Microsoft's anti-ghosting claims were recently put to the test by the good folks over at
Tom's Guide, and if you've been holding off on pulling the trigger to make sure it really lives up to the hype, you can finally cut loose and part ways with your hard-earned Greenbacks -- maybe, anyway. For those unaware, Microsoft designed the
SideWinder X4 to handle up to 26 key presses at once (it's a "pro gamer" thing, we're told), but it also allows for macro recording and profile / mode switching. According to the critics, the X4 is a step backwards in terms of design, particularly when compared to the flagship
SideWinder X6 (which can be had for around $40 right now). Essentially, they could only really recommend it for those that actually
do have ghosting issues when gaming, though they confess that said crowd is a relatively tiny one. But hey, don't take our word for it -- hit the source link and discover the truth for yourself.
posted February 26th 2010 11:39AM
A 40 dollar keyboard isn't budget to me. I'm fine using a Dell keyboard from 2003 to play games.
@(Unverified)
As far as gaming keyboards go, it's pretty cheap. I've been waiting for Tom's to do a review of this thing. I think I'll take their advice and grab an x6 instead.
@(Unverified)
Who are they callin' Budget gamers...?
I want this keyboard because it's not ugly, over-sized and overridden with useless gimmicky features as its competition.... not because of it's price.
@E71
Hey! The G15's LCD is epic. It so useful with plugins like SirReal's.
@(Unverified) I believe they're referring to the Sidewinder X6's current $40 price tag.
@E71
Indeed, its just a simple backlit keyboard.
....Looks....Razer-ish.....
@Atkins
Or 2 very strange people with 6 fingers on their left hand and 7 on their right? :)
@Atkins
I'm guessing it's meant to help you continue playing your game while your infant child flat-palms the keyboard. But it makes me curious as to how anyone in that situation could receive the title of "pro gamer".
@Atkins
WHOA!!!!! I really don't want to see 13 people crowding one keyboard. Might be misconstrued as amateur hour.
I think the mutant that can fully benefit from this keyboard has an unfair advantage already and doesn't need products designed to cater to them!
Does somebody want to explain to me what 'ghosting issues when gaming' are meant to be!?
If its what I think it is, I'd say its more to do with the games gfx and sound settings put too high.
Or is it just a marketing phrase for idiots?
.
And can somebody please explain why the SUBMIT button isn't appearing in my browser any more when submitting these comments!? I have to tab down three times then hit enter to submit the comment!
@Heliosphan
Check out the read link. Ghosting is a problem caused by the circuitry in keyboards so that if you hit too many keys at once, some of the key presses won't be recognized. It has nothing to do with graphics cards or sound cards.
@Heliosphan
key ghosting is when you hit too many keys at one time and it misses some of the keys or just stops responding to new key presses until you let up on some of the other ones. say you're in an fps and you're holding Shift to run, W to forward while A to strafe left, and now your Spacebar doesn't work to let you jump.
@Heliosphan
Ghosting can do weird things too. Dell's Studio 17 numberpad has crazy ghosting problems. When you type the combination '987' fast (more than one key will be down at a time when typing fast), it will report '98-7', the keys '654' report '634', and a couple other strange issues. It wasn't just the keyboard or bios (They replaced keyboard twice, computer once, and made custom bios patch with no success), it was hardware.
...Ahh it seems if you're using IE8 compatibility view mode, the SUBMIT button disappears! I just disabled it and the button is back.
@Heliosphan
IE8 compat mode renders with the IE6 engine if I'm not mistaken. So yeah, want to avoid that as much as possible.
@Delta IE8 compatibility mode reverts to IE7 per Microsoft's documentation.
@Atkins
Faceroll maybe?
Back in the day, when I was playing Lode Runner: TLC (I'm still young) with a friend on one keyboard, we'd get screwed sometimes because both of us were pressing 3-4 keys at once. That was on an old cream colored keyboard.
@Atkins
No, no, you guys are playing your games all wrong. Those 26 presses are all one dude: ten fingers, ten toes, two eyebrows, nose, tongue, penis, and one belly slap.
This is actually extremely useful; especially for games that require you to set hotkeys to specific things (such as World of Warcraft).
for example, you hold W for walking, and then Shift + F for a spell. My keyboard can only handle two at a time, so I would have to stop walking or make an entirely new keybind for this.
26 presses is nice, but considering you would need either three peoples hands to press all those buttons, wouldn't that be considered hax?
USB pass through? That is a deal breaker for me.
@Atkins
This has to be some data transfer max right? I dont think they expect anyone to mash all the alphabet keys at once but I guess it would support it.
SO basically to make a "gaming" keyboard all you need to do is make it fat, put some unnecessary buttons on it, and make sure it's black and has red keys.
Seriously, does anyone care to ever make anything unique, and not something we have been seeing for the last 10 years?
I have a feeling, that it requires windows to use any of the included features other than normal key presses such as 26 keys at once and profiles.
This is good for the DIY arcade cabs that use keyboard breakouts to buttons/joysticks. Ghosting can be a constant issue on a 4P control panel. But, for like $35 you can get a dedicated keyboard encoder with a shared ground that has no ghosting for up to like 64 keys.