The HyperX Alloy Elite RGB Mechanical Keyboard Review: A New High-End Challenger
by E. Fylladitakis on January 24, 2019 8:00 AM ESTSoftware
HyperX baptized their new keyboard control software “NGenuity”. Although HyperX advertises it as a “programmable RGB LED software”, NGenuity is not limited to lighting programming. Instead, it makes the Alloy Elite RGB a fully programmable keyboard, allowing the individual remapping/reprogramming of every key. It can hold up to three profiles into its onboard memory but more may be present locally.
The layout of the software initially appears clean and simple. There is more to it than what initially meets the eye though, with several submenus and numerous options. Fortunately, the software has in-built tutorial screens that are helpful and can be brought up at any time by clicking the icon at the top of the interface.
The first screen of the software is very simple, allowing the selection of a local or hard-programmed profile, or its creation. When a new profile is created, the user received a rather long list of pre-programmed lighting profiles to choose from. Note that the lighting profiles are accurate in terms of highlighting the default keys of each game but they are not dynamic, i.e. the key lighting will not change according to any in-game parameters. Each profile can be linked to one or more applications but, obviously, only one icon can be chosen for each profile.
After a profile has been created, users can click the “Customize” button to edit it. This brings up a new set of menus, allowing per-key input and lighting programming. The lighting programming can be either done with the keyboard as a whole, where users can select one pre-programmed lighting effect or color, in zones, where users can define zones to apply effects and colors to, or in “freestyle” mode, where each key must be individually programmed. The lighting programming controls are very versatile and should satisfy any kind of user.
The Macro programming screen holds much more than what its title suggests. From this screen users can manually reassign (or even disable) each single key. There is a wide range of options to choose from, from simple layout changes to multiple concurrent keystrokes. The software has an in-built macro programmer but is very simple, allowing only the capture of keyboard keystrokes and the manipulation of delays, with no repeat settings or the ability to insert mouse movements or clicks. Advanced commands also include the launching of third-party software, allowing the use of advanced third-party macro programmers if the need arises.
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Azethoth - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
I like to live not within my means or need, but within my want.Anyway, if you want nice pricing just keep a watch over at massdrop. They have constant drops for gaming peripherals.
Valantar - Friday, January 25, 2019 - link
While I "understand" the logic behind PeachNCream's statement, I wholeheartedly agree with your stance here, even coming from one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Milton Friedman-derived status quo (and current legal practice) of american business where profit is the only real motive for running a business is absurd when viewing business as part of an actual world. While differentiating between "real" and "fabricated" need is at best a sliding scale and at worst impossible, there's plenty of evidence of how unregulated businesses are able to fabricate consumer wants/needs that are detrimental to the well-being of consumers.There's a whole host of factors more important than shareholder profits (one might argue that shareholder profits ought to _not_ be a priority, given how accumulation of wealth harms society):
- Ensuring steady gainful employment for people
- Manufacturing products that meet societal needs
- Ensuring worker safety and welfare
- Ensuring that manufacturing is as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible
and plenty of others. Single-minded profit-orientation is a recipe for disaster.
PeachNCream - Friday, January 25, 2019 - link
Much of what you're arguing is perfectly valid and I can't disagree. Then again, when your investment income starts to outpace your working income after years of careful personal financial management, strict adherence to a budget, and aggressive investing is it unreasonable to hold people responsible to account? I'm not mega wealthy. I'm not in the 1% (at least not by US standards though possibly on a global scale) so what I've worked for is something I'm eager to protect since I've had to live in poor conditions and grind to get where I am. If my nest is padded by a few computer hardware manufacturers creating a premium keyboard category so they can eek out a bigger margin per sale on the people willing to buy said keyboards -- eh, it's not something I'm going to lose sleep over since those same people will sometimes come out of the woodwork to defend their purchases if they get called into question. They have every right to do that just as much as I have space to expect a company to cater to those people and pass the dividends back up the stack to me.stoatwblr - Thursday, January 31, 2019 - link
"one might argue that shareholder profits ought to _not_ be a priority"Indeed.
The argument that commercial law forces companies to "maximise income for the shareholder" results in companies acting in ways that - if they were human - we'd call pathological sociopaths.
One of the bigger problems in the USA is that once you have an operation tuned for sociopathy, you end up with sociopaths in higher management (until their selfishness inevitably destroys the company, usually by hollowing it out from the inside to line "elite" pockets including their own)
stoatwblr - Thursday, January 31, 2019 - link
30 years ago, mechanical keyboards (like the Model M) easily cost upwards of $250. When you adjust for inflation this makes them even more expensive.Even a basic mechanical keyboard would set you back $125 in 1994.
WRT your comment about Pickup trucks: Look up "The Chicken Tax" on Wikipedia and you'll understand why pickups became both popular _and_ expensive, whilst simultaneously destroying US Domestic car manufacturing viability - thanks to import tariffs. (Hint: pickups/vans have a _much_ higher profit margin than cars, so marketing pushes people in that direction)
werpu - Thursday, February 7, 2019 - link
Well the model M was an entirely different beast and very very durable, actually 30 years ago there was the Model M and then everyone else, with Cherry being in the mediocre low cost field. The downside of the Model m from a modern perspective is that it can only handle one pressure of the main character keys at a time (which is perfect for typing but not so for gaming) . But the thing was a tank, beginning from the keycaps ending with the switches and it was built to cope heavy typing for decades and I have never had a keyboard afterwards with such a clear and string pressure point (ymmv if you like that) and it was loud.Cherries have not changed that much, but the quality of the rest went downhill which means Cherry now is top of the heap and then there is everyone else using cheap chinese Cherry knockoffs with a lower quality branding them as their own developments.
stoatwblr - Thursday, January 31, 2019 - link
You can get genuine Cherry G80 / MX3000 keyboards for less than $60 if you look around.No leds, no multimedia keys, no USB hub - but they're great keyboards (even if officemates complain about the clackiness)
QChronoD - Thursday, January 24, 2019 - link
Maybe I missed it in the software section, but does the software have to be running all the time for the lights and media controls to work or does it actually program the keyboard and then you can close it and everything still works?Zeromus2003 - Thursday, January 24, 2019 - link
I own this keyboard...its AWESOME! The software saves 3 RGB layouts in the kyeboard itself. I love being able to hit the button and cycle through 3 of my fave designs. Best keyboard I have ever used, period!Zeromus2003 - Thursday, January 24, 2019 - link
Q, you won't need the Ngenuity software once you save your 3 layouts. The buttons for media work fine without it.