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Cougar's 700K Keyboard Is Built For Gamers

By - Source: Cougar | B 18 comments

Cougar's latest number is an unusual approach to a gaming keyboard.

We've reached a point where basic mechanical keyboards are flooding the market and where vendors have to innovate in order to stand out. We've seen plenty of innovation, but we haven't yet seen a keyboard quite like Cougar's 700K, which is an aluminum gaming keyboard with a very rich feature set and a slightly unorthodox layout.

The 700K uses Cherry MX mechanical switches, which are placed on an aluminum backplate for a sharp typing experience. Around this plate Cougar has placed a plastic frame, the design of which is inspired by 'stealth warship technology.' It also comes with a wrist rest, and you can detach part of it to create a smaller wrist rest for FPS gaming. Each key is also individually LED backlit.

What sets this keyboard apart, however, is the gaming-oriented feature set. This time around, when we speak of gaming features we actually mean functions, not just form. The 700K comes with a total of six G-Keys, along with three macro profiles. Five of these G-Keys are placed where you would expect them, on the left side of the keyboard, although for the sixth key Cougar has cut the spacebar in two and assigned the right key as a G-Key.

Cougar omitted the left Windows key in favor of an FN key to access the keyboard's onboard functions. Gamers might like this layout, although we reckon that pure typists may think that there is space for improvement.

Other gaming-oriented features include N-Key rollover over USB, along with a 1000 Hz polling rate and an adjustable key repeat rate with 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x options. Driving the keyboard is an ARM processor, along with onboard memory and Cougar's UIX software suite.

Cougar didn't reveal pricing or availability.

Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

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  • -1 Hide
    tom10167 , September 17, 2014 1:50 PM
    I was thought this was going to have a screen with a REALLY high resolution.
  • 8 Hide
    dstarr3 , September 17, 2014 2:22 PM
    Cougar's 700K Keyboard Is Built For Gamers... with no taste.
  • 4 Hide
    rayden54 , September 17, 2014 2:38 PM
    Why does "gamer" stuff always have to be so gaudy?
  • Add your comment Display all 18 comments.
  • -1 Hide
    Bondfc11 , September 17, 2014 3:13 PM
    what kind of mech switches? reb/blue/brown?
  • 1 Hide
    apache_lives , September 17, 2014 3:23 PM
    Already used one, didnt like it - keys feel too high/tall, the gap between the G function keys and the normal keys is too small

    Theres too many companies making "gaming" keyboards and mice that make just rubbish products with no real RND making the devices feel plain wrong to use or just annoying because of issues like layout/size/shape etc
  • 0 Hide
    knowom , September 17, 2014 3:38 PM
    We need a Atari inspired android keyboard with midi ports that would be awesome.
  • 0 Hide
    DarkSable , September 17, 2014 3:51 PM
    I just... why would you pay extra for "gaming macro keys" when you can use Autohotkey and turn your number pad into a macro pad for free? Just doesn't make much sense to me.
  • 0 Hide
    thequn , September 17, 2014 4:26 PM
    Gamer of moms sometimes have 40 keybinds sometime the need them closer to wasd.
  • 0 Hide
    wysiwygbill , September 17, 2014 5:32 PM
    The darn thing looks downright painful to use what what it being so edgy. :-p

    I do want a mini screen these days for my gpu/cpu/fps info though.
  • -2 Hide
    10tacle , September 17, 2014 7:19 PM
    Quote:
    what kind of mech switches? reb/blue/brown?


    Did you read the article? It's right there: "The 700K uses Cherry MX mechanical switches, which are placed on an aluminum backplate for a sharp typing experience."
  • 0 Hide
    mypc1 , September 17, 2014 8:22 PM
    I actually quiet like the design! Sounds good feature wise so can't wait to see some reviews
  • -1 Hide
    fuzzion , September 17, 2014 10:04 PM
    Does anyone that named this product know what cougar stands for??
  • 0 Hide
    rundmcarlson , September 18, 2014 3:22 AM
    Cougar is the name of the company idiot. They make all kinds of parts.
  • 5 Hide
    xyriin , September 18, 2014 3:52 AM
    Quote:
    Quote:
    what kind of mech switches? reb/blue/brown?

    Did you read the article? It's right there: "The 700K uses Cherry MX mechanical switches, which are placed on an aluminum backplate for a sharp typing experience."

    Did you read the article? If you did you certainly didn't comprehend it. Try less snark next time and you might not embarrass yourself.

    It's a more than valid question since Cherry doesn't mean red and it isn't a single switch. Cherry MX is a brand name with switch models Black, Red, Brown, and Blue. Each of the switch types has unique characteristics as well which makes knowing which type is used extremely valid. It's also very rare for a manufacturer to offer a single keyboard model with all the different switch types as an available option as well. To top it off many switch type variants are often only regional offerings.

    As for the answer to the question I can't find one at the moment. The spec list and datasheet on the Cougar website shows a picture of Cherry MX switches but doesn't specify which are available or if all will be available.
  • 3 Hide
    xyriin , September 18, 2014 3:57 AM
    Quote:
    Does anyone that named this product know what cougar stands for??

    cou·gar (ko͞ogər) noun - a large American wild cat with a plain tawny to grayish coat, found from Canada to Patagonia

    I'm pretty sure they knew exactly what a cougar was when they named their company. Some people stick to using actual definitions instead of informal slang.
  • 0 Hide
    Lmah , September 18, 2014 7:58 AM
    Doesn't look like something I would buy, it looks pretty stupid IMO. I'll take my DasKeyboard and Ducky keyboards over that anyday.
  • 0 Hide
    OzDracula , September 18, 2014 9:26 AM
    "Gamers might like this layout, although we reckon that pure typists may think that there is space for improvement."
    Irrelevant! Who cares what typists think! It's a *gaming* keyboard!

    Gamers need to type but for the majority of the time it's WASD!
  • 0 Hide
    Bondfc11 , September 18, 2014 10:31 AM
    Quote:
    Quote:
    Quote:
    what kind of mech switches? reb/blue/brown?

    Did you read the article? It's right there: "The 700K uses Cherry MX mechanical switches, which are placed on an aluminum backplate for a sharp typing experience."

    Did you read the article? If you did you certainly didn't comprehend it. Try less snark next time and you might not embarrass yourself.

    It's a more than valid question since Cherry doesn't mean red and it isn't a single switch. Cherry MX is a brand name with switch models Black, Red, Brown, and Blue. Each of the switch types has unique characteristics as well which makes knowing which type is used extremely valid. It's also very rare for a manufacturer to offer a single keyboard model with all the different switch types as an available option as well. To top it off many switch type variants are often only regional offerings.

    As for the answer to the question I can't find one at the moment. The spec list and datasheet on the Cougar website shows a picture of Cherry MX switches but doesn't specify which are available or if all will be available.


    Thanks for clarifying (looking at the website - I didn't see anything listed either). I refused to answer the original post since he clearly has no idea what mech switches are all about.
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