Couch Gaming Gear Showdown! - Lapdog vs Turret
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,794 words · ~8 min read
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it used to be that to everyone but tiny Niche companies platforms that you could
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use to operate a keyboard and mouse on the couch were a solution in search of a
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problem but whether we have steam link to thank for this or something else
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Corsair and Razer both reached out asking us to evaluate their couch
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keyboard mouse gaming product so here we
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go
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cooler Master's master case maker 5 features their free form modular system
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allowing you to customize adjust and upgrade make it yours at the link in the
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video description the Corsair lap dog comes in two pieces with the nural Allen
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key that you'll need for assembly tucked into a little notch in the bottom one
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pull that out then put it aside that cushion attaches to the bottom with
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magnets later this is the meat and
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potatoes of the lap dog a plastic backed
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brushed aluminum topped board intended to act as a comfortable platform for
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your full-size keyboard and mouse that sits across your knees though a spacer
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is included if you prefer a shorter 10 keyless keyboard without a number pad
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you can use any Mouse you want but official keyboard support is limited to
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Corsair's own K65 and k70 let's talk
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assembly plug your power brick and USB 3 Cable in on the PC side Cable Management
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options are a little limited due to the 15 ft length limit that's imposed by the
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use of a passive cable then undo the four screws from the mouse pad and the
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two screws from the top fascia that pulls double duty as a cable management
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cubby to hide the keyboard's long USB cord that will be plugged into one of
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the two internal usb3 ports there's another two on the outside and as a lock
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to keep the keyboard in place there are a couple of anchor points below to make
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this easier and exactly two zip ties to
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go with them in the box so if you break one or you want to tighten things down a
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bit more then you better have your own already then from there Mouse assembly
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is equally straightforward there's a large compartment for cable management
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though with no zip tie anchors for some reason and a little Gap to bring it up
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to the top with minimal cable drag finally there's this handy little
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compartment that's presumably for Condoms due to all the sex that you'll
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be having whenever anyone sees you using one of these which I guess leads us
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pretty well into the usage experience the aluminum top plate makes the lap dog
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very very solid but also kind of heavy
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and unwieldly and not helping matters is
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the way that the mouse flops about and slides cringingly off the mouse pad
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whenever you take your hand off of it or move the board but once it's in position
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it is mostly pretty darn functional the
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only limit to the kinds of games that that you'll be able to play from the
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couch now will be the ones imposed by the game developer due to poor text
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scaling implementations of the UI and the like and having extra USB ports for
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a headset or a thumb drive is pretty nice but there are also some oversights
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that I'd like to see addressed in a V2 one it needs wrist rests within 20
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minutes holding up my arms or resting on
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the hard metal edges of the lap dog were both kind of a drag two the integrated
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mouse pad is not double-sided for some reason nor is it symmetrical so that I
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can DIY an alternate pad for the other side and three there needs to be a
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narrower K65 only version I realize the
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widened board improves keyboard compatibility but it causes interference
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with plush armrests a wider than natural gaming posture and discomfort when
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typing and all for what so can have a number pad for all the accounting that
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I'll be doing on my
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TV I'm not personally a huge fan of 10
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keyless keyboards but it would save 30 bucks on a
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$300 purchase and it was the right move
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here ergonomically and Corsair chickened out a little
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bito let's move on to the razor turret where the lap dog screams no compromises
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the turret counters with I'm not perfect but I'm small and attractive enough that
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your wife might actually allow this thing in her house which is not a bad
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point included in the box is a wall wart a weighted base station that charges
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both the keyboard and mouse when they're not in use a wireless receiver and a
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wireless keyboard and mouse both of which are capable of being used with
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Bluetooth or with their 2.4 GHz receiver
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with the flick of a switch and and both of which were specifically designed to
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be bundled together as this product purpose-built for couch gaming it's just
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too bad that they the mouse in particular really didn't impress me
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surprisingly and maybe the higher input leg of TVs especially my LG OLED
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compared to monitors was a factor here I didn't feel like the wireless interface
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hurt the gaming experience but there were other things that did the mouse
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clicks are pleasantly tactile and the scroll Wheels satisfying scroll and
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rubber coating feel great but even with my tiny girl hands this thing feels like
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a toy apart from there being nowhere to rest my pinky the sides are the worst
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kind of slippery glossy plastic making it hard to lift and reposition the mouse
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on the 20x 12 CM mouse pad and on top of
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that the ergonomics are bad enough that within about half an hour my wrist was
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getting that cold sensation radiating from my joints
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really bad kind of soar in spite of one
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huge advantage that's given to the turret by its lowprofile design the fact
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that your thigh can be used as a wrist rest the keyboard fared quite a bit
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better it's got a similar layout and feel to my blade 14 daily driver laptop
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the function keys are shorter and the space bar is noticeably mushier but it's
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very usable at least when it's centered in front of me
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unfortunately the hinge that unfolds the attached mouse pad doesn't lock into
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place so unless you want that to seg causing your mouse to fall you'll be
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stuck with it off to the left where it is much less comfortable to use although
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significantly more comfortable than the keyboard on the couchmaster now to be
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clear there are some very good ideas in the turret the Dual Wireless interfaces
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would make the turret a reasonably competent set of travel peripherals if
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they could be charged via USB with Android compatibility as an awesome
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bonus the mouse is magnetic and with a
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hard textured bottom foot that Glides well enough on the smooth pad without
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falling off all the time a much more elegant solution to the mouse whacking
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things every time I try and move the damn thing syndrome that other coach
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gaming boards suffer from like that and the compact folding
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form factor could probably work for me
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with a little bit more y AIS height on the mouse M pad it just feels kind of
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first gen still and at $160 it's not an Impulse bu for most
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people which I guess leads us pretty well into the overall conclusion here
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the barriers that exist for keyboard and mouse couch gaming are deeper than the
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lack of available platforms on which to place peripherals with game UI scaling
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being a significant one and the fact that a keyboard and mouse being more
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comfortable to use while sitting up straight or even leaning slightly
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forward with game controllers being more comfortable to use resting in your
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crotch while slouched on the couch being another one the industry is making
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progress towards an uncompromising PC gaming experience in the living room and
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I think we'll get there eventually the steam controller is a viable in between
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for some genres of games uh point and click like papers please comes to mind
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and both of these keyboard mouse Solutions are better looking
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easier to store more refined more affordable and more functional than my
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3-year-old couchmaster this is real progress I just think that the balance
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may be somewhere in between them
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still speaking of points I've got a pointer for you guys go sign up for
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mean to uh leave those out looks like for crunchy roll we have uh Naruto
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there you go and let's get back to Crunchyroll all the content on their
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site is professionally subtitled and all you got to do is head over to crunchyroll.com Linus Linked In the
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bucks a month so again that's crunchyroll.com Linus go check it
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