So then, the AW768 keyboard will use it, too.īoth models let you toggle through DPI settings-three steps for the AW558 and five for the AW958. The release also mentioned “RGB Alien FX Lighting,” which is just the name of the lighting system Dell made. The former has the PixArt PMW3325, and the latter sports the PWM3360.īoth are supported by the Alienware Control Center, and you can program the mouse buttons. The Alienware Advanced Gaming mouse (AW558) and the Alienware Elite Gaming mouse (AW958) are the two rodents in the Alienware family. Dell did not include an image, but we know that it will cost $25. There’s also a removable palm rest, which is sold separately. The AW768 also got a volume roller and different dedicated button configurations. This model does have 256KB of onboard storage, but there's no word on how many profiles you can keep. Alienware claimed that it’s RGB, but oddly, it’s not per-key-instead, there are 13 lighting zones. It, too, seems to have LED underlighting, but it also offers backlighting for the keys. The AW768 looks to have more or less the same chassis as the AW568, but in silver instead of black. On the other hand, it lacks any onboard storage, so you can’t create or save any macros directly from or to the board. The AW568 costs $90, which, considering the software support and macro keys, sounds like a pretty solid deal on its face. The design is reminiscent of pre-X-series Razer keyboards, with a smooth, stylized top panel and keys nestled beneath it. Perhaps surprisingly, the AW568 sports a bank of five left-side macro keys, and it has three dedicated media buttons on the top right side. Presumably, you can control that via the Alienware Control Center software.
The AW568 appears to lack any backlighting, but judging from the press images, there’s an LED strip under the lip of the chassis that provides an underglow. (Dell did not include any further information on the software, nor do we have any screenshots.) Both keyboards offer NKRO.
Both the Alienware Advanced Gaming keyboard (AW568) and Alienware Pro Gaming keyboard (AW768) will make use of the Alienware Control Center software for configuring key assignments and other settings. There are no other switch options at this time. Even so, the lack of some key but basic details in the release raise an eyebrow.īoth of Alienware’s keyboards will use Kailh Brown switches. We don’t wish to sound cruel it’s possible that the segment Dell is targeting here are indeed those people who need to be persuaded to switch to better gear and truly have never heard of serious gaming peripherals before. (That’s true of membrane keyboards, but considering the veritable explosion in the number of mechanical keyboards on the market, including quite inexpensive models of unknown quality, we would take issue with “most.”) There’s also a description of what macros are, as well as a facile claim that while Dell’s keyboard’s don’t suffer from ghosting, “most existing keyboards” do. That’s all technically true, but it’s just an odd way of phrasing it. There’s also this description of the backlighting: " The backlighting on the keys is very important when the gamer is in a dark room in order to find the right keys faster. Take, for example, this description of the keyboards’ switches: “ With mechanical spring- loaded keys (KaiHua brown switches), the responsive and snappy typing experience offers a competitive edge against standard (membrane) keyboards.”