A Technology related blog

Roccat is back. And they mean business. The KONE XTD is the flagship model of the KONE series, has the potential to be one of the best gaming grade mouse in the market with the price tag of RM339, will it justify it’s price tag?

Features: 

• 8,200 DPI Pro Aim (R3) LASER sensor
• OMRON click switch
• Roccat Easy Shift[+]
• 32 bit Processor
• LED Light System
• 8 mouse buttons
• 4 Easy clip on weights
• 572kb On Board Memory
• TDC (Tracking&Distance control unit)
• Roccat Talk

To be honest, Roccat was never the first brand that comes to my head whenever I am looking for a gaming mouse. My perception of Roccat is that they manufacture decent and very ‘bling-bling’ peripherals, for example, the KOVA and KAVE. Not to mention, the ever famous Roccat Apuri, which most people know, it is a mouse bungee. For me, I like a simple mouse without blings but packed with punch. And there stood the KONE XTD, upon receiving it, another fancy bling-bling mouse from Roccat.

What you will find in the box?

1) KONE XTD

2) WEIGHTBOX

3) Manuals and warranty booklet

Design:

Design wise, the KONE XTD excels. The curved-in sides are designed to provide sufficient grip for people with small or medium hands. Definitely not for big hands as your thumb tends to overshoot the curved placement which appears to be pretty useless as you won’t be making use of the ‘grip’. Unfortunately, I have large hands.

The XTD in action. I admit, the light is very beautiful. It provides glimpse of ‘light display’ every few seconds, pretty much like LED light shows that you see outside. The lights are very entertaining and works perfectly in the dark. At least you know where your mouse is when you are engaged in a late-night sneaky frag sessions.

Side by side comparison with my trusty Deathadder. Almost similarly designed.

Non Gold Plated USB port? I don’t mind, seriously. No proof that Gold Plated ports performs better than non-Gold ports. So yeah.

Braided cable. Plus point there, seems like an industry standard to include braided cables in every gaming mouse now. Braided cables are a plus point to any gaming mouse out there, less messy, more flexible and more durable.

Class 1 laser sensor. I kid you not. Performs like a beast! Just make sure you have the right mousepad to go with it.

The weight slot. Twist to open. This is where you put in the weights (optional).

The design of the weightbox is brilliant. Looks like a military ammo case. Contains 4 units of 5g weights totaling 20g if added together.

Weights locked and loaded. Extra 20g in there. Heavy stuff indeed.

The weights are purely optional. For those who find the mouse a little light, they can choose the adequate weight for their preference. For me, I chose to opt out the weights. The weight of the XTD is prefect, any heavier will result in heavier drag and almost impossible lifting. Lifting is important for FPS gamers as most of them play with lower DPI.

The interesting 4 directional scroll wheel. Yup, fully functional in all 4 directions for those who likes to customize their mouse. I only use it for adjusting my volume, high and low thou. Note the + – buttons above the the scroll wheel, that is the DPI customizer button. Choose your desired DPI with the Roccat Software Driver, able to store up to 4 profiles.

Personal Opinion:

Higher DPI does not necessarily mean that it is better. I stuck with my usual 1,800 DPI, a cult of habit to set every mouse that way. I personally believe that any DPI above 6400 are meant for dual monitors. Don’t tell me that you will use 8,200 DPI to play FPS.

After 3 continuous hours of Battlefield 3, my hands felt good. No cramps or sore, however I would prefer if the mouse is designed slightly longer than its current form, I have big hands! A big kudos to Roccat for choosing OMRON’s switch, the clicks felt good, even with several rigorous clicking, it felt sturdy and firm, performing how every high performance mouse should perform. Another plus point of the XTD is the on-the-fly setting. You can use the mouse with any computer without the software and it operates just fine. LAN Competition would be a breeze for those who likes to participate in tournaments. The software works like a charm too. Although the XTD does not have an indicator to indicate which DPI profile you are using, it has it’s own way to telling you. Yup, telling. The voice feedback will tell you which profile you’ve selected, even works for volume controls. So effective that you don’t have to look at it to change a profile while in game.

One of the best software available. Fully customizable!

Likes (Pro’s)

• On the fly setting
• Ability to customize your own DPI at any value
• Voice feedback
• Fancy LED lights
• Good sensor, reads and tracks well
• Comfortable
• Customizable. Function buttons can be customized
• Braided cable
• Excellent Software

Dislike (Con’s)

• Not Mac (OSX) compatible. (Not everyone has Windows)
• Badly positioned thumb grip

So does the KONE XTD justify its RM339 price tag? Yes. The XTD is comparable to every high end gaming mouse that is available in the market. It performs brilliantly and even after several hours of usage, the mouse felt good and comfortable. The built quality is worth crediting for. Solid and firm. All round performer.

To those looking for a value-for-money high end mouse, the Roccat KONE XTD is worth considering. Roccat is back in business!

Rating: 8.5/10

Special Thanks to Heavy Arm for providing the opportunity for me to review the mouse.

Roccat is distributed by Play Interactive. The Roccat Kone XTD is available from Heavy Arm’s retail store @ SS15 Subang Jaya or alternatively;

Look out for Heavy Arm here : https://www.facebook.com/Heavyarm412?fref=ts

Hello there,

After 11 months of using my Steelseries 6Gv2 keyboard, I have made the wrong decision. I have a pair of sensitive hands, so whenever I am on the computer for long hours, my hands will be filled with blisters and I thought it was normal initially until I realized, it was the keyboard. The 6Gv2 was using a Cherry MX Black switch which by the way, is the hardest switch among all Cherry models (Red, Blue , Brown and Black). It requires at least 60g of force before it can fully respond to the keys, was implemented to avoid accidental key presses.

Today, my Ducky Shine 9008 has arrived. Collected it from HeavyArm, SS15. Can pretty say that I am regular there already 🙂

A quick look at the packaging.

Almost the same size as the 6Gv2. Striking box.

Red Switch that last to over 50million key strokes. Yes, 50 million.

Unboxing. Comes with detachable cable connect with either PS/2 or USB.

Also bundled with additional WASD keycaps and a key puller.

Cherry Red Switch peeping out. Note the LED bulb behind the switch.

Rear end of the keyboard.

USB to PS/2 adapter.

Stage 1 shining effect.

Full Stage Shining effect.

The interesting part of this keyboard is the lighting effect, as Ducky called it, Shining effect. You can set the shine level, from no shine to stage 1 until 4. Also, the brightness level of the lighting effects can be adjusted from low to high which makes it interesting. Playing in the dark would be a breeze now without hitting the wrong keys which I always do while playing games in the dark.

Performance:

The Ducky Shine 9008 has a very expensive price tag, ranging from RM439 to RM489 depending on the switches.  The Blue, Black and Brown switches cost RM439 respectively and the Red switch cost RM489.  With such a huge price tag for a Taiwanese brand, does it live up to it’s expectations? Yes it does. Why? It is very stable, although a wrist rest would be a better alternative but Ducky Distro as confirmed that all Ducky Keyboards bought in 2012 will receive a free wrist rest. Yay!

Next, apart from stability, the performance of this keyboard is excellent. There are no response delay from this Duck, compared to other brands which some complained about the 1-2 sec delays from the keyboard to the screen. Also, if you connect via PS/2, you are able to get a full KRO (Key Roll-Over) which means that you can press as many keys as you wish , there are no limitations. USB connection however, has limited key presses ranging from 6-9. So the best way to maximize your mechanical keyboard is to connect via PS/2.

I really like the built design of this keyboard. It feels very sturdy and hard. Unlike the 6Gv2, the key caps are not laser printed which can fade after a few months of usage, which is a good thing because people would not like their key caps to fade which makes a living hell for those who are not good with keyboard keys. People always compare between the color of switches, blue, brown, black or red. Honestly there are no best switch. They are all the same except for the feeling and tactile response.

A quick summary of what the switches meant:

1) Black Switches – Hardest among all to avoid accidental key presses. Requires 60g of force. (Steelseries 6Gv2, Steelseries 7G, CM Storm QuickFire Rapid Black)

2) Blue Switches – Most common mechanical switch. Has a clicky sound. Requires 50g of force. (Razer Blackwidow Ultimate, Expert, Filco, Das and Ducky Shine Blue)

3) Brown Switches – Soft switch but with a tactile feedback. Requires 45g of force but may raise up to 60g. (Filco, Ducky 1008 series, Das and Razer Blackwidow Stealth)

4) Red Switches – Rarest and softest switch. Requires 45g of force. (Ducky 9008 Red, CM Storm QuickFire Rapid Red and Corsair K60)

Verdict:

Mechanical keyboards are good investment items. It last longer than conventional rubber-dome keyboards, it can sustain to heavy forces and impact and it is very much softer than rubber domes. People always say that they can use rubber dome keyboards to pwn or own people in game, do alot of typing and never get tired. It is up to individual, not everyone likes to spend money on hardwares. For me, I consider this as an investment, something that I enjoy doing on, I feel more comfortable with mechanical keyboards compared to rubber domes. If you ask me, Ducky Shine 9008 series is a good investment, worth the money spent for. But if you don’t like fancy keyboards, just a plain, simple and durable mechanical keyboard, do get the Steelseries 6Gv2 or 7G.

Rating: 9/10

*NOTE: All prices stated above are RRP. Subject to change from retailers.

It’s here! Microsoft has released the latest update for Windows Phone 7, called Mango (7.5) which is a major update for all WP7 users. Officially launched on the 27th September 10am Pacific Time (1am in Malaysia) .

Currently updating my device. Will publish a review about it soon  🙂

It’s a pretty lengthy video but entertaining in the process. I noticed Danny’s vocals changes from time to time, lacking consistency although he is very talented, he does the clean, rough and scream vocals. Very impressive. 8/10 for this performance.

Been scouting the market lately for a new pair of earphones (in-ear) and I am considering JAYS a-Jays series. What caught my eye was the beautifully constructed design of the earpiece, been reading the reviews and not surprising that it came out tops in various reviews online.

The a-Jays line consist of One, Two, Three and Four. Of course One will be the most basic one, Four would be the most prestigious and expensive one. The one that I am looking at is the  a-Jays Two, no thanks to my limited budget because I just invested 200 bucks on my beloved MU Jersey directly from the UK.

The a-Jays Two looks like this :

The a-Jays series in boxes :

The prestigious a-Jays Four :

The a-Jays Four was build for Apple’s iDevices such as iPod, iPhone and iPad etc. It comes with an integrated volume control too.

Pricing (RM) :

RM199 A-JAYS One
RM229 A-JAYS Two
RM299 A-JAYS Three
RM340 A-JAYS Four