Performance

Before we jump into the Triggers performance let’s talk about its layout and features a little bit. First, when comparing it to the QuickFire that we still use here in the office it is clearly a much bigger keyboard. In fact if you stand back and look at the whole thing it reminds me a lot of the Logitech G line of keyboards, without the built in screen of course. The light grey color with black trim really brings that home. Of course beyond the obvious difference (mechanical), there is a lot of styling on the Trigger that sets it apart from the Logitech boards. When you get a close look at it, it actually looks more like one of the HAF cases than anything with its industrial styling along the top and under the direction pad.

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The Trigger has a very large arm rest for extra comfort but it is optional. There are three mounting points on the underside to attach it, so even if you manage to break one you will still be able to keep it secured, something we have had a problem with our G19 and a Thermaltake keyboard that we have used to take to and from LANs. Under the keyboard you have six large rubber pads on the keyboard portion to keep it from moving around while gaming as well as eight smaller feet on the arm rest. You also have two feet to kick up the angle as needed; they also have a nice rubber coating for footing.

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On the flip side of things, literally, the entire keyboard has a grippy rubber coating covering everything but the keys. The Tiggers key layout includes a full number pad and Cooler Master has replaced the Windows keys with a storm logo. By default this turns off the windows key, perfect to prevent you from bumping it and kicking yourself out of a game mid battle. Along the left side you have five macro keys, it’s nice to see that they didn’t go overboard with these but did include them for people who do need them. All of the F keys along the top have additional functionality by using that storm button to turn them into media keys as well as the control buttons for the triggers backlighting.

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Speaking of the Triggers backlighting, Cooler Master did a great job with the full keyboard backlighting on this board. Each key has a nice red look, you can’t change the color but it is a little different than what Razer has to offer. The four controller buttons on the keyboard for the backlighting will allow you to turn it all on and off. Turn the backlighting brightness up and down, and set three different modes. Those modes are all on, WASD on, and all on but with a slow pulsing glow. All in all this is still the best feature of the board, it make seem simple but with so few mechanical keyboards with backlighting on the market it is important.

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I mentioned before the Triggers detachable cord. Just like the Quickfire you have a replaceable cord. This is great if you have any worries about the cord being damaged in the future. But for me I am most interested in the ability to be able t buy a shorter or longer cord to get it to be the perfect length. Along with the cord connection on the top of the Trigger you have two USB 2.0 plugs, perfect for hooking up your mouse and an extra for anything you might need in the future. Cooler Master has also included a plug in for an AC adapter that is not sold with the Trigger. If you go this route you will gain a 5th level of brightness that you can turn your backlighting up to according to the documentation.

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If you look around online you will come across the global Trigger documentation on the global Cooler Master website. Here you will notice that they are actually producing this keyboard with all four of the popular Cherry switches. Currently, here in the states, you can only get brown switches. For me in testing I was actually very happy with the performance of the brown switches. Not only is the keyboard quieter than a board with blue switches, but we also still have most of the tactile feedback that makes the blue’s so popular.

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garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #24894 01 May 2012 14:56
Cooler Master's latest keyboard, those of you looking for a mechanical keyboard with full back lighting should take notice!

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