Thermaltake Challenger Pro Gaming Keyboard

The gaming peripheral market is rife with interesting innovations, some more of a gimmick than useful but still very nice to look at. Today, Benchmark Reviews brings you the Thermaltake Challenger Pro Gaming Keyboard P/N KB-CHP001US. The Challenger Pro has some interesting features worthy of notice but also has a few gimmicks to spruce it up a bit and attract more attention. The LED backlights not only light up the keys but they also light between the keys for a nice effect, the WASD and arrow keys have red replacements and there are also two blanking keys to replace the windows keys, should you choose to use them.

There are two USB 2.0 ports in the back to facilitate extra devices and there are also two special points at the top of the keyboard to mount a small hand cooling fan. There are six media keys present and 64KB of onboard memory allows you to store up to 40 macro functions via four profiles on ten macro buttons. The Challenger Pro will work just fine without installing the provided software but you won't have access to certain features such as macro assignment and editing, and full backlight control.

The Thermaltake Challenger Pro has flat low profile keys that make for faster key presses but also makes it easier to push the neighbouring keys aswell. the function keys have been made smaller to make way for the additional media keys and the macro keys at either side of the keyboard make the Challenger Pro slightly longer than normal keyboards. The shape and design are quite aesthetically pleasing and the price isn't too bad. If this is the sort of keyboard you have been looking for then read on to find out if it has what it takes as we test it in a variety of games and applications.

Manufacturer: Thermaltake, Inc.
Product Name: Challenger Pro
Model Number: KB-CHP001US
Price As Tested: $55.99 at Newegg.com

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Thermaltake

Features and Specifications

Keyboard Specification

• Interface: USB
• Operational system: Windows 7/Vista/XP
• Number of Macro keys: 10
• Number of multimedia keys: 6
• 2.0 USB port: 2
• Mic-In &SP Out jacks
• Switch lifecycle: 10 Million keystrokes
• Cable length: 2m braided cable
• Body dimension (LxWxH): 505x 195x 27mm

Hand Cooling Fan Specification

• Fan Speed: 6,000 RPM(±15%)
• Max. airflow:2.7CFM
• Noise level:21.7dB
• Rate voltage: DC 5.0V
• Life expectancy: 50,000 HRS
• Body dimension (LxWxH): 30x30x10mm

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