Corsair Lapdog Gaming Control Center Review

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Conclusion

It’s of no surprise that Corsair are now starting to expand into your living room: with powerful and capable PC components, such as motherboards and GPUs shrinking in size, it was only a matter of time before they started to make an appearance. The Bulldog PC is Corsair’s first product designed to fit snugly next to your TV; ready to handle full HD (and UHD) playback and play the most demanding games – so the Lapdog is the perfect partner.

In the past, I’ve always used a small mouse/keyboard combined wireless device to control my media PC, which wasn’t great and required the batteries to be charged or replaced often. With the introduction of the Lapdog into my life I could go back to proper desktop gaming, without having to leave the living room, meaning I could ditch the Xbox and play my favourite games like BF4, DOTA and CS:GO from the comfort of my sofa.

The Lapdog is not the first of it’s kind however. Some companies have similar “trays” that either provide you with a larger surface to support your keyboard and mouse or span your whole lap with supports either side, creating a firm platform. These are much larger, they take up a great deal of room and don’t have a powered USB hub nor the portability that the Lapdog has – not to mention that your keyboard integrates seamlessly with the platform and the excess cables can be kept out of sight.

I do have a couple of more negative points about the Lapdog, however. The biggest gripe I have with it is that the mouse cannot be stored anywhere, which means that you’ll have it dangling around if you opt to store the Lapdog upright when not in use. It also results in the mouse flying off the pad when you move it around, coupled with the fact that the memory foam is contoured to sit comfortably on your legs, means it rests at an angle when placed on a flat surface. The Lapdog is exclusively for use with the K70 keyboards, which fit perfectly and lock in tight. This does mean that it would be very difficult to use a non-K70 keyboard; it either won’t fit or will look terrible. At approximately £110 on release, with bundle offers also being available, it is pretty hefty for what could be considered a glorified dinner tray.

With all this in mind, I applaud Corsair for making a big push into the living gaming arena – which could soon see PC gaming threatening those consoles which often reside under the TV. Whilst I love the idea of the Lapdog: with it’s fantastic cable management, seamless integration of a K65/70 keyboard, stylish looks and comfortable memory foam, it’s a shame that some obvious flaws remain. The layout has changed somewhat from the looks of the initial design shown in the first press release, although these issues still remain. With that said, it looks like Corsair could make use of the magnetic top tray and potentially offer different versions to accommodate different keyboards or add better support/storage for the mouse – maybe the popular 3D printing community will pick up on this and start making custom additions.

Overall, the Lapdog and I got on just like a house on fire. I love to game and being able to bring that into the comfort of my living room, with a lovely 48″ TV and surround sound, meant I could fully immerse myself in games or movies, without compromising on control – something that is essential to all gamers and PC users alike. If you’re considering the move from study to living room and have a reasonable budget (and the other occupants of your home won’t mind), then I would highly recommend you pick up the Lapdog (pun intended!). Sure it has a few issues, but I envision these being ironed out throughout the rest of the year.

I don’t often give out awards, but for what is essentially a high tech dinner tray Corsair have done well here, with style and functionality. So it’s my pleasure to award the Lapdog with the following:

Big thanks to Corsair for sending this over.