Pros: Nothing at all. The color is nice.

Cons: Cheapest keyboard I have ever used and ordered. Thermaltake needs to work on quality control because I have received two defective keyboards in a row where one or two keys don't work at all. Is not worth a second of your time look for a better brand because these guys are a hoax.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer,

We at Thermaltake would like to apologize for the negative experience thus far.
Please contact customer support at your earliest convenience to troubleshoot the issues you've had with the keyboard.
Also, if you have gone through the RMA process with us, to provide your past RMA information.

Thermaltake USA
Email: ttsupport@thermaltakeusa.com
Toll Free: 1-800-988-1088 M-F 9:00AM~5:30PM (P.S.T)

Pros: Soft Keys, bright backlight, versitile key functionality

Cons: keys stick - while this hasn't been an issue for gaming, I can't even type an email without the keys sticking.

Is the backlight supposed to change color? There is a multi-color indicator, but they keys remain red only. Don't really care about this, as it lights up.

Frequently need to unplug and replug it, as it stops working. Not sure if that is the fault of the keyboard, but it happens on multiple USB ports.

Other Thoughts: I've had this for a year - and while I didn't love it, it wasn't this bad at first. Time for a new keyboard.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer,
The Challenger Pro only has red backlighting. The Challenger Ultimate has multi-color backlighting. The other issues you have mentioned are not normal function and seemingly point to a defective keyboard. The Challenger Pro is backed by a 2 year warranty so please contact Customer Service for RMA instructions.
Thermaltake USA Customer Service
Email: ttsupport@thermaltakeusa.com
Toll Free: 1-800-988-1088 M-F 9:00AM~5:30PM (P.S.T)
089

Pros: The red/black looks really good and the LED backlight is awesome. A lot of backlit keyboards don't have great illumination, but the Challenger does.

I love the feel of the board. For a non-mech board, it rocks. It feels great.

There are customization options on 10 macro keys that come in handy. You can also set 4 profiles (ie 40 macros) depending on what game you're playing or what you're using your PC for.

The little finger fan is actually really handy. I still see it as kind of a gimmick, but it helps if you have sweaty hands during hardcore gameplay.

Cons: It always comes unplugged. The usb connection in the back of the keyboard comes out with the slightest tug. It's only happened to me 2-3 times so far. Not a huge deal, but loses an egg.

Also - the mini-fan that is included blows from what looks like the back. It's set up as most PC fans, but I think they should have switched the rotation of the blades for minor style reasons.

Other Thoughts: Overall great board - I would recommend it.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer,
You can squeeze the USB cable into the back of the keyboard. This will help to ensure the USB does not unplug.
Thermaltake USA Customer Service
Email: ttsupport@thermaltakeusa.com
Toll Free: 1-800-988-1088 M-F 9:00AM~5:30PM (P.S.T)
089

Pros: *This keyboard is pretty solid for the price.
*It comes with a fan attachment to cool your hands.
*It's back-lit keys are great for gaming in dim light of for people who want to ruin your eyes.
*adds 2 external USB ports.

Cons: *You can't adjust the light intensity on the back-lighting without running the program that comes with the driver.
*The fan is mostly silent but without headphones its a bit annoying.
*The additional USB ports on the keyboard do not provide enough power to charge a phone or other various USB attachments.

Honestly these are little problems that usually wouldn't bother me too much, however there is one flaw with this keyboard that ruins it for me.

If you are a heavy gamer like I, you bout this keyboard because it is a mid-to-lower range keyboard for gaming. However with heavy use in the time I've owned it (And I've had it over a year now) the paint on top of the transparent plastic keys on the board, especially around the WASD keys have completely been rubbed away by friction. And I should mention I am a clean gamer- if not obsessively clean. I wash my hands after eating or snacking as to prevent my keys from getting greasy, I even clean them once a week intensely. But the oil from your fingers during heavy gaming and the pain on the keys do not like each other too much and begin to erode away at the paint slowly over time and the keys get sticky due to the pain eroding. I can no longer read my WASD keys. They are a clear but blacked-flaked key due to the pain eroding aray almost completely.

I appreciate that the keyboard came with spare WASD keys in red, but my other keys are starting to have the same thing happen just from typing a lot.

The only other thing I can complain about is if you have medium to large sized hands- the keys are really close together. Its really awkward to type and takes a lot of effort to get used to but I constantly find myself making typos hitting 2 keys or the wrong key. They keys are really quiet and have almost no click. If you are a person who types a lot you want a keyboard with medium "clicky-ness" to they keys so they aren't as easy to hit on accident and get yourself killed in a serious battle in a game, of make a frustrating amount of typos when writing a research paper or even an email. -As a side note this has been frustrating to write from the typos.

Other Thoughts: I talked about the fan, but honestly I never found the need or want to use the fan.

Pros: good keyboard, keystrokes are smooth, with the design of the keys it is very easy to clean

Cons: macro keys dont work. they arent recognized by anything not even the thermaltake software

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer,
The Challenger Pro keyboard should have fully programmable macro keys. Please contact Customer Service who will help to solve the issue or provide instructions for RMA.
Thermaltake USA Customer Service
Email: ttsupport@thermaltakeusa.com
Toll Free: 1-800-988-1088 M-F 9:00AM~5:30PM (P.S.T)
089

Pros: The first one of these keyboards that I have has been used for close to two years. It is still going strong and only replaced it to have a new one again. I have used the original keyboard for many different typing tasks such as; PC gaming, college classwork, forum posting, and article writing. It has never failed me one time in almost two years.

The board being illuminated really makes it nice for typing in low light scenarios. The ability to adjust the illumination helps in different lighting scenarios. The large Tt insignia on the palm rest can be turned on or off which is helpful as well. Going to a LAN party one can kick the Tt insignia on to show off the keyboard and then turn it off while gaming.

Many gamers of course use the W,A,S,D key combinations however I personally like to use the arrow keys. Thermaltake not only included red exchangeable keys for the WASD, but also included red arrow keys for the few gamers that use these combinations of keys. Kudos to Tt for including the exchangeable arrow keys for this keyboard.

I used my first keyboard quite extensively during the first year for online college courses. The letters and numbers held up very well over that time period in class. Granted, the coloring on the keys is starting to fade and show their age, but hey, the keyboard is almost two years old.

These keyboards are very sturdy. If you’re like me and want the bottom feet up to elevate the keyboard, don’t worry, it is still very sturdy resting on said feet. The keys are not wobbly to any noticeable extent however being a membrane type keyboard one has to expect a slight wiggle to them.

When I first purchased the first of these keyboards, I was hesitant on the cost for a membrane type keyboard. However after having my first one for nearly two years, I cannot complain on the price point of these boards.

Cons: USB ports; as many have stated, they are not very useful for much other than a standard USB mouse.

As some have pointed out, some of the boards have had an issue with the macro keys. People have complained that they have to be “mashed” down in order to work properly. I did not find this issue with my first keyboard so in reality this isn’t a con.

The little rubber plugs for the fan ports will fall off very easily. These are so small that if you knock one off at a LAN gaming event chances are you will lose it. I don’t know how Tt could redesign this feature, but something different should be designed for these plugs.

Other Thoughts: The little cooling fan was a great idea in theory. However after using the fan on my first keyboard only once I really didn’t see the need for such a design. It really doesn’t move any noticeable amount of air so I didn’t find that it “cooled” my hand by any measurable amount.

Until I got used to the keyboard feel, I often found myself hitting the cap lock key a lot. However after some time this issue was no longer evident.

Having my first Challenger Pro for nearly two years and not really finding serious issues to speak of, I pretty much feel that this great gaming keyboard deserves a solid 5 Eggs.

Thank you Thermaltake for developing a great product and I can only hope that my second one of these treats me as good as the first one has!

Pros: Solid tactile feel with subdued click noise.

Laptop style KB without poor laptop ergonomics.

Multiple additional features

Solid gauge USB cable with braided sleeving, Length is accurate

Illumination settings with KB button press

Anti-Ghosting up to 4 keys in one row (e.g. ASDF) . More if varying rows/columns.

USB retainer is very effective.

Multi-Media keys will control music player even in background, for instance while gaming.

Cons: USB ports are rated to 100mA. Useful for a mouse, no other devices tested worked. Extra USB port is unnecessary.

Fan is worthless, more noticeable air movement in pull than in push. (put then it looks bad). The Fan plug covers fall out once removed with a casual bump.

Could not find a game in which the Macro keys were worth while.

Help file is poorly written. There is no "single key" setting, you use macro for single key, unless you want it to replace common keyboard shortcuts that everyone should already have memorized (Cut, copy, paste, print, select all etc)

Touch type bumps are barely noticeable. Must look at Keyboard to get fingers in right spot, if you have calloused hands.

Keyboard did not function at all with out the software installed, nor did it function with a USB extender that was being used with previous HP branded keyboard.

Other Thoughts: Over all the keyboard is growing on me. While I do not like having to look at keyboard to set my fingers, once they are set I have no problems. I have not tried swapping out the WASD keys yet, this might help alleviate that issue, at least reducing the look to a quick glance.

I really like the tactility of the keyboard. It has a solid feel with only slight wiggle in the keys, which is almost unavoidable on membrane keyboards, and completely unavoidable in a low profile approach.

As I am still in "learning" mode with the keyboard, having only used it for just over a week, my typo rates have dropped to almost nil. I did at first happen to hit the caps lock key accidentally often but that nO LONger occurs ;)

I have not tried removing the software after getting the Keyboard setup, as I tend to eliminate applications that I do not actively use, but it would be nice to see a "driver only" download on their website. Device manager does not show a Keyboard attached, just a half dozen HID consumer devices, with newer OSes moving towards touch integration this should not be a problem moving forward but if you do a lot of VM running or testing older OSes you may run into problems not having a driver only.

I was surprised at the anti-ghosting claims and how well it works. 4 key presses in a single row worked well in testing, and I was able to easily do 6 by spreading out the inputs some. (Membranes use a column/row design for detecting key presses). Anything higher is really unnecessary, as hitting 6 different keys simultaneously was something that was not natural.

Overall 4-4.5 eggs

Pros: The backlighting of the keys and logo look great
Interchangeable black/red WASD and arrow keys are cool
Hand-cooling fan is a great concept
Keys are very quiet

Cons: The main keys on the board are not sensitive enough for my liking. The hand-cooling fan was a cool idea, but I definitely regret spending $50-70 (don't remember actual price) based on that idea. Most importantly, the ten macro keys on the keyboard are ridiculously insensitive! To use them requires you to literally mash the buttons down as far as they will go, and obviously this is not even a little bit ideal while gaming. Would not recommend this to anyone.

Other Thoughts: It took over a month for my distaste of the keyboard to manifest itself enough for me to want to return it. It was too late by then. Don't make the same mistake I made.

Pros: Laptop like keys
Illuminated
Blows air on your left hand
Looks stylish

Cons: 70 keyboard that ghosts....

Other Thoughts: Got this back in june. Wanted a keyboard that was illuminated, and the keys felt like my laptops(small,thin,numberkeys match up with f1 keys). That being said... Ghosting is the bane of pc gaming, and for 70 dollars, i didnt think it would ghost. It wont read anything past 3 simultaneous key presses.other than that, i love it, but ghosting with the amount i paid is just unacceptable. And yes that losses this 3 eggs.

Pros: Good for some macroing, good for the extra light, not extremely loud when typing

Cons: The power connection is one small line with a poorly designed structure which makes it fall out and wiggle very easily. I've tried taping it and cutting into the plastic to make it not move but still it causes me problems.
Wouldn't recommend if you move very much.