The Saitek Cyborg V.7 is a very popular gaming keyboard in the gaming world, and rightfully so. It has nearly all the useful features that can help improve gamer's skill. It is missing a few things like in-game macro recording but for the most part it has what computer game players want from a keyboard and has enough bells and whistles to win our TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award.
This keyboard, as well as a few other gaming keyboards were all pretty close when it came to ranking. They are all designed well, but what makes this one unique, are the aesthetics and the price tag. The Saitek Cyborg V.7 can be purchased for about $10 less than the competition. That makes this keyboard great for its abilities, as well as your wallet. Who doesn't like saving money?
As far as gaming keyboards go, the Saitek Cyborg V.7 has most of the features gamers look for. It offers the ability to turn off the Windows key so that you don't accidently pull up your start menu in the middle of your game. It has anti-ghosting to help prevent any issues when you press multiple keys simultaneously. There is also a set of media control keys, but unfortunately they are touch pads. The problem with that is that it doesn't provide any tactile feedback and generally doesn't work as well as an actual key.
This keyboard comes with SST (Saitek Smart Technology) software for putting together macros and assigning them to keys. It also allows you to set up profiles that you can save and switch between. The downside to this program is that it is a little confusing to use at first. If you are unfamiliar with it, it may take a little time and patience to get the hang of. Once you get it down, there are loads of useful macros you can take advantage of.
The design is the first thing you'll notice when you see this gaming keyboard. The Saitek Cyborg V.7 looks a little different from your normal keyboard. The space-age, cybernetic organism look that they were most likely going for, does look the part. It's odd, but bright and flashy look probably won't match any of your other computer equipment, but it will turn a few heads.
Aesthetics aside, it has another unique attribute. The Saitek Cyborg V.7 is the only gaming keyboard that we reviewed that put macro keys on the right side of the keyboard. Both sides of the board end with a column of macro keys. By having those keys on the right side, assuming you play games with the mouse on the right side of the keyboard, you now have quick options that your right thumb could access. This could be quite beneficial if you don't have a gaming mouse that offers its own set of programmable buttons.
We mentioned before that there are 12 dedicated macro keys at your disposal and this is the main customization feature that we look for. The Saitek Cyborg V.7 gaming keyboard does not, however, have an option to record macros on-the-fly, which would have complimented it even more.
The under-key lighting can be changed in a variety of ways. The colors can be anything between red and yellow. It'll also do green but not blue. The Saitek Cyborg V.7 gaming keyboard lets you customize separate backlighting for the "WASD" keys, the arrow keys, the 12 macro keys, the number pad and then the main set of keys, which includes everything else. The other flaw to the lighting, aside from no blue, is that you can't adjust the brightness.
The Saitek Cyborg V.7 is an excellent gaming keyboard that is tried and true. Gamers agree that this is one of the best keyboards on the market, especially for the price. It's not a perfect keyboard that works for everyone's style, but it offers a good balance of features make it a functional, convenient product.
