In The Lab: Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. 7 Keyboard - It's Not a Cyborg

[Tharic-Nar]

You may have seen this keyboard popping up over various sites a couple months ago, and it's truly an eye-catcher. Following on from the R.A.T. range, Mad Catz has released the S.T.R.I.K.E. 7 keyboard, and we were fortunate enough to get a sample in to review. To give you some idea as to what kind of keyboard this is, you need to read an assembly guide to put it together.

You can read the rest of our post and discuss here.

 

[Optix]

Which button launches the tactical nuclear warheads?

 

[Tharic-Nar]

That's programmable, so technically, any key. Now if only I could find the any key...

 

[Optix]

I see catarl, and pig up, but I don't see the any key.

 

[Tharic-Nar]

It's a German keyboard, so we are looking for the 'einige' key. Maybe it's a modifier combo with Strg or Fn.

I have found the 'Druck' key, think I'll be using that a lot. It's like a drunk guy couldn't type...

 

[jparnell8839]

sorry for a little bit of forum necromancy...

I know this is kinda old, but can this be used on a Linux pc? Configured on windows, used on Linux perhaps? If not, I may go to the STRIKE 5, seems like the LCD screen is the only real debilitating factor...

 

[Tharic-Nar]

The application launcher and Macros will not work on a different system. While the program launchers are saved in hardware, they use absolute paths, which means they will have no effect on a system with a dissimilar setup. Macros are 100% dependant on software and are not saved to the keyboard at all, in fact, they won't even load by default on a configured system. So with no software drivers, there will be extremely limited functionality. None of the extra keys will do anything without being programmed first.

What should work though is the standard media keys for volume, pause/play, the stopwatch, lighting, notes and timer. These are either integrated into the KB hardware, or use standard media control signals.

I'll try it out with a Linux live distro later to confirm, but the majority of the KB is software bound.