ROCCAT Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard Review

Every once in a blue moon I’ll be perusing the interwebs and I’ll see a nifty ad that I’ll actually click on. God forbid that I actually click on an ad with the chance that I might inadvertently install a virus that will eat my computers insides, BUT when that blue moon happens I set all care aside and do it anyways. During one of those very select times I saw an ad for a rather compelling keyboard made by this company that I’ve never heard of: Roccat

Side note: Someone needs to let me know how to say this companies name… is it Row-cat, Rock- cat or Rocket? Either way, I heart the name. It makes your mind think and the logo is pretty kick ass to look at. I’m a big corporate logo nerd and I love the thought and design that goes into a cool name/logo.

Back to my epic ad story; after clicking on the ad I was transported to a black and blue world of epic gaming peripherals. After flipping through a couple of the very sexy products it took me about negative 4 seconds to message Bob via Facebook and say, “You need to get products from this company called Roccat”. He replied instantly with something that made me quite happy, “They’re already on their way, a keyboard and mouse.”

First on the agenda is the ISKU Illuminated Gaming Keyboard. From what I saw on the website I should be expecting a lot but after reviewing more keyboards and mice than I care to think about I know that I should never judge a book by its cover, even though this book looks cool as funk.

Speical thanks to Roccat for providing us with the Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard to review.

Packaging
If you have an opportunity head over to www.roccat.org and take a look at their website. After glancing at it for 3 seconds you’ll understand why the box of the ISKU looks the way it does. It looks as if Roccat decided to take a screen shot and use it as the labeling of the box.

ROCCAT Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard ROCCAT Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard

Roccat is no different when it comes to telling you all the facts and showing you all the glory of the product inside. The front showcases all the main highlights of the keyboard and the back of the box lists all the specifications in 425 different languages.

  • BLUE KEY ILLUMINATION
    with 6 brightness levels
  • 3 Easy Shift[+]™ Zones
    for easy key duplication
  • 36 easy-to-reach Macro Keys
    including 3 Thumbster keys
  • Macro Live! Recording
    with dedicated M-Rec button; 180+ macros in 5 profiles
  • 8 CONFIGURABLE MEDIA & HOTKEYS
    25+ assignable functions
  • Medium-height keys
    with an optimum keystroke & pressure point;
    advanced anti-ghosting; 1000Hz polling rate
  • ROCCAT™ DRIVER + MACRO MANAGER
    incl. Sound Feedback;  Macro Presets for games,
    multimedia and office apps
  • Extra-large GRANULAR wrist rest
    with special surface texture
  • Integrated cable channels
    for better device organization
  • Non-slip base
    with lock-on keyboard feet
  • Ultra-fast profile switching
    5 Profile-Status LEDs
  • ROCCAT™ TALK© – SET BONUS
    by combining products

Once out of the box you’ll have 4 main components. First is a driver CD that holds contains software that’s supposedly has a power level over 9000. Next is a fold out booklet containing my credit card, err a product identification card that’s used to register the device to the world of Roccat. After that we have product guide that covers more information than I care to ever read on any device. And lastly the ISKU Illuminated Gaming Keyboard itself.

ROCCAT Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard

To give you a better idea of how the Isku comes and what all comes in the box check out our unboxing and overview video below.