Packaging and Accessories

The COUCHMASTER cycon includes a lot of components, including two large support cushions and the lapboard. The entire package arrived in a large box accordingly, and from Steiger Dynamics who is nerdytec's USA distributor. It has the company and product name on it, so you had best not have it delivered when not home. Once opened, we see everything is packaged neatly, including an accessory box and another, thinner box marked as a case alongside.


The accessory box has a handle on top that aids in its removal, but we see it actually has open sides with two cardboard pieces on the inside that form a diagonal cross and create four compartments wherein the accessories are. These accessories all are individually wrapped in plastic, and two of the three seen above are USB cables for the wired input support with the COUCHMASTER cycon. The shorter cable is a male-to-male USB Type-A to Type-B adapter cable, and the longer (at 5 m in length) is an extension Type-A cable for your living room PC to the product itself in having a rather bulky female USB connector on one side and a male connector on the other. This bulkier connector is the result of this being an active USB 3.0 cable, which is a must in providing a strong signal without additional power input.


The next accessory we see is what nerdytec refers to as a "mouse pocket". It is a pouch with an exterior made out of artificial leather, with the COUCHMASTER branding on it and a stitched edge that all makes it look more like a wallet than a living-room gaming accessory. The inside is large enough to contain most mice, and the idea is that you can use this to store a wireless mouse, or a mouse with a removable cable, when not in use. It has a hook-and-loop fastener on the back to help attach it to the support cushions and comes with two rolls of more fastener tape that help keep the lapboard in place over the cushions.


After having received the unit, nerdytec informed me that they have since began to include a mousepad with the product as well. My unit was packaged before this decision was made, and so they sent me their mousepad separately so I could take a look. Retail units henceforth should expect to see this in the accessory box as well. The mousepad is soft, appears to be composed of a low density rubber, and measured in at slightly under 25 x 30 cm with rounded corners. The nerdytec writing is seen here as well, and it is printed on to the bottom-right corner, but not in line with the actual edge. The edges too are prone to fraying, and this comes off more as a freebie thrown in to sweeten the deal than an accessory that had a lot of thought put into it. It can definitely be improved upon, but as something that adds nothing to the cost, I welcome its addition in the current iteration, while noting that I certainly would not have paid extra for it.


The other product box we saw before contains the lapboard part of the product and has a glossy black wrap over the cardboard exterior. There is the nerdytec branding here too, and two double flaps along with a seal on the side help keep the contents inside in place. Opening the box, we see the lapboard right away, and it has four shaped pieces of soft foam on the corners for added protection. In fact, these foam pieces are also in two pairs of varying thickness to account for the corners of the lapboard varying in thickness, so it is a detail that is appreciated by me.


The final set of accessories here includes a user manual that goes over the installation process with a wired keyboard and mouse as well as a nice precision Phillips head screwdriver with a thick base for plenty of torque.

I will also mention here that the two support cushions come in packaged underneath the accessory box such that the lapboard box is alongside all these three. Packaging overall is thus very good, which makes for a good first impression of nerdytec.