There was a time when the only type of keyboard you could buy was one with mechanical switches. This was pretty much it for the old AT days of computing. This style of keyboard later extended into the first ATX boards which featured PS/2 connectors (and later USB). This style of keyboard was later replaced by the smaller digital input (also known as capacitive and which was actually designed in the 1970s). These were nothing more than a sponge pad that would press a contact into two trace contacts on a PCB. As these were cheaper to make and boasted the same reliability as the older mechanical switches (which mean one switch per key) it soon became the standard and the older mechanical switch went away… That is until the gaming community resurrected it. Now we have a new generation of keyboards based on the old one-switch-per-key style of manufacturing. We have taken three of these for a stroll around the lab and now have a fourth to tell you about. This is the CM Storm Trigger Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. Let’s see if it can stand up to the rest of the pack.
Performance -
We put the CM Storm Trigger through about 10 hours of gaming. This was with a variety of games from Alan Wake to Mass Effect 3 and through some older (but no less fun) games like Bioshock 2 and HalfLife 2. In addition to this the Trigger is one of the first of the mechanical keyboards that we have spent an extended amount of time using for every-day typing. It has a very comfortable feel to it when used in this manner. Because of the extra time spent with the Trigger we also pulled out the QuickFire Rapid and Pro and then the Tt eSports MEKA G1. We used each for a couple of days to see how well they did compared to what we found on the Trigger. What we found was that the Trigger, with its different styling and light keys was actually a little more typing friendly than the others that we have tested. The incline of the keys has made it (for us) a much better choice for a day-to-day product especially with the wrist rest in place.
For gaming, well we found that we liked the layout and feel of the trigger a little less than the QuickFire Pro and we have to say that the Cherry MX Black switches are a little better for gaming (thankfully you can get the Trigger with those) as the feel is more resistant and if you have a heavy fingered game style you will like the resistance you get there. The Cherry MX Brown switches are still a better feel than the Blue though. Now, on another note… when gaming we found that combining the Trigger (with Marcos setup) with the CMStorm Sentinel II Advance was an amazing gaming combination. If you added in Cherry MX Black switches, well the trigger would be our choice for both gaming and day to day use (even though we find the Black switches a little rough with our typing style).
