Author Topic: Siig Minitouch for Gaming?  (Read 1912 times)

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Offline djhpwizard

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  • Posts: 4
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 14:20:38 »
Hello GeekHack community!

This is my first post. I'm interested in the Siig Minitouch and other vintage mechanicals, but I remember reading somewhere (probably here) that you can't press 2 keys + spacebar simultaneously on the Minitouch. Is this true? What about the Dell AT101W or IBM Model M, are any of these suitable for gaming?

Thanks!

Offline Minskleip

  • Posts: 230
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 14:32:55 »
I'm playing with my Minitouch right now, and it works as you'd expect - great! But I've only had problems with games and my Customzier.
What\'s in the back of my car? A cdr lol

Split Tipro keyboard with R3 keycaps

Offline Daniel Beaver

  • Posts: 504
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 15:33:43 »
It's only 2kro. I'm quite used to gaming on Model Ms, so I don't think it's a big deal.

One thing worth noting: the ctrl button is NOT on the far left, but rather one key to the right (the fn key sits at the far left). I thought that one layout feature absolutely sucked for gaming.

Home: Topre Realforce 87W45  /  Mionix Naos 3200
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Offline False_Dmitry_II

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Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 16:05:07 »
I haven't used one of those before, but I haven't had any problems with any of my 2KRO boards.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Ben Franklin (11 Nov. 1755)

Offline Minskleip

  • Posts: 230
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 16:31:46 »
Quote from: Daniel Beaver;410077
It's only 2kro. I'm quite used to gaming on Model Ms, so I don't think it's a big deal.

One thing worth noting: the ctrl button is NOT on the far left, but rather one key to the right (the fn key sits at the far left). I thought that one layout feature absolutely sucked for gaming.

You can easily change it; I replaced it with insert: http://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1115
What\'s in the back of my car? A cdr lol

Split Tipro keyboard with R3 keycaps

Offline Daniel Beaver

  • Posts: 504
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 17:22:12 »
Quote from: Minskleip;410104
You can easily change it; I replaced it with insert: http://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1115
Soldering required? That does not fit my definition of "you can easily change it".

Home: Topre Realforce 87W45  /  Mionix Naos 3200
Work: Topre Realforce 87B  /  Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0

Offline False_Dmitry_II

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Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 17:54:23 »
After having done it, it really doesn't seem difficult. I've only desoldered a bunch of switches so far, but just adding a couple spaghetti wires I haven't done. At the same time it seems pretty easy to just hold something like that there and just heat up the solder that is already there.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Ben Franklin (11 Nov. 1755)

Offline Minskleip

  • Posts: 230
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 18:34:31 »
Quote from: Daniel Beaver;410121
Soldering required? That does not fit my definition of "you can easily change it".

Yes, I cut some traces and soldered wires to the switches. The hard part was keeping everything flush to the pcb. Mod it!
What\'s in the back of my car? A cdr lol

Split Tipro keyboard with R3 keycaps

Offline Clickey

  • Posts: 337
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #8 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 20:00:00 »
There are a few 2kro keyboards that have a really good matrix, and will be fine for gaming, but in general 2kro is just not enough.

I would not use anything less than 6kro (of essential keys only of course) for gaming. In fps games it is very easy to have to hit 5 keys at once, and in sc2 you spam so many keys, that it is inevitable to have ghosting/lockups/errors on a lesser 2kro keyboard.

The main reason I ever looked into mechanical keyboards, is because of how badly 2kro was hindering my ability to play games at the level I desired. If you are a casual gamer, then you probably do not care (or even realise) if you lose a game because your keyboard did not accept your command, but for me this is not acceptable. Someone might counter with "X pro player uses rubber domes and they are the best..." but these pros play on what they are used to, regardless of how flawed it is.

Conclusion: IF you want your keyboard to give you the best performance (as it should), then do not listen to people saying 2kro is fine. BUT if your 2kro keyboard can accept 8 of the keys you want it to at the same time, this will also be fine. On most of my 2kro's the problems occur with pressing 3+ middle keyboard keys, or 3 keys very close together.

Or you can use the teensy device to make it NKRO.
"we are on Geekhack not Lazy****" - The Solutor

Offline False_Dmitry_II

  • Posts: 1107
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 21:34:11 »
How often do you jump crouch while moving diagonally and trying to open a door while reloading at precisely the same time?
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Ben Franklin (11 Nov. 1755)

Offline mrmusicmr

  • Posts: 12
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 21:41:08 »
Quote from: False_Dmitry_II;410126
After having done it, it really doesn't seem difficult. I've only desoldered a bunch of switches so far, but just adding a couple spaghetti wires I haven't done. At the same time it seems pretty easy to just hold something like that there and just heat up the solder that is already there.

Yup, sounds easy thing for sure.

Offline djhpwizard

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 4
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 03 September 2011, 22:45:38 »
Thanks all for the answers! I'm no longer afraid of these old boards. Clickey, I appreciate you sharing your experience with 2kro in competitive gaming. Real-world experience is better than heresay. I'm a casual gamer though, so I doubt I'd have any issues with it. Besides the boards I listed (Siig Minitouch, Dell A101W & IBM Model M), are there any other commonly found vintage mechanicals that I ought to consider?

Thanks again!

Offline Ascaii

  • Posts: 415
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
Siig Minitouch for Gaming?
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 04 September 2011, 07:07:41 »
depending on your location I can recommend looking for older cherries.

g80-1000, g80-3000, g80-11802 pop up on ebay once in a while. 1000 and 3000 usually have blacks or blues, the 11802 browns. I would recommend blacks or browns over blues for gaming.
"Mechanical keyboards are like pokemon:
you start with one, and then you wanna catch em all."