Corsair 300r review: Corsair Carbide 300R Case Review: Corsair For the Masses

Liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine delivers excellent low-to-medium traction, plus great durability and durability. Engine displacement is 292 cc, and the power is 29 hp. The 6-speed transmission provides excellent driving control and fuel economy at high speeds.

The compact digital instrument panel displays all the necessary indicators to ensure smooth and comfortable driving, as well as excellent traffic control. Such a panel will be comfortable to use in any weather, be it the scorching sun or rain. The combination of all these parameters made the bike fast, balanced and agile.

Reflections on the origin of mechanical keyboard developers. Overview and analysis of the Cougar 700K / Sudo Null IT News Partially there is humor and nonsense, do not take it to heart. The photos were taken on the phone, some things will have to be imagined or googled.

Thinking about buying a mechanical keyboard — it seems that it’s not a novelty anymore, and I want to change the keyboard for the sake of diversity and getting a new experience. And to please yourself for the anniversary.

Keyboard requirements: interesting hi-tech style (but strict), typing (programming-forums-chats), and feel how it behaves in games. Cherry MX Brown or Blue switches are best suited for this (Brown — games + text, Blue — text). I know about the existence of Chinese clones of switches, but I’m not ready to trust them yet (keyboards cost about the same price — what’s the point of taking the Chinese?). A traditional layout was required, without a bunch of additional keys and unnecessary functions (if possible).

Among the variety and enormity of all models, I settled on the Corsair K70 and Cougar 700K.

Unfortunately, the Corsair K70 is not available in the required configuration: with the Russian layout it is sold only on Cherry MX Red buttons (it’s good for games, it’s not good for text, there are no options with Brown in Russia), and the Russian layout itself has been successfully ruined by a short left shift and an extra key to the left of Z (for some reason, NA, DE and other options come with a normal layout).

The last option left is the Cougar 700K. I accidentally found it on a store shelf (suddenly — on Cherry MX Blue), and the price tag was 1000 rubles lower than I later found on the website of this network. Bought.

Features and what I really liked

1. Strict design (awards and all that) — I was looking for just in black / silver design.
2. Russian layout — long shift, single-row Enter, Russian font is also highlighted (two-component black-transparent key).
3. Adjustable backlighting on all keys (only general brightness level, one color — orange, which is even cool).
4. Cherry MX Blue. Not suitable for games, for text it’s normal if there is an opportunity to “make some noise”.
5. NKRO/6KRO (switchable). NKRO really works — tests successfully show a bunch of simultaneous triggers.
6. Pass-through USB extension cable.
7. Switchable layout profiles.
8. Hand rest.
9. Volume control ±/Mute.
10. ARM Cortex M0: the ability to set your own macro on any main key, update the keyboard firmware and set the desired configuration from the software.
11. Polling 1000Hz.

Secondary, useless and just wrecking things

1. Additional keys G1-G5.
2. Separated space.
3. Headset microphone-through extension.
4. Playback control (Play/Stop/Next/Pause).
5. In place of the left Win — a useless Fn-button.

It should be noted that for the last 3-4 years I have used A4Tech KV-300H keyboards — low-profile «scissor» membrane buttons. It is quite convenient for text (small stroke and effort), typing is more like “stroking” the keys. So you have to get used to
long-stroke conventional keys. The first day of work on a mechanical keyboard caused non-illusory suffering and a bunch of annoying «hit in the wrong place.»

Despite the abundance of all sorts of useful things, almost all of them are crooked

Let’s now consider everything in detail.

1. The design is good, but there is a general technical gap. Already at home I found out that the light guides of the Num / Caps / ScrLck indicators fell into the case and in their place 3 neat holes in the plastic shine. The light guide is a translucent plate, which is clamped at one end between a plastic frame and an aluminum base. The second end, according to the intentions of the developers, is put on the pins of the frame and sealed. In my case, both light guides were not soldered — if desired, they fall inward when shaking, or slightly pressing on the plastic.

   I had to take it apart late at night and climb inside, in search of justice and full functionality.

   10 black screws on the bottom (2 of them are under the self-adhesive rubber feet, 1 is under the Do Not Remove sticker — which doesn’t even break when peeled off, lol).
   16 silver screws on the top that can only be accessed by removing the keys.
   1 large screw on the right. Apparently, so that the design bevel does not rattle and there are no gaps (however, the bevel is quite successful, on the right is the mouse: you won’t hit hard, and you feel the keyboard-mouse border).

   If the aluminum base does not easily come out of the plastic tray, then you missed a screw.

2. Russian layout — I’m used to this.
   A lot of texts on a regular layout have been typed over 20 years, millions of lines of code — no, I want PgUp / PgDown and other buttons in their usual places (I get there without looking).

   Of course, there are worse options — curved surface, halved, trapezoidal keys, modified Ins / Del blocks (hi Logitech, I’m unlikely to buy your full keyboard with a perverse key layout, although I looked at the pretty
   wireless once). Without a numeric keypad — I do not want. Yes, Neo is pretty, but it’s more convenient to drive in a bunch of numbers on a separate block, you don’t want to keep a separate one.

   Unusual layout — this is one of the reasons why the keyboard is not expected to be a massive success — the kettle will buy the maximum, seduced by a bunch of buttons or a funny design. Or a very limited contingent, which is either already used to «so», or it really needs some
   additional keys / functionality from the keyboard. But they won’t be popular and massive — wangyu.

3. Adjustable backlight implemented with Holtec HT1632C LED driver.
   It can also blink “hardware”, and the matrix memory is enough to individually turn on all the individual LEDs under each key (and still remains). But RGB does not know how, and the brightness of the backlight is set by native software only at fairly strict intervals of 100% -66% -33% (well,
   and all sorts of useless modes, such as «breathing» and running lights).

   On this Cougar, Russian symbols are traditionally highlighted disgustingly (this is how it is for almost everyone IMHO).

   By the way, the Num/Caps/ScrLck indicators are placed in an inconspicuous place (if you fall apart in your chair). Why don’t developers make the backlighting of the corresponding keys optional right on the keys? I give you an idea. The same NumLock is always on for me, it would be possible to separately set the “inversion” — if the mode is on, it does not glow. And if it glows, then a reminder of the disabled mode is “pay attention”. And make another mode — blink, and not just glow.

   I’m interested. I have the main keyboard profile — without backlighting, the wrong mode would be immediately noticeable.

4. Cherry MX Blue switches. Not good for games, great for text if you can make some noise. It would be interesting to see Brown as well — it seems there should be a compromise between games and a set.

   Hence the strange feeling — a gaming keyboard (positioning), additional keys, profiles, and, suddenly, switches sharpened for typing. Dissonance.

5. NKRO/6KRO (switchable). NKRO really works — tests successfully show a bunch of simultaneous triggers.

   Without much quibbling — it works. Either 6 buttons simultaneously work out (modifiers are not on top in the appendage — strictly only 6, even with modifiers, even without), or complete chaos and all the buttons at once.

   In games, of course, it will be more noticeable, but it’s damn nice that all the keys pressed will be displayed (especially with fluent typing and crooked hands).

   It is strange that this mode is not displayed in any way, and even in native software it is not displayed in any way.

6. Pass-through USB extension cable.

   Cool. Too bad it’s not USB3.0. Together with the audio cables, the main cable and the braid, the total diameter reaches 6.5mm. Anaconda is like that, through the rubble on the table. A second output (through a hub) would probably have a negative effect on the bandwidth of the keyboard itself. Although the place is under the second leg.

7. Switchable layout profiles.

   Ok. There is. Moreover, it is sharpened for changing profiles immediately and on a mouse like Cougar 700M — a single ecosystem, I understand. For me, it is practically useless, except that in some games a hard-coded layout can be brought to a view that is convenient for oneself (and then quickly return to the usual one).

   But the Cougar UIX System (native software) is very poor: it allows you to hang only some kind of “hardware” macro on the button — pressing and releasing a specific key with delays (and mouse clicks, its coordinates are also completely bound).

   But hanging a thread of a tag or a piece of code will not work — there will be problems with the Russian layout if the current mode and the required one do not match. Ytsuken instead of Qwerty, yes.

   Less benefit for programmers/copy-paste lovers. English-speaking, I suppose, do not care.

8. Hand rest.
   A useful thing — the height of the keyboard makes it uncomfortable to work without a stand. A stone in the direction of Neo and similar classics.

   Comes with a detachable rubberized wrist pad for WASD play. I believe that it’s also a useful thing — my hand has become numb more than once on ordinary keyboards, but on the Logitech G13 there is no such effect — you can rap for many hours in a row. Yes, the overlay is now removed, and a la fridge magnet hangs. When typing — interferes.

9. Volume control ±/Mute.
   Just convenient. You can turn off the sound if necessary, without leaving the game, and the keys themselves do not get in the way at hand. This is if they are too lazy to reach for the remote control for the receiver, or some other hardware volume controls.

   In Winamp, for some reason, the built-in volume control is adjusted at the same time. Will have to think.

10. ARM Cortex M0: the ability to set your own macro on any main key, update the keyboard firmware and set the desired configuration from the software.

    The microcontroller LPC11U14F is used (on the marking, however, like LPC1U14F / 20) with a Cortex M0 core. Hence all the features — the controller is fast, it can eat everything. Well, in general, the trend is that many keyboards and mice have already been released on this controller, I won’t be surprised if the firmware sources (or even the developers themselves) have the same roots.

    Since a 12 MHz crystal is installed nearby, it can be assumed that the controller operates at a frequency of 48 MHz using an internal PLL (in some such devices, the frequency is stated above). I can be wrong.

    The keyboard is not cheap, with a bunch of features. The ability to upgrade the firmware for a complex and potentially raw product is invaluable.

    Unfortunately, the firmware update itself is a crude process. There is a warning on the site that you need to update the firmware BEFORE installing the drivers (and starting UIX).

    Fresh firmware comes with drivers, packaged in an installer.

    Approx. Download the latest driver update, run. Old drivers are removed, fresh ones are installed, UIX utility services are launched — and yeah, firmware update starts!

    This is where the problems start — the update goes in a circle, rebooting the keyboard by 81%, and so many, many times. You can’t disable it during the update, there may be problems. Ending all processes related to UIX helped. The keyboard has been updated and restarted. Hurrah, everything works! And yes, all early settings are successfully lost, there are no macros.

    Yes, disabling during update can cause big problems if the bootloader first puts the update in an external eeprom, and then updates its flash (including the bootloader). Smaller — if the keyboard has a working non-updatable bootloader and a firmware program,
    which can reach the bootloader that is still alive (after the “fallen-hung” main firmware).

    The site (and everywhere in the descriptions) boldly declared 512KB of internal memory. At first, we are confused by the fact that only 10 keys can be programmed (“uh, we have dofiga memory, why so little?”). The LPC microcontroller itself does not have an eeprom on board; storing such configs on flash is bad manners. Having disassembled the keyboard, we find a lone ACE24C128B serial module with a nominal value of 128Kbps (16Kb). This is a marketing twist!

    In general: 3 profiles, 10 buttons (like plus 6 separate buttons) — this is the maximum that can be stuffed into 16KB. And yes, the macros will not be very long. After all, there may be sequences like “pressed-released-delayed-simulation of mouse actions” (if there is a hardware output of such keyboard / mouse codes). Even if the memory is dynamically allocated for macros, it’s still not so much — you need to store backlight configs, and the like . ..

11. Polling 1000Hz.

    Nice, nice. On gaming mice, 1000Hz is already the usual mode. Well, in general, work or play consists of just such trifles — fast response of the mouse-keyboard, low ping, a lot of fps — and there is already an advantage with equal abilities.

Now about things that are useless, harmful and generally hand-ass (from my point of view)

1. Additional keys G1-G5.
   Honestly, I’d be fine without them. It is much prettier if the keyboard has the same symmetrical bevel on the left edge.

   On the first day of operation, the extra keys on the left just hindered me hellishly. When lazy browsing the Internet, documents, the left hand gently embraces the left edge of the keyboard, lightly touching the keys in the left half of the keyboard, somewhere above Tab / ~ / Caps and up to R / Space. I press Ctlr with the edge of my palm, bending my palm forward.

   The idea of ​​the keyboard is gaming. Well, what kind of gaming keyboard — without additional keys? This message was sent to both designers and keyboard developers in general. Although in shooters — this is somehow not in demand, but for a MMORPG some thread is very little.

   “Okay,” the designer said. — From above it’s already banal, but to figure out in 2 rows on the left — well, it’s inconvenient. ”

   It turned out a compromise solution — 1 row on the left. In my experience on the Logitech G13, the buttons to the left of the little finger are already inconvenient to press — in G1 / G2 / G8 / G9 I just get confused. Still, the right-handed little finger on the left hand is not the most accurate and fastest finger.

   Now they interfere less, but if they finally get it, I’ll tear them out.

2. Separated space (space and G6, which we immediately program to a space, yes).

   I will assume that the developers were guided by the idea that the short key has less inertia, and the normal position of the thumb when playing is immediately below the “V” button, i.e. just on the left half of the «gap» — if the «Big gap» has one central switch, then it will warp, the synchronization mechanism will increase the weight, jamming and other considerations are possible.

   The most interesting thing is that when typing (and in the presence of experience-habit), an ordinary user presses the spacebar just in the middle of the key. So that it does not warp, etc.

   Therefore, moving from a regular space to a separate one, I get exactly between the keys.

   This is the lesser evil of the review — the fingers are already used to using their spaces individually.

3. Headset microphone-through extension.

   An extra increase in the thickness of the cable, it is likely that there will be pickups from cables laid nearby from 2 USB (by ground or power, for example), and in general, whoever needs it has already had a headset extension cable (or initially a long cable).

   My headphone output and microphone input are a meter away from where the keyboard is turned on.

   I will not say that it is completely useless, but for the most part — probably.

4. Playback control (Play/Stop/Next/Pause).

   Fully manages both Winamp and MPC.

   Yes — ok, no — it didn’t hurt, and I wanted to. Unfortunately, not programmable, although there is a backlight.

5. In place of the left Win — a useless Fn-button.

   And unreasonably large sizes. And there is a separate lock key «Win»-button (which delivers). Accidentally pressing Fn does not cause any special consequences (apart from the hypothetical and unlikely change in *KRO mode and repeat speed).

   It feels like there was a struggle between marketers/designer/developer.
   — Others already have a «Win» lock! shout the marketers.
   — I can’t make a regular-width gap, the halves will be asymmetrical! I need a wide button in place of Win! the designer screams.
   — I want to switch the mode 1x/2x/4x/8x replay speed nicely! Just want! shouts the developer.

   Actually, I would like to have a regular Win-key in this place (and Ctlr+Alt could be made a little wider). I’m used to opening «Start» not with a mouse, but with a slight movement of my left hand. Not right. Rather, it was possible to get rid of the right Win — well, you can block the account using the yoga method.

   I want to see an option in UIX where you can swap Fn and Win assignments. Alas, programmers-developers of firmware-UIX-keyboards hide this opportunity exclusively for themselves (sad sarcasm of a volus).

   It would be funny if the firmware is made open source. It would be possible to configure at your own pleasure, without artificial imposition.

Total

This also happens with keyboards from other manufacturers. The ideal is hard to find: either
usability is “below the baseboard”, and you know for sure that it will be inconvenient — but it looks great,
or an excellent layout, nothing superfluous — but there is no stand, and it looks like cheap trash.
I’ll take out the keyboards in a separate category, suitable for adjusting all the parameters of the starship,
with a bunch of buttons, levers, keys, screens.