two little mods i did to save money without sacrificing quality. Headset: after reading reviews, testing out some headsets, and generally coming to the conclusion that i wouldn't get any good sound short of $200 for the Sennheiser PC350's I started shopping around for headphones + mics separately. audiophile headphones are readily available at the sub-$100 price point and still of higher quality than pretty much any gaming headset out there. I went with the Audio Technica AD700's for $90. I couldn't care less about the mic quality as long as teammates could understand what i was saying. $5 for a zalman zm-mic1. apparently it doesn't pic up sound well unless it's positioned in front of your mouth... and it only has a wire/shirt clip. solution: $2 of coloured aluminum wire from Daiso. end result: yay! sounds fantastic whether i'm gaming, studying (with music) or watching movies. Mousepads: Now, i agree with most people that with a decent mouse, the plain old tabletop will do just fine. And that's what i've been using so far. But a good mousepad is better in general than the tabletop- if for no reason other than lowered friction. And gaming mousepads seem to start at $15. the decent ones seem to go up to $30. And you'd have to pay me to use the bargain bin ones, they're even worse than no mousepad at all. General mousepad theory: here i get to be all scientifical! - soft grippy bottom, so the pad itself won't slide around or scratch up the desk. - hefty: the more the mousepad weighs, the more force it'll take to move it by accident. this goes along with the grippy bottom, since friction depends on the force exerted on the surface. - low friction: obviously. - random, fine-grained pattern: this helps with the sensor, especially with high speed movement. poor tracking happens on both smooth (glossy) surfaces as well as patterened surfaces. - Stiff and durable: lower friction and more even movements. The soft neoprene stuff most mousepads are made of indent with the weight of my hand, and most wear out quickly. Finding materials that fit all those requirements was a little harder than I thought, but i eventually settled on: - ceramic tile (leftover from redoing the kitchen floor in the summer) - natural cork board ($2, Daiso again. can be had for cheaper if you search) - car wax (probably could have bought some spray-on teflon, but didn't feel like spending more money). glue them together and wrap the edge with electrical tape so that the cork won't flake off, and there you have it. I may have to re-wax every month or so, but it doesn't take much to wax that small surface. If anyone wants to spend more, i think a baking pan might work just as well. Not as heavy, but it does have a built-in teflon coating, and most of then have enough of a texture in the metal itself to give the sensor something to track.
WHY DID YOU RUIN THAT SET OF HEADPHONES???? You should have just bought a desktop mic, or clipped that mic to the cord of the headphone
1. the mic doesn't pick up well when clipped to the cord. 2. desktop mics don't pick up well in general and are more expensive. 3. wrapping aluminum wire around the top headband does not ruin a pair of headphones.
I got a £5 coaster from ikea to use as a mouse mat, at 37cm square, black and being generally awesome, it's great.
I have to admit that a great deal of my computer equipment comes from Ikea for some reason... lol. Although Daiso seems to be taking its place.
1. Turn up mic amp or move it closer to your mouth hole 2. desktop mics are cheaper and pick up sound just as well, I have one, no one complains http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Microp...MTMQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318817820&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Labt...K4LO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318817827&sr=8-2 3. It's ugly as sin and ruins the look of the AD700s
1. ...which is exactly what i achieved by using the wire to mount it right in front of my mouth. having the mic further away + amping it up just increases background noise. 2. i didn't buy it from amazon, the zalman was cheaper. 3. function > form.
