Razer BlackWidow Gaming Keyboard

I can't honestly say I'm a Razer fanboy. When I first heard of Razer products several years back, I instantly hated them for the same reason I hate Apple: unnecessary and ridiculous overpricing in their products. Just look at the Razer Blade, for instance. Are you serious? 2-3k USD for a laptop with no hard drive and a crappy GTX 765M? If you are a computer connoisseur, you know that in the computer world, the idea "you get what you pay for" is more important and pronounced than in any other area of life I can think of, and sadly both Apple and Razer fail miserably when it comes to that. The Good The Razer Blackwidow, however, is worth every penny and more. It is big and bulky, and extra heavy for a keyboard. But that's alright, I wanted it exactly this way. It is very comfortable to type in. I'm looking forward to writing long university essays in this bad boy. Awesome for gaming as well. The feedback you receive from every keypress feels wonderful. I am very picky with how keys feel in keyboards, as the only key-feels that I like are laptop keyboards and mechanical keyboards. I can spot a cheap keyboard instantly and hate it equally as fast. I can do the opposite too, and as soon as I received the box, which has a hole above the directional arrow keys, I pressed them, and smiled, then continued pressing them with a big, dumb smile of delight on my face. For all the overpricing criticism I've given Razer on this review, I somehow knew, maybe even felt within my soul that for a picky keyboard user like me, Razer's keyboards were probably THE ones that would fit my needs quality-wise, and most importantly, feel-wise. I wasn't wrong. I decided to go with the normal version of the keyboard instead of the Ultimate because as far as I briefly researched, the only difference was the illuminated backlit keys that I didn't particularly care about, and would have had off most of the time anyways. (Don't type in the dark, guys, that's just asking for a drastically impaired vision a few years in the future.) The macro buttons are conveniently placed to the left of the keyboard, easy to reach and extremely useful. The keyboard also sports an auxiliary USB port, and a speaker and mic jacks to the right side, which is both a brilliant, and a stupid idea at the same time, more on this below. The Bad So, tell me one thing, Razer. You are a company that makes left-handed versions of your mice products for gamers aren't you? So that tells me you at least put some thought into your products' designs, taking on account the users' hand positions don't you? So tell me why on earth does this keyboard has its auxiliary USB port and jacks to the RIGHT side, where ideally my mouse pad and mouse will be? Taking into consideration that this keyboard is LONG, as a full-sized keyboard should be, the optimal position for your mouse and mouse pad would, in theory, be right next to the keyboard on the right side, unless you want your clients to look like they want to give their monitors a hug while gaming. So taking this into consideration why, just why to the right? Couldn't you've put them on the left or even on the back? Did absolutely NO ONE in that conference meeting point that out? Sure, fine, you can't have right-hand and left-hand versions of EVERY SINGLE product you make, but if you're not going to have a different-hand version of a product, then for your god's sake make your product suitable for the majority, in this case right-handed users. Bad design is bad. I'd just love to hear Razer's explanation on this. (No offense meant to lefties!) Second, is the decision of the placement of the Windows and Function Keys. The Windows key is placed on the left, between the left Ctrl and the left Alt, while the Function key is placed to the right, between the right Alt and the Menu key. Why not swap them up? This is purely preferential, so I can't fault Razer for this, and perhaps I am influenced by my MSI GT70 Laptop, which employs this design philosophy, with the Windows swapped with the Function keys, the intent being if you accidentally hit the Function key, you won't minimize your game as if you had hit the Windows key. I know there's a "Gaming Mode" which disables the key, but why use workarounds when the direct solution would be easier? The Ugly The Blackwidow shows off Razer's logo with a VERY nice green backlit section just below the left Alt, and it makes the keyboard look really awesome. From afar, you KNOW it's an impressive keyboard looking back at you, and that when you use it, you will FEEL Razer. Awesome decision right there. The bad decision, however, was how Razer made the top-right "panel" look. The lighted icons indicating the status of the Caps, Scroll, and Number Lock show below a translucent section of the keyboards plastic and look faded, blurred, and just plain awful. It creates a stark contrast with the Razer logo that just puts you off. If I could give the keyboard 4.9 Stars I would, because the problems preventing the keyboard from being perfect are few and easy to solve. You'd think they should've been no-brainers being worked on from the initial deisgn concepts and alphas of the keyboard, yet they weren't, and that's just sad. Nevertheless, a solid purchase. I love my keyboard despite the auxiliary ports being unusable lest they get in the way of my mouse. It has a lovely typewriter-ish sound to it as well that is pleasant as you write. Looks at performs very very well, as it should for a 100 buck keyboard!