So I've just received all my upgraded components for an accessory upgrade I just decided to do.
Previously had:

Some LG 22in 16:10 monitor I got 2nd hand for $10
Basic Logitech keyboard+mouse combo I got a few years back for ~$20-30

New gear:

Crossover 27Q, 27in IPS LED 16:9 monitor with 2560x1440 resolution
Iwell desk mount monitor arm
Coolermaster Storm Trigger Cherry Blue Mechanical keyboard
Mionix Naos 5000 Laser Mouse

All up costing ~$700.

So what do I really get for something that costs significantly more to what I previously had?  Well I generally don't find myself getting that excited over relatively small differences and I didn't expect this stuff to be significantly different to my old gear, and I'd have to say that I'm finding this judgement to be fairly accurate.


I wanted a monitor arm to free up space on the desk, as well as make it easier to bring the monitor forward/back, so I'm finding this relatively convenient.
My old monitor didn't have a VESA mount, which is why I had to buy this new one.  Even though it's only 5in bigger than my old monitor, it seems signficantly larger.  16:9 is really too wide IMO, but 16:10 is rare at that size.  In terms of the benefits of IPS and LED, I'd have to say that I really don't notice much of a difference - those who hype how good colours look, compared to a TN+CCFL panel are somewhat exaggerating IMO.

I have to say that I'm overall pleased with my monitor upgrade, though it undermet my expectations a bit.


For the mechanical keyboard, the cherry blue switches are the clicky ones, apparently best suited for typing.  Compared to the old keyboard, they certainly are quite loud (clicky sounds), the keys don't require as much force, and they actuate around when they're half pressed down, just after the click noise.  A different feeling for sure, though I can't say whether it's any better than the old Logitech.  Apparently mech keyboards take a while to get used to though, so maybe this will improve (perhaps when I get used to typing without having to fully depress the keys).
By default, the keyboard's "Windows key" is actually a function key, which can be used to turn on the backlighting, switch profiles and access the media keys (the keyboard doesn't have dedicated media keys, which sucks, but I don't really use them anyway).  To change the behaviour, you need to download their CMStorm app, which is a horrendous 100+MB download.
Once installed, all the app really does is allow you to assign functions to keys, set up profiles and macros - don't know why this would be even close to 100MB.  And the app isn't terribly obvious to figure out; fortunately they actually had a guide to set the function key to the windows key.
In terms of extra keys, there's just the 5 macro keys down the side.  These could be useful for quickly launching applications (in lieu of the shortcut keys that the Logitech had).  I'll also need to get used to the fact that these are on the left, so when I need to reach for the Esc key etc, not to reach all the way.
The removable armrest is nice.  I don't see myself ever using the backlight or media keys or profiles.  Though on-the-fly macro recording might come in handy at times, but will have to see.

As for the mouse, it's larger than the old mouse, but good for my big hands.  THe fact that the entire hand fits on the mouse does feel slightly better.  I haven't inserted any weights as I find the weight fine as it is.
In terms of tracking, it doesn't particularly feel any different to the old mouse.  There's a DPI selector, and 3 DPI mode settings, but anything above the lowest seems to make the mouse move way too fast.  Apart from that, there's only 2 additional buttons above the thumb rest (set to forward/back by default).  A bit of a shame that there's no horizontal scrolling support on this mouse, but I guess with a 16:9 monitor, this probably isn't that important (with the old Logitech, you could tilt the scrollwheel to do side scrolling).
The software lets you change a fair bit of stuff with the mouse, including lighting colours (I personally disable the lighting), what the buttons do, profiles, macros, DPI, lift distance etc.  Pretty cool stuff.  One thing I'd like to say is that, well, I understand that these gaming oriented devices need to look good and have nice interfaces, but the custom interface for the mouse config tool is... too dark.  I found it somewhat difficult to see where buttons were at times due to rather low contrast between the background of the window and background of the button.

So in the end, I don't think I really gained much out of the expensive keyboard + mouse upgrade, but I kinda expected that.  I'll play around with them more to see if my perceptions change over time though.

(This post was last modified: 07/11/2012 05:18 AM by boogschd.)

I run the monitor at 1600x900, and don't really play that many games, so couldn't answer that for you :P

Sorry to say, but 1600x900 > 1280x720 ;)

More notes on the keyboard:
- I can't seem to swipe across keys (have to actually press them)
- included USB hub is fairly pointless by itself in that I don't get enough power if I actually plug any USB device in there.  It does have a 5V DC input for additional power - it seems as though the USB ports simply can't be used without that...

If you have a 5V DC adapter lying around, you could use it, or just buy some cheap USB hub and hook it up to another USB port if you want.
IMO not that big a deal, but something noteworthy nonetheless.  What does strike me as weird is how much power the keyboard consumes if this is the case.  I don't have backlighting enabled, so I can't see why it would take so much more power than any other keyboard.

What's odd?
Me disabling the keyboard lighting?