So I've been here at geekhack for almost 4 years and decided it was finally time to step my keyboard game up to the next level.
I have used many keyboards over these last 4 years too many to even list really but one manufacturer I haven't tried yet is corsair.
They get a lot of crap about having a non standard bottom row and some other stuff that isn't all that important.
What is important is they offer a keyboard with MX Silent Red switches.
While I would much rather have my hands on an FC908M with silent reds (I hope to have one soon.) I decided to just settle for this corsair strafe.
Given what all I have read about corsair keyboards my expecations have been very low so it shouldn't be too hard to impress me, even if its just a little.
So first things is first...the shipping box from Amazon.com. This was one of the largest shipping boxes I have ever received, typically reserved for things like windshield wipers Amazon.com didn't disappoint shipping this keyboard in a box that could realistically have held about 4 of these boards.
The keyboard box itself (which has a made in Germany logo) also came with a nice big ding in it but from what I can tell the outside of the keyboard wasn't injured. It does however have something loose inside rattling around.
So far I've just used this keyboard to do some runs in switch hitter to make sure everything was on the up and up and to type this post.
I have to say I'm intrigued by the gaudy spacebar with a raised texture all over it so there is no mistaking you hit the spacebar. I think there are some other keys with something like this as well air sealed in some plastic in the box but I didn't take those out yet.
The red backlighting makes me feel like I'm doing something dangerous, typing in the no go zone or something. It has a dedicated flat rubberdome button in the top right corner to cycle through 3 levels of backlighting not including turning the backlighting off.
Next to that flat rubberdome button is another one that locks the left (and only) windows key. I don't understand this feature but I think it has something to do with people who are scared of using the windows menu and they turn it off so they don't activate it by mistake and have a panic attack.
To the left of these 2 buttons are 3 indicator lights, one for numlock, one for capslock and the other for scroll lock, this will definitely be exciting news for all the excel users out here.
Following the lead of many other keyboard manufacturers corsair has replaced the right windows key with an FN key which probably is explained in the small paper pamphlet that I didn't open that was also in the box.
The F row has some buttons for turning your sound up and down as well as a mute button, it also has secondary functions for stop, rewind, play/pause and fast forward. This should really excite those who have those USB cassette players as it probably won't control it but at least you could pretend.
The overall feel and look of the case itself is very nice, while it is only plastic it has some texture to the top and is a nice flat black none of that make me want to barf so shiny you can see yourself in it like that one matias board.
The plate is also red, no idea what it is made from and don't really care but it definitely isn't carbon fiber if you were hoping to find that.
The corsair logo can be found on the top let and is currently covered by some plastic and will stay that way until I peel it off, don't want to get any premature smudges on that bad boy. I honestly don't know if this is the OG logo or the butt pirate one, I'm not familiar enough with corsair to know the difference.
I'm sure the back of the board is equally as nice as the front but I can't really turn it over since I'm typing on it. I did however make a mental note it has 2 very small fold out legs one on either side, I don't remember seeing and rubber on them though but I'm using the keyboard flat on my desk right now so no feet necessary. I also recall there being lots of small screws on the back which are most likely what are holding this bad boy together.
One of the most amazing features of this keyboard and honestly I'm a little intimidated by it is the monstrous USB cable. This is no ordinary USB cable it has some serious girth to it. I'm honestly thinking the usb cable alone makes up about 25% of the weight of the keyboard (this number is totally arbitrary and made up so don't get mad if your cable isn't as stout as mine).
So back to this anaconda cable, the reason is is so round and in your face is it has not only one but two wicked looking ends that honestly are way too cool to be on any keyboard. They even throw in some classic yellow color accents that don't match anything, but maybe it's a corsair color scheme thing I really don't know. One end has a small keyboard printed on it and that is what I plugged in to use the keyboard the other end has some weird symbol that I didn't recognize but it is for using the USB pass-through found on the back of the board. I have not tried using it yet but it would be great for my mouse dongle I'm sure.
The main reason I bought this board was to try out silent red mx switches, so far I'm not sure I've got enough experience with them to form an opinion. I think I like them at least I probably would in a different keyboard.
For now my hands are actually starting to hurt typing this and my fingers are trying to stick to the keys as my fingers float around and type. It is kind of weirding me out and is gross. If you got this far thanks for reading.
TL:DR: Bought a cheapish corsair strafe to harvest the silent reds from decided to type on it a little bit.
