Packaging and contents:
The box, in common with other Corsair products I have tried, comprises minimal packaging and lets the quality of the product speak for itself. This is in sharp contrast to something like Razer's products for example, which are in my opinion, over-packaged in order to try and give the impression of quality. I believe Corsair should be commended for their approach to packaging, in these environmentally conscious times.
All that is in the box, is the keyboard, a warranty card, and a piece of paper telling you to go to Corsair's website to download drivers for the keyboard.
Keyboard Quality:
The keyboard just screams quality, from the brushed aluminium, to the feel of the keys, and the thick braided cable that runs out of the back of it. You truly feel you have purchased a premium product. The plastic areas of the keyboard feel like they are made from a good quality plastic and the coating of the keys with a matt effect black surface works well. Note that the keys on this keyboard are laser etched (unlike the Corsair K60 keyboard) and should be extremely durable. I have only seen one reported incident of the key surfaces wearing out on a couple of the keys and that would seem to be an exceptional case. Please note that not all keys on the keyboard are mechanical - the Function keys, the G Macro keys and the page-up cluster are rubber dome. All other keys and the numpad are mechanical. Whether this will be an issue or not for you will depend on the individual, it is certainly no issue for me. The keyboard also has media keys on it, that include a knurled, aluminium volume knob - a nice touch and not something I have seen elsewhere. There is also a full length wrist-rest that can be attached or removed from the keyboard and has a rubberised, dimpled finish on it that is both comfortable and reduces sweating.
Installation:
Plug the keyboard into a spare USB port, preferably a USB 2 port, as there have been reported issues on Corsair's forums, regarding connecting the keyboard on USB 3 ports. Note that the keyboard has two USB cables on it, one to provide the connection to the actual keyboard itself and the other one to provide a connection to the pass-through USB port that is built into the keyboard, that you can connect your mouse or headset or other USB device to. I have had difficulties with one headset I use not being detected when connected to this pass through port, so please be aware that there may be issues with some devices.
The keyboard once plugged in to the USB port will be detected by Windows and HID compliant drivers loaded for it. Once Windows has installed the drivers, basic functionality of the keyboard should be working, including being able to toggle the keyboard lighting on and off or setting it at various brightness levels by pressing the appropriate button on the keyboard. You do not need to install any drivers from Corsair at this stage, unless you want the additional software that will allow you to program the Macro keys. If one of the reasons you have bought this keyboard is specifically for the Macro keys, then you will need to go to Corsair's website and download them, as no drivers are supplied with the keyboard when you purchase it. Please check the forums for the current release of software, as at the time of writing this review, the beta drivers listed on Corsair's website, despite having a version number higher than the release drivers, are in fact older ones and should not be used.
Software:
If you have downloaded the software from Corsair, install it as you would any other piece of software and you will then find you have an icon in your system tray. Opening this will allow you to do several things. Firstly it will allow you to assign macro's or keypresses to the 'G' buttons and these are configurable across all 18 macro buttons and across three different profiles per button, giving you a total of 54 macro buttons. The keyboard has some onboard flash-ram that will allow you to store profiles on it and use them from any PC you plug the keyboard into. Recording a macro is a simple as pressing the MR (macro record) key on the keyboard, pressing the appropriate keys that you want to record and then pressing one of the G buttons to assign it to and pressing MR again to stop.
Also contained within the software is the ability to check the firmware version of the keyboard, and you can then compare the firmware version to the latest available on Corsair's website and then download and flash the latest firmware if necessary. My personal experience of this keyboard is that my keyboard firmware was out of date and needed to be flashed. If you are flashing your firmware, make sure your keyboard is connected via a USB 2 port before flashing, there have been reported issues when trying to flash it over a USB 3 port.
One last thing to mention in this section, is that the keyboard is not picked up by all BIOS's during POST, so this may leave you in a position where you cannot get into your PC BIOS during boot if you need to. This issue is a motherboard BIOS issue and nothing to do with Corsair. It is more likely to affect older motherboards that have not had their BIOS's updated. The answer to this issue, is to either keep a spare keyboard that will work with your motherboard BIOS, or to update your motherboard BIOS to a current version that will support a 16-bit keyboar
Keyboard in day-to-day use:
Generally, an absolute pleasure to use, but there are some caveats, so let me describe them.
Firstly the keys - these are lovely to the touch and the Cherry Red mechanical switches underneath them respond well under your fingers, but they are noisy. Granted, they are not as noisy as Cherry Blue switches, but they are still sufficiently "clacky" that they may annoy you if you are used to the quieter, more damped sound of rubber dome/membrane keyboards on your PC or laptop. I have also found that I am using excessive force to hit the keys, and they need far less travel to activate the keypress than membrane based keyboards do. I suspect, that with time, my typing will adjust to be less heavy handed. The keys are very responsive, and I suspect that people who are interested in playing FPS games will be just as happy on this keyboard, as they would be on Corsair's K60 keyboard, which is specifically targetted at FPS gamers. The backlighting under the keys works very well for playing in the dark, and can be set at three different levels of brightness by pressing a button on the top of the keyboard, or indeed turned off entirely. Personally, I love the glow and have it on its highest brightness setting, even during the day. The lighting is blue only, so anyone wanting something other than blue, needs to look elsewhere. One thing to note, is that this keyboard is the only mechanical keyboard I have found, with backlit media keys on it. Whether this is desirable for you or not, or even whether you want media keys at all, is for you to decide. While on the subject of media keys, the knurled aluminium roller control for the volume, I thought was a particularly nice touch. Blue backlighting is not present on all keys, the G Macro keys and the F keys have a more subdued, white lighting and this is deliberate as they are typically keys that will be used less often while your focus is on the main part of the keyboard. I am happy to report that this subdued white backlighting on some of the keys feels just fine when you are using the keyboard. My biggest complaint with this keyboard is related to key spacing. I find the row of function keys are far too close to the other keys for regular typing purposes and I am constantly hitting the F11 and F12 keys either as well as, or instead of the backspace key. Similarly, I find myself conctantly hitting the Caps-Lock key instead of the Tab Key. Perhaps those of you who are touch typists, or who have more accurate fingers than me, will not have this issue, and maybe I will adjust my typing over time to accommodate the key layout. This keyboard also has 20KRO, which is the best I have found on a USB keyboard, though whether this is of interest to you, will depend on the features you are looking for when selecting a keyboard, for me, it is nice to have, but probably of no use.
Overall:
I have a concern about quality control, hence me dropping my rating for this keyboard to 4 stars. Others have reported lighting failures on the keyboard, and the first one shipped to me, had a lighting failure under the letter 'V' key. It wasn't a problem getting the keyboard replaced, thanks to Amazon's excellent advanced-return policy, where they shipped me a new one before receiving the old one back, and the new one I received is working fine. Given that I, and a number of others have experienced this issue, you have to suspect either a faulty batch, or problems with quality control testing. However, the lighting failure was not sufficiently worrying to me to persuade me to get a refund rather than a replacement, as in all other respects, the keyboard suits me well and I am very happy with it. I will try and finish this review with a summary of the positives and negatives :
[+] Really nice quality keyboard. Feels robust and components are nicely finished.
[+] Mechanical switches. Very responsive and a joy to type on.
[+] Backlighting. Great for gaming in the dark.
[+] Braided USB cables. Nice and thick and don't tangle or coil
[+] 54 Macro keys. Will be of interest to MMO players
[+] 2 Year Warranty
[+] Corsair have very responsive Support Services and actively monitor and participate in their own discussion forums
[-] Lighting failures reported on some, fresh out of the box keyboards
[-] Some people may not like the fact that not all keys are mechanical
[-] USB pass-through on keyboard seems to have issues detecting some devices
| Brand | Corsair |
|---|---|
| Package Dimensions | 55.8 x 22.2 x 9 cm; 2.02 Kilograms |
| Item model number | CH-9000003-UK |
| Manufacturer | Corsair |
| Colour | Cherry mx red |
| Operating System | Windows XP, Windows Vista |
| Item Weight | 2.02 kg |
| Guaranteed software updates until | unknown |
