Corsair iCUE LS100 LED Smart Lighting Strip Starter Kit

Look great and is easy to install. They are expensive.

If you are a RGB fan, and have a home office desk, then this is for you !I am using the smart lighting strip kit, fixed on the back of the screen, since few weeks now. The effects are pretty awesome ! It's of high build quality. The diffuser is very well made as it's spreading the light evenly. You won't see strong light spots just around the RGB or weak light spots away from the RGB.I didn't use the Corsair software though to customize the light effects. I am using it without the software (the down size is you can't change the lighting effect) and it's pretty lovely already, so I can't share my experience with the software.I definitely recommend this !

These are beautifully defused and can be controlled easily by iCue software but installing them by the instructions is not advisable if you want great cable management. I did not use the metal plates as I found that the magnets are not very strong and getting them to stay in place was really difficult. The plastic stands containing the magnets pop right off and you can use strong two sided 3m exterior tape to mount them to the monitor or just use two sided tape directly on the plastic stands. I also did not want the controller on the monitor so I just ran an extension(provided in the kit) back towards the center of the monitor to run hidden to the underside of the seat where I mounted the controller. Two important hints, make sure you use the input of the ascending strip as shown in the directions and once you have the unit installed, don’t be alarmed if some of the lights will not light on a 2 channel setup. The instructions say you can have up to 138 leds per channel and 192 for both together. I have two 450 mm and two 250 mm on channel one behind the monitor and another four 450mm on channel two behind my desktop for a total of 192. Three leds would not light until I placed them in lighting channels in iCue. If you are going to try to use these without a computer, you can, your limited to about 188 led’s for some reason. The expectation is that you will fire these up with iCue. They are beautiful but you have to know how to set them up.

The media could not be loaded. EDIT: Read to the bottomBuckle up folks. Its review time.Although the LEDs are flexible, the corsair box they arrive in bends the LEDs and gives them a pre-curve, making them not sit nicely on the magnets. The slightest bump or tug on the cords causes the whole thing to cascade down like a comedic curtain drop, except this curtain drop cost you $100.The adhesive magnetic stickies are EXTREMELY strong, and will not come off once placed on without a chemical cleaner. So make sure you put yours in a nice spot. I cleaned the back of my monitor off with alcohol and they are now a part of my monitor's DNA and possibly its future kin's DNA as well.Make sure you place your magnetic strips as close to the end of the LED strip as possible so the unnatural bending can be addressed (this was not in the instructions and should have been). My girlfriend found the curve appealing for some reason, but not so much for me.Also, the wire connectors between the LED strips are rigid, and force the already-strangely-bent LED strips to weirder angles.The LED strips also make noise while on. It kind of sounds like a very quiet chorus of ants caroling from a distance.The pros, however, is that this LED system work very nicely with iCue, and their brightness is not overwhelming. Makes for great backdrop once you start gaming. They look good, and have a wide range of options for colors and styles.I hope you enjoyed my rant--_-------------WAIT I HAVE MORE.Been using them for a year.Really nice colors.No dead LEDs.They are absolutely incredible for live streamed music.My cats don't really mess with them so that's nice.The band band in the video is Goose. They are incredible.Gave it an extra star because of the Livestream music functionality with iCue. Everything else above still holds.

So, I think a bit on the high end price-wise, but if you have more than one monitor or a very wide (i.e. like a 34+) you probably will want this. Note, when you first plug them in, they may not light up in the chain until you go into the iCue software, at least did not for me. Once iCue launched and recognized, they came right on.

Saw these in a corsair email blast and wanted something to replace my ambient lighting that was aging and starting to malfunction. Plugged them in and set it up and I was a little underwhelmed. I have The LT100 kit and one expansion bar.The good:1. They are nice looking.2. Setup was easy. I already have all corsair peripherals so as soon as I plugged in the USB the device was recognized.3. Good variety of effects and linkingThe bad1.They are not that bright the bases are pretty bright but the towers them selves not so much.2.The towers themselves don't lock super securely so you have to make sure and move them by the base and not let your cat lean on them.I've been a corsair fanboy for awhile now. I'm typing this review on my Strafe RGB keyboard with my M65 pro mouse while wearing my Void Pro Wireless headset, that usually sits on it's RGB headset stand. on my computer that sits in it's corsair crystal rgb case.. I've been really satisified with all of these products for the price these aren't really that great I liked the look of them because I didn't want sticky back LED strips, but they just really aren't nearly as bright as I expected them to be.Edit: Ok I'm on email 8 with Corsair support at this point and have gotten nowhere...If they manage to either help me get these up to a good brightness level, or even respond somewhat intelligently I will update this review, otherwise I would skip these. Honestly this whole experience has made me question why I like corsair, part of what used to set them apart was quality and support...clearly both of those are down the drain.