Zalman is probably a name we haven’t heard in a while but it may have seem like they are slowly pulling their way back into the market. Recently they’ve sent us a whole bunch of gaming gear to try out and talk about. Zalman are renowned for their brilliant coolers but gaming gear? Well we find out in our first part of the Zalman Gaming Gear Showcase starting off with the K400G Keyboard and the HPS200 Headset.
ZM-K400G Keyboard
Price: $39
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/1hkrRAV
Mechanical keyboards are all the rage these days and it’s not surprising as it’s probably the best keyboard for gaming/typing. The only issue is that not many can afford one coming in at a premium price of $100+ for decent models. This is where products like Zalman’s K400G comes in – budget priced but without the cheap qualities. The K400G features 5 programmable macro keys with up to 3 profiles. It also features an illuminated backlight which is adjustable in either red or blue. Finding a keyboard with backlighting is quite rare in this price bracket. We tested this keyboard with some general gaming and the sleek curved ergonomic design of the keys made the keyboard much more comfortable to use. The only slight issues we found is the cutouts on the space which seems awkward if your thumb doesn’t fit in line with the layout. Apart from the slight thumb space bar issue (which may not affect everyone) – the overall keyboard is probably the best buy for $39 – like really a gaming keyboard with decent features and backlighting under $40. You’ll be lucky to find one that matches this for that price.
ZM-HPS200 Headset
Price: $29
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/1eZuECE
Here’s the next product in the Zalman gaming gear range and it’s a standard looking uniform black headset. Well OK, looks can be quite bland and boring but don’t let that fool you or and the price either. What can $29 bucks get you in the audio department these days especially one geared directly at gaming, well not much. You would kinda expect the price to fool you again but not this time says Zalman as these $29 headsets surely can take on some of the models seen in higher price points in the market. The HPS200 features some solid audio work, pumping the usual drum and bass – the headset handles the levels extremely well with some deep bass. It’s not audiophile quality but quite excellent coming from price. The microphone, normally the downside to headsets did extremely well on the HPS200. It picks up your vocals clearly and sharper than what other headsets I’m used to. The build quality is a little hollow though because of the more prominent light plastic design but still remains rigid in some daily use we done on it. Other than that, the headset is probably the best value for money for a any gamer on a budget.
Check back next week as we look at two of the gaming mouse from the new Zalman range.
