Author Topic: Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts  (Read 3147 times)

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Offline gregh

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Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« on: Tue, 20 December 2011, 17:56:13 »
I'm not putting this in the review section because, well, it's not really a review. I don't have time to post a full review with great pics, etc, so i apologize for that. Also, I admit that I'm a "fan" of Corsair products in general, as I own a Corsair case and power supply.

Build Quality:

The build quality of this keyboard is very good. I"m not going to pick up the keyboard and try to twist it or anything silly, but it feels very solid, just as solid as any keyboard I've ever owned, besides my Model M. The volume wheel spins freely and feels very nice and all of the media keys + special function keys feel solid and crisp. This is the only keyboard I've owned that came with a very nice braided cord.

My keyboard came in perfect condition and everything worked. Corsair is a well liked, reputable company that usually has very good QA practices.

Key caps:

The key caps feel great. They have almost a "soft touch" type feel to them, so the texture is very slip resistant and just feels very nice. In addition, there is not grittiness between the key caps. Some keyboards seem to have key caps that grind against each other a bit and this keyboard doesn't suffer from that problem.

The ONLY "problem" with the key caps is that some of the key characters seem to be printed just a hair lower or higher than the others.

Backlighting:

The backlighting is BY FAR the best I've personally used. Of course, the only other keyboards with backlighting I've used are the Deck Legend and a Logitech board.

Light shines bright and crisply through the key caps. It's slightly more dim when shining through the key caps on the rubber domed keys but it's still bright enough to see clearly.

In addition, the blue lighting on the metal background looks very nice to my eyes by creating a neat glowing effect.

Hybrid Keyboard Concerns:

Of course, this keyboard comes with Cherry MX Red switches for the main set of keys, however the macro keys and function keys are all ruber dome, including the escape key. Some people have found this very jarring but I haven't had a problem at all with this.

The rubber domed keys themselves are not as nice feeling as Topres, but they aren't bad. They don't feel mushy at all, but have a decent snap to them. In fact, they feel pretty darn good!

Macro Keys:

These work fine, but the software is still lacking and there needs to be an in-depth tutorial for using it. It's not difficult but some things I haven't been able to even figure out yet.

Final Thoughts:

I have been through Model Ms, (original and Unicomp), several Topres, several Filcos, a Leopold, a Deck Legend, Keytronics and probably a dozen others that I'm not even remembering. The only switch I haven't used are Alps (and some obscure switches of course.)

This is, so far, my favorite keyboard, and I can easily say that without hesitation. But, that's because cherry reds are my favorite switch. So if you like buckling springs, you're still not going to love this keyboard I'd assume.

The Corsair K90 lives up to the Corsair name and brand, in my opinion.

Offline Human

  • Posts: 596
Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 01:44:47 »
Quote from: gregh;474741
I'm not putting this in the review section because, well, it's not really a review. I don't have time to post a full review with great pics, etc, so i apologize for that. Also, I admit that I'm a "fan" of Corsair products in general, as I own a Corsair case and power supply.

Build Quality:

The build quality of this keyboard is very good. I"m not going to pick up the keyboard and try to twist it or anything silly, but it feels very solid, just as solid as any keyboard I've ever owned, besides my Model M. The volume wheel spins freely and feels very nice and all of the media keys + special function keys feel solid and crisp. This is the only keyboard I've owned that came with a very nice braided cord.

My keyboard came in perfect condition and everything worked. Corsair is a well liked, reputable company that usually has very good QA practices.

Key caps:

The key caps feel great. They have almost a "soft touch" type feel to them, so the texture is very slip resistant and just feels very nice. In addition, there is not grittiness between the key caps. Some keyboards seem to have key caps that grind against each other a bit and this keyboard doesn't suffer from that problem.

The ONLY "problem" with the key caps is that some of the key characters seem to be printed just a hair lower or higher than the others.

Backlighting:

The backlighting is BY FAR the best I've personally used. Of course, the only other keyboards with backlighting I've used are the Deck Legend and a Logitech board.

Light shines bright and crisply through the key caps. It's slightly more dim when shining through the key caps on the rubber domed keys but it's still bright enough to see clearly.

In addition, the blue lighting on the metal background looks very nice to my eyes by creating a neat glowing effect.

Hybrid Keyboard Concerns:

Of course, this keyboard comes with Cherry MX Red switches for the main set of keys, however the macro keys and function keys are all ruber dome, including the escape key. Some people have found this very jarring but I haven't had a problem at all with this.

The rubber domed keys themselves are not as nice feeling as Topres, but they aren't bad. They don't feel mushy at all, but have a decent snap to them. In fact, they feel pretty darn good!

Macro Keys:

These work fine, but the software is still lacking and there needs to be an in-depth tutorial for using it. It's not difficult but some things I haven't been able to even figure out yet.

Final Thoughts:

I have been through Model Ms, (original and Unicomp), several Topres, several Filcos, a Leopold, a Deck Legend, Keytronics and probably a dozen others that I'm not even remembering. The only switch I haven't used are Alps (and some obscure switches of course.)

This is, so far, my favorite keyboard, and I can easily say that without hesitation. But, that's because cherry reds are my favorite switch. So if you like buckling springs, you're still not going to love this keyboard I'd assume.

The Corsair K90 lives up to the Corsair name and brand, in my opinion.
On the bolded part.
Not sure if kidding or pure fanboism.jpg


BTW, the RD is not necessary an awkward thing itself but is the worn out on it that make it awkward...
« Last Edit: Wed, 21 December 2011, 01:48:25 by Human »

Offline Lanx

  • Posts: 1915
Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 01:55:30 »
he's coming from someone who has a few corsair products and is expecting the same type of quality, me personally i just installed corsair memory into a laptop, i mean a laptop, let alone the coolers/psu and other corsair stuff i have, so i think i know where he's coming from, all these other reviews we've seen, they've been from keyboard only types like topre/filco/das/kinesis/etc... corsair like razer is bringing it, but corsair's profile of products is even way more diverse than razer. who knows maybe corsair made a decent RD.

Offline gregh

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Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 06:54:11 »
I've used about a million rubber domes, including Topres, etc and the rubber domes on this board just don't feel that bad FOR RUBBER DOMES, lol. Like I said, they're not Topres but they're not that bad either. It doesn't bother me when I have to hit the escape key, haha.

Offline TheProfosist

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Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 07:07:09 »
Quote from: gregh;475090
I've used about a million rubber domes, including Topres, etc and the rubber domes on this board just don't feel that bad FOR RUBBER DOMES, lol. Like I said, they're not Topres but they're not that bad either. It doesn't bother me when I have to hit the escape key, haha.

Once again I am going to have to bring this up, just because topre switches have a rubberdome in their mechanism does not make them a rubberdome switch!

Offline alaricljs

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Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 08:51:37 »
Aside from that... I honestly have never felt a bad rubber dome when it was new
Filco w/ Imsto thick PBT
Ducky 1087XM PCB+Plate, w/ Matias "Quiet Click" spring-swapped w/ XM Greens

Offline gregh

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  • Posts: 36
Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 09:30:14 »
Agreed, i'll update this post in ~3 months or so and update my thoughts on the rubber domed keys. Since they're not the main keys, it'll probably take a long time to break them in..I'd assume.

Also, take my words with a grain of salt, because I just got the board less than a week ago, and I'm probably still susceptible to the honeymoon effect :)

woody

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Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 15:09:06 »
Quote from: gregh;474741
The only switch I haven't used are Alps (and some obscure switches of course.)

This is yet another dimension.

Offline pitashen

  • Posts: 1200
Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 15:15:54 »
Quote from: TheProfosist;475098
Once again I am going to have to bring this up, just because topre switches have a rubberdome in their mechanism does not make them a rubberdome switch!

Er, having rubber dome --> rubber dome switch

I do know where your remarks are coming from though. I personally think the fault is from fact that those cheap rubber dome keyboards are simply named after the rubber domes. The naming would more accurate if it is based on the triggering mechanism like Topre's capacitive switch. Nonetheless, it is quite fair to say that Topre's capacitive switch is under the category of rubber dome based switch.  Especially when rubber dome has quite a crucial role to play in the Topre switch design (typing feels and force).

Strictly speaking, even rubber dome switches should be considered a type of mechanical switch for the deformation of the rubber being mechanical in nature. The only true non-mechanical keyboard are the touch sensitive keyboards lol.
« Last Edit: Wed, 21 December 2011, 15:28:15 by pitashen »
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Offline noodles256

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Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 15:24:02 »
I just want my quickfire rapid
AF | Ducky YOTD |

Offline Evil_Spork

  • Posts: 111
Corsair K90 (cherry reds) - Initial Thoughts
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 21 December 2011, 16:01:00 »
Quote from: noodles256;475399
I just want my quickfire rapid

These things really do have a weird name...
Noppoo Choc Mini "Tea Axis"/MX Brown
Leopold Tenkeyless MX Brown - SOLD!
Filco Majestouch-2 Linear R Limited Edition Tenkeyless with MX Red