A volume control is built into the earpiece, while the uni-directional microphone can be automatically switched off by folding it back into the upright position.

Smooth, stable connections are guaranteed with the GX Series Cavimanus headset. The anti-corrosive gold-plated USB jack ensures long-lasting, high quality connections. And with an adjustable headband, the Cavimanus provides a complete surround sound experience for any gamer.

The retail price for the Genius Cavimanus is $79, which is a good price for a 7.1 headset, but shop around and you may find it for less.

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Genius Cavimanus Headset Joins GX Gaming Series is a post from Gaming Weapons.

It is designed to fit ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX motherboards and boasts a number of tool-less features to make assembly less painful, as well as an interior layout that is said to make system cooling more efficient.

The chassis has an adjustable rack that supports up to three 3.5-inch HDDs as well as two 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs which can be set to face forward or backward. Installation is simple thanks to the use of the included thumbscrews, and the rubber suspension keeps any annoying vibrations to a minimum.

Cool air is pumped into the chassis by a 140mm fan at the front and a 120mm fan at the rear. Cooling can be improved even further thanks to space on the side panel for two additional 140mm or 120mm fans. If you want more than cool air to help prevent your overclocked monster from melting then you’ll be pleased to hear that the PC-K56N supports a liquid cooling system with two holes for water tubes protected by rubber covers.

Everything on the PC-K56N is designed to be removed or detached with minimal effort. Not only do the drive mounts use thumbscrews, so do the PCI brackets on the rear, and the front panel is easily detached from the chassis.

Cable management is a breeze thanks to built-in cable clamps to keep wires neat and secure. This in turn improves air flow through the Lancool PC-K56N’s interior, making the cooling system even more efficient.

Lancool’s New PC-K56N Dragon Lord Mid-Tower is a post from Gaming Weapons.

Genius DeathTaker mouse is first in GX Gaming range

It’s an all new design aimed at MMO and RTS players, sporting all the features a player would need in these demanding games. The ergonomic design will suit right-handed gamers and with its bold graphics it certainly looks the part.

First on the feature list is the button count, and with nine fully programmable buttons the Genius DeathTaker is more than up to the challenge. There’s onboard memory for storing up to five button profiles and macros (of up to 55 keys), while the ‘Scorpion’ user interface should make programming the DeathTaker a simple affair.

The DeathTaker uses a laser sensor capable of up to 5,700 dpi. Both the X and Y axis can be programmed separately from as little as 100 dpi up to the maximum 5,700 dpi. There’s also a 1 millisecond response time to ensure smooth control.

Underneath the DeathTaker has a weight system that can hold up to 6 small metal weights, each one weighing 4.5 grams. That’s a total of 27 grams that can be added to the mouse, enough to satisfy gamers who like their mouse to have a slightly more hefty feel.

Of course, a top gaming mouse wouldn’t be complete without some LED backlighting. The Genius DeathTaker makes use of a full palette of 16 million colours to illuminate the scroll wheel.

While the Genius DeathTaker has all of the features you’d expect of a top gaming mouse, it is priced to undercut the established leaders from the likes Razer and Logitech. The retail price is $79, but expect that to drop quite quickly at the usual internet retailers. Don’t let that budget price fool you into thinking that the DeathTaker is a budget product, it’s been tested to destruction and the buttons are rated to a reliable 8 million clicks. That should be enough for quite a few rounds of Starcraft 2.

Genius DeathTaker sports 9 buttons, 5,700dpi and adjustable weights

The DeathTaker is the first in the line of new products in the GX Gaming series. Expect to hear more of the GX name in the following months. Check out the preview video to see more of the X Gaming range:

Genius DeathTaker Debuts For GX Gaming Series is a post from Gaming Weapons.

One of the latest headsets to hit the maket is the Ozone Oxid, aimed at gamers who want plenty of features but don’t want to spend a fortune. It just so happens that I’ve got a set here to review.

Opening The Box

The Ozone Oxid arrives in a black and red cardboard box. The transparent front gives you a good look at the headset inside while the back introduces you to the various features on offer. Opening the box reveals very lttle in the way of goodies – you get the headset and … nothing else. No driver CD, no manual and no advertising leaflets.

It’s obvious from the start that Ozone Oxid is a corded headset that uses a pair of closed earphones. On the left earpiece is a microphone and midway down the cable is a control unit.

The earphones are nicely padded, as is the headband, and are also light at just 310g. They don’t feel as solid as some of the headsets I have tried, but they’re also a fraction of the price so you can forgive them for that.

The microphone is retractable and can be pushed back into the earphone housing. When extended its position can be adjusted to suit – close to your mouth if you’re a whisperer or further away if you can’t help but shout. There’s also a red LED on the end to show when it’s active, fitting in with Ozone’s brand colours of red on black.

The control unit might be a slightly odd shape but it packs in a number of features. There are separate play, pause and mute buttons, a switch to turn off the microphone and a mini-joystick to control volume and skip tracks in your audio player. There is also a bass boost button which, when pressed, illuminates a LED in red and gives a noticeable improvement in the bass output.

Plug’n'Play

Installation is a breeze. Just plug the Oxid’s USB socket into yor PC and you’re off, with no need to install drivers and mess around with your audio settings. You see, there was no need for driver CDs or manuals after all.

Straight away I was impressed with the quality of the sound. I’ve played with some budget headphones in the past and they were awful, but the Oxid delivers clear sound right through the range. You will probably find yourself leaving the bass boost button on whenever you’re gaming as it gives the bass some necessary oomph.

The microphone is surprisingly sensitive. I moved it away from my mouth and still got told off for shouting, but after a bit of fiddling in control panel with the microphone volume I reached a level where my team-mates could hear me clearly. A couple said they had trouble hearing me at times as the sound went slightly crackly, but on the whole it worked.

Sweaty Ears

The material used in the padding of the earpieces and headband is a synthetic that is supposed to allow your skin to breath, reduce sweating and improve comfort. On one occasion I had the Oxids on for about four hours and they were so comfortable that I forgot I was wearing them. It was only when I caved in to the demands from my bladder that I remembered they were there, and the only sign of discomfort was a pair of slightly clammy ears.

Forgetting the Oxids were on my head actually turned out to be a bit of a hazard as I managed to knock over a cup of coffee when I got up from my desk, forgetting that I was still tethered to my PC. That’s not the Oxids fault though, just the idiot wearing them.

Listening Intently

The quality from the headphones was excellent. The Oxids are a basic set of stereo speakers with none of the surround-sound shenanigans that other more expensive headsets try to pull off. The thing that people often forget is that stereo speakers are more than capable of giving you positional information and when it comes to first-person shooters you’ll be able to pinpoint the location of incoming fire with great ease, despite there being only two speakers.

The Oxid headset is also great for music and films. You won’t get the crystal clear quality that would please a true audiophile, but these speakers will be more than enough to satisfy 90% of listeners. The bass boost is best left off in these cases as it can muffle the higher frequencies.

So Is The Ozone Oxid Any Good

The answer to this question is an emphatic yes. Ultimately the Ozone Oxids lose out in terms of quality – compare it to a set of Sennheisers and you’re going to be disappointed, but seeing as you’d be spending five times the £30 asking price it’s not a fair comparison.

The Ozone Oxid gives you everything you need from a gaming headset without breaking the bank, and in these times of austerity that has got to count for a lot.

Ozone OXid Specifictions

Ozone Oxid Headset Review is a post from Gaming Weapons.

As well as the plastic-coated Alioth they’ve released the Sargas mousepad, which caters for players who want a nicely-padded cloth mousepad. There’s also the Mionix Propus 380 mousepad, another plastic coated pad that offers the benefits of a hard pad with some of the comfort of a flexible pad and that’s what I’m reviewing here.

So What’s The Propus 380 Like?

First impressions are good. The Propus 380 comes in a smart cardboard box in Mionix’s usual style – matt black with just a picture of the mousepad and its name. There are no claims that this mousepad will turn you into a gaming god overnight, which makes a refreshing change when compared to the marketing used by a lot of other brands.

Open the box and there is the Propus, neatly wrapped in tissue for added protection. There was also a strong whiff emanating from the box, similar to emulsion paint, but it’s the sort of smell that tells you that this is new and fresh from the factory.

The Propus is made of three pieces. The top surface is a thin sliver of silver-metallic plastic with a very slight grainy texture. The middle section, a bright green piece of PVC plastic, gives the Propus its stiffness as well as an interesting feature around the edge of the pad.

Finally, the bottom layer is a piece of foam. It allows the Propus to conform to slightly uneven surfaces and also helps it to grip and stay in place on your desk. The construction is top notch  – there’s no sense that the three layers will start peeling apart as soon as you start using it.

The Propus measures 380mm x 260mm and is 4mm thick. The large area is great for gamers who like to make big arm movements but obviously requires you to have enough room on your desk to accommodate it.

Using The Propus 380

The only true test of a mousepad is whether or not it makes any noticeable difference to the feel of the mouse. The surface of the pad should make the mouse’s sensor as efficiently as possible and it should allow the mouse to move freely. On both counts the Propus scrores very well. Despite the textured surface my Logitech G500 glided across the surface of the Propus with ease, so no problems there.

The sensor did seem slightly more sensitive and at one point I was considering turning it down from my usual setting (around 1800dpi). When I lifted it off the Propus and put it onto the surface of my desk there was a noticeable drop in response, but this was to be expected – my desk has a slightly shiny surface that con sometimes confuse mice.

Is It Worth Buying A Propus 380?

The Mionix Propus 380 is most certainly a quality mouse pad. It feels well built and it provides a great surface for your mouse. The only niggling doubt I have is the retail price of $25 but when you look at the competition it’s not too bad. It’s noticeably cheaper than the Razer Scarab (at almost $40) and only slightly more expensive than the Roccat Sota ($20).

Of course, different gamers have different needs and the Propus will only work for you if you want a hard pad and you’ve enough space to position it properly on your computer desk/dining room table/bedroom floor (delete as appropriate). However, if a hard mousepad is what you want the Propus 380 is hard to beat and is highly recommended.

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See larger image Mionix Propus Mouse Pad (Personal Computers) List Price: $24.99 USD New From: $18.31 In Stock Used from: $14.99 In Stock

Mionix Propus 380 Mousepad Review is a post from Gaming Weapons.

First we had Razer with their Black Widow and now we have the new Mionix Zibal 60 mechanical keyboard, offering gamers the superior feeling of mechanical switches over traditional rubber domes. The Zibal uses black Cherry MX switches, something that might not mean a lot if you’re not familiar with all of the different key types available. Suffice it to say, the Zibal 60 will feel a lot better than a normal rubber-domed board. Each non-tactile mechanical switch is plated with 18-carat gold, ensuring the keys will last for ages.

To justify its credentials as a gaming keyboard there is green multi-level LED backlighting on all keys. Although even if you aren't a gamer, there are possibilities for finding an illuminated keyboard. This will help you find your way through the long nights of tapping out coursework or even if you prefer to work in dim light. Who'd have thought it so easy to that avoid those near misses of clicking on a well-disguised spammy link without renewing your antivirus? But gamers are more likely to find the backlit keys indispensable. The backlighting can be set to all keys, just the WASD keys or completely off, and there’s three levels of brightness to choose from.

The Mionix action key, similar in function to the Windows key, provides access to the media and lighting controls.

The Zibal 60 also acts as a two port USB 2.0 hub, and gives you somewhere to plug in your headphones and microphone. To top if off there are full media control keys.

In something of a first Mionix are claiming that the Zibal is ‘rage proof’ thanks to a 1.6 mm thick steel frame and heavy duty braided cable. That’s something I’d love to put to the test, maybe it should be a part of all future reviews. I’m sure I could bring some almighty rage to bear on a keyboard if I tried.

The Zibal 60 should be available around the end of July 2011, although prices have yet to be confirmed. Expect it to be around 150 euros.

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See larger image Mionix Zibal 60 Mechanical Keyboard (Personal Computers) List Price: Price Not Listed New From: Check Amazon For Pricing In Stock Used from: $120.08 In Stock

Mechanical Action From Mionix Zibal 60 Keyboard is a post from Gaming Weapons.

So What Is A MMO Keyboard?

First of all let me confess that I don’t like the marketing strategy behind these things. MMO stands for ‘Massively Multiplayer Online’, so for these to be MMO peripherals they’re being targeted at games that have lots of online players. But what sort of games are we looking at? Test Drive Unlimited is a MMO, but seeing as it’s a driving sim you won’t get much advantage from the features offered by the Razer Anansi keyboard. Is it aimed at Poker players? Of course not, but there are thousands of them who play online.

Strictly speaking keyboards like the Anansi and it’s cousin, the Naga mouse, are best suited to players of role-playing and strategy games, whether they’re online or not. Why? Because these are games that often require you to string together complicated sequences of actions, which are perfect for programming as macros into the extra keys that the Anansi offers.

So ignore the inaccurate marketing hype – the Anansi is ideal for RPG and RTS games, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re online or not.

Why Choose The Anansi?

So what is it that the Anansi offers that other gaming keyboards don’t? The answer is in the area underneath the space bar where you’ll find seven thumb key modifiers.

These act as a set of additional programmable keys, but become even more powerful when twinned with the Razer Naga mouse (you know, the one with seventeen buttons). In this mode the thumb keys act like extra Shift buttons, allowing you to alter the behaviour of the twelve button keypad on the side of the Naga. Oh yes, you can multiply the number of available actions from twelve to 96. Wow, great – but how they hell do you remember all of those actions?

As well as the thumb keys there are five gaming keys on the left, and then a standard qwerty keyboard layout that offers you over 100 programmable keys. There is also onboard memory in which you can define multiple key profiles for your favourite games. The customisation possibilities are almost literally endless.

The difficulty comes in deciding what on earth you’re going to do with all of the available keys at your disposal. To be honest I’ve never felt myself in need of so many programmable keys that I’ve ever run out on a ‘normal’ gaming keyboard. I tend to program in my favourite actions onto the mouse buttons and then stick a few other favourites onto the keyboard. The Anansi/Naga combo takes this to a ridiculous new level of complexity.

The Anansi is typically Razer – a stylish item that is solid and very usable. The keys have a smooth action and respond quickly, while the backlighting is nice.

The subject of backlighting leads to one of the odd design features on the Anansi. There are two USB plugs on the end of the Anansi’s lead, one to power the keyboard and another to power the backlighting. The lighting is lovely, cycling through a spectrum of colours by default, and you can pick a single colour if you want and control the intensity. But wow, they must be powerful LEDs to require their own power source!

The need for an extra USB socket to power the keyboard also highlights one of its weaknesses, and that’s the lack of any additional USB sockets. Many gaming keyboards act as USB hubs, but for the Anansi to need two sockets on your PC but not offer any extras in return is bad design.

The other negative  about the Anansi’s design is that there are no dedicated multimedia keys. There are multimedia functions available on the F keys, but you need to hold the Fn key to use them. It’s a minor irritation.

One mark of a true gaming keyboard is the inclusion of a ‘gaming mode’ switch, included on the Anansi, allowing you to disable the Windows and Alt-Tab keys and stop yourself accidentally dropping back to the Windows desktop.

The Anansi is a bit wider than it needs to be thanks to some plastic wings built into the sides – they’re nice from a design perspective but make the keyboard take up more space on your desk. I think Razer would have been much better off using that extra footprint to include more gaming keys, rather than fancy styling features.

So Is The Anansi Any Good?

To test the Anansi I dusted off my WoW account and started loading up as many macros as I could think of. It didn’t take long before I was adding macros for the sake of it, and this became even more apparent after playing for a while. Before long I’d forgotten half of the macros I’d programmed in and was using just a small set of those I’d made available, despite having written them down in a list I kept next to the keyboard. Perhaps that’s just the limits of my feeble brain, but I didn’t find myself really needing all of those additional macros.

One thing I did have a problem with was reliably hitting the thumb keys. The seven keys are split into two rows, with two wide buttons on the bottom and five smaller ones above them. The larger buttons on the bottom row are OK, but I often mis-hit the upper row and caught the wrong button, which led to some frustrating moments. Not only that, but if you’re using the extra keys as ‘modifiers’ as they’re intended you’ve got to hit the right modifier button and then the right key with one hand, while performing other actions in the game. It’s difficult to do in a hurry, although I’m sure you’d eventually get used to it.

So the Anansi is good, but it isn’t great. If you’ve got the mental capacity to keep track of a complicated keyboard setup then this could be the perfect keyboard for you, but lesser mortals will never take full advantage of the customisation on offer. Want a more suitable alternative? You could stick with Razer and get a Black Widow for its superior mechanical keys, or you could try something like a Logitech G510 that offers more straightforward programming capabilities.

Thanks to Seb for allowing me to take over his PC and shiny new Anansi keyboard for a day.

See larger image Razer Anansi MMO Gaming Keyboard (Personal Computers) List Price: $99.99 USD New From: $81.28 In Stock Used from: $75.00 In Stock

Razer Anansi Review is a post from Gaming Weapons.

Featuring a full-size print of the game’s hero, Hawke, this is the same as the standard Speed Edition of the Razer Goliathus mouse mat. That means you get a cloth mat measuring 355mm x 254mm and 4mm thick, with a surface designed to offer precise tracking from your mouse.

The Dragon Age 2 Razer Goliathus is available in April at a price of around $24, and if you like this then the chances are you’ll love the Dragon Age II versions of the Deathadder mouse and Black Widow keyboard.

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See larger image Razer Goliathus Standard Speed Dragon Age II Mouse Pad (RZ02-00211800-R3M1) (Personal Computers) List Price: $24.99 USD New From: $21.99 In Stock

Dragon Age 2 Razer Goliathus is a post from Gaming Weapons.

Like the Deathadder, this version of the Black Widow Ultimate keeps the standard features of Razer’s flagship gaming keyboard while adding a little extra visual flair. A scattering of red blood splatters and some nasty looking Darkspawn liven up the plain black of the Black Widow’s case, while red backlighting finishes off the look. To my eye it looks great!

The Black Widow is Razer’s only keyboard to feature mechanical keys, which improve the tactile feeling of each key press and gives even faster response times thanks to a shortened movement.

Being a gaming keyboard there are also additional gaming keys and just about every key is programmable, with memory profiles available to increase the flexibility of the keyboard even further. Then there’s that backlighting, which features five levels of brightness.

The Dragon Age II Razer Black Widow is available any time now at a price of $139. Don’t forget that there’s also Dragon Age II versions of the Deathadder mouse and Goliathus mouse mat to play with.

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See larger image Razer Blackwidow Ultimate - Dragon Age II (RZ03-00381400-R3M1) (Personal Computers) List Price: $139.99 USD New From: $131.99 In Stock

Dragon Age 2 Razer Black Widow is a post from Gaming Weapons.

Now depending on how you feel about product placement, the news of Razer’s new lineup of Dragon Age II branded kit will either make you more excited about the game or make you spit anti-capitalist bile at your computer screen.

The first of the new range is a Dragon Age II version of the Razer Deathadder gaming mouse. One of my favourite gaming mice, this re-badged Deathadder features all of the best bits of the standard model, including the 3500 dpi infrared sensor, 1000Hz polling rate, 5 programmable buttons and on-the-fly sensitivity adjustment.

The only change is to the case, which now boasts a rather fetching red dragon design and matching red backlighting on the wheel.

Will it help you slay Darkspawn any better than the standard model? No, but it does look pretty good.

Expect to pay around $69 when the Dragon Age II Razer Deathadder hits the stores in April.

If you want to complete the set there’s also a Dragon Age II version of the Black Widow keyboard and Goliathus mouse mat.

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See larger image Razer DeathAdder - Dragon Age II (RZ01-00152500-R3M1) (Personal Computers) List Price: $69.99 USD New From: $81.08 In Stock

Dragon Age 2 Razer Deathadder is a post from Gaming Weapons.