With the relatively recent releases of powerful ITX based gaming systems and cases, PCs are slowly but surely absorbing a portion of the living room gaming market away from consoles. The shape and bulk of PC gaming systems however is just part of the problem, as the control of the systems still relies on a keyboard and mouse, which can be very inconvenient into a living room in comparison to a wireless console controller.

Introduction

Several products seeking the convenient control of HTPC systems inside a living room have been introduced in the past, yet none of them could address the issue of PC gaming without introducing a controller into the equation. The use of a wireless gamepad rarely was the answer, as the majority of PC games have been designed for keyboard and mouse control. Therefore, those that wanted to have a PC gaming system into their living room would have to somehow bring a keyboard and mouse near them, and that is rarely convenient when sitting on a couch and no flat surface. The lean-back nature of a couch also precludes any self-standing tray device that didn't fold into the lap of the user. This makes it more difficult when the user wants to use a mechanical gaming keyboard; wireless gaming mice can be found, but no wireless mechanical keyboards are available.

Corsair clearly wants a piece of the living room gaming market, as their upcoming Bulldog barebones is a system designed with that specific purpose in mind. Small and elegant as the system might be, the company knew that the need to use a keyboard and mouse would be a deterring factor for many users who would still feel forced to the neatness of the gamepad controller. To that end, Corsair’s engineers designed the Lapdog, a “gaming control center” that seeks to make the use of a keyboard and mouse on a couch convenient and to keep everything tidy enough for use inside a modern living room. At this point we should mention that Corsair has been gathering and analyzing the feedback received ever since the announcement of the concept design several months ago, leading to a significantly different final retail product.

Packaging and bundle

We received the Lapdog inside a long, sturdy cardboard box. The artwork is limited to the company logo and schematics of the supported keyboards. Inside the box, the hardware is well protected with a combination of polystyrene foam and cardboard pieces, as well as nylon bags.

Inside the box we found a short but sufficient instructions manual, an AC power adapter and a very long (about five meters) cable. Corsair cleverly combined the USB cable and the AC power adaptor cable, meaning that only one cable needs to be connected between the system and the Lapdog and that the AC power adaptor should be near/behind the system. It should be noted that the AC adaptor is not needed when the Lapdog is connected to a USB 3.0 port, and only needs to be used if other USB devices are plugged in to the keyboard or a USB 2.0 port is used.

The Corsair Lapdog Gaming Control Center

As we mentioned in our introduction, the design of the Lapdog underwent several changes between its announcement and the release of the final product. One of these changes is that the foam pad is not permanently attached to the rest of the body. It is a separate part that attaches magnetically and can be easily installed or removed within a second. The foam pad is also much thinner than what Corsair had shown in their concept pictures, reducing the overall size of the Lapdog. It also has the small tool necessary for the dismantling of the Lapdog inserted into a holder at its center.

Another major change from the concept design is that the Lapdog now does not support only the K65, but the K70 keyboard as well. Although that still limits the Lapdog’s compatibility to just two of Corsair’s keyboard series, the K70 series is very popular, offers more options and is much more readily available than the tenkeyless K65.

As the Lapdog has been designed for Corsair’s keyboards, the designer obviously matched its design and materials to those of the supported devices. Therefore, the top of the Lapdog is made of anodized black aluminum that perfectly matches the bodies of the K65/K70 series keyboards. Another change from the concept design can be seen here, as the top cover ceases at the end of the keyboard area. This increases the size of the mouse pad’s surface and does not visually interfere with the design of the mouse, as the user may be limited to just two keyboard series but is free to use any mouse with the Lapdog.

The bottom of the Lapdog is plain and flat, allowing it to sit on a desktop and be used as a typical keyboard/mouse if need be. Six metallic points can be seen that allow the connection with the foam pad bottom, but they are recessed and will not damage the surface that the Lapdog sits on. There are no rubber or anti-slip pads but we found that they are not really necessary, as the sheer size of the Lapdog is enough to ensure its firm stay on a desk or table top.

Corsair tried to visually enhance the Lapdog by making the plastic sides and rear glossy, slightly resembling glass. The design is visually pleasing but also prone to fingermarks.

The cable connector of the Lapdog can be found at the rightmost part of its back. There is a USB connector and a connector for the AC power plug, with a tiny LED between them. The AC connector can receive either the plug of the main cable or that of the AC adapter directly, if the user wishes to connect the AC adapter directly to the Lapdog for any given reason.

Two USB 3.0 ports can be found on the right side of the Lapdog, for the connection of other devices, such as USB headsets and flash drives. They can also be used for the fast charging of other devices, as they provide up to 1.5 A each.

At this point, we should mention that the use of the AC adapter was not necessary when we used the Lapdog connected to a USB 3.0 port, as it provided enough current for the mechanical keyboard and one mouse. However, if more devices are connected on its hub or if the Lapdog is not connected to a high current USB 3.0 port, the use of the AC adaptor will be inevitable.

To remove the two top covers of the Lapdog, the user needs to remove six hexagonal screws using the tool found on the foam pad bottom. For the installation of a K70 keyboard, the flat cover at the center of the Lapdog also has to be removed. Even though the aluminum strip across the left and bottom of the keyboard seems to be held with three screws, it is actually glued to the plastic body and cannot be removed. These three screws seem to be mostly cosmetic or installed just to improve the mechanical cohesion between the strip and the plastic bottom.

After the covers have been removed, we are greeted with a spacious interior that allows for easy and convenient cable management. We also found two simple plastic cable ties to aid the user with the cable management, but we found that the use of the non-permanent metallic wire ties is more convenient to that end. Such metallic wire ties can be found on K65/K70 keyboard cables when unpacking them. The installation of a keyboard is a seamless process, as the keyboard needs only to be placed inside the Lapdog and the covers will lock it in place.

Cable management is very easy inside the spacious interior of the Lapdog. The thick cables of a K70 can easily fit even if left completely unattended and grouped to the right side of the keyboard. Only one of the keyboard’s connectors can be used, as a USB 3.0 port (or the AC adapter) will provide enough current for it.

The cable of the mouse needs to exit from an opening to the right side of the keyboard that is formed between the mouse pad and the top cover. There are multiple ways to manage how to control/limit the length of the cable, such as using a cable tie to secure it on the keyboard’s cable or at cable tie point, or round it up to a skein and let only the wanted length exit the opening. Another effective way is to have the cable go around the right screw point of the top cover, which will hold the cable without damaging it.

An unused open area and cable guiding openings can be seen at the lowermost half of the mousepad area. Also, an internal sixteen pin connector can be seen on the USB hub, hinting that Corsair has another feature in mind for future versions of the Lapdog.

For the means of this review, Corsair has provided us with a K70 Mechanical Keyboard and a Sabre Optical Gaming Mouse. Once assembled, it forms a very neat, visually pleasing setup, with the keyboard appearing amalgamated with the Lapdog’s body. The 11” × 11” (28 cm × 28 cm) mouse pad area is more than adequate and its treated surface is great for modern gaming mice. Our only concern lies with the large opening to the right side of the top cover, where the mouse cable comes out from. There is nothing covering this opening and we feel that a rubber grommet or some kind of concealment is necessary, as the opening is too large.

The Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard

Even though we had a review of the K70 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard a couple of years ago, when it first came out in the market, we were not performing per-key quality testing at the time. The fresh sample that Corsair provided us for the means of this review gave us the chance to have a more thorough look at one of the most popular mechanical keyboards available worldwide.

Physically, the K70 remains unchanged since our first review two years ago, with the exception of the improved and clearer company logo. The keyboard still has ABS keycaps installed, with a textured Space Bar key and ten beveled red and textured gaming keycaps supplied separately. Our sample came with Cherry MX Red switches.

The heart of the K70 remains unchanged as well, as the keyboard is still making use of a Freescale MC9S08JM32 Microcontroller and a Holtek HT1632C LED driver. Therefore, with the exception of the clearer company logo, the K70 remains unchanged since our first look at it in 2014.

Per Key Quality Testing

In order to test the quality and consistency of a keyboard, we are using a texture analyser that is programmed to measure and display the actuation force of the standard keyboard keys. By measuring the actuation force of every key, the quality and consistency of the keyboard can be quantified. It can also reveal design issues, such as the larger keys being far softer to press than the main keys of the keyboard. The actuation force is measured in Centinewton (cN). Some companies use another figure, gram-force (gf). The conversion formula is 1 cN = 1.02 gf (i.e. they are about the same). A high quality keyboard should be as consistent as possible, with an average actuation force as near to the manufacturer's specs as possible and a disparity of less than ±10%. Greater differences are likely to be perceptible by users. It is worth noting that there is typically variance among keyboards, although most keyboard companies will try and maintain consistency - as with other reviews, we're testing our sample only.

The machine we use for our testing is accurate enough to provide readings with a resolution of 0.1 cN. For wider keys (e.g. Enter, Space Bar, etc.), the measurement is taking place at the center of the key, right above the switch. Note that large keys generally have a lower actuation force even if the actuation point is at the dead center of the key. This is natural, as the size and weight of the keycap reduces the required actuation force. For this reason, we do display the force required to actuate every key but we only use the results of the typical sized keys for our consistency calculations. Still, very low figures on medium sized keys, such as the Shift and Enter keys reveal design issues and can easily be perceptible by the user.

The Corsair Gaming K70 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard proved to be exceptionally consistent, even for a keyboard using Cherry MX switches. The actuation force rating of the Cherry MX Red switches that the K70 is making use of is 45 cN. Our equipment measured an average of 45.1 cN, with a disparity of only ± 1.94%. We usually expect to see a disparity of at least ± 3% and we prefer it to be lower than ± 8%. Readings below ± 3% are exceptional and very rare. Normally it will be a case of 'your mileage may vary', and for as rare as they may be these readings are similar to those of the Corsair STRAFE Mechanical Keyboard as well, reducing the possibility that the outstanding consistency of the switches we are getting from Corsair’s products is due to luck. 

Conclusion

I always try to use every keyboard that we review as my personal keyboard for at least a week. My typical weekly usage includes a lot of typing (about 100-150 pages), a few hours of gaming and some casual usage, such as internet browsing and messaging. The Lapdog spent the majority of that time on the desktop rather on my lap, as the time I use the system for work greatly outweighs the time it is being used for entertainment. I initially thought that the height/shape of the Lapdog would hinder my typing/working performance but, to my bewilderment, I soon realized that the Lapdog is very convenient when placed on a desktop and did not impede my typing performance or comfort by any perceptible level. I also found very convenient the presence of the high current USB 3.0 ports on the side, which allowed me to connect external drives and devices quickly without as much as leaning forward.

The intended purpose of the Lapdog however is to be used on a lap by someone sitting on a couch. I am not personally used to living room gaming and I spent only a few hours gaming with my notebook connected to the TV in order to test the comfort and functionality of the Lapdog. Gaming with the Lapdog resting on my lap was fairly convenient, allowing me perfect control of the mouse and good access to the keyboard. Typing long texts with the Lapdog on your lap is not very comfortable or recommended, as the keyboard is toward the left side of the body and ends up too low and close to your chest, forcing one’s shoulders and body to a non-ergonomic position. It is convenient enough for short messages, chat and similar uses. This is not a problem while gaming, as the left hand falls directly above the left area of the keyboard, which covers the part that is useful for the vast majority of PC games. What could be a problem for a number of users after prolonged gaming sessions is the heat. The Lapdog itself does not get warm during use, but the presence of something on your lap for a few hours means your legs do eventually warm up and can start to sweat. Although the foam on the underside breathes a little, my legs were very warm after an hour of gaming, with a room temperature of 27 °C. This can be an issue in warmer climates or during gaming marathons, leading to sweaty thighs and discomfort. Finally, I also found that the long, thick supplied cable to be a bit of a nuisance to wind up after the gaming session has ended.

Even though the Lapdog is designed for use in the living room, I personally found it very convenient to use in the office/bedroom. With my desktop next to my bed and connected to my TV, I have been using the Lapdog sitting on my desktop while I was working, then bringing it with me on the bed while I wanted to relax. I found it convenient enough to be freely used while sitting inclined on the bed, allowing total control over the system without having to get up. By simply switching the system’s output to the TV and bringing the Lapdog on the bed with me, I could play an online MMORPG, converse via social media applications, switch to other applications and even reply to emails, all without having to get up at all. I could never play a complex PC game from my bed before the Lapdog. Even if I was doing something simple, such as watching a movie or listening to music, I would need to either get up or use my phone in order to reply to an email or social media message even. That being said, a wireless keyboard with a side panel might offer a similar experience, but the design enables a level of consistency in mouse placement between different seated positions that two separate wireless devices will struggle to keep.

The Lapdog has only two major drawbacks: compatibility and price. It is understandable that the compatibility with keyboards would be limited and Corsair would seek to accommodate their own models. As keyboards come into all shapes and sizes, it is virtually impossible to devise a construct that would perfectly hold and match a large number of them. If anything, Corsair’s decision to make the retail version of the Lapdog also compatible with the K70 series and not only with the K65 series was a major step forward. However, the K65 and K70 keyboards are high quality, popular, but also rather expensive keyboards. Their MSRP prices start at $90 and $120 for the K65 and K70 respectively, reaching up to $180 for the gaming-specific K70 RGB Rapidfire. The MSRP of the Lapdog is $120, which is hefty for a relatively simple construct, even for one this large. Taking into account the cost of a quality mouse, the total end up well above $200, nearing the cost of an entire gaming console itself. As convenient as the Lapdog may be, such a cost will certainly deter a large portion of adopters, however Corsair have stated that a number of their enthusiast users have been requesting such a device to already augment their gameplay. For those seeking to build a powerful living room gaming PC and want perfect control of it while sitting on their couch, the Lapdog is one of the very few solutions available today and it will certainly not disappoint.