Tools To Up Your Game!
Posted by Bastosa on Monday, March 16, 2009 - 44 Comments Tags: Addons, Addons, dual monitor, gamepad, gear, keyboard, mouse, set ups, tools
While browsing around the new Project Lore forums (you do know about the forums, right!?) I came across a great thread about your WoW set ups. The thread is "Lets see those setups!" Taking a look through the pics got me thinking about how much your gaming “gear” can affect your performace.
When I started playing WoW I had an incredibly basic set up. Just my iMac with the stock Apple keyboard and mouse. I have never been much of a PC gamer, always favoring consoles. That all changed of course when I found WoW, and over the course of the last couple years I have made some purchases that really made my experience much better.
Strangely enough my first purchase was a second monitor. I run lots of other applications along side WoW. At any given time I usually have Ventrilo, iTunes, my web browser, and from time to time movies going at the same time. While I used to be tabbing out every few minutes to check something, change a song, or see who hopped into my vent channel, I found that having a second moniotor opened up my whole world! I can now keep tabs on all that stuff, without having to break away for a second. It is partuculaly useful when researching achievement strats, or keeping an eye on the vent channel to see who exactly is talking. I would have to say this is the single biggest upgrade I have made to my WoW experience.
Second thing I got was a new mouse. While the stock Apple mouse got the job done, it really left something to be desired. The vast majority of my movement in game is done with the mouse, and investing in a gaming mouse made all the difference for me! The one I use is the Logitech G5, but I’m sure any specific gaming mouse is a huge upgrade over any stock mouse. I love mine because it offers very precise tracking, on-the-fly adjustable tracking speed, lots of additional buttons, as well as adjustable weight. The extra buttons alone made this worth the purchase. I am now able to bind vent to my mouse, which freed up some spots on my keyboard for more important things.
Last but certainly not least I bought a gaming pad. There are a few of these available, and the one I am using is the Belkin n52te. This awesome upgrade allows you to put all your keyboard bindings on a single pad that is designed to make things as easy to get to as possible. While it definitely took some getting used to, after about 2 weeks I have no idea how I ever played without it! It makes such a difference in the control that I have.
How about you guys? Are you using anything to up your game? I’d love to hear if there is anything out there for me to discover, or if you get along fine on a 12" laptop! Also, don't forget to post your set up in the forums, I would love to see more of what you guys are working with!
When I started playing WoW I had an incredibly basic set up. Just my iMac with the stock Apple keyboard and mouse. I have never been much of a PC gamer, always favoring consoles. That all changed of course when I found WoW, and over the course of the last couple years I have made some purchases that really made my experience much better.
Strangely enough my first purchase was a second monitor. I run lots of other applications along side WoW. At any given time I usually have Ventrilo, iTunes, my web browser, and from time to time movies going at the same time. While I used to be tabbing out every few minutes to check something, change a song, or see who hopped into my vent channel, I found that having a second moniotor opened up my whole world! I can now keep tabs on all that stuff, without having to break away for a second. It is partuculaly useful when researching achievement strats, or keeping an eye on the vent channel to see who exactly is talking. I would have to say this is the single biggest upgrade I have made to my WoW experience.
Second thing I got was a new mouse. While the stock Apple mouse got the job done, it really left something to be desired. The vast majority of my movement in game is done with the mouse, and investing in a gaming mouse made all the difference for me! The one I use is the Logitech G5, but I’m sure any specific gaming mouse is a huge upgrade over any stock mouse. I love mine because it offers very precise tracking, on-the-fly adjustable tracking speed, lots of additional buttons, as well as adjustable weight. The extra buttons alone made this worth the purchase. I am now able to bind vent to my mouse, which freed up some spots on my keyboard for more important things.
Last but certainly not least I bought a gaming pad. There are a few of these available, and the one I am using is the Belkin n52te. This awesome upgrade allows you to put all your keyboard bindings on a single pad that is designed to make things as easy to get to as possible. While it definitely took some getting used to, after about 2 weeks I have no idea how I ever played without it! It makes such a difference in the control that I have.
How about you guys? Are you using anything to up your game? I’d love to hear if there is anything out there for me to discover, or if you get along fine on a 12" laptop! Also, don't forget to post your set up in the forums, I would love to see more of what you guys are working with!
Reader Comments (44)
Wow... i thought i was doing pretty well gaming wise just using a mac. Most of my friends are trying to play on crappy computers that shut down about once an hour. I really don't know why everyone needs to have a second computer. I find it simple enough to make WoW a small screen and have itunes and vent around it to easily check. Im thinking about maybe getting that new mouse blizzard designed or a gaming pad soon.
Dell XPS 410 - Dual 8800GTX's, (waiting on 9800 upgrade).
Dell Stock Keyboard
G5 Mouse - max 36 grams, high sensitivity
Altec Lansing Headset
32" Vizio LCD TV
Big Screen actually doesn't strain my eyes like my laptop, makes raiding long hours that much easier. Keyboard works perfectly, eevn for a stock one. Headset was $17, works perfectly, mic sounds good. I may opt for a gaming Keyboard, but still pondering.
Q6600, 8 gigs ram, dual 9600GT sli, dual 22", Nostromo n52, Razor Lacheis Mouse.
Has no1 heard of a little ting called Windowed Mode? C'mon ppl, u dont need to buy another monitor.
Tsk, y'all call yerselves gamers.
Tricked out laptop ... take it with me to work!
i'm using a 16" Acer laptop, with 4 gigs of ram and a 2ghz dual core processor >.<.. ordinary mouse from microsoft, that i bought a few years back with a nice mousepad.. and then theres my headset with an awfully curly wire ;D
I use a 360 controller to play, with the help of http://code.google.com/p/wow360/
Works great, I like it way better than the keyboard and mouse. It lets me get away from my screen and relax a bit more when playing.
My set up SUCKS...
HP Pavillion Elite
9600 GTX Graphics Card
1 Terabyte Hard Drive space
6 GB of RAM
22" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor
I am playing on a nearly 3 year old first generation macbook with 1.66 ghz core duo processor, 512 mb memory and a 64 mb integrated grafics card ... and *drumroll* ...
Wow plays fine, getting about 25 fps, down to about 15 in raids and in dalaran, not that shabby for an integrated card.
I am thinking of getting myself an upgrade, thinking about the macbook pro 15 inch, or maybe the imac, hm, possibilities, atleast it's not as many as on "the other side".
Manufacturer: INTEL
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6700 @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 4GB RAM
Hard Drive: 1 TB Total
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT
Monitor: LG L226WTQ 22" LCD
Sound Card: Speakers/HP (IDT High Definition Audio CODEC)
Speakers/Headphones: Logitech Z4's / Logitech Xtreme Gaming
Keyboard: Generic USB Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX510
Mouse Surface: Razor eXactMat
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium Service Pack 1
Motherboard: Intel® Desktop Board DG33TL
Computer Case: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream
Well...just using my work/university Acer Aspire 4702Z, and hoping that I found a better job very soon, so I can buy a decent PC again...
I'm using the 3D monitor "iz3d", a IBM laptop xD and a razer mouse and a logitech keyboard.
3D rock.!
Mine: Laptop: Inspiron 9300 2g mem 256 Nvidia Geforce Go, Thumball mouse. Using the Mod CTView really allows me to see what I need to see quickly and still allow me to enjoy the great WoW graphics.
Wifes: Custom Desktop: Main improvement was the Zboard, Laser Mouse and 2 19" Widescreen monitors. She is running CT Viewport across the two monitors. So the graphics are on her left monitor and her bags all open on the right monitor. It also allows Recount, Omen, Carbonite, and the chat logs to be on the right monitor and not in the middle of the action. I tried to get her to use DHUD2 but she wasn't a fan.
I use a(n):
Compaq MV720 monitor
w/built in mic
HP Pavillion a6600f PC
w/ basic keyboard and mouse
and I do just fine
=)
I have a Belkin game pad, Razor Mouse, and g15 keyboard. Use the belkin for my main abilities, and the g15's extra keys for healing, or whatever my current class needs.
Hey Bastosa. I just bought the n52te game pad and am trying to get it running on my Mac OSX 10.5.6 but I can't seem to get it working. It says its not connected. Do you have any idea what the issue might be?
19 inch hd
2 gb
invidia 9600
vista 64 bit
2 dul 3.00
intel dg33tl mb
1 tb hd
17 inch lcd
After reading this blog, I imediately went to best buy and picked up my brand new "Belkin n52te".
after about 45 seconds of playing (after getting it all set up and programed, as well as key bindings set) I fell in love with it.
With my standard keyboard, I had access to almost all of my skills, spread across the top of the keyboard. I tank, and so the problem came when I would be gathering agro, and lose one. my hand is over the 2-5 keys (1 being charge, of course), but taunt was CLEAR over on 0. an improvement over it not being bound to a key at all.
Now, not saying that it took a lot of energy, but I actually had to look down and find zero, during which time, the mob gets a critical hit and finishes the unfortunate mage off, or even (epic fail) the healer.
Now, I have EVERY skill availible to me, even the ones that I don't use often, and all right under my fingertips.
Get it.
play it.
love it!