For comparison I thought it would be useful to compare the size of the Challenger Pro against a traditional keyboard - Dell Slimline. With a standard keyboard next to the Challenger Pro we can observe the overall size, height and spacing of keys etc.
Taking a look at the overall size of the keyboards we can see the Challenger Pro is significantly bigger. The keys are much tighter though in comparison to the Dell keyboard. The dell keyboard has bigger spaces between each key. The Challenger Pro also has a rest for the lower palms/wrists.
The Challenger Pro - Longer in overall size but tighter keys
The keys on the Challenger Pro are much shorter in height to the standard keyboard.
Height of keys are a lot shorter on the Challenger Pro
As I highlighted in the SteelSeries Shift review, the caps lock key is quite close to the "a" key. Using a standard keyboard on a daily basis I found it hard to adjust to the Shift but with the Challenger Pro this is further amplified because the keys are so tightly placed together. You can see below that on the standard keyboard the caps key is directly in line with the 'tab' key but with the Challenger Pro the caps key is much longer and hangs right over. When using this keyboard I was forever hitting the caps key instead of the "a", because vowels are used frequently when typing emails, web addresses, communicated in IM and in-game. Unfortunately I initially struggled to adjust to this keyboard, after many hours of testing I was getting used to it more but it still presented problems with speed typing. Naturally I don't look at the keyboard when typing but with the Challenger Pro I had to have my eyes looking at the board as I was forever making mistakes.
Caps key compared to a standard keyboard is very close to the 'a' key
Software
Along with the other included items there is a drivers CD with software to engage with the Challenger Pro. Installing takes a few minutes, as soon as the software is installed it reveals a GUI of customisation. Immediately noticeable along the top are 4 profiles that you can switch between. Switching to each profile is easy - there is a button above the numpad region that allows you to switch between each of the 4 profiles.
The keys that can be modified are the T buttons positioned on the left and right sides. You can either select from pre-defined commands as shown below or record a macro using the software and assign the macro to that button.
Other features that are available are the ability to turn the "Tt" logo light on or off and switch the backlight to 0% radiance all the way to 100% radiance. Not only can you control these lighting features within the software but there is a button above the numpad to change this also.
So all in all there are plenty of options to tailor the board to your needs and the software is very intuitive.
