Steelseries 7G Mechanical Key Switch Gaming Keyboard Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2010-05-08
·
1,627 words · ~8 min read
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so I've got a pretty cool product here today this is the steel Series 7g this
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is their premium keyboard and it is
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for pro gaming yes you guessed it
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excellent so this is a no click mechanical gaming keyboard that means it
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uses all mechanical switches but it doesn't use the ones that that have like
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a springy clicky sound to them when you click them so it's should be in theory
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not quite as loud as something like an IBM model M but I mean it's not going to
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be as quiet as a membrane keyo board but you get that tactical feedback off it
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that you do not get off a lower quality keyboard wow that was really long and
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run out okay 18K goldplated connectors for extremely low latency I'm not sure
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how that affects the latency but they do say gaming grade durability 50 million
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keystrokes goldplated connectors will affect the durability gold is not used
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on connectors because it's a particularly good conductor it's used
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because it is a malleable soft metal so it is an extremely durable conductor
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wherever they are moving Parts WD etc
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etc etc this supports the use of all keys simultaneously that is a very cool
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feature very few other keyboards on the market support a feature like that okay
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removable super steady handr uh durable metal inner chassis used and endorsed by
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the world's best Esports players steel series media controls and a 2m braided
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cord okay so at the back we're going to see a whole bunch of uh gaming
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associations that this is associated with and then we are going to open did
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you look at those you're supposed to look at the gaming associations okay and
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then after that we will open the box so I get my knife here going to cut my
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seal okay there we go so let's get this out I love steel series products to be
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I'm going to give away my personal bias here almost everything they make I
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really really like so I'm fully expecting to like this keyboard if I can
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ever get it open see they tricked me you have to actually get rid of this seal in
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a addition to the seal on the other side in order to get the keyboard to slide
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out there we go that wasn't see it's a good thing we have these instructional
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videos on how to open the box of the product because then how would you get
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this open you wouldn't be able to it'd be very challenging okay so I'm going to
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just move and we're going to sort of focus on the keyboard here because it's
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so big that it's hard to uh fit both me
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and the keyboard in the frame here so let's take uh part the box I love black
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boxes too presentation very nice I give
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it a plus I've seen better but it gets
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the point across here is what you paid the big bucks for cuz this is a very
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expensive keyboard so here I'm just going to take this out and let's have a
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look at what it comes with in terms of accessories and add-ons so inside here
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you will find a little baggie and it is full of a PS2 to USB adapter now I
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believe the anti- ghosting feature only works if you plug it in by PS2 but do
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not quote me on that cuz I'm not 100% sure
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okay and then we have a steel series
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case badge sticker okay so you can stick that on your case then we have a steel
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series professional gaming gear catalog that shows you a bunch of their other
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stuff which is also really good okay and then we have the 7g so this appears to
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be some kind of users's manual professional gaming keyboard oh wow this
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is oh this is the best diagram ever okay
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so can you can you see can you read this one professional gaming keyboard two
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handr bam just in case you could not figure that out that is how it works
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okay so SK spawn one of the four most Counter-Strike players in the world uh
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helped with the development of the steel series 7g he has won more than a dozen
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major International Grandam he uses the following keyboard setup when playing
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his setup is optimized for Speed and accessibility maybe you will find it helpful these guys take their
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professional gaming very very seriously and it comes down to yeah even that
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they'll give you tips on how to configure their product just like the
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professional gamers in the world use it okay so let's here's the keyboard itself
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we got our 2 m braided cord here which is a very nice chord I wouldn't normally
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I wouldn't normally comment on the quality of a cord but check that out
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okay well if I can ever get it untwist tied then I'd be able to show you oh we
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got one more here really sorry about that so this includes all of the cables
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that need to be plugged into this keyboard in one little convenient cord
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and then it goes around see how look how long this is okay so it goes around to
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the back of your computer in another room I guess and then it has all of the
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connectors that you need so here's your PS2 you'll plug a USB to PS2 adapter
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into that if you want to use the keyboard by USB which works just fine
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there's your uh mic there's your speakers because you have passrs in the
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back of the keyboard so you can actually plug your headset directly into the back
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of the keyboard right there rather than plugging them around into the back of
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the computer it allows you to use a much shorter cord if you also have a steel series headset and then you've got
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another USB port this is for the USB hub
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okay these are actually labeled see this is keyboard can you can you read that
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it's okay it says keyboard and this says Hub so that you don't get confused
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because PS2 is not for a hub okay so then there's the keyboard itself now I'm
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going to get the camera a little bit close so that it can actually hear me more than see
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this so you can hear that these keys
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while not completely quiet are much quieter than a traditional mechanical
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keyboard with the uh with the spring sort of sound in it okay so you got a
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couple different features here first of all this Windows key gone this is now
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the steel series key this is used for any of the functionality up here so if
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you want to mute the volume decrease it increase it play back forward that's
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used for all of that you do still have a Windows key over on this side they have
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done nothing Goofy with the layout as far as standard layouts go the one thing
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I personally don't like and a lot of people do like this is the shortened
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backspace I have very small hands and for me to actually reach that backspace
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while keeping it's not going to happen so I like a backspace that's right here
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but that's a personal gripe these light up bright white they're very very very
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nice to look at it has a full number pad all that good stuff um this this looks
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incredibly stupid I'll be the first person to tell you that but I actually
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already have one of these keyboards I'm just unboxing a new one so that I can unbox it for you I love this keyboard
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and the reason I love it has very little to do with the keyboard it's a great
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keyboard but I'm not that fussy about them this is it because this is the most
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comfortable wrist rest I have ever encountered on a keyboard it really
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supports you unlike some of the goofy goofy wrist rests that I've seen that
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are shaped or fashionable or whatever this takes functionality and just drives
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that point all the way to the Finish Line because it is functional and
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comfortable so with that sort of gushing out of the way thank you for checking oh
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oh sorry sorry sorry here's the USB hub it's a USB 1 .1 Hub so you're not really
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going to want to use like any high-speed USB flash drives or anything like that
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but it'll work just fine for a mouse and whatever else you need that's a that's a
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low power and low bandwidth device so and there's your built-in mic and
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headphone ports it has little rubberized grips on the bottom as well and one of
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the things they did mention is the metal frame inside so you can see there's actually very little Flex to this
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keyboard and it's got a how the Box fell it's got It's got a lot of heft to it as
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well it's very durable feeling it's the kind of that if you like rage and you
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throw it down it would be just fine thank you for checking out my unboxing
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of the steel series 7g