SteelSeries 7G Detailed Features

Time to take an even closer look at the SteelSeries 7G and its features that set this apart from other similar peripherals on the market.

The cable on the SteelSeries 7G is two meters long and splits off into four separate cables one foot from the end. The USB headphone and microphone ends are merely extensions of the inbuilt hub. The keyboard is connected to your PC via a PS/2 plug but you have the option to use the supplied PS/2 to USB adapter. SteelSeries recommend that you use the 7G via the PS/2 port as it will not be restricted by any polling rate like it would be with USB.

Round at the back of the SteelSeries 7G keyboard are some expansion ports for USB, Headphone and Microphone. The headphone and microphone ports are just pass through and work flawlessly but the USB ports are from an internal USB 1.1 hub. This isn't a problem if you want to hook up a mouse or any other low bandwidth device but if you want to use a USB data stick or any other USB 2.0 device via this port you will be restricted by the lower bandwidth offered by USB 1.1 protocol.

One particularly useful feature of the SteelSeries 7G is the replacement of the left hand Windows key with a specialized SteelSeries key. This isn't a new idea by any means but this key serves a purpose as a function key for the media keys that you can see at the top of the keyboard from F1 through to F6. What this means is that you won't find yourself minimising your game in the heat of the moment by accidently pressing the windows key, this is something I'm sure we have all done in the past. Media keys are always useful and by using a dedicated function key to operate them SteelSeries have managed to keep the keyboard nice and compact.

Looking at the bottom of the SteelSeries 7G keyboard we see that it has four large rubber feet that stop it from sliding around the place (the sheer weight of the unit helps too) and the plastic wrist rest also has four smaller rubber feet of its own. A nice addition here would have been to have some cable routing options as the cable coming out of the center is not always ideal. I am glad that it doesn't have the common retractable height adjusting feet that adorn most if not all modern keyboards, I can recall several keyboards that have been ruined by having these break on me.

Zooming in a little to the label now, there isn't too much info to be gained here. Various standard confirmation icons and other info give us an idea what we are dealing with here. We also get a nice close up on one of the textured rubber feet and what I assume is a serial number on the white sticker above it.

The 7G features the three standard lock LED's that are found on 99% of keyboards, but in this case SteelSeries have fitted super bright white LED's in place of standard low level LED's commonly found in keyboards. The LED's really catch your eye are so bright that if you look at them directly you will get the sun spot effect in your eyes for a short duration.

The keys on the SteelSeries 7G keyboard are individually shaped and sculpted nicely for ergonomic use and should provide a much better typing experience over a standard keyboard that has all flat keys or flat low profile keys like you see on laptops.

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