So, my old Razer BlackWidow and DeathAdder are on their dying legs. My keyboard is literally falling apart, and the sensor on my mouse is beginning to act up. So, time for an upgrade. I'd like to avoid Razer as personally I feel like these peripherals should have lasted much longer than two years given the amount of care I take with my belongings.
Thing is I have been out of the hardware scene for quite some time. So, I have no idea what products have an edge out there. I play CS:GO competitively, so performance and reliability are of the utmost importance with my decision. I'd really like to avoid any gimmicky stuff.
So, with that being said I'm looking for a rock solid tenkeyless (or other compact layout) mechanical keyboard and a good mouse. I am left handed but play right handed so ergonomics shouldn't be an issue. I don't need anything with a DPI over 400 either (don't get all these ridiculous 8000 DPI mice out nowadays). Also, what is the difference performance wise in optical vs. laser mice? I'd like to stay around $150 total budget for both items.
If you are in the US then you have all the choice in the world for mechanical keyboards. If not, then look at what's available and choose from there.
Only solid (but opinionated) bit of advise I can give you is don't get cherry reds or blacks if you type a lot. I have reds, but my major gripe is that there is no tacktile bump in the switch (and I think this is the same for blacks). Having no tactile bump means that it is quite easy to hit multiple keys (make mistakes) without even realising it.
If you are anyway inclinded to do a lot of typing, then look at something with either blue or blown switches.
Any specialty brands to look at? I've heard brands like Ducky and Filco are great for a simple board but are there any other similar options I can look into?
Not too sure to be honest. As far as I know, Ducky and Filco are the dominant players on the more specialist boards but I think they are a bit more expensive. Are you looking for something with all the bells n' whistles or something cheap and more functionality orientated?
I would say you should check CM storm keyboards, especially with detachable ubs cable . I wouldn`t recommend Das Keyboard on the other hand, had some issues with powercord twisting
Two others that have a simple design that I can think of are WASD keyboards and Das keyboards. Rosewill also has some good minimalist designs for cheap. I know of a few others, but I expect you will probably find the one for you among the ones I mentioned
If the cord gets damaged or starts to twist you won`t have to replace whole keyboard, just swap the usb cable? I had 4 mechanical keyboards, 3 of them had issues with cable after certain ammount of time.
Massdrop has got 10 hours left on the Mionix Avior 7000. I've never used a Mionix mouse but I've heard much about them lately and it's only $40 at the moment. So it might be a good deal for you. Only problem is Massdrop products usually take a good while to ship. So if you do by chance get it, you'd have to wait a while.