The Corsair Lapdog Review: Gaming with a Mouse and Keyboard in the Living Room

Conclusion

I always try to use every keyboard that we review as my personal keyboard for at least a week. My typical weekly usage includes a lot of typing (about 100-150 pages), a few hours of gaming and some casual usage, such as internet browsing and messaging. The Lapdog spent the majority of that time on the desktop rather on my lap, as the time I use the system for work greatly outweighs the time it is being used for entertainment. I initially thought that the height/shape of the Lapdog would hinder my typing/working performance but, to my bewilderment, I soon realized that the Lapdog is very convenient when placed on a desktop and did not impede my typing performance or comfort by any perceptible level. I also found very convenient the presence of the high current USB 3.0 ports on the side, which allowed me to connect external drives and devices quickly without as much as leaning forward.

The intended purpose of the Lapdog however is to be used on a lap by someone sitting on a couch. I am not personally used to living room gaming and I spent only a few hours gaming with my notebook connected to the TV in order to test the comfort and functionality of the Lapdog. Gaming with the Lapdog resting on my lap was fairly convenient, allowing me perfect control of the mouse and good access to the keyboard. Typing long texts with the Lapdog on your lap is not very comfortable or recommended, as the keyboard is toward the left side of the body and ends up too low and close to your chest, forcing one’s shoulders and body to a non-ergonomic position. It is convenient enough for short messages, chat and similar uses. This is not a problem while gaming, as the left hand falls directly above the left area of the keyboard, which covers the part that is useful for the vast majority of PC games. What could be a problem for a number of users after prolonged gaming sessions is the heat. The Lapdog itself does not get warm during use, but the presence of something on your lap for a few hours means your legs do eventually warm up and can start to sweat. Although the foam on the underside breathes a little, my legs were very warm after an hour of gaming, with a room temperature of 27 °C. This can be an issue in warmer climates or during gaming marathons, leading to sweaty thighs and discomfort. Finally, I also found that the long, thick supplied cable to be a bit of a nuisance to wind up after the gaming session has ended.

Even though the Lapdog is designed for use in the living room, I personally found it very convenient to use in the office/bedroom. With my desktop next to my bed and connected to my TV, I have been using the Lapdog sitting on my desktop while I was working, then bringing it with me on the bed while I wanted to relax. I found it convenient enough to be freely used while sitting inclined on the bed, allowing total control over the system without having to get up. By simply switching the system’s output to the TV and bringing the Lapdog on the bed with me, I could play an online MMORPG, converse via social media applications, switch to other applications and even reply to emails, all without having to get up at all. I could never play a complex PC game from my bed before the Lapdog. Even if I was doing something simple, such as watching a movie or listening to music, I would need to either get up or use my phone in order to reply to an email or social media message even. That being said, a wireless keyboard with a side panel might offer a similar experience, but the design enables a level of consistency in mouse placement between different seated positions that two separate wireless devices will struggle to keep.

The Lapdog has only two major drawbacks: compatibility and price. It is understandable that the compatibility with keyboards would be limited and Corsair would seek to accommodate their own models. As keyboards come into all shapes and sizes, it is virtually impossible to devise a construct that would perfectly hold and match a large number of them. If anything, Corsair’s decision to make the retail version of the Lapdog also compatible with the K70 series and not only with the K65 series was a major step forward. However, the K65 and K70 keyboards are high quality, popular, but also rather expensive keyboards. Their MSRP prices start at $90 and $120 for the K65 and K70 respectively, reaching up to $180 for the gaming-specific K70 RGB Rapidfire. The MSRP of the Lapdog is $120, which is hefty for a relatively simple construct, even for one this large. Taking into account the cost of a quality mouse, the total end up well above $200, nearing the cost of an entire gaming console itself. As convenient as the Lapdog may be, such a cost will certainly deter a large portion of adopters, however Corsair have stated that a number of their enthusiast users have been requesting such a device to already augment their gameplay. For those seeking to build a powerful living room gaming PC and want perfect control of it while sitting on their couch, the Lapdog is one of the very few solutions available today and it will certainly not disappoint.