A hardware question in PC Games

[cytg111]

That just seems to hit the target audience better here in PC Games.

Is it just me or is "gaming" hardware of inferior build quality from top to bottom?
Gaming chair : breaks.
Gaming mouse : 1 year after warrenty click switch begins to malfunction
Gaming keyboard : keys break, get worn out (not just wsad)
Gaming router : a b* to get configured properly, lots of firmware bugs.

Just me or anyone else with this experience?

 

[EXCellR8]

Well, like a lot of flashy consumer goods most of it is marketing... so the QA on a lot of products is questionable at best. You basically have to know what you're buying.

Lots of companies try to cater to the 'gamer' by releasing something that looks nice/fast but the materials are cheap and don't last... basically like an Alfa Romeo

 

[Stg-Flame]

It's like when something says "military grade". Anyone who has been in the military laughs at that marketing ploy because that's all it is.

Gaming chairs have always been garbage but the rest of what you listed has never happened to me. All of my gaming mice have only worn out after countless years and my old Logitech M100 and G500, after over a decade, are still going strong with only minor rare ghost-clicks and my Razer keyboard still works perfectly after 11 years.

 

[Craig234]

I will say, I think 'gaming chairs' are a travesty. Sadly I have one (unused) and need to get rid of it. I can't remember seeing a good comment about one.

And you're right it's not alone in "gaming" being sometimes a 'bad quality' signifier. Another rule of thumb, audio equipment is better bought for music standards than 'gaming' equipment.

 

[mopardude87]

The phase you are looking for op is planned obsolescene. Everything designed usually cheaply but awesome, more compelled to replace it with more junk that is cheap cause everything is now based on the heck its broken lets replace it mentality.

Why i will spend a few extra bucks when possible, get ACTUALLY quality.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I mostly agree, particularly with gaming mice. They work good but wear out within two years in my experience.
I've used a Logitech G9, Corsair M65 and now the new version of the M65.
Never had a regular mouse crap out on me ever.

 

[Stg-Flame]

For everyone saying their gaming mice are wearing out in a short period of time, my only question to you is this: If you play isometric RPGs (Diablo 2, Torchlight, PoE, Grim Dawn, etc.) are you clicking and holding to move around or do you click 455 times just to move across the screen?

 

[mopardude87]

For everyone saying their gaming mice are wearing out in a short period of time, my only question to you is this: If you play isometric RPGs (Diablo 2, Torchlight, PoE, Grim Dawn, etc.) are you clicking and holding to move around or do you click 455 times just to move across the screen?

Had a few G500 and the left button broke quick on both of those. I paid idk $50 each? I played mainly fps and i only get like 6 months use at best out of those. But somehow someway this little dinky $10 Logitech that is 8 years old is still functioning as a daily driver with my friends rig? I used it for a long time as my fps mouse, the fit was nice and i still owned as well as anyone who prob had a $150 wireless one.

Gamers MAY have deeper pockets, its all about greed they design this stuff clearly to fail. Most gamers dump more money into their hobby then most other hobbies besides cars and coins. I am guilty of the money spending but its one of the few passions i got left in life. I got 4 currently.

 

[aigomorla]

Gaming is something vendors learned they can add RGBs to milk more money for hardware like enthusiast for cpu.
At least in Enthusiast tho, its almost on par with enterprise, but gamer gear its not, because they expect you to replace it as soon as your RGB's die, or you want a different color scape.

However there are some "gamer" stuff which is pretty top notch, but they are priced at upper enthusiast price tags.

I will say, I think 'gaming chairs' are a travesty. Sadly I have one (unused) and need to get rid of it. I can't remember seeing a good comment about one.

Im guilty of getting a few as well.
My friend has a original Recaro, which is based off the real recaro racing seat.
It was so comfortable, that i wanted one, but then saw the price tag on that.

Lemme show you how expensive they are:

RECARO Titan Office Chair | Cantrell Motorsports Bellevue WA

Buy RECARO Titan office chairs for your business. Cantrell Motorsports is a Bellevue WA distributor of high quality RECARO products for businesses of all sizes.

cantrellmotorsport.com

Then i thought Made in China... how bad can it be....
Sigh....

Lesson learned... DONT...

 

[shortylickens]

My Razer mice survive MANY years of hard and unrelenting clicks.
Other items I cannot say.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

For everyone saying their gaming mice are wearing out in a short period of time, my only question to you is this: If you play isometric RPGs (Diablo 2, Torchlight, PoE, Grim Dawn, etc.) are you clicking and holding to move around or do you click 455 times just to move across the screen?

-Guilty as charged. That being said, I've owned my Cooler Master or whatever "gaming mouse" and mechanical keyboard, which I picked up for $50 bucks each, for 8+ years though all kinds of gaming and moves and more and they've been rock solid the whole time.

Murphy's law dictates that my mouse break when gaming in the next couple of days now that I've said the above...

To OP:
I think a major issue these days is the emergence of the "lifestyle" gamer, where the products are meant to signal to yourself or others that you're part of their tribe as much or more than they are to actually fulfill their intended function.

In "the old old days" there were no gaming products, people just used whatever the hell their beige box came with. Then in "the old days" a niche market developed where there was an actual demand for performance, but the community was not mainstream, so there was no strong motivator to build gaming into your identity or signal to other people that you were a "gamer".

Today, "Lifestyle" products (which I suppose itself is driven by social media and the formation of "virtual communities") are as much about non verbal communication to others as they are about the actual functionality of the product itself (its everywhere from "fitness lifestyle", "Yoga Lifestyle", "Hip-Hop Lifestyle" etc etc etc...). As such, you get a ton of RGBling and XTREME trash "form over function" stuff diluting the pool that was once occupied by the actual performance stuff.

 

[Zenoth]

I mean with planned obsolescence and cheaply-built products to save money we're bound to run into brands and/or specific product models failing on us on a regular basis. Be it the full product going kaput or part of it missing a feature or something not working well, etc. It happens all the time to be frank. With electronics and desktop computer hardware in particular we really do have to shop what we need very carefully, do research, check all the reviews and forums for what users have to say, and so on.

If I just use my latest purchase as an example, which was literally yesterday (good coincidence for this thread), which is a new 'gaming monitor' (literally is called as such on big sites and it's even a Keyword to use in search functions on sites like Newegg and the likes), it took me no less than a solid 6 or 7 months to finally pinpoint which one I wanted. And I still don't know what condition it'll be in when I finally plug everything and start my computer on. Will it be a bad apple / lemon? Will it have a defective screen from the start? Dead pixels? It's all still very much possible even if I paid $700 (Canadian) for it.

All we can hope for when it comes to "gaming hardware"' as it is with probably the majority of other products out there (and in particular, electronics) is crossing our fingers that our purchase was a good one (after all the research is done) and hope that we don't have to deal with RMA stuff, return / refund policies and that sort of shenanigan.

 

[Craig234]

Not for gaming:

Stressless® Global

For more than 50 years, Stressless® has developed comfort design and features based on insight into the human anatomy and people’s everyday lives.

www.stressless.com

 

[JEDIYoda]

since when is a gaming chair considered hardware???

 

[NTMBK]

since when is a gaming chair considered hardware???

Can you download it off Steam?

 

[mopardude87]

since when is a gaming chair considered hardware???

I consider it as such, i got back issues and stuff and well a good chair helps tremendously. Yeah cause of my current room situation, lugging a gaming chair up here is not a option but i got a dining room chair from the 1950s that works just fine Maybe a new in box gaming chair would work up the stairs but yeah good times. Pretty narrow stairway for me. I got one up last time before i left then came back and yeah i busted up my handrails and stuff just had floors redone they came out beautiful.

 

[aigomorla]

since when is a gaming chair considered hardware???

since they started blinging them out in esports, added speakers to them, RGB, and also a massager on some units.
Some even have bluetooth, and usb chargers, and can do almost everything except make you a sandwich.

 

[JEDIYoda]

since they started blinging them out in esports, added speakers to them, RGB, and also a massager on some units.
Some even have bluetooth, and usb chargers, and can do almost everything except make you a sandwich.

ok....my bad!! I always thought my chair with 4 legs and a padded seat with no speakers or coffee making ability was an gaming chair!!

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Alright, since we already have this thread, I'll go ahead and ask a peripheral question here:

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced (~$50 US) "gaming" headset w/ microphone?

Would largely use it as my primary sound system on my PC, mic would be to chat with friends through ingame voice or discord, etc.

Been out of the loop for so long I don't know what brands are any good anymore, and I want to avoid paying $200 bucks for something if I can pick up 80% of the performance for 25% of the price.

 

[aigomorla]

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced (~$50 US) "gaming" headset w/ microphone?

sorry... reasonably priced, doesn't work with "gaming".
Its like asking for a cheap ferrari...

Do you absolutely need that head mic?
You can get some decient headsets for a bit more without that headmic.
You really don't want to use a headmic, as i have yet to see one that sounds good, and you should be using a boom mic or a clip on and mount it to your monitor.

These for example i recommend to everyone who wants to keep a budget on a excellent headset for PC:

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-AD700X-Audiophile-Open-Air-Headphones/dp/B009S332TQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=audiotechnica+ath-ad700&qid=1587761343&sr=8-1

They are probably the best reasonably priced headsets for gaming and music.
Its open air design so please don't watch porn and expect no one will hear it.
But its the most used (when not sponsored) headsets by most esports people as its positional soundscape is probably second to almost none.

I would avoid the chinese brand ones you see on amazon.
They are all garbage, with RGB's. The AT's i showed up would be 80% of the sound quality for music and movies, and 110% for gaming quality sound.
It lacks a little on Bass, if you want something with a bit oomph and bass, while still good for gaming, you could look at Beyerdynamic DT990PRO's as they have a bit wider sound scape, which means a little less positional accuracy, but they bump bass out. They might also be a bit more comfortable but they are also a bit more expensive.

These will lose to the more expensive audiophile headphones, like beyerdynamic dt1990's and Sennheiser HD660S, but those are 500 dollar headphones. But you will need to step up to here, to get better IMO...

 

[Craig234]

since they started blinging them out in esports, added speakers to them, RGB, and also a massager on some units.
Some even have bluetooth, and usb chargers, and can do almost everything except make you a sandwich.

The chair can't make you a sandwich. But Sandwich can make you a chair.

A Chair Made Only In Sandwich

Though Tappan Chairs have been made in Sandwich and only in Sandwich since 1819 the historic brand of Shaker style chair was nearly lost to time. 39 year…

www.nhpr.org

 

[DigDog]

uh ..
i think that, most of the best gear, has the "gaming" tag attached to it. AND, also the vast majority of "gaming" tagged gear is garbage. The term originates from mice, thanks to games such as quake 3 and countrstrike 1.6, where gaming actually meant "built for gaming", but it was quickly embraced as a marketing tool to be slapped on anything with weird shapes, spiky angles and go-fasta stripes.
you have to know what you are buying, in essence.

 

[loki1944]

That just seems to hit the target audience better here in PC Games.

Is it just me or is "gaming" hardware of inferior build quality from top to bottom?
Gaming chair : breaks.
Gaming mouse : 1 year after warrenty click switch begins to malfunction
Gaming keyboard : keys break, get worn out (not just wsad)
Gaming router : a b* to get configured properly, lots of firmware bugs.

Just me or anyone else with this experience?

For me it depends; had about a 6 Dell keyboards, 4 Razer, 4 Corsair, 2 Logitech in the past decade, and none broke. On mice, different story;3/3 Razer mice broke anywhere from 1 month to 1 year of purchase; Dell, Logitech, and Corsair mice: 0 casualties. I would never buy a gaming chair, just looking at them makes my back cringe.

 

[cytg111]

For everyone saying their gaming mice are wearing out in a short period of time, my only question to you is this: If you play isometric RPGs (Diablo 2, Torchlight, PoE, Grim Dawn, etc.) are you clicking and holding to move around or do you click 455 times just to move across the screen?

For me its fps’es ala cod bf pubg... its also the first time I’ve had a mouse that glows different colors in the dark (why?? ??)

 

[cytg111]

For me it depends; had about a 6 Dell keyboards, 4 Razer, 4 Corsair, 2 Logitech in the past decade, and none broke. On mice, different story;3/3 Razer mice broke anywhere from 1 month to 1 year of purchase; Dell, Logitech, and Corsair mice: 0 casualties. I would never buy a gaming chair, just looking at them makes my back cringe.

Might be looking into a logitech mouse again.