MANILA -- Computer equipment manufacturer Rapoo recently launched its VPRO line of peripherals specifically for gamers.

These keyboards, mouse devices, and headsets are designed to meet the high standards of accuracy, responsiveness and durability that can meet the most demanding needs of the e-sports professional.

Rapoo is not new to the international gaming scene, having sponsored Chinese e-sports teams and Chinese e-sports celebrities.

Taking a page from Apple Inc.’s supply chain playbook, Rapoo designs and manufactures its own proprietary switches for its mechanical keyboards to ensure that it will always have enough for their customers.

Rapoo's new VH200 (P1,515) and VH600 (P2,945) gaming headsets both come with a 16-million color breathing light and use noise isolation with their microphones. The higher model VH600 comes with Virtual 7.1 surround sound and vibration feedback. The headphones vibrate to simulate events like explosions and getting hit by bullets making the games more immersive.

To the general public, these gaming mouse devices and keyboards may seem excessive and expensive. But for hardcore gamers and e-sports professionals, these are worth every centavo.

These accessories are computers in themselves sporting a CPU and onboard memory. These enable the recording and playback of actions called macros. Quick recall of these macros spell the difference between victory and defeat in gaming. Computing power is also needed to make sure that each and every keypress, button press and mouse movement are captured by the computer and reflected in the game.

For e-sports professionals, victories translate to money in the form of tournament cash prizes and sponsorship contracts. These peripherals, like the headsets, often have programmable LEDs that can be customized by users. These often come to play during tournaments where these are set to team colors.

The VPRO gaming mouse devices span from the introductory two button mouse to the hardcore gaming mouse dotted with buttons all around the chassis. These all feature switching resolution on the fly, perfect for moving the mouse quickly to a location onscreen then switching to a different setting for fine adjustments.

The top-of-the-line V310 (P2,190) has a V-Power3 32-bit ARM Core that can that can recognize 12000 frames per second.

Besides gaming mouse devices, Rapoo also showed off other mouse devices. Notable among these are the 3510, which has washable cloth covers that should please users with stylish sensibilities.

Rapoo’s aforementioned mechanical switches are used in the three new VPRO keyboards. From the most top-tier V810 (P6,730) to the compact V500 (P2,020 to P2,690) to the entry level V51s (P1,265.00), these are built for the most demanding users.

Another new market Rapoo is going after are internet gaming café owners. These keyboards are built to withstand the pounding of the most aggressive Counter Strike or DOTA users for a very long time compared to home and office variants. Rapoo isn’t shy about its switches as the high-end models have raised keys that show off these switches.

The top-of-the-line V810 sports the proprietary Rapoo Cherry mechanical switches which are guarantee to work flawlessly for 60 million keypresses.

With the VPRO series, Rapoo joins the likes of Logitech G-Series, SteelSeries and Razer that cater to the niche gaming market. The VPRO prices are surprisingly competitive. On the low and mid-price range, the Rapoo VPRO peripherals are at par with the more established Logitech G-Series, Steelseries and Razer. On the higher price categories, The VPRO V810, the highest end keyboard, is about P2,000 cheaper than the most expensive Razer available locally.

Rapoo’s launch of the VPRO series is an impressive step into the Filipino gaming market, offering cutting-edge gaming tech at prices that won’t break the bank.