New products give free hand to gamers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
New products give free hand to gamers
By J.C. Schisler
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, August 24, 2006
As the summer winds down and gamers begin to spend more time indoors, two
products came across the desk that can be used for those blustery days while
fragging online --- one for the budget-conscious teen; the other for the over-30
gamer who splits his PC between work and play.
WOLF KING WARRIOR
This 55-key circular gaming pad is nothing short of the ultimate tool for fans of
first-person-shooter games. The Wolf King Warrior brings all the keys that pack
the most punch directly into fingers' reach. With centered WASD keys and a
vertical space bar, your left hand has access to dedicated action and strife keys
used in a normal keyboard, but bound together in a more efficient cluster.
The 0-9 and F1-F12 keys line the upper edge of the Warrior in a semi-circle
while the other first-person-shooter letter and command keys are nestled nicely
under your palm. The only drawback with the Warrior was an inability to type
normal dialogue that you might with a standard keyboard --- easily remedied
with a VoIP-controlled headset.
The pad is small enough to drop in your LAN bag for those gamers on the go,
and, once you get acclimated to the layout, you won't want to leave home
without it.
CLEARONE CHAT 50
As USB-controlled portable speaker phones go, Chat 50 might seem a bit
pricey, but what you get is a lot of bang for the buck. No tinny, plastic-sounding
speakers here, the Chat 50 is slightly bigger than a deck of cards and delivers
rich sound and superb voice clarity wrapped up in a durable exoskeleton -- all
while keeping you headset free during those VoIP conversations.
For the gamer who plays a professional by day, the pocket-sized device is able
to directly connect to laptops, PCs and cell phones, as well as telephones,
iPods, MP3 players and desktop video-conferencing systems with separately
sold connector cables. It is a perfect match for the latest Internet-based
telephony technologies like Skype and Vonage.
When gaming online, the Chat 50 works well with TeamSpeak and Ventrilo and
is a cut above laptop speakers. Although not the best solution for noisy LAN
parties or those on a tight budget, the Chat 50 is a decent buy for the solo
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/print_467364.html
Page 1 of 2
8/24/2006
페이지 인쇄