If you regularly carry your laptop around with you, it might be tempting to download some games to play every now and then just to break up the time.
But the last thing you’ll want is for your laptop’s keyboard to pack in before its time.
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Will Playing Games Damage My Laptop Keyboard?
Playing games on your laptop will wear out the keyboard faster than if you were just using it for web browsing and light to moderate amounts of typing.
But the amount of damage that will be done to the keyboard and how fast will depend on a number of factors, including the build quality of your laptop, how hard you hit the keys, and how often you play games.
If your laptop is expensive, the build quality of the keyboard will be of a higher standard and better able to stand up to the additional wear and tear of playing games.
Some people also mash keys an awful lot harder than is required and this will further shorten the lifespan of the keyboard.
The type of games being played and the length of time they’re being played for will also have a big impact on lifespan.
The more you play the sooner keys will begin to wear and it’s those specific few keys you use for gameplay that will wear first.
the keys on an average laptop keyboard should be able to withstand between 5 -10 million keypresses or last about 5 years but If you’re using it to play games, those keys that are being pressed a lot more often are going to wear out a lot sooner.
When you compare that to good mechanical gaming keyboards which are built to withstand up to 70 million keypresses, you see that regular keyboards are not really built to be strong enough for gaming.
Standard laptop keyboards usually use rubber dome switches beneath the keycaps.
These switches are more affordable to produce, not very precise and they wear out fast when used for regular gaming.
The Benefits Of Using A Secondary Gaming Keyboard For Your Laptop
If you have a fairly decent laptop that can hold its own when gaming, it would be a waste not to avail of that.
But even if your laptop is powerful, it’s not going to have a gaming keyboard, unless it’s a gaming laptop.
And if you also rely on that laptop for school or work, you won’t want to wear out its keyboard within a year or two.
Good gaming keyboards like the G.Skill KM360 or SteelSeries Apex 5 are not too expensive and using a secondary one for your laptop can often make the most sense.
It also offers lots of added benefits for gaming and typing, such as:
Mechanical Keys
Mechanical keys are much stronger and they provide sound and touch feedback that makes playing games and typing easier.
They’re also faster, more responsive to keystrokes, and are more precise and comfortable to press.
The keys on a good mechanical keyboard are usually built to last between 50 – 70 million keystrokes.
Standard membrane keyboards are nowhere near as durable.
Ergonomics
A laptop keyboard that isn’t built for gaming games is not going to be comfortable to play on and may even lead to strain injuries.
In fact, most laptop keyboards are not even recommended for prolonged typing.
Because the laptop’s screen and keyboard are two equally sized parts of the same unit, there simply is not enough space for an ergonomic layout.
And because of the position of the trackpad, you cannot put down any soft support for your wrist.
A good gaming keyboard will be laid out so that your wrists can sit straight and at a comfortable angle making it easier to play for longer and less likely to cause injury.
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Good Key Layout
You’ll easily find a gaming keyboard that will work well for both gaming and typing but the same can’t be said for laptop keyboards.
You might think that all laptops have the same standard key layout, but it’s often not the case.
Many times, different laptop manufacturers will design their own custom key layout so they can squash all of the keys into the small space they have to work with.
These keyboard layouts can often have odd amounts of spacing between the keys and some keys can even be missing or have a wider or thinner shape.
This might not be too noticeable when doing some light typing or web browsing, but when it comes to playing games, the poor key layout will make gaming and typing more difficult and injury more likely.
Macro Keys
Macro keys are programmable keys used as shortcuts for keystroke combinations.
These keys can give you an advantage when gaming but they can also help your keyboard to last longer because they cut down on the number of separate key presses you have to carry out.
RGB Backlighting
Backlit keys come as standard with most gaming keyboards and they can help you to work better in poorly lit environments and highlight keys and key combinations used with specific games.
The Drawbacks Of Using A Secondary Keyboard For Laptop Gaming
Depending on your needs and how powerful your laptop is, using a second keyboard for gaming may not always make the most sense.
Lack Of Portability
You probably bought a laptop so you can take it with you to and from work or school and avail of free Starbucks and library WiFi.
Lugging around an additional keyboard and then requiring the extra table space kind of defeats the purpose of the portability of a laptop.
Additional Lag When Gaming
A keyboard is an added component that, unless there are ports for plug-n-play, may need to connect via Bluetooth.
This can slow response time eliminating competitive play in fast-paced, online games because of the split-second lag.
It Puts You Further From The Laptop Screen
A secondary keyboard will also have you sitting back a good bit further from your laptop screen.
This might not be much of an issue if you have a large laptop, but if the screen is on the small side, the extra distance can really take from the immersive experience.
However, you could also use a secondary monitor to solve the problem – and many people are very happy with this kind of setup – but at what point would it just make sense to build or buy a separate gaming computer.
It Can Look A Bit Odd
First, it can look a bit silly—unless you’re alone—to have to unpack an extra keyboard to use with your laptop.
Gaming laptops that already have mechanical keys for the built-in keyboard are probably the most resilient, long-term option for heavy game use.
It May Not Be Worth The Investment If Your Laptop Isn’t Powerful Enough
If your laptop struggles to play anything more resource-intensive than a 2D platformer, then it is probably not worth the investment.
How Long Do Laptop Keyboards Last?
Standard laptop keyboards under average use will last for about five years or each key will be able to withstand around five million keypresses.
However, laptop keyboards built for gaming will be a lot tougher.
If a gaming laptop comes with a built-in, mechanical keyboard, you don’t need to worry about damaging it and can expect it to outlast the laptop itself, with a decade or more of life.
Membrane keyboards have that same lifespan significantly reduced.
Of course, usage is a major factor and if you’re a heavy gamer on a mechanical keyboard, you will still reduce its lifespan.
Fortunately, gamers aren’t likely to purchase cheap laptops to support their hobby.
Quality gaming laptops are going to have quality keyboards designed with long-term usage in mind and built to withstand a lot of abuse.
With a good gaming laptop, it’s highly likely you’ll be wanting to upgrade your machine long before the keyboard packs in.
How Will I Know When My Laptop Keyboard Is Beginning To Fail?
When a keyboard is beginning to fail, you’ll notice that it doesn’t do so all at once, unless there is a faulty connection somewhere.
Generally, the most used keys will start to fail first, sometimes sticking, responding slowly, and eventually, failing altogether.
What Keys Are Likely To Wear Out First If I’m Using My Laptop For Gaming?
If gaming frequently on your laptop, the first keys to go are usually the WSAD or Arrow Keys, depending on which ones you use for in-game movement.
The above keys are probably the most frequently pressed for movement in role-playing and driving games.
The Space Bar, Left Shift, Ctrl, and Alt are also commonly used as inputs and can be some of the fastest keys to wear out.
Will Playing Games Damage My Laptop?
A regular laptop – when gaming – will be let down in more areas than just its keyboard.
Your laptop will have fail-safes and cooling to stop it from becoming hot enough to cause damage, so playing games will not initially damage your laptop but it will cause it to heat up more regularly and that heat will degrade components over time and shorten its lifespan.
However, heat levels can be reduced by avoiding playing the most resource-intensive games.
If you plan on doing a lot of gaming, try to get a gaming laptop or computer.
You can pick up a fairly respectable gaming laptop like the Acer Nitro 5 for a little over $1,000.
Most good games are resource-intensive and a gaming laptop will have better cooling, more RAM, a more powerful video card, and a more powerful CPU to handle the extra demands.
Keeping Your Laptop Cool
Heat is a computer’s greatest enemy and all computer components will degrade over time, especially with frequent usage and heat.
This is most true of regular laptops that don’t have the required power or cooling.
Keeping your laptop cool when gaming should be a priority.
You could purchase a cooling pad that doesn’t piggyback off your laptop’s battery for a power source.
Cooling pads help keep the internal temps manageable to avoid thermal throttling or damage due to excessive heat.
Never play on a carpet, blanket, bed, or any surface other than a flat, clean one.
While heat is a computer’s greatest enemy, dust is number two, and playing on carpet or similar surfaces is far more likely to allow dust and dirt into your rig.
Also, it doesn’t allow the laptop to properly ventilate and dissipate heat.
Battery Life Can Suffer
A big problem with laptops and frequent, heavy usage with graphics-intensive games, is the battery.
Technology hasn’t reached the point yet where batteries are infallible instruments of portable power.
Excessively draining, recharging, and heating a battery will degrade its long-term viability and it will do so quickly.
However, gaming laptops are built to withstand the day-to-day grind of high-performance graphics, heavy keyboard usage, and battery drain.
Unless you’ve purchased a faulty product, gaming laptops, along with their keyboards, should last you long enough for their specs to be out of date.
As for regular soft keyboards, they are nowhere near as tough as mechanical keyboards and anything more than occasional light gaming could see them wear out well before their time.