Review: Corsair Vengeance M90 Mouse & K90 Keyboard - Packaging & Setup

Now, I'm not going to do any sort of unboxing video (lest CrackerJackMack make fun of me again), but I do want to make some comments on the packaging and the product contents.

The K90 ships in a heavy duty cardboard box, much sturdier than anything you'd see from the likes of Microsoft. The keyboard itself is packaged in a thick duty molded cardboard tray. The tray is split into two layers, with the keyboard sitting in the top layer. They cable is routed to the bottom layer, and rests there along with the warranty and quickstart guides. The entire setup is topped with a molded plastic cover.

I wanted to mention the packaging and contents for a couple of reasons. First the packaging is simple. It's not elegant packaging, like what you would see from Apple. (Note: I'm a sucker for great packaging, of any sort.) But, it is simple (and very recyclable). There are no layers of cardboard, folded origami style. There is no maze of tunnels and holes to pull cabling through. There are no steel braided twist ties, nor is everything pinned down with packing tape.

It was so nice to open a box and simply be able to remove an item. I didn't have to go hunting for my pocket knife, or a pair of scissors. I didn't have to resort to chewing through the cardboard like some nerd beaver either. Simple FTW!!!

The M90 mouse was equally as simple to free from its plastic prison. While sealed in a blister pack, the mouse is easily accessible by pulling the back open via a finger hole. The entire back of the package opens up to reveal cardboard insert. The mouse sits on display in front, with the cable and guides resting in a pocket behind. It's all easy to open and access, without tearing any of the packaging.

Kudos to Corsair for making being a computer geek a little less frustrating. Did you know about 6,000 people a year are injured trying to free goods they've bought and paid for? Also, there is an actual term coined for this - "wrap rage".

Now that we have the good out of the way, let's get to the "not as good". Did you notice anything missing from the package contents? If you answered "driver disk", then "circle gets a square". Rather than include a driver disk, Corsair directs the user to corsair.com/venganceK90 to download and install the driver. The mouse gives a corresponding M90 address.

Now, I'm not going to say that a missing driver disk is inherently bad, we've all got the Interwebs, right? Well, in some cases you might not. I understand the eco friendly aspect of not including a disk, since drivers can easily become outdated. But it is nice to have a disk included.

Following the instructions in the quickstart guide, I plugged in the two USB plugs to my PC. Yes, there are two plugs. I'm guessing the second was needed to power the backlighting. There is a USB passthrough on the back of the keyboard. If you plug your mouse in it, there is no real port loss.

Next step was installing the driver, so I jumped online to get it. Typed in the URL and what, "We're sorry, the page you're looking for can not be found"? Oh, vengEance has two e's in it. My bad. The proper URL redirects you do the product page (not a unique download page). You either notice the download link tucked in under the product description, or find it by scrolling down to a larger link for a download section.

The linked zip file contains four separate files. One is the beta driver (which works for both the mouse and keyboard), a firmware update for the keyboard, release notes for the beta driver and instructions to update the firmware. What you'll notice it doesn't contain are actual instructions on how to set up macros, or detailed information on all of the options available in the software.