In order to combat the growing popularity of console gaming (and also to support a growing population of gamers) many peripheral companies began to invest money into making real devices to support gaming on the PC. We have seen many of these products (usually mice of game controllers), but with the exception of a few of the mice we were not all that impressed with them. That is until we started to see the first mechanical switch based keyboards. As we spend a large amount of time behind the keyboard (and also still game) we had a serious interest in these devices. Most of them are centered on the Cherry MX switch. These mechanical switches come in different colors; each of these has different properties. We have shown you blue and brown and what they each bring to the table. Now we are going to take a look at the Thermaltake Tt eSports MEKA G1 Mechanical gaming keyboard. This product takes a little different tack on switches and has opted for Cherry MX Black. So let’s dive in and see if the MEKA G1 will be worth the $100 Thermaltake wants for it.
Value -Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item. As we mentioned before the MEKA G1 will cost you $99.99. This is a very good price for what you are getting. Mechanical keyboards are not cheap right now (at least not good ones) and as the demand remains high (most people will never know how much better it is to use one). The inclusion of the two extra USB ports is a very nice touch as is the headphone and mic outputs. We were a little surprised that there was no ability to set up macros and no back lighting on this keyboard. For $100 we would have expected at least the gaming cluster to be back lit.Conclusion -Thermaltake has had the eSport series out for a while now and it is a good brand. The combination of the Cherry MX Black switches with the extra USB 2.0 ports (maybe the next version will have USB 3.0) and audio ports will appeal to many. The design is clean with a large font on the keys for easy identification. You also have a nice grip on the surface to make sure your fingers do not slide around or off the keys. The weight of the MEKA G1 combined with the large rubber pads on the bottom make for a very solid product when you are hammering away on the keys during gaming or typing. Although the cable from the back of the MEKA G1 is thick and almost guaranteed not to snap, kink or get accidentally cut, we found it to be a little on the stiff side. It was also not the easiest cable to wrap up so you would not have extra hanging down. For general performance the Cherry MX Black switches in the MEKA G1 can feel a little stiff for typing (unless you have a very heavy typing style), but for gaming they are very nice indeed. We were a little disappointed that there was no backlighting on this keyboard as it would have truly completed the feature set. To get that you will have to pay a little extra or move to another maker. Still we have to say that this is one nice gaming keyboard with a lot to offer. In the $100 price range it is one of two that we would highly recommend. We are awarding the Thermaltake Tt eSports MEKA G1 our Silver Key award for it great combination of features. It almost took the gold but the lack of backlighting was enough to rule that level of award out.Discuss this in our Forum
