The Corsair Lapdog
- Uses the fantastic Corsair K70 or K65 keyboard
- Left wrist rests on a sharp edge
- Very cumbersome and big
- Expensive, and doesn't even include the keyboard
The Corsair Lapdog is the only lapboard on this list that doesn’t actually come with a keyboard. And seeing as it costs the same amount of money for what is essentially an empty tray, it’s hard to recommend for anybody who doesn’t already have the Corsair keyboard to go with it. And even then, the Lapdog can be inconvenient and uncomfortable to use.
Only two types of keyboards will fit in the Lapdog: The Corsair K70 or its slightly smaller version, the Corsair K65. And if you are currently using a K70 or K65 on your desktop computer, it’s not easy to swap in and out of the Lapdog frame. I was hoping the keyboard might quickly snap into place, easily moving from desk to couch, but installing it instead required I unscrew panels held down with six hex screws, put it in place, and then screw the panels back on. It’s not difficult, but it is a process that impedes trying to use a single keyboard for both setups.
The inconveniences don’t stop there. The two extra USB ports on the right side of the Lapdog require a power cord be plugged into an outlet to function. The foam cushion on the bottom of the lapboard attaches with magnets so you can decide whether you want to use it or not, but the magnets are just a little too weak, making the two halves slide apart fairly easily when I tried to move or readjust it on my lap. The whole thing is uncompromising in its design—power to the USBs allows them to charge things faster, for example—which would be noble if it weren’t also so uncomfortable to use.
Unlike the Sova, the Lapdog doesn’t have any sort of wrist rest. The extra space created by the mousepad being taller than the keyboard was put above the keyboard instead of below it, which looks pretty, but ends up just being wasted space. Instead of being on a pad, my hand in the WASD position was resting on the slightly sharp metal edge of the Lapdog tray. It’s honestly surprising to me that anyone could have tried playing an FPS with their hand in that position and not seen it as a problem. Ironically, I actually had to take off the K65’s removable wrist rest to fit it into the Lapdog.
With all of those problems, it has to be said that the K65 and K70 are genuinely better keyboards than what’s built into the Sova. The mousepad areas are nearly identical materials, both a rough matte finish, but the Lapdog's is slightly larger. That bigger area and better keyboard was noticeably nicer to play on when trying Overwatch and other shooters—or it would have been, if the Lapdog frame wasn’t grinding into my hand the whole time. It’s a better high-end gaming product hamstrung by poor design.
That larger mousepad and room for a numpad keyboard come at another cost, as the Lapdog is the biggest of the three options by a fair amount—both in length and thickness, thanks to that removable cushion. The cushion is comfortable, with a bump in the center of it meant to sit between my legs. But I found myself wanting the lapboard to be a few inches to the right of center, so the bump wasn’t always in the right spot. It also meant I couldn’t set the lapboard down flat on my coffee table when I stood up, as it would sometimes tilt to one side and the mouse would slide off. I ended up finding the whole thing easier to use without the cushion, which then took up more space somewhere else in my living room.
Corsair recently dropped the price of the Lapdog down to a more palatable one on Amazon, which brings the total package—Lapdog and a Corsair keyboard—to competitive levels with Roccat and Razer.
If the Corsair Lapdog had a wrist rest, it would be easy to recommend as a high-end option for people who don’t mind all the little annoyances if it means getting closer to a desktop setup on their couch. But as it stands, those annoyances are hard to ignore when coupled with less-than-ideal usability. I wouldn't recommend the Lapdog to anyone over the Sova or the Turret.
