Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard
by Razer Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: $70.00 You Save: $29.99 (30%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard
Customer Review: Excellent Keyboard
Summary: 5 Stars
After using serveral other keyboards for gaming, the Tarantula has given me the best results. The keys are responsive and feel robust. Add the Battlelight and be the envy of your friends!Customer Review: amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
very good keyboard, love the usb and audio/mic pluggins in the back....powers my lachesis mouse and gaming headset. Lights are cool, keyboard feels nice. No complaints so far.Customer Review: Razor Keyboard
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought it for my son. He's in raptures. I guess that means it's pretty good. Stan.Customer Review: Good for Someone Who Needs It.
Summary: 4 Stars
As my title notes, it is a great keyboard for me. Let me explain. I am a numpad gamer. One of the first computer games I played was Thief, which defaulted to the numpad. I never looked back in other games since. This creates problems for me. First off is that games have become more complex, there are usually more need for buttons. I decided to upgrade from my old G15. Good keyboard no real complaints except for the macro keys that I had difficulty using early on since I am a numpad gamer and the macros did not work well. Where this keyboard shines for me is that the layout is condensed in a way that gives me way more realistic access to keys that I never had before. For other numpad gamers out there, this is a good look for you. The keyboard seems solid and I cannot opine on the ports since I do not use them. They key feel is nice, however, some of the keys I have been using often over the last 2 months of ownership have me concerned of the long-term viability of them. Nothing is broke now, but I feel that some of the keys need to be pressed harder now than before. I am not sure if it is because the keyboard needed to be broken in a bit or if this is a sign of future problems.
Some of the things I do not like have been noted before but should be reinforced for other potential buyers.
1. Need firmware to update the board to work in bios. After the update, it works fine. However, the process of updating the firmware was a pain in the rear. I did the steps at least 20 times and failed and then finally it updated. I have no idea why it finally worked or what I did differently. However, I remember needing to reboot each time to try again since I came up with an error when I tried to update more than once without a reboot. I hope I never have to do that again.
2. Software - Looks good at first, but then some things occur to you. First, why does the program have to be so darn small. The keys that you click to reassign keys (important for me so I can use the numpad enter key in some games) are tiny. Then the profile button does not seem work the way I thought it was supposed to. My understanding is that there are two profiles per profile (A + B). If I have A re-mapped and B normal, hitting the button should bring me to a clean B slate. It shows up on the screen that it switched, but my keys are still re-mapped. Not sure what is going on there. The macro ability is not too bad. I do wish that I could link a mouse key with it too, but that does not work in my experience.
3. LED lighting - Come on, make the whole thing light up. I did not think I would miss it from the G15, but I do. I have low lighting by my computer and it is a little hard to see the keys. I am a decent typer, but every now and then I need to look for something.
4. Keys - As noted above, I am uncertain how long they will work based on the change in feel. I have read user reviews who say that the keys can stop working pretty quickly. I took the gamble since the layout was what I am looking for.
In summary, a decent keyboard. I would rate a 3 if it was the more typical layout. I rank it a 4 because it is different, but fits my needs perfectly. In use, I have more usable keys bound and this keyboard has helped me in games because of this. However, it is not perfect even though I have been a razer fan (not exclusive) since the original boomslang 2000 came out.
*** Update ***
As noted above, I do have an issue with one key I use regularly. I need to press it down quite hard to have it work properly. This is a pain since the others seem fine and it messes me up in gaming. Using the tool to take keys off, I pressed down on the suction cup inside and the key works well and pretty easily. I have determined that the key does not fit correctly and that there is a gap between the bottom of the key and the contact suction. As a result, I need to push quite hard to make the proper contact happen. I have patched this by using a piece of cotton to fill in the gap by wedging a portion into the key and balling it up on the other end. It works well for a time, but needs to be replaced often as it flattens. I plan to work on a final fix (guessing that crazy glue will be involved ;-) ), but I have not had the time to do so or think about how would be the best way.
Overall, I am still pleased with the keyboard. As noted above, it really works well for my style of play. However, due to the key issue, I think I would rate a solid 3 overall now since a keyboard at this price range should not give such a basic problem like this.
Customer Review: Great Keyboard - With Caveats
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used this keyboard for about 6 months now, and this review is based on my experience over this span of time. I am an avid gamer, and play mostly FPS (First-Person Shooter), RPG (Role-Playing Games) and RTS (Real-Time Strategy) games.
Build Quality: 9/10
The keyboard is very well constructed, with a solid feel, and plenty of space. This is not a keyboard for people with limited desktop real estate. The lighting on the keyboard is very pleasing, and the Razor logo on the palm rest fades in and out. The keys are all removable via the tool provided inside. Feet are properly rubberized, with the usual height stands to prop it up. The cables coming out of the keyboard are thick and well-constructed, and the connectors are gold-plated. Impressive! Overall, excellent. Makes you feel like you paid for proper quality.
Feel (9/10) & Function (5/10)
The keys are very responsive, and are on the firm side. There was no learning curve involved when I switched from my $10 cheap Logitech keyboard.
Ergonomics are acceptable, but aren't revolutionary in any way. This leads to my main comment about function. The customizable gaming keys run down both ends of the normal keyboard, and look great in theory. In practice however, I found using them a pain. Stretching my little fingers (probably the least dexterous of all fingers!) to hit one of the several gaming keys is a real hassle, especially when you're in the middle of an intense FPS battle. For example, trying to hit one of the left hotkeys is completely impractical if you're using the typical WSAD (forward, back, strafe left and right) and in the middle of combat, as it requires you to stretch your litle finger, which messes with the rest of your hand placement (unless you're a piano player, or especially dexterous, or possess large hands). Also, your right hand will be on the mouse, rendering the right keys nigh impossible to use as well.
On to the USB Ports. I haven't had problems with the ports, except that they're low power ports, and unable to support devices such as hard disks. Also, they're not USB 2.0, making them inefficient for large transfers of data to/from a media player. Otherwise, they've worked fine for me when I use them, which is almost never.
The ports for audio are unusable for me, because improper grounding of the LED lights on my keyboard means that there is a rising and fading buzz that corresponds with the Razor logo illumination. This is the biggest "Con" for me with regards to the keyboard. I tried to use them, but the buzz drove me crazy, and I haven't used the audio ports since. I'm not sure if it's a problem with my particular keyboard, but if not, it's an unacceptable flaw as it renders the audio ports unusable. Nobody wants to listen to electronic buzzing, especially not after paying this much for a keyboard.
Conclusions:
This keyboard is good value overall, and if appearance, build quality, and BASIC functions are your top priorities, then it's an excellent choice. If you're looking for a keyboard that will expand your gaming horizons, and change your gaming habits, this isn't it.