Corsair Vengeance K70 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - Black/Cherry MX Blue (CH-9000066-NA)..
Buy Corsair Vengeance K70 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - Black/Cherry MX Blue (CH-9000066-NA) By Corsair
Most helpful customer reviews
114 of 115 people found the following review helpful.
Beautiful keyboard, buttery smooth key movement
By erikiksaz
From an aesthetics view, Corsair just gets it. Simple designs with high quality materials. In this case, I purchased the black aluminum version with the red backlight (unfortunately there's no blue backlight option for the black housing). Unlike its competitors, who often use overly aggressive or pseudo-futuristic designs, Corsair opts for sophistication. I prefer computer peripherals that are not marketed towards tweens.
And this aluminum keyboard is definitely not priced for tweens. I bought mine from corsair directly, so you're paying ~130 before any taxes or shipping. It's expensive for sure, but for being full mechanical and being of such high build quality, to me it's worth it.
Now, the PROS:
-Keys are buttery smooth. I'm currently using an older Razer Tarantula with membrane keys and the difference is HUGE. The K70 only requires slight, even pressure to actuate the keys. My old tarantula took a bit more force and the actuation was gummy instead of smooth and light like the K70.
-Wrist rest is MUCH better than the old K60. The K70 wrist wrest is like the old K90, it's as wide as the keyboard with a slight inclination. I've used the K60 in stores and the wrist wrest was too high relative to the keyboard and forced you to place to keyboard too far away from the edge of your desk due to it's front-back length.
-Individual key backlighting. You hit the backlight program button, then select the keys you want lit, and done. Simple.
UPDATE 4/27/13:
Reactive key lighting. Turning this feature on is not in the quick start guide (and mine didn't come with a manual). To turn it on, hold down the right control button and the backlight on-off button at the same time. Now every key you hit will light up temporarily. UPDATE 4/30/13. Reactive lighting is disabled every time you shut down the keyboard. Can't get it to stay on.
-Media controls and volume dial. The aluminum volume dial is GREAT, there's a perfect amount of resistance. I really wish my Logitech G500 had the same type of scrolling resistance. It's firm, unlike the loose-feeling scrolling of most computer mice. And you've got all your media controls in tow as well.
Cons:
-The pass-through USB female connector is a downgrade from the K60. The K60 female USB plug was NOT flush with the back of the keyboard, it was on a slightly lifted off island on the back of the unit, which made it easy to find. The K70 female USB port is somewhat flush with the rest of the keyboard = more difficult to find. There is a little bit of a notch to the right of the connector to help guide you, but it's still not completely separate like it was on the K60. I personally don't use the pass through either way, but would see this being more of a minor nuisance (and downgrade).
-In the mean time, availability. I purchased mine at corsair, which released it first. I believe NCIX has them in stock, and Newegg should as of this review's posting date. Other than that, good luck finding it.
Cons (update after 2 days of use):
-With full key backlighting, everything looks great except for keys that have symbols above them. Namely the numeric keys above the letters. The backlight illuminates the symbols 100% due to the positioning of the LED, but the actual numbers are only about 30% lit. To me it's not that detracting from the appeal, but it is a shame that it was overlooked. Note, this only applies to the 1-0 keys above the letters. For some odd reason the numeric pad on the right doesn't have this problem.
Undetermined:
-It's still new so the quality and durability of the lettering on the keys is yet to be determined. I'll update if any discernible fading is noticed.
-I've also ordered some 50A o-rings to see if they dampen the bottoming out of the keys. I'm hoping to shorten the strokes of the keys, I don't really mind the mild clack from the key bottoming out on the aluminum backplate.
UPDATE 5/1/13:
-The 50A orings from amazon are in (Buna O-Ring, 50A Durometer, Round, Black. I installed them on the central keys of the keyboard. Easy install, look up the older K60 keyboard on corsair.com for an install video, then insert each oring on the underside of the key. I just used a pen to push the oring deep into the key.
-Technical data states that cherry reds take 2mm to actuate from the upper position, then another 4mm to bottom out after the actuation point. Installing these orings makes it feel about 2mm on both sides of actuation.
-Ok, so enough of the technical mumbo jumbo. These orings make the keyboard feel GREAT. The movement of the keys was always super smooth, but the problem was that after activation, the amount of travel to bottom out felt VERY long (it's the 2mm vs 4mm discrepancy that you feel). With the orings, the whole key travel is shortened. In essence it feels like my old tarantula's short-travel keys (which is a positive thing!). Travel to actuation is exactly equal to actuation to bottoming out.
-As for bottom out, you don't hear the loud *clack* of plastic upon aluminum anymore, it is much more muted with the orings. If not having orings equaled a clack of 100 points of loudness, installing orings literally halves the noise to 50. Bottoming out the keys is no longer the loudest aspect of the keyboard. When the keys rebound into their upper position, there's another *clack* noise, but this one is ~70ish points of loudness relative to the original bottoming out noise. This rebounding noise is much more livable, I don't think your significant others in the next room will complain.
-And I type more accurately/faster with the shortened throw of the keys, which is what this thing is meant for, hah.
UPDATE 5/2/13:
I just finished replacing all the larger keys (enter, shift, space), and I found out that Corsair is AWESOME, they did away with the stabilizer bars. So, in order to pop these keys off, you just center the key remover and pull. No need to fuss around with the steel bar that's under other cherry red keyboards. +1 for Corsair for easy key cap replacement.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.The Perfect Keyboard for gaming...!
By Mu'ath Mohammed
The Perfect keyboard. Excuse my grammar mistakes .English is not my tongue language.
Pros:
+ the build quality is outstanding.
+ the look of this keyboard is one of the best I've ever seen, the red back-lights is sexy, the keyboard surface is luxuries. even the keys is a higher from the surface of any other keyboard that gives it more of an under glow effect which is amazing. Everything about the look is amazing.
+ the red cheery mx is awesome, it's a lot better than the regular (not mechanical) keyboard, Once you go mechanical you never go back :)
+ the rubbers below the keyboard is very very strong. It will not move from the ground without force.
+ the extra gaming keys (the red A W S D & 1 2 3 4 5 6 keys) & the "space" key has deferent texture for heavy using & also they're less slippier than the regular keys. & the amazing thing about them is that the "A,W,D & S" keys are curved so that you can find during the game easier without looking down. Also another great feature is that they come with a thing that make you switch those keys back & forth within few seconds.
+ it comes with a wrest rest that has a special texture that make it less slippier.
+ some other great features:
The sound scroll is awesome, the back-light has 3 different brightness levels, it also has windows key lock.
Cons:
- it works with 2 USBs .
- the keyboard wight is a bit heavy.
Important notes:
* This is the newer version of the previous one (the k60)
* this version is called k70, it comes with tow colors : black with red Leds, silver with blue back LEDs.
* the red extra keys come in both keyboards (the black & the silver).
* i think they're also available with a cherry mx blue & brown.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.Don't double think just buy...
By Uzumaki Karin
I always had my eye on this keyboard because of the material it is made of, and the color scheme. This keyboard did not disappoint me. Being able to choose what keys you want to light up on the fly is a amazing feature. ( One thing they should have done to make the keyboard even better, is to have to media keys light up with the rest of the keyboard) The volume rocker is a nice addition along with the very thick braided cable. MUST buy keyboard, Corsair doesn't disappoint.
Does what it is supposed to
Dead after two weeks