gaming laptop keyboard durability?

fastwing76 · 21 Jul 2014 at 00:48

hey guys
this question is directed toward gaming laptop owners who game on their laptop built in keyboards how durable they are for gaming?, I am currently using my y500 with a razer blackwidow tournemnent edition and CM SF-17 gaming laptop adjustable cooler.I really enjoy typing and gaming on the mechanical keyboard but the screen is a bit far a way for my liking, I don`t mind gaming on my y500 laptop but I am worried that the WASP keys would wear off faster or stop working all together.

so what do you guys think? for how long have you been using your laptop for gaming ? and if you use an external keyboard then how is it working for you ?

thanks in advanced

Rroff · 21 Jul 2014 at 00:54

I use the laptop in my sig for gaming a fair bit - usually with an external keyboard and mouse in a desktop replacement scenario though.

The built in keyboard has survived a fair bit of abuse though without any issues but its a fairly decent keyboard as laptops go, some of the cheaper ones i.e. as you typically find on a lot of mainstream acer laptops would not survive heavy WASD use.

fastwing76 · 21 Jul 2014 at 01:01

wow thanks for the quick reply! by a desktop scenario do you mean like with an external monitor and everything ? or just a external keyboard and mouse.

if you don`t mind for how long have been using your laptop built in keyboard for how long have u used it?

I really love the mechanical feel of the blackwidow but sitting 80cm away from my 15" Lenovo y500 is a real pain, especially while gaming, 1080p from this far all the details is lost.

I am a desktop user so this arrangement is kinda hard for me, but since I am traveling I don`t have much of a choice.

Rroff · 21 Jul 2014 at 01:15

Done both (with and without external monitor) while using external keyboard and mouse depending on circumstance.

I've had the laptop almost exactly 2 years but probably only used the built in keyboard about 30% of the time I've used it though - however its stood up to some fairly intensive coding sessions in its time and some extended playing of eve online.

I got it due to having to spend awhile moving back and forth between a few locations for awhile and TBH for any serious use I couldn't wait to get it setup with external peripherals properly. 17" is definitely as small as I'd have wanted to go display wise at 1920x1080 for that kind of use.

fastwing76 · 21 Jul 2014 at 01:29

yeah I feel you 17" is definitely perfect for 1080p, 15" is really small, I can`t believe all the new gaming laptops with UHDs it`s just more load on the graphic card, 1080p is an overkill for 15".
although the keyboard I am using only adds 40cm to the distance but it`s still significant I have removed it and now its kinda better but I miss the mechanical feeling already lol

fastwing76 · 29 Jul 2014 at 08:41

I have found a solution for this issue, I can still keep using the external keyboard, keeping my laptop keyboard in pristine condition and at the same time not sacrifice placing my laptop further away so it takes away from enjoying the experience.
I will post pics later.

EviL Ras · 29 Jul 2014 at 10:06

I used my alienware M14x keyboard exclusively! as i happily game on the sofa! Its fine! the finish was getting a touch shiny on the WASD keys, but thats 3 years of abuse! But the travel on the keys was still great!

That said i've now moved to the MSI GS60 wityh its steelseries keyboard. lets hope this is as sturdy!

Robbsy · 29 Jul 2014 at 13:22

I'd just use the built in keyboard. I've never had one fail on me (even on the 6 year old laptop i'm using atm). Also the WASD keys still look exactly the same as all the other.

As long as its a decent quality laptop it should be fine.

fastwing76 · 29 Jul 2014 at 15:27

EviL Ras said:
I used my alienware M14x keyboard exclusively! as i happily game on the sofa! Its fine! the finish was getting a touch shiny on the WASD keys, but thats 3 years of abuse! But the travel on the keys was still great!

That said i've now moved to the MSI GS60 wityh its steelseries keyboard. lets hope this is as sturdy!

Good to know, thanks for sharing! I am sure msi keyboard will be as or more durable. 3 years is a a lot!

fastwing76 · 29 Jul 2014 at 15:33

Robbsy said:
I'd just use the built in keyboard. I've never had one fail on me (even on the 6 year old laptop i'm using atm). Also the WASD keys still look exactly the same as all the other.

As long as its a decent quality laptop it should be fine.

The y500 seems to be well built, so u have been using laptop keyboard for 6 years gaming with no issues, thats mpressive!

fastwing76 · 29 Jul 2014 at 17:54

so here is the link for the pictures.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4-JExZNZ3GUeGYwNFZOWXJ4SDQ&usp=sharing
I love my razer blackwidow mechanical touch but I just couldn`t stand the increase distance, it just took away from the experience so what I did is slap the mechanical keyboard on top of the laptop keyboard and voala it fits perfectly! all I had to do is put some adhesive tab from the sides so I won`t move it by accident. I have been using this setup like this for 2 days and I love it. since I am using my laptop as a desktop replacement I won`t have to worry about removing the keyboard everytime I move the laptop.
what do you guys think?
I am thinking of patenting the idea and start making mechanical keyboard overlay for gaming laptops