Top positive review
2 people found this helpful
Such a nice keyboard!
By Elliria on Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2016
I ordered the clicky style of this keyboard, and so far I really like it. It has a nice solid build with a good heft to it, and it doesn't feel cheap or flimsy. The buttons are easier to press than the buttons on my Unicomp keyboard were, but that doesn't mean there's no tactile feedback. Quite the contrary! You can definitely feel these keys responding to your touch on the way down and on the way back up. You can also feel the actuation point. The keys make a very satisfying clicking sound (for those of us who like that sort of thing) that I'd say is a bit louder and higher pitched than the clicks of an IBM model M. If I had to choose one word to sum up how these keys feel, I'd say snappy. As to the design, the keys are layered in tiers the same way an IBM model M or Unicomp keyboard is (rather than flat like some modern keyboards), are concave like those in an IBM model M or Unicomp keyboard, are smaller and closer together than those in an IBM modem M or a Unicomp, but I'd say the spacing between them is about the same. If you're switching from one of those to this there will be a slight adjustment period, but it shouldn't take you long to feel at home with this keyboard. The F and J keys have the familiar ridge on them to let you know you're on those keys without looking, and all of the keys have a smooth finish. The keyboard also only comes in black. For those of us who have been using white or grey keyboards for years, it will take a bit of getting used to, and you'll either need to use the backlighting provided by the keyboard or turn on the lights in the room earlier than you would have with the lighter keyboard if you look at your keys as you type (I don't, generally, but do when going for rarely used keys like some of the numbers or symbols). I'm using this keyboard on a GNU/Linux machine, and I'd read all over the place that you can't run the Razer Synapse software on GNU/Linux, and you do need that software to configure the lighting effects. Since I have a Windows computer for work, I hooked the keyboard up to that, downloaded and installed the software, and configured the lighting to just be static (it came with the breathing effect enabled by default). Once I had that configured in Windows, I plugged the keyboard into my GNU/LInux machine and can brighten, dim, and turn off the lights with the Fn and F11 or Fn and F12 keys whenever I like. I didn't try creating more than one lighting profile, but if I do, I'll update this review so others will know if you can access multiple profiles in GNU/Linux. There are a couple of things about this keyboard that are strange. First, all of the letters on the keys are upper case except for the r, which is lower case. Second, the text on the number and symbol keys is transposed when compared with almost any other keyboard out there (example: the 9 key has a 9 on top and a ( on the bottom instead of the other way around). When the keyboard has its backlighting turned on, only the top text is lit, and you won't be able to see the bottom text and will need to have memorized it. Note that the number and symbol keys behave just like the keys on any other keyboard - it's just the text on the keys that's different. If Razer ends up offering standard replacement keys (with all upper case letters and with the text on the number and symbol keys like all other keyboards I've ever seen) and if all of the text on the number and symbol keys lights up instead of just the top row, I'd instantly buy them. Meanwhile, that bit of strangeness isn't enough to make me regret having gotten this keyboard or convince me to look around for another one. I love how this keyboard feels, responds, and behaves. I'm relishing every moment I spend using it, and I look forward to pounding away on it for years to come.
Top critical review
4 people found this helpful
First one arrived broken, second is still a 3 star keyboard
By Matt on Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2015
Razer products have always been good to me, but this time I apparently received a lemon. When the keyboard arrived the box was undamaged, but several keycaps were coming off, but they were easy to put back on. The problem, and the reason I rate this keyboard as one star, is because the switch for the number 5 key on the number row was broken. It would not reset and remain within a hair of triggering, which makes it completely unusable for use with games in which the 5 key is tied to an action. I filed a return refund request with Amazon. I am typing this on my previous keyboard, a Das Keyboard Professional with Cherry MX Blue switches, and I have to say that the "feel" of the Razer keyboard is more "squishy", perhaps as a result of the "soft touch keys". I am not a fan of the soft touch keys, and strongly prefer very stiff keys to prevent accidental presses. I am also very hard on keyboards, having broken several membrane and scissor boards in the past, and these keys are very easy to press, more akin to Cherry MX Black than Blue. The Cherry MX Blue and Razer Green switches are supposed to have the same actuation force, but the Razer keys are much easier to press, which can result in accidental key presses. It makes me wonder why Razer went through the time, effort, and expense to redesign the wheel, as it were, creating their own switches instead of using time tested, reliable Cherry MX Blue switches. The Razer keyboard is somewhat larger than a traditional keyboard because of the extra space at the bottom for the logo, which will take some time to getting used to if you are used to placing your wrist on the surface in front of the board. The backlighting is nice, and you can design your own effects, but you cannot use the Starlight with any other pattern. For example, if you only want certain keys static lit (for instance, WSAD, or F and J) while the rest of the keys use the Starlight pattern, you cannot do that. The backlight strength is fully adjustable, and looks great if you set all of the keys to a low static level, say 25-50 (which is very bright as the human eye perceives green light very strong), and then layer a 255 brightness reactive and ripple/wave effect over it. All of this is configurable in the Razer Synapse software, which makes it easy to rebind keys as well. If this keyboard had not arrived broken, I would rate it with 3 stars, -1 for the lack of full pattern backlight options, and -1 because this keyboard requires TWO USB ports to function correctly (one for the keyboard, one for the USB port), which is, to me, insane in this age of USB 3.0. UPDATE: Razer has since released the direct mounted version, and I decided to give this version a chance. It arrived undamaged. The keys feel close to Cherry MX Blues, so it is quite nice to type on, and for heavy fingered people like me, it means that you won't accidentally press a key your finger rests on. The lighting effects are still nice, but without the backlight on the keycaps are basically blank, which means that combined with the default mode of "breathing", which doesn't change until you login. Starlight mode looks nice, but it is not random, it is a simple pattern which repeats. The secondary functions (#, $, ", etc) are still unlit, which is quite annoying, except on the number pad, which tells me there is no reason Razer couldn't have made the secondary functions illuminate over the rest of the board. There is no right side Windows key, instead it is replaced by the FN key which is useless 99.9999% of the time, and cannot be remapped to a Windows key.
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