PC Accessories and Peripherals Buyer’s Guide

Mice, keyboards, webcams and other peripherals are a cheap way to rejuvenate older computers.

It’s not time for a full PC upgrade just yet, but the love you felt for your once-shiny, new PC this time last year has faded. Time for the computing equivalent of a marital aid. A slick new keyboard, big bright LCD monitor, a sleek wireless mouse, a web cam, a wireless headset or a nice set of speakers can go a long way to reigniting your love affair with the erstwhile cutting-edge machine. And when it does come time for an upgrade, your new peripherals come along for the ride.

LCD monitor

A big LCD monitor – or a couple of smaller ones – is one of the best PC investments you can make. A monitor that’s 20-inches or better (we prefer 24-inch wide screens) allows you to crank out that college paper in style. You can have a research web browser open on one side of your desktop, and still have screen real estate left over for a Word document where you artfully reword that Wikipedia article. The a Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM ($410) is a great example. With its 5ms response time, it’s well-suited to fast action in games and movies. Other features like HDMI in, integrated speakers and 1080p (1920×1200) full HD native resolution mean it can work as a desktop HDTV too. Add to that a good 1,000:1 contrast ratio and adequate 400cd/m2 brightness and it’s a good all-rounder. Its 10,000:1 "dynamic contrast" ratio is harder to measure, but basically means that the panel dials down the back light brightness by area to display blacker blacks, and dials it up to show whiter whites.

Keyboard

The most important factors when looking at a keyboard are comfort, noise and any extra features it includes.

Ergonomic keyboards put your hands in a more natural position, tilting your fingers about 30 degrees. However, this ergonomic benefit comes with a fairly steep learning curve. Our personal preference leans toward a more slight 15-20 degree raking, which be found on ergonomic, but not fully so, keyboards.

Noise may or may not be an issue for you; if you work in an otherwise-quiet environment, the click-clack of a cheap-o keyboard can get irritating. For you, sure, but mostly for those around you.

Consider too that increasingly, keyboards offer an array of usability and media keys; shortcuts for common web browsing actions, hot buttons for launching your chosen media player, volume controls, and so on.

We like the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 ($59.95). With its raked keys, media shortcuts, comfortable wrist rest and quiet key action, we’re willing to forgive that it’s not wireless.

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

Tablet or Trackball

Tablets are great for refined control in image editing and other applications, and the pen interface is much more natural for some. If it’s a tablet you want, your only real option is something from Wacom. If you’re a budding photophile or just looking to use some of Windows Vista’s built-in tablet features, the Wacom Bamboo Fun Small ($99.99) is a good place to start. Further up the line, things become a lot more expensive, topping out at about $2,000 for the Wacom Cintiq 21UX, which is also a 21-inch monitor, and is overkill for anyone but a dedicated digital artist.

Trackballs still have some devotees, though there have been precious few additions to their ranks in recent years.

Mouse

Like the keyboard included with your standard off-the-shelf PC, generic USB mice leave a lot to be desired. They’re a case study in function over form… and sometimes, they can’t even get that right.

Spending a few bucks on a decent wireless mouse should be a given. The most important thing is how said mouse feels in your hand. Your local big-box retailer or boutique computer store should have a few mice, trackballs and maybe even a tablet on display for hands-on testing. You’re going to be spending a lot of time with your hand on whatever you choose, so it pays to choose wisely.

We’re enamored with Microsoft’s latest, Microsoft Wireless Explorer Mouse with BlueTrack technology ($99.99) and the smaller laptop version for $20 less. It’s comfortable, and tracks on surfaces that baffle other optical mice like granite, glass, marble and other polished surfaces… even on carpet if you’re so inclined.

Speakers

5.1 may sound like a good idea when you’re thinking of the world of entertainment possibilities your PC can dish up. However, for all but the most dedicated PC gamers, 5.1 speakers are more hassle than they’re worth. Our advice is to go for a good 2.1 speaker set.

The Creative GigaWorks T20 ($99.99) are a good balance of looks, realistic use of desktop real estate, and clear, powerful sound.

Logitech’s latest, the AudioHub, packs in rich stereo speakers, a subwoofer, cable organizer, web cam stand and a three-port USB hub. It’s also a laptop dock of sorts, and has the perfect form factor for a smaller desk. Just plug in one USB cable, and you’re good to go. While it’s designed with laptops in mind, it works equally well with an LCD monitor.

AudioHub

Headset

If you’re a gamer, a Skype, JaJah, Google Talk, Yahoo!, AIM, Windows Live Messenger, or other chatter, a pair of headphones with a mic are a worthwhile investment. Bonus points if said headset is of the wireless variety, allowing you to take bathroom breaks without having to leave your gaming session or chat (decorum note: this is generally frowned upon). You can grab a cheapie wired headset with standard mic and headphone mini-jacks for $20-$30. A wired USB set is better if you don’t have front-panel audio connections on your PC, and wireless is better still, allowing you to move around while chatting.

We like Creative’s HS-1200 Wireless Gaming Headset ($79.99). It’s got about a 30-foot range, offers about seven hours of battery life (less than the claimed nine hours but still pretty good,) and includes the wireless receiver which has a break-out plug for charging the headset while it’s in use. The cord is about a foot shorter than we’d like in this scenario, but it’s not a deal breaker.

Webcam

Whether looking to chat with Grandma across the pond or engage in illicit chat room nastiness (don’t mix up your chat sessions), you need a webcam. While an inexpensive, generic cam will suffice, if you’re chatting with loved ones overseas (or if you’re in the aforementioned illicit chat), the clearer the picture, the better.

Face tracking is the new buzzword in webcams. The Creative Live! Cam Optia AF ($99.99) does this, and more. The AF stands for auto focus, and in addition to that, it has a 2-megapixel sensor to catch all the action. It can broadcast in 800 x 600 resolution at 30 frames per second, and has noise cancellation technology to get rid of unwanted background sound. Lower down the value chain, you can find some pretty spiffy cams, but this one is top of the line. Perfect if you work from a home office or do video conferencing.

NAS

While Bill Gate denies having said that no one should ever need more than 640k of memory – a claim that is backed up by the fact that the Internet can’t seem to agree on what the actual figure is – it still goes without saying that however much hard drive space you think is enough, probably isn’t.

Network attached storage (NAS) is the hard drive solution that kills storage ills. These devices sit out of the way with your router, and act as a central home storage hub. Some can even stream to your networked entertainment devices without your computer being on.

The Maxtor Shared Storage II 2TB Dual Drive ($649.99) is a prime example. It can act as one 2TB (2,000GB) volume, or one 1TB drive with a built-in redundancy if something should go wrong. You can backup all your PCs to it, stream to the living room via UPnP, and even share USB devices like other hard drives, USB keys and printers.

Router

Ride the wireless wave, dude. Cowabunga, etc. If only the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were still around, they’d be perfect to shill (or is that hero on the half-shill?) wireless routers. The latest standard is 802.11n. It uses some wireless magic and two wireless bands to bounce signals off each other and actually boost your network’s range and bandwidth. It’s all a little much to get into, but suffice it to say, if your 802.11g router has ever proved to be the weakest link in your home network’s speed, it’s a worthwhile investment.

To that end, Linksys has its slick Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link WRT600N ($149.99). It’s fast, long range, and can share USB drives (but not printers) across the network. It’s also fully backwards compatible with 802.11a/b/g devices.

A wireless router is essential equipment for home computing but you don’t necessarily need to be on the bleeding edge; any trusted name brand (like Linksys, D-Link, TP-Link or others) 802.11g router will suffice for most of us.