Peripherals - 48 articles

There's no denying the value of a good gaming mouse. Laser technology has taken the optical sensor one step further, and as games increase in complexity and graphical splendour the demand for increased precision is pushed to the limit. SteelSeries step into the fray with yet another addition to their gaming mouse line-up. These guys just love stretching peripheral technology to fit the ...

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Speedlink have decided to put together a simple package of 99 games from one of the '80s-to-early-'90s era's most prominent gaming systems - the Commodore 64 - along with a USB imitation of the chunky joysticks representative of those good old days. So we shall now take an [up], [space], [fire], [run] down memory lane to find out if they can hope to cash in on this fine gaming heritage.

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The final in our trio of mini Wii accessory reviews from Speedlink is the Bubble Chuk. Designed to replace the original Wii Nun Chuck accessory or at least give you a fancy coloured option with an alternate shaping. Let's see how it fares.

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Following on from our Speedlink mini review of the Zone Charge Station, here's another one from Speedlink, the Classic Gamecube style controller for the Wii. Designed to be an ergonomic update to the older design, and fit it alongside the stylings of the usual white Wii. How does it compare to the original it's based on, and is the update worth it over the, more old school alternatives? Let's ...

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The Wii mote has become part of our everday culture, with the home console being the most widely know and used of the current generation. Bridging the gap between those gamers who just wern't comfortable with a standard control, and wanted something more familiar, you'd be hard pressed for someone to not recognise these strange controllers on sight. Despite the joys of wireless there is ...

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With Mionix's previous headline mouse, the Mionix Saiph 3200, dropping in price to a much more attractive level around the £35 mark, the way has been paved for a new entry to the high end of Mionix's gaming peripheral range. In keeping with Mionix's cosmology theme, the Naos 5000 takes its named from a blue super giant star with the 5000 referring to the maximum dpi - 5040. Essentially, the ...

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As a company based entirely around the gaming peripheral industry, Roccat have gained a reputation for manufacturing top quality, high-performance products that deliver for all levels of gaming. The Valo, the company’s first venture into the keyboard market, was conceptually very good but a software typing bug and the phenomenally high price tag were the undoing of the keyboard. Roccat have ...

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One of the tactics that some companies have used to help themselves through the tougher times of the global recession is by diversifying their product range. Since they also have a pseudo gaming division with their Storm chassis, Coolermaster seem set to take advantage of the growing pro-gamer market. The Coolermaster Storm Sentinel Adance is the company's first attempt at producing a gaming ...

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Roccat are well known at this stage for their impressive PC peripherals, introducing desktop spacial management along with massive ammounts of viral media. Today we're looking at a product form them that's definately in the Roccat vein. Known as the Kova, it's a 3200 DPI mouse, with a solid plastic shell, and an interesting driverless design. Sounds intriguing, let's check it out.

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We review a lot of peripherals here at XSR, and over the years we've noticed the growing trend of steadily increasing prices with gaming mice costing upwards of £50 now. Still though, they aren't the most expensive input accessory you can use with your PC, with specialised keyboards getting close to the £100 mark. Today, we're reviewing just such a keyboard, this one from Steelseries. It's ...

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Continuing our Roccat review rollout we have another product from the company, the Apuri. It might be another peripheral but it's definitely different from anything we've reviewed before. This one is designed to improve the layout of your desktop, and I mean the top of your desk, by managing your mouse's cable and running all your USB devices in a simple and intuitive manner; or so the Roccat ...

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Well here it is folks, the review that many have been waiting for; not because I'm some ungodly talented reviewer, but because this product has been so tantalizingly close to release for so long now, it's become the hardware version of vaporware. When Roccat stepped onto the gaming peripheral scene a few years ago, they were given as much attention as any other new company, not that much. ...

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Years ago, there was only a handful of gaming peripheral companies, and in reality most people fell into one of two camps, Razer's or Logitech's. Now though, there's a whole host of different manufacturers putting together their own gaming mice, keyboards, headsets and more. With all these new players in the game, there's a much wider range of looks, features and extras and when on the look out ...

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More and more 3D software is being developed and so the production of 3D peripherals seems only inevitable. However, who actually needs a 3D mouse: the casual PC user? The hardcore gamer? The office PC user? In truth none of these fit the bill and it’s only really the more creative of careers that can fully tap into these features – architects, artists and so on. Despite this, 3D devices are key ...

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With a few very high end gaming mice passing through XSReviews, we take a look at the mid range market today. This product comes in the form of Speedlink’s Red Formula Laser Mouse and has some very interesting features. The main one being the cable compartment which allows the USB cable to coil up inside the mouse.E Speedlink has a very god reputation of providing top quality products, so can ...

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Even though speaking to other players over VOIP or other services is becoming more prevalent, with PC games including voice chat in game, and console users able to discuss over headsets within their parties, and within certain games, one of the main modes of chat is still the text message interface. One problem with this on consoles, is how long it takes to spell out a message with a standard ...

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With the growth of notebooks, netbooks, and other portable media players, something people tend to like to do when they arn't in a far away place with their beloved piece of kit, is enhance it with improved peripherals. Be it a mouse, larger keyboard, increased screen size, or improved sound quality. Today I'll be reviewing something that would probably suit that purpose very well, the Speedlink ...

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Following on from our review of their excellent mouse mat, Mionix sent over their top of the line gaming mouse, the Saiph 3200. Featuring a DPI of 3200, teflon feet, programmable buttons, DPI adjustment, and many other features, let's see if the Saiph 3200 can live up to their new found good rep. here at XSR.

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There are plenty of gaming peripheral manufacturers out there: Razer, Logitech, Roccat, Revoltec, Cyber Snipa, NZXT and many more. However, one of them that stood out for a while was Ideazon, for their products and keyboard keysets designed for specific games. Since Steelseries recently bought out the brand, they've now released a WoW mouse to come out in conjunction with their keyboard for the ...

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Recently we've seen a tumult of companies branching into the gaming mouse market, and so far they've all been relatively impressive. This time around, NZXT, popular maker of gaming cases, have made their own version of a gamer mouse. Called the Avatar, it's got DPI switching buttons, LED indicator lights and teflon feet. All standard in a high end mouse, but how does the whole package stand up to ...

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Recently we were fortunate enough to get a look at a new company on the gaming peripheral scene, Roccat with their Kone mouse. Today we have another, this one from Nova and it's called their X600. It's got an interesting design, and eye catching packaging, but can it perform?

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For the last few years the gaming peripheral market has really been dominated by two companies, Razer, and Logitech; with others like Microsoft corroborating with them to grab a small share of the market. Other companies have come out with great gaming headsets and mouse mats, but when it comes down to top gaming mice, no one else really gets a look in. However, over the last year of delays, a ...

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Whilst in a game, aside from the ability to accurately shoot your opponent in the face, the ability to move is fairly high on your list of things to do. Most people will have a keyboard to do this with the usual WASD configuration of walking about. However many companies are now bringing out little innovations to make this easier: Circular keyboards with all the buttons you need for gaming on, ...

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Most performance mice, which gamers tend to use, are normally manufactured by one of two companies: Logitech or Razer. Both these companies are widely known in the gaming industry. However, many more manufacturers, such as Genius, are making their show in the performance gaming mouse market. The contender we have for review today is the Genius Ergo 555 Laser, a ‘Professional laser gaming mouse ...

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While most of the gaming peripheral world is dominated by the big names like Razer and Logitech, there is a growing number of smaller companies that are bringing their own range of gaming products to the table. Cyber Snipa is one such name, and today I'll be testing their Stinger mouse. With adjustable DPI and weights, how will it fair against it's competitors? Let's see.

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We’ve seen high-end mice for a while now, with most gamers either opting for a Razer or Logitech branded mouse to do their fragging. SteelSeries have recently added a third vendor to the list with their Ikari Laser mouse, which I have here ready to be put through its paces. Featuring the usual on-the-fly sensitivity and multiple buttons, it’ll have to shine to beat away the already well know ...

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There are two key gaming mice manufactures that have been doing just that for years, Razer and Logitech. However, these high-spec mice come at a cost, and are often over the top for the average gamer, who wants accuracy and comfort, but still some money left in the bank. So today I have Speedlink’s Styx which features a laser diode to pick up your movements, and spitting out 2200 DPI accuracy. ...

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Keysonic produce a myriad of different keyboard based peripherals; some conventional, others not so. The product I have from them today falls into this latter category. The ACK-126 RF is a water-proof, silicon based, wireless board designed for the cramped media user.

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Gamers love Razer and Razer love gamers. As a result, they've taken it upon themselves to create some of the best gaming peripherals around including the Boomslang and Deathadder. They've made a gamer keyboard before called the Tarantula and several more in cahoots with other manufactures although these weren't destined for the gamers desk. Today I have the Lycosa which is a cut-down version ...

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When I heard that Razer were releasing a new mouse, I knew it would be something special. Considering my last insight into a Razer mouse - the Death Adder - left me with a near-perfect gaming mouse, it’s not too much to expect something even better to come from the doors of Razer. The Lachesis returns to using a laser to track your movements rather than the previously much-hyped 3G infra-red ...

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With gaming becoming an increasingly competitive activity, some gamers choose to add a little edge to their play through upgrading their main weapons, the keyboard and mouse. Some however, choose to break away from a device originally designed for typing, and use a gamepad or gaming board. Cyber Snipa are one company attempting to cash in on this gamer choice with their PC-Gamepad 2. Let's see ...

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We had the pleasure of meeting part of the Revoltec team at Channel Expo earlier this year and were surprised that we hadn't come across their stylish gaming peripherals before. However, we later learned that due to delays their release date was due for June 07. Now June has arrived we have received the first of several review samples from Revoltec; The Fightpad Advanced. Let's see how it holds ...

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Razer have transformed the gaming mouse market with their several successive mice; each building on the plus points of the last. With speaker systems and headsets; the keyboard was only a matter of time. Today I have the Razer Tarantula which is Razer’s first attempt (bar the Microsoft Reclusa).

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In the performance market, numbers mean everything. From MHZ to megabyte, the industry revolves around extremes. Today I have the Saitek GM3200 gamers mouse which promises the fairly unnecessary DPI of 3200. Will this be enough?

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Today I have the KeySonic ACK-540RF which is the abbreviated way of saying wireless keyboard and mouse. Small in size and wireless in nature, the 540RF should make for interesting testing.

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ForeSight Systems LLC… ever heard of them? Nor me, but today I have their Pertelian X2040 LCD display designed for the lazy end user who doesn’t want to do through the modding process of using, say, a Matrix Orbital. Hopefully their display will improve on others in the market.

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Laptop mice are made small as they have to be stowed in a tightly packed laptop carry bag. Often the cables get knotted and it takes 5 minutes every time you get your laptop out just to untangle the mouse. However, MSI have designed an all-in-one cable and mouse solution that should put an end to your woes…

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Ideazon are known widely for their legendary gaming device, the Zboard and its multitiude of gaming keysets. In the past they have also produced gaming pads to give those that wish to stick with their keyboards the Zboard gaming edge. Now though, Ideazon is branching out into the gaming mouse arena, this one is called the Reaper.

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Rollerballs, optical and even laser mice are now old school, making way for Razer’s latest mouse; the Death Adder which features an infra red optical sensor. It’s wide, ergonomic and looks a lot like Microsoft’s Intelli mice. Has Razer changed? Read on to find out…

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Razer are known the world over for their high DPI gaming mice and awesome precision mouse mats. Their Copperhead and Boomslang mice are legendary and I am sure there are literally millions of frags that can be acredited to these gaming periperhals. The only down side with Razer products is the price. That's where the Krait comes in; high DPI, lower price. Sounds like a perfect combination? That's ...

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Continuing in my recent fashion for gaming accessory reviews, today I have the Zboard Fang to take a gander at. This board seems to be (As the WolfClaw devour is also) the gaming part of the original Zboard, sliced off from the keyboard section and packaged up ready as a standalone product. Today I am going to test this board with a few games from different genres. These games have all been ...

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The world is rife with gaming accessories these days. From gaming mouse mats to gaming headsets, gaming keyboards and game pads. I have used several of these devices in the past including the Razer Copperhead, the Saitek Eclipse, the Belkin Nostromo and others. Today I will be testing the WolfClaw Devour. A gaming pad that looks like the original WolfClaw keyboard has had its gaming part removed, ...

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The Merc Gaming Keyboard is another new product from Ideazon, the same people that make the Zboard which I reviewed earlier this year. Building on the Zboard’s success, Ideazon have analyzed the shortcomings of its previous design and built a whole new design which still relies on the ZEngine software.

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Enermax aren’t well known for their peripherals, and especially not their keyboards. That’s because this is the first, and hopefully it won't be the last.

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Whether you're into first person shooters, real time strategies or even delve into occasional graphics design, you should know that a good mouse is an essential tool in your daily computing activities. In this review we are going to look at the Logitech MX-510 optical wired 8-button mouse.

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When I think of the word mouse, I think of two things. The furry things that live in my attic that keep me awake well into the night by scratching around for hours on end, and every pc user’s best friend, the curvy little thing that sits in the palm of your hand. Pc owners the world over have used these little guys for years. For gaming, navigating windows, websites and many other ...

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Ideazon make one product; the Zboard. It’s a gaming keyboard aimed at FPS players looking for the best way to interface their fingers to their PC. Zboard pioneered the remapped keyboard design, but how well does it actually perform?

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Founded in 1979, Saitek entered the gaming market in 1993 and since then has grown to become a major brand in gaming peripherals for the PC. All our products are designed by gamers for gamers, to help them get the best out of their favourite PC games.

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