Excuse my language, it's not my fault.

KEYBOARDS, computer ones not musical ones. The keyboard is the centerpiece of the computer right along with its partner the mouse. Without these two devices we would have no means of communicating with the machine that almost dictates everything that we do throughout our daily lives. You know what, I'm going to make this a dual post not only about the keyboard but about the mouse too, as they are both things that every person has a different opinion on, so here's what I have to say about it.

Keyboads

Key Action:
Now, when I speak about the Key Action I am referring to the amount of force that it takes to press a key, and the ease in which the keys come back up after being hit. Most keyboards are fairly good but there are a select few which are just awful monsters that are near impossible to work with. Mac Keyboards are the pinnacle of bad action. The keys are extremely stiff and take a lot of effort to press, thus making typing much more of a task than it has to be. The key placement isn't bad and everything is spaced well but it's irritating to have to use so much effort to press a stupid key. Another issue with these is how on some models the keys ascend upwards in space, why? Not only do I have to stretch my fingers far for the F keys, but I now have to lift them higher as well? That's what I call irritating. The other champion of bad action are laptop and flat keyed keyboards. These demons can make the most fluent of key strokers fall to their knees and weep tears of anger and frustration. You can hardly tell if you've pressed a key, and when you do, they don't really like to spring back up because there's really nowhere for them to spring back up to. Another problem is that they're too easy to double stroke and also to be smashed different directions thus throwing off your fingering. These are just a nightmare to work with and I feel pity on any person forced to use them as a primary input device.

Functions:
I do realize that it's not necessary for a keyboard to have any keys other than the standard keys required to operate a computer, but sometimes keyboards go all wrong when people either add too much or take away things from keyboards. Keyboards without number pads drive me insane, how are you supposed to input mathematical data in a quick and efficient manner without one of these essential pads? It just doesn't happen without it. That's really the only thing that you can take away from a keyboard so that you can still operate the computer, and it's really the only thing that they can take away which makes using the keyboard more irritating. Some things that they add are nice, but some are really cluttered and make the keyboard less efficient. Keyboards that feature email keys and things like that are often cluttered and go unused by those who purchase them. That's about it, I don't know what else I can say about that.

MICE

Control Method
Track balls, oh my are they old. If you are using a trackball mouse kindly do yourself a favor and throw it off of the nearest 3rd story anything you can find. These have a horrendous 2 axis input device which is controlled by the ball which moves inside of it. These get destroyed by dust dirt and grime and become very hard to operate when they are so cluttered up by all of this.
Top Ball Mice, wow. If you can do this go ahead, but these are so finicky that unless you enjoy using it you will never want to touch one EVER.
Optical Mice, these aren't bad, but come on man, there's something better out there and it's called laser. Optical mice aren't horrible but the red light coming from the bottom and its unreliability on certain surfaces can put a hamper on your computing.

Buttons
If you're fine with left and right click and a scroll wheel that's cool. If you're fine with macs one button only mice (which I HATE) with the little scroll ball (which I think is the only good thing about the mouse) then I guess that's cool too, if you're using a stupid mac. Here's the thing though, it's not always bad to have more, and I enjoy a mouse with tons of awesome buttons. Be wary of your choices, because some are cluttered and feature unnecessary buttons.

Wired
I hate wired mice, where's the freedom? What if you want to sit across the room and watch a movie and have your mouse with you just in case you need to pause for some reason and have no other way of doing it in a more convenient manner (I have a remote for my computer suckers!)? What if the cable isn't long enough? What if the cable is too weighted and pulls the mouse? What if your station is too cluttered and a mouse won't work well? For the most part, wired mice are inferior to wireless mice.

My Input Devices and My Advice to You!

I use the Logitech G15 Gamers keyboard, the model with the little screen that can be opened or remain shut. I love it because it has great key action, and its extra keys are useful not only for media but for gaming obviously. Also it has backlit keys so you can always see them even when it's dark (though you shouldn't have to see them if you're good at typing as I am). It has a great design and it just feels right whether you use the wrist rest or not ( I don't because it doesn't fit on my stupid computerdesk keyboard pull out thing. It's an all around great keyboard though it's a bit pricey at around 70 bucks. If you're looking for just a simple keyboard that also functions well then just get a basic 15 dollar Logitech Keyboad, it still works great just without all the bells and whistles.

I use the Logitech MX1000 Wireless Laser mouse which I feel is one of the best mice on the market. It feels good to use, it has not only left and right click but also a scroll wheel which can be used to scroll up down left right and clicked to bring up the mouse scroll input feature. Also, surrounding this scroll wheel are up down left right buttons which are useful for click scrolling, as in one click at a time. On the side over the thumb are forward and back arrows for web browsing and in between these buttons is an application switch button which may be easier for some than using alt tab. Now, if you don't like those buttons the way they are or you're a gamer you can assign them to act as different keys, I think you can even assign macros to them to an extent. This mouse also is awesome because it's wireless and very precise, the receiver is also the charger, and it uses a built in lithium ion battery that holds a strong charge so you hardly ever have to charge it. Also you can use the mouse on almost any surface imaginable and it doesn't emit that awful red glare that optical mice do.

Now, both of these are more than just a mouse or just a keyboard because they both come with software that enables you to further customize them to serve you however you'd like. I put my computer input device faith in Logitech, because they don't just make hardware but also software to make it even better for every individual user. So, you've heard it from me, now it's up to you to decide what works best for your needs in the vast and sometimes very annoying world of computer input devices.