co-written with Gamer Jack Yang. All photographs are the copyrighted property of Thermaltake or Beantown LLC © 2017.

FTC Disclosure: Tt esports provided Beantown LLC with one (1) MEKA PRO mechanical gaming keyboard sample for review purposes. Both writers opinions are 100% their own and neither are paid product ambassadors.

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Filed Under: Gaming Hardware Tagged With: Cherry MX, gaming keyboard, mechanical keyboard, MEKA Pro, Thermaltake, tT eSports 08/22/2017

Enermax Ostrog ADV Case Review

08/07/2017 By Zach Can

Enermax Ostrog ADV case review

Over the past year, Enermax has given us at Beantown a taste of their higher tier products such as the Triathlor ECO 1000W PSU. Now it was time we checked out one of their cases. The Ostrog ADV mid tower case comes in three distinct colors: red, green, and blue. It has some defining features such as its wide array of light emitting diodes, a variety of lighting options, and its tool-less design. So, is the case worth your hard-earned money? Let’s find out and take a closer look in this Enermax Ostrog ADV case review.

[envira-gallery id=”8837″]
Read:   Enermax Triathlor ECO 1000W PSU Review

Enermax Ostrog ADV Case Review

Design

Looking at the front of the case there’s a large acrylic window to the left with the standard black metal panel to the right. At the top of the front panel, there are three small metal mesh grills. These grills can be removed by pressing on the tabs to install your Blu-ray or DVD drives (or other various utilities.) Below this area is a large grill which can just as easily be removed. Behind that houses two 120 mm, 6-mode Vegas LED fans. The outline of the front panel is that of one giant LED strip.

[envira-gallery id=”8843″]

Moving to the top of the case are a series of buttons, lights, inputs, and one switch. On the lower row you’ll notice the restart button, hard drive activity LED, power LED, power button and the 3-speed fan controller. Fan speeds are 900, 1200, and 1500 rpm. The upper row features two USB 3.0 slots, microphone and headphone inputs, two USB 2.0 slots, and the lighting setting button. After that is a large metal mesh grill which is easily removed by a pull tab and outlined with another LED light strip.

On the back side panel of the case is your standard hole for the motherboard and removable grills for a video card. It’s worth noting that the video card grills match the color you’ve selected for the case. It should also be pointed out that your VGA card should not exceed a length of 414 mm.

Looking to install more fans, you can do so. Just check the specs below for the details.

The overall dimensions of the Ostrog ADV case are 19.41″ x 8.46″ x 20.31″. As you can see from these values, this case is quite a bit larger than the typical mid-tower case. The weight of the unit is 15.8 lbs.

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Specifications

Enermax Ostrog ADV case review

Inside the Ostrog ADV

Depending on the color you chose, the backing on the inside will match. Looking in from the acrylic panel are six hard drive bays with three smaller drive bays on top. There are plenty of gaps throughout the case to thread wiring and even to bundle up wiring, with rubber grommets offering additional protection. There’s a third fan (an Enerflo model) in the top left corner. Installation of my hardware into the case was a breeze which took about an hour max. Everything was visible and right out into the open.

[envira-gallery id=”8855″]

There’s ATX, Micro ATX, and Mini ITX support, sufficient room around the top of the case to install water cooling, and the hard drive cage is removable for those huge graphic cards. There’s even plenty of color coordination inside to go along with the LED lighting making the case Pop.

Enermax Ostrog ADV case review

There are two issues worth noting. The first point of concern is the amount of space between the right-side case cover and behind the main board tray, where all the hard drives are stored and connected in. The website states “a comfortable cable routing behind the mainboard tray.” It didn’t feel like that. I have four hard drives, and the amount of space that they provide you is minimal. I literally had to force the wires in to get the case cover on, which in turn makes it difficult to get the case on.

The second issue and one probably unique to us is the top piece of the case was cracked upon delivery. This crack could a problem with the design of the top piece, or it could be a packaging or shipping issue. We’ll never know for sure, but it’s something we passed along to Enermax.

A replacement part was issued, but when it arrived, it was missing a ton of wiring, a couple of the wire caps, and even the power button. Fortunately, we saved the original top piece, taking the missing materials from one and transferring to the other. We were a little disappointed that the new top piece didn’t incorporate the missing materials.

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Conclusion

All-in-all, the Ostrog ADV is a fairly well-designed case which we enjoy using to this day. It’s vibrant and color-filled with red LED lighting. We did notice a couple of things that were a cause for concern. Some paint chipped off when we removed the video card grills, and a there’s a shortage of space to plug in your hard drives. We feel this latter one may be a big issue for consumers.

The Enermax Ostrog ADV case lists for $120 and is available for purchase at Fry’s, Newegg, and Amazon (see link below.) If you need an upgrade and some additional room in a mid-tower computer case, plus sick bright LED lighting, this is it.

[envira-gallery id=”8836″]

What do you think of this Enermax Ostrog ADV case review? Do you agree or disagree with our verdict? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.

Don’t hesitate to head over to the Enermax homepage to see their current line-up of products. The Enermax Ostrog ADV case comes with a 1-year warranty. Should you need to reach Customer Support, click on this link.

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FTC Disclosure: Enermax provided Beantown LLC with one (1) Enermax Ostrog ADV Red chassis sample for review purposes. This writer’s opinion is 100% his own and not a paid product ambassador.

All photographs are the copyrighted property of Enermax or Beantown LLC © 2017.

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Filed Under: Gaming Hardware, Hardware Tagged With: Enermax, mid-tower case, Ostrog ADV, Ostrog Advance 08/09/2017

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