Corsair Vengeance k90

I got my new mechanical keyboard, the Corsair Vengeance K90. Here's my thoughts on it.

First of all, it just darn right looks sweet. The Brushed Aluminium looks sweet, and it feels sturdy and nice, not plasticy. But its still pretty light, which is kind of a suprisingly big deal when you, like me, often end up with the keyboard on the lap during long gaming sessions. Here's one thing I'm not used to though, the G-buttons. While I am a MMO gamer I've never felt the need for the Macro-buttons, so the added space on the side makes it a bit weird to balance it on the lap; but it's just something to get used to really.

Another thing to just get used to is actual typing. I bought the mechanical keyboard actually for that very reason, I wanted the Cherry MX Red switches so it'd be better for my silly fingers to type long articles and interviews (or blogposts for that matter..) like I do now and again. While the mechanical keyboards are great for gaming, that was actually second in priority for me. If it had been first priority, I'd look for Cherry MX Black or Browns.

However what I found when I started using it was that it felt weird typing on, but friggin fantastic to game on. You notice it so quickly. And if you don't feel it right away, the F-buttons are "regular" Rubber-domes, so clicking the mechanical vs the rubber domes, you really feel how much easier and comfortable the mechanical ones are.

The fact that its a bit strange typing on is probably just something I need to adapt to. The idea is that you're not supposed to push the buttons all the way down for the keystrokes to register, making the muscular movement much less. However since you're kind of stuck in a pattern when it comes to typing, its weird to re-do your habit all of a sudden. So that's something I'm still getting used to. While admittedly I do really enjoy the less stress when I really do go in for not pressing it all the way down, its taking me forever to type that way so I tend to jump back into my old habits.

For gaming though its a whole different ordeal. I jumped in Skyrim as soon as I got the keyboard, and it just feels really good to just gently push W to run, or resting my thumb on Alt to sprint. Here I really do feel the changes positively right off the bat.

The back-light is wonderful, I like that it's graded -and that its got its own button to switch the grades by. Its a nice cool blue that really lights up the beautiful brushed aluminium.

I love the Windows-Lock button, that's something I've missed on my last keyboard. The wrist-rest have a nice textured feel to it, the only minus is that its curving a bit too much downward, which makes my small hands wrist curve more then necessary in order to type on the rather tall keystrokes. I doubt this is a problem for the manly mans with normal to larger sized hands though. Its a problem I tend to run into quite often with my puny, pitiful hold.

There's also a USB port in the back of the keyboard so I don't have to crawl under the table to plug in my External HD or camera, which is great. Not that it's filthy under there or anything. Nooo...

There's a couple of things I'm missing after having switched from my old Logitech Wave to this, like the Calculator-button, which was great considering how bad at math I am. I've been using ergonomic curved or half-curved keyboards for years now, and going back to a "normal" one is something I notice quite fast in my wrists.

I'd also like the ability to change color of the back-light, but that's pure vanity. The blue is quite stylish as is.

Overall its a great keyboard! It doesn't feel the most ergonomically correct for me, but it might change when I learn to type properly on it. The benefits of the Cherry MX Red's might outweigh the problems with the "normal" design and the wrist-rest. The features on it are great, it feels very proper and I'd certainly recommend it.