Ghostbusters - Introducing the Microsoft SideWinder X4 Keyboard

[grom.ps]

Loving the look of the forthcoming MS Sidewinder X4 keyboard.
It's got adjustable backlit keys, macro recording, profile switching and most cleverly, it has an anti-ghosting feature which basically means that you can press multiple keys at teh same time and it'll register up to 26 at once. Very handy for gaming when you're pressing loads of buttons and current keyboards can't handle more than about 4 inputs at once
Price is about $60 so should be about £45 in UK and release date is March

More details here.

[Sicks.ps]

looks sexy but.. looking at the state of my keyboard now, i cant justify spending more then a tenner on one xD, i've gauged out the windows keys after too many rage inducing accidents making me alt tab from game and possibly the game crashes from hitting them too hard... in their place i have stray baccy from rolling up near my computer over the years, my fingers are my macro's!

[grom.ps]

i have stray baccy from rolling up near my computer over the years,!

Warning, grom is about to enter old fart reminiscing mode.

Reminds me of when i worked in a recording studio in Manchester many years ago and was fixing a 24channel mixing desk which had been very well used by a lot of bands over the years - opened it up to resolder a wire and found it was filled with numerous white powders and bits of spliffs that had fallen between the faders during late night sessions - there was a serious amount of drugs in that thing!

[Sicks.ps]

lol good job you never got raided by police with dogs then

reminds me of when i lived in scotland, my mates band practiced in his garage, while smoking huge amounts of cannabis through bongs and joints... and the futile attempt to hide all paraphenalia when his parents came knocking on the door, as if they couldnt smell the stench of weed anyway xD good times... anyway lets not hijack the thread!

[awesome-o.ps]

Is it me or there only 6 macro buttons on it? Or is it like that every button can be macro'd? Because i'd think macroing letters should be doable with just a program running in the background.

[Carbon.ps]

I thought most gaming keyboard tackled ghosting these days?

[SleeperService.ps]

Does it have windows key locking which is my favourite feature of the g15

[MacNetron.ps]

looks like the 6 keys at the left are your macro keys and the top left is a switch to get to 3 modes (so 3x6= more or less 18 macro keys), just like the G15.
But, I don't see a LCD display? Useless keyboard then...
For my use of the G15: LCD > macro keys

[grom.ps]

I'n not fussed about LCD or macro keys even but I hope that image is the American version as I've just noticed teh Enter key is one of those useless small ones and that the backslash key is above it instead of on the left of the letter 'Z' where it should be. Grrrr.

[Jamesy.ps]

I'n not fussed about LCD or macro keys even but I hope that image is the American version as I've just noticed teh Enter key is one of those useless small ones and that the backslash key is above it instead of on the left of the letter 'Z' where it should be. Grrrr.

Yeah that's bugging me too. But it looks pretty slick

[Colt.ps]

I'd miss the LCD of my G15 - but I prefer the design of this - it's rather smart. In my experience, Microsoft make half decent keyboards.

If you were loaded, and missed the LCD but liked the more low profile design, there's this too : a G13

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/5123&cl=us,en


I really like the look of it...in fact, since i have an apple keyboard which is nice - but not for gaming - if my g15 goes, i may well get one of these.

by the way - the g19 - with colour lcd looks, for my money, like a piece of tack - yet its listed at $200!

[awesome-o.ps]

I got the G13 aswel, it really fits in the hand, and i got quiet big ones, however i found the LCD a bit of a waste, since you'll mostly have it left of your keyboard, you'll just see everything on screen. Also a real nice addition is that you got 4x25 keysettings.

[satanpenguin]

As for ghosting prevention, the Das Keyboard allows up to 12 simultaneous keys to be pressed at the same time. In addition to that, it's fully mechanical, which means keys audibly "click" when pressed and also that it probably can outlive you (mechanical switches == rough build) . You have the "professional" and the "ultimate" versions, the latter having all keys unmarked so that you learn to type without looking at them. (And making you look übergeek)

On a funny note, the store also sells earplugs for co-workers or significant others of Das Keyboard owners, so loud is the clicking sound.

A bit pricey though IMO.

[Colt.ps]

That DAS keyboard looks really nice.