With PC gaming becoming much more accessible than before and Steam pushing living room gaming, it’s not uncommon to see peripheral companies jump on the bandwagon to deliver a product that suits the market space. While most gamers can plug in or wirelessly connect a controller like the Xbox One and Steam controller; a mouse and keyboard option is always preferred. We’ve seen some few models pop out into the market from a few major companies and today, we’re looking at Corsair’s solution – the Lapdog.
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The Corsair Lapdog is an advanced gaming centre that comes as a barebone unit without any keyboard or mouse. It’s not ready out of the box, so you’ll need to purchase the peripherals separately if you don’t have any. The Lapdog also only supports K60/K70 series Corsair mechanical keyboards meaning you can’t just slam any brand into it – which is justifiable since they can’t make a shell to support all brands. You can use any gaming mouse however as there’s no limitations there.
For this review, we were provided with a Corsiar K70 LUX Mechanical Keyboard and Corsair M65 PRO gaming mouse to install and use for the Corsair Lapdog.
Installation, while straight forward can be quite a hassle. It requires you to unscrew different panels, place the keyboard, route the cables and then put the panels back on. It took me roughly 20-minutes to setup the Corsair Lapdog ready to go and that’s minus the downloading and installing of the Corsair Utility Software.
For something that’s targeted towards the living room casual market, it’s strange that Corsair didn’t made it easier. A tool-less setup where you can just click on the panels would be so much easier or having a pre-installed default keyboard. However once you get it all up and ready, the Corsair Lapdog really performs.
“A tool-less setup where you can just click on the panels would be so much easier”
The structure of the Lapdog is well-built and you can see the value of the unit here. Using a combination of plastic and aluminium, the built quality is very sturdy and it almost represents the brand’s case standards. I really like how it’s built and it feels very balanced on the lap with the attached memory cushion.
Once I got the Corsair Lapdog up and running, it was a simple connect to USB port on your PC and you’re ready to go. As the keyboard and mouse option is default for all PC games, you can experience the same setup as you would on a desk which is replicated well. Playing titles that fit the keyboard/mouse layout – like shooters and strategy titles, the Corsair Lapdog performs well. For the shooter, I played CS:GO which feels very natural on the Corsair Lapdog and had no issues adapting to it. Even with a strategy like Planetary Annihilation, I had no issues playing it like I do on the desk.
“you can experience the same setup as you would on a desk which is replicated well.”
There was a major issue however with the design of the Corsair Lapdog and that’s how close the keyboard sat near to the bottom edge of the unit. This proved very discomforting as your wrist sits on the edge of the Corsair Lapdog. As the edge is quite sharp, this was a nuisance when using it for extended hours. Corsair could have eliminated this by providing a wrist rest or even some space to sit your wrist on. Most people would fine this annoying and pretty much a design flaw of the Corsair Lapdog.
Pricing is another issue with the Corsair Lapdog. The unit as mentioned above is barebone and doesn’t come with a keyboard and mouse so users need to shell out extra cash to complete it. It only supports the Corsair K60/K70 series mechanical keyboards so you’ll be looking at $150-200+ extra. If you don’t have a mouse, it’s another $50-100. You could be looking at $300-400 complete which is quite steep. If you have a compatible keyboard however, you’ll be fine but having to switch between desktop and Corsair Lapdog is hassle so you’ll better off getting a spare keyboard.
Overall
The Corsair Lapdog works pretty well where it needs to. It replicates the desktop experience well which is what you want. You could use a controller but games such as shooters and RTS games just work better with the keyboard and mouse. However, there’s some major issues with the design and the price is somewhat of a contributing factor that can instantly put people off. It’s Corsair’s first iteration for the Lapdog and while it has great ideas and probably the best keyboard/mouse living room solution on the market – it still needs some work.
Price: $159AUD RRP (Barebone: requires compatible Corsair Keyboard and a mouse)
Where to buy: Amazon
Disclaimer: A review sample was provided by Corsair