Hands-on with SteelSeries Ikari mouse and new 7G gaming keyboard
By Paul Miller 
posted May 5th 2008 12:59PM
posted May 5th 2008 12:59PM
New to the market is the SteelSeries 7G keyboard, which is making its debut on Monday the 5th. The keyboard is fully mechanical, with no-click switches that give it a much stronger, smoother tactile feel, while simultaneously catering to gamers by registering half presses. The keyboard weighs a ton thanks to the heavy-duty iron-infused plastic and the gold electronics, and is quite capable of handling abuse. We grew up typing on heavy-duty keyboards, and this is easily the best one we've used this decade -- though the $150 pricetag also makes it the most expensive outside of the Optimus Maximus.
Both of these products are obviously built for pro and casual gamers, but we found a productivity boost in our regular day-to-day blogging operations, which requires large quantities of precise link clicking (how's that for a resume line item?) and rapidly written posts. In addition to these two, SteelSeries is bringing its entire line of Euro-popular gaming peripherals to the States, including headphones and crazily fancy mouse pads.
$150 for the keyboard? Cripes. Just buy a used Model M.
Geez, no kidding.
That is some BS price for no backlighting or anything... it's just durable?
If the only thing that can stand up to your game rage is a $150 armor plated keyboard, then you have got issues beyond hardware durability.
NS! You can buy a new "Model M" from the company that bought the licenses from Lexmark that bought it from IBM for $80. They atleast put the backslash key in the right place.
Sorry guys, you had me interested in your keyboard right up to where you put the backslash key; it's not in the right spot.
For about the same price you can get a new CVT keyboard built on a vintage design. The same design behind the legendary 1980's-early90's Northgate Keyboards. With programmable macros, re-mappable keys, and heavy duity ALPS key switches, If you ask me, these cannot be beat.
http://www.cvtinc.com/products/keyboards/stellar.htm
Is that a re-branded Dell keyboard I see?
Exactly what I was thinking.
No. Since it states "gold," they're using Cherry mechanical switches. Somewhat like what the IBM Model M had and Unicomp keyboards have.
made out of steel? guessing it's not backlit?
You have forgotten the Happy Hacker Pro at $270, another mechanical keyboard for old school typists and Emac aficionados.
interesting choice of name, "ikari" is japanese for 'anger' or 'hatred'.
What's w/ the left-handed mouse? Would love the KB....
That doesn't look like a left handed mouse to me.
it's not a left handed mouse, pic 28 clearly shows nav buttons on the left hand side. if it was a left handed mouse i'd be getting one.
I was totally stoked about this keyboard until I saw the ugly return/enter key. I despise that layout. Long live the big backspace!
Yes!
Doesn't this keyboard feel bulky?
It definitely seems to have an "old school" feel for those of us who crave to type of those first generation IBM-type keyboards.
If I could still use regular layout keyboards ( i.e. non natural ones ) I'd stick with my Avant Prime. http://www.cvtinc.com/products/keyboards/menu.htm
I have the 7g keyboard. It's a great keyboard, but some gripes about it.
I was most excited about the rest pad for the keyboard, but it's absolute garbage quality compared to the keyboard. It also doesn't stay attached to the keyboard, it's just lays over top of it. The rest pad is also very light, and it flexes quite a bit.
The USB connecton on the keyboard isn't used for the keyboard itself, just for the USB hubs. If you don't have a PS/2 Port, You'll need to take up 2 USB connections for the keyboard. One for PS/2 to USB conversion and another for the USB Hub.
The windows flag button is on the right side of the keyboard, and on the left is the more useless macro key button for the media keys on the F Keys.
some pros:
The Numlock/scorll lock/caps lock light is a bright LED. Very very bright and nice.
The keyboard is very nice quality, I use it for a work keyboard, not gaming.
Pressing halfway down is a nice feature, pretty responsive.
The PS/2 plug is a bit perplexing, but I didn't find the palm wrest to be as shabby as you're describing.
And a note on the function key replacing the Windows key on the left side: SteelSeries told me this was done intentionally at the request of pro gamers, since accidentally brushing the Windows key during a match can obviously have devastating effects. I personally never use the Windows key no matter what side of my keyboard it's on.
The kind with no response or tactile feel at all? Yeah...
Keyboard looks great, but I'm not dropping $150 without a decent backlight.
Ikari Laser:
I have used that Ikari Laser and I can tell you, it's the best mouse ever made. the grip, comfort, button feedback, software, looks, everything!.
And much more if you pair it with a SteelSeries QcK Mousepad.
Trust me, I have used tons of gaming mouse before and nothing comes close to the Ikari. :D
10/10
Siberia Neckband:
Great headphones, nice design and all but after time, the neckband's grip won't hold itself on your neck like it used to.
Great for online games like CoD4, CS ,etc since it has a microphone.
7/10
SteelSeries 7G:
Overpriced.
I'll take my $80 Razer Lycosa with that 7G anyday.
Low Profile+Illuminated Rubberized Keys+Wicked Design >>> 7G.
1/10 lol
SteelSeries SP Mouepad:
Nice holographic design actually, but it's too hard and smooth for me.
I've bought the QcK instead since it is cloth based and much cheaper.
5/10
All in all, steelseries products are good. Just like Razer, but without those fancy lights. But I hate them for making such a boring looking keyboards with an overpriced SRP.
U said it was the most expensive next to the optimus maximus, isn't there a $300 logitech keyboard?
Bah, it still has a numeric key pad. Can't companies make that an option that plugs instead of forcing us to have one? I think Logitech made one keyboard like that, but I would love to see that be the standard.
The DiNivo.
Without the wrist rest, that keyboard looks just like the Dell RT7D50 (the plain one you get with almost all Dell computers).
so if i use this keyboard and mouse to play games does that make me an Ikari Warrior?
I'm going to go out on a limb and state that my Logitech G9 mouse + Kinesis Advantage Keyboard (http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/advantage.htm) combo are light-years ahead in usability and comfort, and while I'm not a 'pro-gamer', I can appreciate the build quality and responsiveness in input devices.
The SteelSeries gear is OK-looking, but other than the looks, there really isn't much actual value to justify the price sticker for these things.
What you said.
I also own two Kinesis keyboards (work and home). You get what you pay for with a keyboard. I don't think the price is a big issue if it represents the main method of interfacing with the machine.
For gaming though, I'm not sure about the Kinesis. I was using a Nostromo SpeedPad. Recently though, I've moved over to using an Ergodex DX1. Coincidently, it retails for around the same as the 7G. I still think that it's well worth the price.
I've got a Matias Tactilepro for my Mac Pro at home; great keyboard. Story was that Matias bought up like a million mechanical keyswitches when Alps was going out of business, so they made keyboards "while supplies last." I think it cost me $99, and I managed to break something once and they repaired it no questions asked. It is very loud though, I would not mind something mechanical but quieter.
My Power Mac G5 at work has the Apple keyboard with it, I've rarely used a keyboard as squishy or terrible to type on. Even the colorful iMac's keyboards were better.
Though I will admit I also enjoy typing on short-travel laptop keyboards like my Thinkpad T60. I have no real preference for key travel, I guess, just for the positive tactile feel.
For us non-gamers -- What on earth are half-presses for?
I'm 26 and prefer and type better on the old clunky keyboards. I will be holding on to my buckling spring Model M keyboards for a while. The one I brought into the office is older than my wife.
This is the order of touch-typing speed and game keying accuracy I can do from fastest to slowest:
Model M
Most modern day keyboards
Laptop or laptop style keyboards
Modern day Apple keyboards
...People like laptop keyboards?
I always wondered why those Apple keyboards sold.
What's with the blender logo ripoff?
Mac users interested in the 7G should know that you can't remap the SteelSeries 'function' key which sits where the left-hand Alt/Option key is usually located. So if you're used to using your left hand for key combinations involving the Alt/Option key, this keyboard may not be the best choice. I had the keyboard for a day and liked the feel (it uses the black-stem no-click Cherry keyswitches). But I didn't want to relearn how to do all my text editor shortcuts using the right-hand Alt/Option key, so I sent it back.
If this is a keyboard intended for gamers, then does it solve the multi-key problem?
Most modern keyboards use a switch matrix, so they can't "see" all keys pressed if many keys are pressed at once. There's a limit of about 3 or 4 simultaneous keys, depending on the particular keyboard.
I had a no-name AT keyboard in 1992 that didn't have this limit. I could hold down all 101 keys simultaneously, and they would all register! I wish I had saved this keyboard, because I haven't found one yet that can do this. Even the IBM Model M has this limit.
Worse yet, once this limit is reached, the keyboard can't "see" keys being released either, so you get sticky keys! Watch your character just keep running forward off the cliff....
BTW, some switches on the bottom of the keyboard would be nice, for gamers:
Disable Windows logo keys = so you don't get thrown out of your game back onto the desktop
Disable Caps Lock (making it another Control) = because many gamers are programmers too :)
Krellan: It does. Its supposed to support ALL keys pressed down at once. Its setting aside the build and the cherry switches (that like some mention are not the model m type spring cushioned switches, but very non tactile, neither squishy nor sproingy - which I'd think no matter how unpleasureable when typeing is the way to go for wasd games or whatever performancewise, I mean lappy keys - which is a good analogy for how these probably feel - are the weapon of choice for quick typers, like record holders on typera) the main merit of the keyboard, as in ALL keys, not all letters like was the case with the preceeding keyboard.
I've followed the release of this keyboard like mad (and you can find my comments all over the intarweb defending it like some idiot) but while saying that, some things do put me off, like just now reading that the logoed key in place of the windows key is a macro key. I often use the windows key as an sure way to alt-tab, plus more. Also seeing somewhere that the saitek offering supports shift+w+d/c (this particular combo is the main problem on my current very standard "multimedia" type logitech keyboard) makes the totally nulled ghosting seem redundant as it's beyond the extent of my problem with ghosting, and it'll probably be true for any other gaming keyboard claiming "no ghosting" (probably never fully) like a lot expressly do. But then again this keyboard offers the combination of good switches as well as no ghosting, and without any buts for sure. So i'm still in for one.
This keyboard can be found for as low as $120. The switches carry a certain cost, where the other half has gone is questionable but the materials probably have some part in it, and the ps/2 buffer system whatever that may cost (and everything involved in fully solving issues with ghosting) as well as the jackins for everything. A right price would probably be $90-100 but who knows really. Bright leds and a trazillion of buttons on a membrane mat does not neccessarily equal a price tag of $70-90 either (to be a bit unfair, you've got a led on one, memory on some, software support and development cost and soforth but still), so I think most keyboards with "gamer" in the product name is pretty overpriced all over. A price difference of $40 (to other keyboards) is still an considerable amount so dont get me wrong.
This kinda reminds me of the keyboard for my NeXT Cube.
I bought a Logitech G15 for $80.99 (odd price, but I wasn't complaining, brand spankin' new too) and now I can't imagine myself using anything else.
Forget this crap about steel and everything else...the G15 DOES have backlit keys, an LCD display that can be customized to show just about anything you can dream of (especially if you're a programmer), many macro programmable keys with multiple profiles to make it almost limitless, semi-soft touch keys (as I would describe them), it's not loud when you type, media control keys, and 2 USB ports.
Why spend $150 on a keyboard like that when you can spend half (in Canadian funds) and get quality with a ton of features...with all keys in their proper locations too I might add, lol.
Why spend $150? To be able to play games like GTA3 without having to do a total key remap and still end up with rollover problems (=not all simultaneous key presses registered). The article missed this most important point.
When I was buying my last keyboard I spend days and weeks hunting down a keyboard without rollover problems and was willing to spend a lot of money for such. Surprisingly no such keyboard was available. All manufacturers concentrated on adding - from my point of view - useless stuff like macros, painfully bright leds, wireless operation, gay looks, annoying useless extra keys, and clocks - even the so-called gaming keyboards did not allow more simultaneous key presses than any standard keyboard. I ended up buying a €8 keyboard that was from my point of view as good as any €100+ gayboard. When I asked if Logitech had a solution to the rollover problems, my post was deleted from the forums. Nice.. I know I am not only one who would love a keyboard without rollover problems.
How about remapping the function key on windows?
Is that works as Apple wireless keyboard's Fn key, or it sends scancode as other keys?