Logitech’s Harmony line has always been one geared towards the living room aficionado on a budget. Not to say that the excellent line of universal remotes is cheap in any way, but as a quick, convenient, and extremely functional way of going against the big boys costing thousands of dollars, the line has always excelled. The Harmony One is the latest universal remote on the block from Logitech and we put it through the paces with entertainment setup, how did it fare?

The first thing you notice about the Harmony One is its construction. The remote features a glazed plastic case on top, rubberized on the bottom, along with the gold-plated charging connectors near the top of the unit on the underside. Back on the top side, an ergonomic hard button layout dominates about 80% of the real estate with the neatest advance taking up the other 20%, a customizable touch screen. No longer relegated to a LCD screen with buttons lining the sides, the Harmony One inherits features from its big brother the Harmony 1000 in a full screen representing advanced remote options and a colorful display which also doubles as a help guide should you need it.

Setting up the remote was a piece of cake. I downloaded the latest version of the software from Logitech’s website, installed the package and followed the on-screen instructions. Upon connecting the remote the computer detected the type of remote and its version automatically, performing any updates needed before we started programming.

Once you get into the meat of the software you’re faced with the semi-daunting task of tracking down all the makes and models of your stereo equipment, the database has tens of thousands of entries to emulate and just about everything is in there. I was setting up an HD cable box/DVR (Scientific Atlanta), LCD TV (Phillips), DVD Player (Sony), Receiver (Pioneer), Nintendo Wii, and PlayStation2. The cable box and DVD Player were using HDMI and the rest were using component cables for progressive scan input.

The Harmony software found entries for all my devices except for the TV, which I expected. As the TV was purchased from Costco I expected the model number to be different than the actual TV as some manufactures will modify an existing unit as a Costco exclusive model, after some programming I was able to find a suitable model to emulate my actual TV. This programming involved placing my TV remote in front of the Harmony One and pushing the buttons when asked for by the software, after examining the IR codes a list of suitable TVs popped up allowing me to choose the correct one, or in my case, the closest one I could.

After all the devices are accounted for, the next step is setting up activities. The remote software is smart enough to know which devices are used for which activities you perform every day, shutting off unneeded units, allowing you to specify which device controls your audio volume, etc. Each activity can be customized from the default set up and new activities can be added. For example, when sitting in front of your system, choosing “Watch a DVD” will power on the TV, Receiver, DVD Player, set the receiver to the correct output, and set the TV to the correct input. If a device is already on the remote will skip that instruction, and if you switch from your cable box to the DVD player, it will power down the box automatically. All in all switching activities is painless and takes about 10-15 seconds for all the signals to be sent, although you do have to keep the remote within IR range during this time so that all the instructions are sent and received.

There’s a special notice for gaming systems within the software, which was presented when setting up the Wii (or PlayStation3) to run, in that the Harmony One lacks the ability to send Bluetooth signals, making it unable to power on the Wii (or PS3) system. This isn’t a big deal considering you’re going to switch to the Wii remote anyway at this point if you want to do anything (sadly the Harmony One is not motion controlled).

The One does, however, detect when its been picked up, turning on the touch screen and the backlights on the hard buttons, which are etched with their labels allowing a bright, white glow to shine, easily visible in the darkest room. The auto-sleep saves battery power, after nearly two weeks of testing we haven’t even had to hook up the provided, glossy caddy which keeps the unit charged.

Granted you’re never going to be able to get rid of all your remotes, even though the Harmony One supports up to 15 different devices at a time. In the case of audio receivers there’s a huge amount of customization options that would impossible to pass off to any universal remote, and a lot of the specialized functions like customizing audio channels, input setup, etc. are always going to need the OEM remote, so don’t throw those originals away just yet.

In actual real-world use the Harmony One surprised us because of its ability to compensate for the missing hard buttons with the touch screen. The Scientific Atlanta cable box using coded keys to complete commands within the DVR menu, these buttons were automatically represented on the touch screen, of which can display up to six buttons at a time, along with the List Programs button and a few others which wouldn’t necessarily be standard on every device. Similar buttons appeared when using our Sony DVD player, including the Eject and Angle buttons being delegated to the screen.

The touch screen itself is sensitive enough to get the job done, however there were a few false positive clicks, either being too close to one of the other buttons (in which we actually hit the wrong command) or hitting a button and the cable box not responding. This happened few and far between in our testing so we’re identifying it as something either blocking the IR or the remote not pointed in the right direction. However, with some tweaking of the options on the remote you can increase or decrease the sensitivity of the screen to your liking.

The hard buttons are firm, needing a good deal of pressure to depress them, but not too much. They are a big change from the standard rubberized and soft buttons found on most OEM remotes, so some getting used to them is likely. The placement of the buttons was one of the most researched portions of the remote with the DVD/DVR navigation commands falling dead center under your thumbs resting place and the program control buttons like fast forward, play, stop, etc. all just a short throw away from your default grip.

The shape of the remote, as stated previously, has the user in mind with the ergonomics beautifully presented and the weight completely balanced between the seemingly heavier bottom and the lighter top. The remote is also solid, there doesn’t appear to be much, if any, hollow space on the inside giving the unit a great feel in your hands. Holding it in your hand the remote feels natural, with most of the commonly used buttons within range of your thumb, however the touch screen is not, requiring you to both look at the remote and move your hand to choose any of the functions.

The final advantage to the Harmony One, besides its MSRP of $249.99, is the on screen help guide which is basically a built in troubleshooter without the internet forums and the trolls within. If you are having trouble with a particular device, or you pointed the remote away from the setup while it was switching activities, the on-screen help guide will take you through some simple questions in order to weed out the problem. We only needed to use this once during our testing, but it solved the issue (the correct input was not selected) and haven’t had any other problems.

The Harmony One worked nearly flawlessly in our testing, excelling in every task that we through at it. The ease of customization via an intuitive software package, quick and easy USB support, and the ability to suit it to your needs without shelling out $1000 makes the Harmony One an easy pick and a high recommendation. If you aren’t ready for a full touch screen yet, or you’re on a budget after shelling out $10,000 on the entertainment system itself, the feature set of this remote makes it a steal at just under $250. 

The Logitech G9 may very well be the best gaming mouse on the market, simply said, its got a wealth of features, solid construction, and solid software to back up that claim. As the natural progression from the excellent G5 and cordless G7 the G9 is a great piece of technology and a must for any gamer, hardcore or casual.

The feature set of the G9 is its biggest drawing point. In previous reviews of gaming mice, we commented on the lack of weight cartridge and the great debate around it (some reviewers love them, some hate them) and while we won’t get into the flame war too heavily, we choose to side with the former in believing that a good, heavy mouse is the way to go over some of the lighter fare. The hidden cartridge has a spot for four weights which come in 4g and 7g varieties. Having used a G5 since its introduction matching the weight and grip shape was a must to feel comfortable.

The G9 also features removable grips, with two included in the retail package. The default is a wider grip, allowing for people with larger hands to rest their palm and fingers all the way around the device. It’s made of the same material as the recently reviewed IKARI Laser with a dry grip technology to wick moisture away from your hands during long gaming sessions. The second grip is made of a textured plastic, and is also smaller, but still provides a meaty grip and excellent finger placement.

The mouse has the standard five buttons (including the click wheel) with two placed near the thumb and the standard left and right buttons. Placed under the left button is a LED display (fully customizable in color via the SetPoint software) and allows you to adjust dpi settings on the fly without the use of any software.

An interesting addition is the wheel which has two modes. The standard (configured via a button on the underside of the mouse) provides the standard clicking resistance when scrolling through web pages or changing weapons. “Unlocking” the wheel removes all friction allowing it to freely spin on its bearing to the point where you can rev it up and let it sit, continuing to spin for a good 10-15 seconds after you let go. This only adds to the bevy of personal customization options available on the G9.

The gaming grade laser, up to 3200 dpi, is smooth at any setting providing excellent feedback. In our testing with games like Portal, Audiosurf, and World of Warcraft the mouse performed highly in all regards and the customizable macros only add to the infatuation we’ve already developed for the unit. Desktop applications too benefited from the smooth laser (as opposed to optical) in testing with software like Fireworks creating lines and making smooth movements with freehand tools was impressive.

The only qualms with the unit are small, and easily correctable due to the replaceable grips. The thumb buttons seem a bit too close together, and the back button is sometimes hard to get to depending on how you grip your mouse. The included grips themselves may not satisfy all games, we found the “precision” grip (the textured plastic one) to be a better fit rather than the dry grip coated “wide load” grip.

The Logitech SetPoint software is also very intuitive and easy to use. Booting it up shows you all available devices on your system, clicking on the device offers you half a dozen pages of customizable options all focused on tuning the mouse to your needs.

Hands down the G9 is the best gaming mouse on the market today and a benchmark for all other manufactures to catch. With touches like a weight cartridge, replaceable grips, unlockable wheel, braided cable, etc. the feature set alone pays for the price of the device. Performance is top notch and customization is key, all points which make fragging so much easier.

Previously we’ve only reviewed microphones and headsets from niche gaming hardware manufacturer SteelSeries and the quality has been unparalleled in the PC arena. Now SteelSeries has launched the IKARI line of gaming mice and we’ve had a chance to take the IKARI Laser Mouse for a spin. My everyday gaming mouse is the robust, well designed Logitech G5 which has been a mainstay on my gaming PC since it was released. One of the features I like, which has caused some debate amongst enthusiasts, is a weight cartridge allowing you to make your mouse as heavy (or light) as you see fit.

SteelSeries has never disappointed in the quality of their products with subtle touches that really highlight the fact you are paying for a premium experience. Not being a wireless mouse the common thing to do on higher end products is wrap the cord in a braid, something the IKARI continues ending with a gold plated USB connector.

The design of the mouse itself takes a little getting used to, but after extended use feels natural and comfortable in most situations. Having larger hands it’s usually harder for me to find a comfortable mouse to accommodate me. The IKARI Laser makes it so your entire open palm rests firmly on the sleek curves, even providing a grooved resting place for your ring and pinky fingers, something most manufacturers pass over. Index and middle fingers rest tightly on the left and right mouse buttons, respectively, and the thumb rests on a small outcropping on the left side of the mouse below the two programmable buttons.

Next to the thumb rest are two indicator lights, controlled by a small button below the scroll wheel on top. The lights are marked High and Low which allows you to configure samples per second, or how sensitive the mouse is to your movements.  On the top side are the aforementioned scroll wheel (which only clicks in, not left to right) and the SteelSeries logo on the palm rest. The underside has the laser port (obviously) and a small LCD screen displaying information about the current profile loaded.

The entire grey/black unit is coated in a “rubberized” plastic material that increases your grip when sweating, allowing you to maintain control of the mouse and now have it fling across the room like a Wiimote should you start playing Call of Duty 4 in the most extreme sense.

The SteelSeries IKARI software, although a bit simplistic, allows for some great customization of the unit, saving the settings directly to the mouse and allowing you to take them with you should you ever decide to leave your rig at home and use one at a LAN party or LAN center.

The five buttons (including the scroll wheel) can each be customized or assigned to different functions. For instance, if you prefer you left click to be on the right mouse button, you can do that, or if you prefer your scroll wheel to launch a macro, you can do that as well. Each of the buttons can be programmed with a macro (although common sense limits it to the two thumb buttons and the scroll wheel). Each macro allows you to record a set of keystrokes and customize the delay between them in milliseconds, so common tasks in both games and office applications have a great advantage. The software also allows you to set both a high and low CPI setting with deep customization in intervals of 1 CPI for each, allowing great control over the sensitivity of your most trusted gaming tool.

After setting up the mouse to your liking, you save the settings and apply them to the unit, saving them in the mouse’s internal memory and allowing you to use SteelSeries “driver-less” technology which is really just a way to take your settings with you without needing a PC with the IKARI software loaded. Unfortunately you can’t save multiple profiles to the mouse at any giving time, so to change profiles you’re going to need access to a driver enabled PC.

The mention of a weight cartridge at the beginning of this article was not without merit, after playing games with the G5 for years, I have grown accustom to a heavier, meatier mouse and switching to the IKARI at first was very daunting. The mouse is considerable lighter than I was used to, and the inability to customize the weight initially turned me off to the unit. It feels lighter than average, but not the point of, say, a Microsoft Intellimouse which is light and cheap. The IKARI is designed for long periods of gaming, and the decreased weight certainly would cut down on fatigue after a long session.

The deep CPI customization and the ergonomic feel of the mouse are two of the high points, as well as being able to save your profile to the unit and take it with you anywhere. Needing a PC equipped with the driver software, however, to change your profile is a bit of a disappointment, which sort of negates the “driver-less” marketing point of the unit. Those who have become reliant on heavier mice are sure to experience a lot of growing pains with the unit, simply because it doesn’t have that “feedback” feel that requires you to put more pressure to move it. After repeated and continuous use the mouse feels only natural. SteelSeries once again adds to its arsenal of gaming-grade goodness with the IKARI.

With the advent of the wireless controller, gamers’ living rooms have finally realized their full potential. Instead of being confined to a six foot lifeline to the console, players can now go anywhere in the room, and sometimes even the house to play games (take, for instance, bowling a strike from the kitchen in Wii Sports bowling while not even looking at the TV). However, this wonderful new frivolity comes with a rather expensive price. Batteries are quickly becoming the bane of many a player’s existence, and the worst part is that if you do not have a ready supply in backup, the afternoon you planned to spend toiling away at Halo 3 trying to make Brigadier can be ruined. Your entire gaming experience is hinged on batteries. Enter the NYKO Charge Station 360 rechargeable battery charger. Packing two rechargeable batteries and a relatively compact unit, it’s a handy addition to your gaming arsenal that saves you money big time in the long run.

NYKO has always been about ups and downs. It seems that the products that they deliver seem to barely miss the target on quality and style. That’s not to say that they do not make solid, good products, but they always seem to have their little nuances that just makes NYKO, well NYKO. I’ve read all over the internet about people having serious issues fitting NYKO’s battery into the Xbox360 controller, and even more complaints about people having one or both batteries not hold a charge at all. I did not experience either of these problems. The battery did fit a little awkwardly into the back of the controller, and by awkwardly I mean it did not simply glide into place like the Microsoft battery cartridge does. It seemed to be a big beefier than the standard, and fit a bit more snugly, but it did fit. I have used both batteries to see if one of them would burn out on me, and they both seem to last as long as I imagined they would. Perhaps there were bad batches of the charge stations, but I didn’t seem to have any of the problems that some people have with this station.

The only issue I had with the station is the goofy look of the battery pack. The 360 is all about sleek curves and nice lines, and here comes this battery with its pointed corners and goofy edges. It simply does not fit with the look of the console or the controllers. Thankfully, I never have to look at it, but I still know it’s there, looking like a country boy at a death metal concert.

Cost wise, this may be the better option, depending on your gaming situation. The cost of the NYKO Charge Station 360 and the official Microsoft charge station are about the same ($25 on Amazon), however, the NYKO station comes with two batteries. Microsoft, in their desperate attempt to make as much money as possible, charge the same price for the station and one battery, and an additional battery is another $12. If you have two controllers, the NYKO is definitely the cheaper way to go. If you are a lone gamer, either one would work for you, unless you are cheap and you play for like 14 hours straight, then you might want to get the NYKO to make sure you always have a fresh charge ready. All in all, even with the goofy look and the chance you might take of having to return the thing if it doesn’t work, NYKO once again delivers a decent, solid generic alternative to the expensive, money grubbing official brand. Either way you go, you’ll definitely be saving money in the long run by sticking it to the battery man, whoever that is.

SteelSeries has one again outdone itself, creating yet another worthy addition to an already stellar line-up of headphones, this time with the all-purpose Siberia full size. What makes the Siberia different from the range of headphones we’ve reviewed previously from SteelSeries is its all purpose nature, and, unlike the 3H, 4H, and 5Hv2, the Siberia does not come with a built in microphone.

Like the 5H, which gets a lot of use around Entertainmentopia HQ, the Siberia features large ear pieces fully cupping the ear and helping to eliminate almost all ambient noise. The cups are padded and covered in a silky material making them comfortable for extended use. Coming in both black and white, the Siberia does not feature an adjustable headband; instead the plastic constructed band is stationary while a tension held secondary lightly padded headband stays snug to the top of your head, keeping the headset in place while moving.

The standard cord length (about three feet) is optimized for MP3 players residing in your pocket allowing for a full range of head motion without any tension on the cord. Also provided is a six foot extension cable for use with stationary devices like an audio receiver or computer. Curiously the cord based volume control only controls the earpiece volume (not the mic like on the pure-gaming series of headsets) and is located on the extension cable, and not the built in piece. From a design standpoint it can easily be seen how this was done, using the volume control as the intermediary connector between the two lengths, but those looking to purely use the headset for iPod or Zune use might be disappointed.

The only troubling design choice is the separate microphone, making the headset a questionable purchase for anyone who will be devoting more time towards online gaming than using the audio device for other purposes. The mic has a clip to place it on your shirt (sorry to all the nude Team Fortress 2 players out there) and is fully removable from the main headset right down to the cord, but for those hardcore gamers, you’ll want to look at the 5Hv2 with its retractable and excellent sounding microphone for your pure gaming need.

Of course a beautifully constructed headset is only as good as its sound quality and through all of our tests, the Siberia retains the high fidelity quality set down by its predecessors.

We tested the Siberia with a variety of devices since it is billed as an all purpose headset. The first test is the standard we run with all headsets, World of Warcraft. In this test the beautifully orchestrated soundtrack by Blizzard crept through the padded earphones wonderfully, easily standing up to the best we’ve tested so far (5Hv2). Bass levels were good and small subtle effects like water dripping were crisp, clear, and precise.

The second test was with an Apple iPod 5G. The iPod is easily the most popular music device available, and the while and black look of the Siberia fits extremely well with the color motif employed by Apple (even through our iPod is black). Sound quality was just as excellent as with our gaming tests. Treble and bass levels were excellent, spoken bits were also presented very well, clear, without any of the audio levels attempting to overtake the other. Most of the tracks were encoded in Apple’s AAC format with a few high quality 192kbps MP3 files thrown in for good measure.

The final test was with a Pioneer VSX-1016TXV-K receiver coupled with a Sony DVP-NS71HP DVD player and two movies in Dolby Digital, Constantine and Transformers. The dialog heavy Constantine performed well in our tests with in-movie ambient noise clearly audible such as water dripping, footsteps approaching from behind, and the subtle “hell-speak” in the film’s climax. Transformers, a more bombastic film with heavy use of bass also performed above expectations from the very beginning, Peter Cullen’s low, deep voice easily impressed with the Siberia. The headset comes packaged with a 3.5mm to 6.3mm gold plated adapter for use with home receivers and devices which require the larger plug.

As stated previously, the Siberia holds up the high, proud tradition of the SteelSeries name providing excellent audio quality, and versatility for those looking to spend money on a multi-purpose headset. While we can’t recommend it for sole gaming use, for those who will be dividing your time amongst many different activities that require a high quality, well built device, the Siberia is unmatched.

The latest and greatest from SteelSeries’ line of award winning headsets is the 5Hv2, incorporating everything that made the original 5H such a gaming favorite and building upon that to deliver one of the best, if not the best, headsets on the market. After having reviewing the 3H and 4H in previous months, I was anxious to see if the 5Hv2 was going to be able to top to audio performance of the 3H and the comfort of the 4H, but after weeks of testing, the 5Hv2 comes out on top in both categories.

The headset is built of sturdy plastic, giving it a solid feel, even though some of the features, such as disassembly, may lead you to believe otherwise. For easy transport the unit can be taken apart into three separate pieces. The top headband, and each earpiece are completely independent pieces, and when assembled are held together tightly and the audio connections between the headband and earpieces is done via gold plated connectors.

The cord is braided, giving it an elegant feel and just that little bit of notice you’re working with a higher end, more expensive unit. The actual cord length is rather short, coming in around three feet, but SteelSeries includes a full extension cord, making it easier for users whose towers are on the floor, or require some cable routing to get to. As with the 4H, a small audio control unit is included allowing you to change the mic sensitivity and earpieces volumes. This remote has a small clip on the back for those who will be using the unit on the go.

As with all SteelSeries units, the 5Hv2 also comes with a fully retractable (and nearly hidden) microphone in the left earpiece. The microphone is fully adjustable and easily slides in and out, making the headphones ideal for both gaming and non-gaming use.

To test the unit we did our standard series of tests, music, movies, and video games. Since all SteelSeries products are geared towards gaming, that’s where we started. Using World of WarCraft as our benchmark (since it was used previously in our 3H and 4H reviews) I was pleasantly surprised to see that the audio quality, which had dipped a bit with the 4H, was back up to 3H levels. The ambient sounds came across crisp and full through the unit, even at a medium volume setting. The splashing of water in Nagrand was wonderful to hear, and the SteelSeries’ bread-and-butter, the bass, really came through while battling for Halaa. This is definitely a gamer’s headset.

For music we tried a number of different genres to get an accurate picture of how the headset would perform. To start we loaded up Dane Cook’s new Rough Around the Edges to see how a spoken word album would fare. Unfortunately, not so well as Cook was easily overtaken by the more bombastic crowd noise and yelling at times, making some of the albums tracks difficult to hear. We’ve noticed this recording problem using other headsets and speaker set ups, so it’s not entirely the 5Hv2, but the headset does seem to amplify it. Next up we mixed up a playlist in Napster consisting of 80’s, hip-hop, and rock, of which the 5Hv2 easily cleared the floor with its brethren providing a clean sound, dwelling a bit in the lower range because of the bass-focused setup, but still making the music completely listenable.

The 5Hv2’s big difference from the original 5H is its added padding, making it one of the most comfortable headsets we’ve ever tested. Along the headband and the earpieces, we never once experienced any fatigue or pain while testing the unit. The ear cups are big, and broad, easily encompassing even the largest ears, and the unit as a whole is not overly heavy, leaving no straining of the neck, even during long playtimes.

Everything about the 5Hv2 shows that SteelSeries once again delivers a high quality, highly usable unit. The audio performance is excellent, the comfort level doesn’t lead to the need for acupuncture, and the little things like braided cables and gold plated connectors all lend themselves to this being one of the finest products on the market and an easy recommendation for any gamer.

Last month we had the chance to review SteelSeries’ entry level headphone/mic combo in the 3H, a small, albeit very well made and productive gaming headset for just about anyone to use, but geared for gamers. We’ve now had the opportunity to try out the 3H’s big brother in the way of the 4H, another winning entry from the company who knows what gamer’s want, and delivers each and every time.

The 4H improves up what made the 3H so economical and useful by increasing the size of the ear cups, now allowing them to encompass your entire ear, providing an added bit of noise canceling. This was one of the major drawbacks to the 3H as it didn’t cancel out ambient noise, and at times, it seemed as though devices like fans, or even your CPU cooler could get in the way of the action unless you used absurdly high volumes.

Staying with the traditional hidden microphone, the 4H hides a retractable mic inside the left earphone, making it easy for gamers using voice chat to pull out the opposable device at a moments notice, or simply use the headphones without the mic getting in your way.

As with most expensive headsets, the 4H comes equipped with a cord remote allowing for on the fly adjustment of headphone volume and microphone sensitivity, the former controlled via a dial, the latter with a three position switch. Since it’s a common occurrence to get your cords tied up between Red Bull and Mountain Dew slams, the remote also comes equipped with a handy clip for attaching to your shirt sleeve, or elsewhere if you decide to play sans clothing.

The construction of the 4H is also continuing with SteelSeries’ top notch choice in materials. The mic itself is the most noticeable with a series of metal and rubber rings making the boom flexible and adjustable from the top to the bottom. The plastic construction of the 4H is sturdy, and the set never feels cheap like a lesser brand. The solid ear cups provide more than enough weight to keep them in place, and after prolonged periods of playtime, you never feel as though your neck might snap off.

The only real disappointment with the unit is the sound, while the 3H handled bass very well, albeit in an exaggerated sense, the 4H’s sound seems duller, less rich, especially during non-gaming us. Just listening to AAC encoded tracks from iTunes, the sound seemed much quieter than previous headsets we have tested and there didn’t seem to be a lot of definition in the sound. Granted these are gaming headsets first, but with some games providing rich, orchestrated, or licensed soundtracks, it was disappointing to see the 4H just pass on our audio tests, while still excelling at the loud, booming bass of games. I’m by no means and audiophile by nature, but after switching back and forth between the 3H and 4H, I actually preferred the 3H’s sound to the bigger, more expensive unit.

The 4H continues the award winning tradition of SteelSeries by really focusing on the gamer. Those looking for an all around headset for everything from Skype to iTunes to BioShock may be disappointed. Still, even with some minor sound drawbacks, the 4H comes highly recommended for its excellent construction, comfort, and features.

With the advent of VoIP services like Ventrilo and the industry mainstay TeamSpeak, the gaming industry has seen the next level in video game strategy as gamers no longer need to communicate via keyboard while trying to take down opposing forces, instead, simply talking things out and playing the game can be done at the same time.

Still a voice service is only as good as the hardware on each users end and that’s where hardware manufactures like Logitech, Microsoft, and SteelSeries come into play with low, mid, and high-end gaming headsets full of features to give gamers that added edge.

The 3H headset is the entry level offering from hardcore manufacture SteelSeries which provides an easily collapsible and storable headset with above average sound, although lacking in a few areas inherent to its price.

First the good stuff, the 3H, as mentioned, can fold and collapse onto itself making it easy to store or travel to the local LAN party. The adjustable earpieces provide adequate cushioning and never hurt your ears after extended play sessions. The microphone completely retracts into the left earpiece and can be pulled out and manipulated to an optimal position at will by the player. So when just using the headphones to listen to music, or browse the web the microphone is never in your way. The unit is very lightweight easing the strain on your head and neck during late night frag sessions.

The sound is excellent projecting bass very well, in fact, the headset loves the lower range fully projecting bass while missing some of the higher end frequencies, but since most games rely on the lower end of the spectrum, this isn’t a big shortcoming, although for true audiophiles, you might want to look at a more expensive solution. The earphones seemed to handle higher volumes as well without much distortion as we cranked up the volume, but if you enjoy hearing, its never recommended to play at volumes this high, especially with earphones.

The biggest drawback to the unit is the lack of noise cancelling on the earpieces, during our play testing, fans running at high speed in the room could be heard over the sound coming from the headphones at a reasonable volume level, while never overtaking the rich sound of our testing games (Bioshock and World of WarCraft), it is noticeable.

The final testing involved the microphone itself which seemed to pick up the sound of our voice accurately and project it through our service of choice. Even recording voice-overs through Sony SoundForge yielded excellent results in a room where ambient noise was present.

For those who will be using the headphones casually with the new built-in voice chat for World of WarCraft or occasional playtimes online need not look any farther than the 3H, its lower price does cut down on some of features found on higher end models, but for the semi-hardcore you can’t go wrong once again with SteelSeries’ offering.