When I first heard about the Corsair Vengeance K90 Mechanical Keyboard, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Corsair have a long history of supporting the gaming community with a wide range of parts and peripherals aimed squarely at the PC enthusiast. So when Corsair announced the addition of gaming mice and keyboards to their existing Vengeance line of hardware, I was immediately interested. After some lengthy delays with the products reaching retail, I’m very happy to discover that my interest was completely warranted. The Corsair Vengeance K90 Mechanical Keyboard is quite simply the most comfortable keyboard I have ever had the pleasure of using.

To begin with, let’s take a look at some of the specifications that make up the Corsair Vengeance K90 Mechanical Keyboard.

• Cherry MX Red Mechanical Switches
• 18 Customisable Macro (“G”) keys
• Full anti-ghosting and 20 Key rollover on USB
• Attractive brushed aluminium finish with laser etched, backlit keys.

So why Cherry Red switches? Red switches, like the Black switches before them are a linear switch. That means there is no tactile or audible feedback at the actuation point. For anybody doing even the tiniest amount of typing, this is a great thing. Having tried Cherry Blue switches, the sound is like a rapid fire machine gun, with each keystroke blasting its way out of the keyboard. Unlike Cherry Black switches however, the Cherry MX Red switch only require 45g of force to actuate, and a minuscule 2mm from resting to actuation, and a further 2mm to ‘bottoming out.’ There’s a steep learning curve when typing with these keys, if you want to avoid bottoming out but the end result is completely worth the effort.

The result is that you end up with a key that is nearly silent, and requires only a feather touch to activate. When gaming, I merely apply the lightest pressure to the keyboard and find my actions replicated in the game. Combined with a full-sized wrist rest, this makes the Corsair Vengeance K90 Mechanical Keyboard the most comfortable keyboard I have ever used. For a run-down of some of the other Cherry MX switches out there, don’t forget to check out Kenny’s previous blog!

A lot has been written in the press about the lack of Cherry MX Red switches on every key, however. Many feel this was a cost cutting exercise, and I’m not here to analyse that. The question that was on my mind from the moment I saw the design was “will this make any difference to how I use the keyboard?”

Do I notice the difference in key “feel” on the rubber dome keys? Yes, absolutely I can tell which keys use rubber domes. Does it make any difference to my enjoyment of the keyboard? Not in the slightest. Each rubber-dome key is just as easy to type on, and the tactile difference can actually be quite beneficial for an experienced touch typist. I can tell by feel which keys are mechanical, which prevents any missed keystrokes while typing or gaming. This is a great thing in my opinion, and for an informed consumer should play no part in your decision to pick up this fantastic keyboard.

If you’re in the market for a stylish, comfortable and all-round fantastic mechanical keyboard; whether it’s your first or fortieth mechanical keyboard, look no further than the Corsair Vengeance K90 Mechanical Keyboard. For those who don’t require the 18 “G” keys, or back-lighting, why not consider the Corsair Vengeance K60 Mechanical Keyboard? Warcom carry a full range of Corsair gaming products.

This blog was entirely typed on a Corsair K90 keyboard, purchased from Warcom. No promotional considerations were given.

With the dust settling around the buyout of Internode by publicly listed rival iiNet, there’s a lot of hostility surrounding the shock announcement. As soon as the news broke, I was on forums, tech journals, and even social media. Amidst the shock and awe, there was another almost unexpected sentiment; unbridled anger from the customers.

Almost anywhere you looked, there was an outpouring of what I can only describe as grief at the loss of the last, great privately owned ISP in Australia. As I drove home that evening, I couldn’t help but wonder at the reason behind all the negative feeling.

Having been a customer of both Internode and iiNet, I’ve experienced first hand what both companies have to offer, and from a long term customer I can only see the move as a positive benefit no matter what angle it’s approached from.

Both companies are customer centric, each winning awards for their service oriented approach to doing business. Indeed, in the majority of polls within the Australian telecommunications industry, Internode and iiNet are commonly found in first and second place. From a purely service approach, the two companies could not be a better match.

But Internode doesn’t bring just it’s award winning service and customer base to the table. Internode has spent years building a national network focussed on speed and reliability, and a significant presence in regional and rural Australia – including some of the only investment in the Northern Territory outside of Telstra.

The majority of the negative sentiments seem to be aimed squarely at Internode founder and managing director, Simon Hackett. Indeed, some customers seem to feel personally slighted by the actions. As a managing director, he has often put himself directly in the public firing line on business decisions and this instance is no exception. But this decision while certainly surprising in the timing has been a long time in the making.

It’s no secret that iiNet and Internode began in similar circumstances, and it was their differing choices (iiNet becoming a public company, Internode remaining a private entity) that set the course of their respective futures. If anybody was going to buy Internode, it was surely going to be Michael Malone. Indeed, the friendship between the two directors can only be seen as a good thing, as there is an established respect for the business practices and strategies of the respective companies.

As I delved deeper in to the reasons why customers might be upset with the decision to merge Internode in to the iiNet family, one reason jumped out at me again and again. “I don’t want to be an iiBorg.” At the end of the day, with the spectre of the NBN looming, Internode was at a critical crossroads. Consolidate, or face the prospect of folding without any choice or say in the matter. Given the alternative, of not having this visionary ISP in the marketplace, or worse facing a radically changed Internode owned by one of the other major players, I know which choice I’d take. Give Simon a little trust, I think he’s banked enough by now to have earned it.

-Bob

The preceding piece is the opinion of the author only, and does not represent the position of Warcom.