Gaming with the Thermaltake eSports MEKA Compact Gaming Keyboard

Checking the product features

Let’s look at the product features, one by one.  First, “up to 1000Hz polling rate 8x quicker than regular gaming keyboard – Never lag for action performing” is more hype than a special feature considering that the Cherry Black MX switches have a debouncing speed of 5ms.  That means that anything over 200MHz is pretty meaningless.  It’s fast enough for a superhuman gamer or typist is what we need to take away from this.  Polling speeds have meaning for the mouse – not so much for the keyboard.

We have seen how the Cherry Black MX mechanical switch is an excellent choice – although some gamers preferring the red or the brown.  The main thing we need to realize is that you will never wear out your keyboard switches – unlike the cheaper dome switches of the standard keyboards.

Another feature are the two USB hubs on the top of the MEKA keyboard – one on the right and one on the left.  They serve an excellent purpose for connecting a mouse, for left or right handed gamers.  And of course, a headset or another USB peripheral is really handy to plug into a keyboard.

Anti-Ghosting for 16 keys is quite decent for a gamer.  Most keyboards only allow perhaps two or 3 simultaneous key presses.  Ghosting occurs when you press two keys on the keyboard, and a 3rd key – which you didn’t press – gets sent to the PC as well. This is very rarely seen on even the cheapest modern boards, because manufacturers have the habit of limiting the rollover so that ghost keys are always blocked.

Key Blocking is experienced when you reach your maximum key roll over.  When two keys are pressed and the third key is blocked as it is on this editor’s Compaq notebook, that is Key Blocking in action, and the keyboard is 2KRO.  In the case of the MEKA Compact keyboard, it is rated 6KRO which is good for most gamers.

The gold plating is a nice touch ensuring good contact with the USB connectors and longevity for something that will soon become one of a gamers most prized possessions – for years.  And of course, Thermaltake eSports backs it with a 2-year warranty.

 Conclusion

This editor has a much higher regard for keyboards now than formerly.  A quality keyboard makes a significant improvement in productivity and enjoyment for any user.  The only warning is to match the keyboard to the use and to the user and to determine the amount of resistance you want from the keys and what kind of tactile feedback will suits you best and what amount of noise is tolerable.

The Tt eSports MEKA Compact Gaming Keyboard is a good value for a no-frills compact keyboard that can be easily taken to LAN parties.  It is ideal for a gamer who wants a compact keyboard and also a good choice for a typist.  You will make less errors and have less fatigue than using ordinary keyboards.  And everyone will appreciate the two USB ports built into the top of the keyboard.

Getting Used to it

This is important. It may take a week or two to get used to a mechanical key keyboard if you are used to a standard rubber dome variety.  Stay with it.  You will never go back.  And you will game or type with more accuracy and less fatigue on a great keyboard that will remain of the same high quality for years of dependable service.

One thing to note that you may never get used to unless this is your exclusive keyboard, is that some keys are placed strangely.  You need to decide if the arrow keys and ‘?’ placing and the small backspace key will annoy you or not.

Pros:

• Cherry Black MX switches are a great choice for a gamer.  They are fast and provide good feedback.
• Compact size is one of the important features of this board, it takes up less space but loses nothing compared to a full size keyboard and it even has a numpad.
• The MEKA compact keyboard is heavy, *solid* and built to last.
• Numlock and Caps lock light up red LEDs  –  together with the red accents on the sides, it is a handsome and good looking black keyboard that will go with just about any PC.  There is no Windows key on the left side to deactivate for gamers.
• The tilt-up is OK and the rubber feet keep the keyboard from moving even during heavy gaming.
• The 6 foot USB braided cable is heavy and very durable (although possibly too stiff for some; it may be a con)

Cons

• The screening on the keycaps looks to be impermanent and they will probably wear off in time
• No PS/2 connector.  They do have advantages over USB although less motherboards offer the connector.
• Some of the keys are placed in a non-standard way for touch typists – especially the “?” – and the backspace key is unfortunately regular-sized.  This is a better keyboard for a gamer than a typist although it is much better than any rubber domed keyboard for typing.  There are no programmable keys for macros.

We give the Tt eSports MEKA Compact Gaming Keyboard our highest recommendation and our ABT Editor’s Award.   It is our favorite keyboard and we will be using it for many years to come.  Recommended.

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