- Mar 10, 2005
- 14,647
- 2
- 0
http://www.corsair.com/vengeance-ga...rformance-mmo-mechanical-gaming-keyboard.html
like the simpsons' mycube, it's lit to let you know it's off.
$130
i was holding out for a new gaming keyboard for a while, and when my shitty razer lycosa mirror developed a broken "E" that was the last straw. i chose the K90, and here are my observations.
appearance
the first impression is pretty good, but the devil is in the details. i like the look of the aluminium top plate with buttons hovering above and lighting the plane. there are 6 different types of button on the keyboard. anything more than 2 is far too many. there are also 6 colors and tones of illumination, the darkest of which is the light button! the macro buttons live on a cheap, ugly peninsula that clashes awfully with the rest of the keyboard. the 2 LEDs beneath the space bar are almost directly visible. keys with 2 symbols on them are lit unevenly from top to bottom. at least the font is good. $130?
functional design and build quality
there's not much deviation from the standard qwerty layout. the additional buttons are where things go wrong. the (unnecessary) media controls are located behind and 2 cm below the number pad, and the macro buttons are awkwardly 1 cm lower than the rest of the keys. anyone claiming this is a feature that prevents accidental macro firing (anandtech) is an idiot. the volume knob is a knurled roller - not crap, but totally out of place. the spacing between key tops is pretty large, due to a 1 mm gap between keys (for the lights) and a tapered profile.
the aluminium plate gives the keyboard a nice stiffness absent in competing products. the right side has a an edge that makes itself useful for handling the keyboard, but unfortunately the ugly macro peninsula on the left presents a surface that defeats any attempt at grip. i even plucked off a macro button attempting to pick up the keyboard.
this is, by far, the thickest and stiffest usb cable i have ever seen. for what it's worth, it's all plastic with the bare minimum of electrical conductors. the usb pass-thru seems to work fine.
my example was unboxed with the Mute button missing, which was fortunately floating around in the newly-opened box. it takes a bit to pop it out of its home, but the box was completely undamaged. this tells me it was never seated properly in the first place.
the keys are painted matte black, which is cheap and destined to wear badly. my example couldn't even leave the factory unscathed. $130?
the keys
the k90 gets mx cherry reds for the main buttons and number pad, everything else uses plastic membranes except for the volume roller. obviously this decision saves the factory a great deal of money. did i mention this keyboard costs $130?
the mechanical buttons are just ok. the action is smooth, but there is no feedback or detent at all. the stroke is very long, but the switch is activated about 1/4 of way through its travel. there is also very light resistance. as i found out, this adds up to mean it's easy to accidentally press a button while resting your left hand on WASD. i'd describe the amount of wobble as average. most of the sound is produced by bottoming out the keys. the membrane keys are pretty normal and noticeably stiffer than the mechanicals .
hardware and software functionality
what can i say? beyond the most basic capabilities, there isn't much to talk about. even with the latest driver, i have yet to successfully program a macro, and there is no means of programming anything other than the macro buttons. what a massive let-down. i did find 1 quirk - some time after the computer goes to sleep, the keyboard will re-light on its own. when this happens the keyboard is totally non-responsive and cannot wake the computer. $130!
verdict
AVOID. if i had bought it in a brick and mortar store, it would have been returned in 1 day. i'll still send this back to the egg, such is my disappointment. it looks good at first, but its mish-mash of shapes, locations, colors and textures should be laughed out of any engineering or design studio. for gaming it is mediocre at best, and for typing it's absolutely abysmal. it fares better than the crap razer products it competes with (physically, at least) but still nowhere near worth the asking price. nice font, though.
like the simpsons' mycube, it's lit to let you know it's off.
$130
i was holding out for a new gaming keyboard for a while, and when my shitty razer lycosa mirror developed a broken "E" that was the last straw. i chose the K90, and here are my observations.
appearance
the first impression is pretty good, but the devil is in the details. i like the look of the aluminium top plate with buttons hovering above and lighting the plane. there are 6 different types of button on the keyboard. anything more than 2 is far too many. there are also 6 colors and tones of illumination, the darkest of which is the light button! the macro buttons live on a cheap, ugly peninsula that clashes awfully with the rest of the keyboard. the 2 LEDs beneath the space bar are almost directly visible. keys with 2 symbols on them are lit unevenly from top to bottom. at least the font is good. $130?
functional design and build quality
there's not much deviation from the standard qwerty layout. the additional buttons are where things go wrong. the (unnecessary) media controls are located behind and 2 cm below the number pad, and the macro buttons are awkwardly 1 cm lower than the rest of the keys. anyone claiming this is a feature that prevents accidental macro firing (anandtech) is an idiot. the volume knob is a knurled roller - not crap, but totally out of place. the spacing between key tops is pretty large, due to a 1 mm gap between keys (for the lights) and a tapered profile.
the aluminium plate gives the keyboard a nice stiffness absent in competing products. the right side has a an edge that makes itself useful for handling the keyboard, but unfortunately the ugly macro peninsula on the left presents a surface that defeats any attempt at grip. i even plucked off a macro button attempting to pick up the keyboard.
this is, by far, the thickest and stiffest usb cable i have ever seen. for what it's worth, it's all plastic with the bare minimum of electrical conductors. the usb pass-thru seems to work fine.
my example was unboxed with the Mute button missing, which was fortunately floating around in the newly-opened box. it takes a bit to pop it out of its home, but the box was completely undamaged. this tells me it was never seated properly in the first place.
the keys are painted matte black, which is cheap and destined to wear badly. my example couldn't even leave the factory unscathed. $130?
the keys
the k90 gets mx cherry reds for the main buttons and number pad, everything else uses plastic membranes except for the volume roller. obviously this decision saves the factory a great deal of money. did i mention this keyboard costs $130?
the mechanical buttons are just ok. the action is smooth, but there is no feedback or detent at all. the stroke is very long, but the switch is activated about 1/4 of way through its travel. there is also very light resistance. as i found out, this adds up to mean it's easy to accidentally press a button while resting your left hand on WASD. i'd describe the amount of wobble as average. most of the sound is produced by bottoming out the keys. the membrane keys are pretty normal and noticeably stiffer than the mechanicals .
hardware and software functionality
what can i say? beyond the most basic capabilities, there isn't much to talk about. even with the latest driver, i have yet to successfully program a macro, and there is no means of programming anything other than the macro buttons. what a massive let-down. i did find 1 quirk - some time after the computer goes to sleep, the keyboard will re-light on its own. when this happens the keyboard is totally non-responsive and cannot wake the computer. $130!
verdict
AVOID. if i had bought it in a brick and mortar store, it would have been returned in 1 day. i'll still send this back to the egg, such is my disappointment. it looks good at first, but its mish-mash of shapes, locations, colors and textures should be laughed out of any engineering or design studio. for gaming it is mediocre at best, and for typing it's absolutely abysmal. it fares better than the crap razer products it competes with (physically, at least) but still nowhere near worth the asking price. nice font, though.
Last edited:
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