Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

[compl3x]

Hey folks,

I'm upgrading my keyboard soon and I've decided to go mechanical. I've done a bit of searching and reviewing and as far as I can tell the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is one of the best available. However, before I shell-out the cash, I thought I'd just make a post here and see if anyone else has one, and if so, what they think of it.

Tech Specs:

• Full mechanical keys with 50g actuation force
  
• Individually backlit keys with 5 levels of lighting
  
• 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time
  
• Programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
  
• Gaming mode option for deactivation of the Windows key
  
• 10 customizable software profiles with on-the-fly switching
  
• 5 additional macro keys
  
• Gaming optimized key matrix for minimized ghosting
  
• Multi-Media Controls
  
• Braided fibre cable
  
• Audio-Out / Mic-In Jacks
  
• USB-Passthrough
  
• Approximate Size : 475 mm / 18.70? (Width) x 171 mm / 6.73? (Height) x 30 mm / 1.18? (Depth)
  
• Approximate Weight: 1500 g / 3.31 lbs
  

Image - Warning: 4445 ? 2963, 1.8MB

[f0rk_b0mb]

I like the dragon age 2 one. It's pretty! http://www.amazon.com/Razer-Blackwidow-Ultimate-Mechanical-RZ03-00381900-R3U1/dp/B008U5ZNIG

[mthibadeau]

I'd never buy a razer product again. Guess I'm a slow learner, but the three razer mice I've had all crapped out after about a year. :s

[+Cryton Subscriber²]

I'm leaning towards the http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4179#kf Gigabyte Aivia Osmium. USB3 pass-through, fully back-lit, fully mechanical, wheels for volume and back-light control. The only thing I'm unsure about is how tall it physically is.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I own a mechanical keyboard, Das Keyboard, and I eventually chose to stop using it. As awesome as it was, and it was plenty amazing as far as being tactile, the responsiveness, etc., it was just way, way, way to loud. Just wanted to share this fact. I actually woke my wife up once, and I was 2 rooms away, when using it.

[compl3x]

I'm leaning towards the http://www.gigabyte....spx?pid=4179#kf Gigabyte Aivia Osmium. USB3 pass-through, fully back-lit, fully mechanical, wheels for volume and back-light control. The only thing I'm unsure about is how tall it physically is.

That one looks interesting. Might need to do some more research into that one. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

I own a mechanical keyboard, Das Keyboard, and I eventually chose to stop using it. As awesome as it was, and it was plenty amazing as far as being tactile, the responsiveness, etc., it was just way, way, way to loud. Just wanted to share this fact. I actually woke my wife up once, and I was 2 rooms away, when using it.

Das Keyboards are supposed to be pretty good "in-between" typing and gaming keyboards. I've read a lot of good things about them, but I was hoping for something with more gaming features.

The noise level shouldn't really be too much of an issue for me.

[SMELTN]

I personally love the Das keyboard Model S, but it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that others have.

Honestly, as long as the keyboard uses Cherry MX Switches, then it doesn't matter. Get one that you like the features of. Also keep in mind Cherry Blues are the best tactile switches, with browns being next. Reds and black switches are non-tactile switches.

[killmaster84]

I have the Steelseries G7 and love it.

[compl3x]

Also keep in mind Cherry Blues are the best tactile switches, with browns being next. Reds and black switches are non-tactile switches.

[_neutrino Veteran]

Not mechanical however, the Aluminum Apple Keyboard (full keyboard not the half keyboard) is amazing i have been using it for a few years now.

[Jaybonaut]

I'd never buy a razer product again. Guess I'm a slow learner, but the three razer mice I've had all crapped out after about a year. :s

As a previous reviewer of mice, I can make an immediate recommendation. I know it doesn't look like much, but the Logitech G9 or G9x is probably the best mouse I have ever used. My G9 is still being used today, 5 1/2 years after I bought it, with daily heavy use. I have built a new machine two months ago and finally bought a G9x simply because of how impressive the G9 was, and my wife needed a machine.

[compl3x]

That Gigabyte one seems good, but it uses red keys. I was hoping to find a keyboard with the blues.

[Arceles]

http://blog.logitech.com/2012/10/09/logitech-introduces-g710-mechanical-gaming-keyboard/ it's supposed to be silent and mechanical

[trag3dy]

Absolutely stay away from razer products. Especially their keyboards. The failure rate for razer keyboards is very high.

That being said razer mechanical keyboards are one of the few (only) mechanical keyboards that I've ever seen that have dedicated media controls on them. Which is very important to me and one of the reasons I haven't picked up a mechanical keyboard yet. Their older models, anyways.

[compl3x]

Absolutely stay away from razer products. Especially their keyboards. The failure rate for razer keyboards is very high.

That being said razer mechanical keyboards are one of the few (only) mechanical keyboards that I've ever seen that have dedicated media controls on them. Which is very important to me and one of the reasons I haven't picked up a mechanical keyboard yet. Their older models, anyways.

I've seen a lot of people claiming to have had bad experiences with Razer products, but to be fair, you could find a lot of people claiming to have had bad experiences with almost any product.

If there is some actually statistics about Razer product failure rates I'd love to see them.

[trag3dy]

I've seen a lot of people claiming to have had bad experiences with Razer products, but to be fair, you could find a lot of people claiming to have had bad experiences with almost any product.

If there is some actually statistics about Razer product failure rates I'd love to see them.

I don't have those statistics you want. What I do have is a lot of experience with razer products and every single one of them failed on me and/or were so uncomfortable to use they had to be replaced. I've also read a lot of user reviews on them and a lot the reviews had similar experiences to mine. I'm not going to go through the list of razer products I've owned as it's fairly long but I have owned their cheap and high end products and had issues with all of them. The worst part isn't that the items failed, it was their customer support who made me pay for shipping to replace a brand new $130 product that had widespread issues. The shipping came to $30, and it was even bought off the razer store. Which to be fair may have been my first mistake.

Just for the sake of argument, logitech products have all been exactly the opposite for me. All the logitech products I have owned are still working wonderfully to this day except for the grip that originally came with my G9, which the rubber coating came off. And I'm on my second G700. The first one had issues with double clicking randomly. They replaced it free of charge and with free over night shipping and didn't require me to send my original one to them.

I treat my periphs well, so it's not a question of mistreating them, because as I said my Logitech stuff is still fine. I don't currently own anymore razer products.

[compl3x]

Razer's customer support has had almost universally negative reviews.

I am really re-thinking razer right now. Thanks for the feedback :)

[trag3dy]

I didn't even cover build quality. :rofl:

[xendrome]

I'm leaning towards the http://www.gigabyte....spx?pid=4179#kf Gigabyte Aivia Osmium. USB3 pass-through, fully back-lit, fully mechanical, wheels for volume and back-light control. The only thing I'm unsure about is how tall it physically is.

It says right on the page you linked:

Dimension 454(L)* 257(W)*45(H) mm

[Dotdot]

I have the Steelseries G7 and love it.

This. 5yrs Ive had mine, and its still going strong :)

[Zain Adeel]

Mechanical are amazing. I have the Original Razer Blackwidow Ultimate. Its really loud!... like too loud. But I love it!

Stay away from Razer Mice. They are really fragile! This keyboard on the other hand is super tough. I heard lot of bad things about their other keyboards But they did a great job on this one. I didn't have the option to get Das or something else (even Logitech isn't available here)

This was my only highend keyboard option.

The LEDs are superb! half the reason I wanted it.

[McCordRm]

I have a Razer Blackwidow Ultimate.

It's not nearly as "responsive" as I was expecting, and it's LOUD. I mean like

you can hear me typing from the next room loud. If I have my door open

you can hear it from two rooms away.

Granted, it's not their "Stealth" version... but I wasn't expecting anything like this.

My next purchase will NOT be this keyboard again.

[voidpharoh]

Absolutely stay away from razer products. Especially their keyboards. The failure rate for razer keyboards is very high.

That being said razer mechanical keyboards are one of the few (only) mechanical keyboards that I've ever seen that have dedicated media controls on them. Which is very important to me and one of the reasons I haven't picked up a mechanical keyboard yet. Their older models, anyways.

Das Keyboard recently released a mechanical keyboard with dedicated multimedia controls; it's available in both Cherry Blue and Cherry Brown switches. The only issue that might bother some is the multimedia keys aren't their own dedicated keys, they're implemented with an Fn key similar in style to how the Fn key is used on a laptop.

http://www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-professional/

[Coagulated]

I don't have those statistics you want. What I do have is a lot of experience with razer products and every single one of them failed on me and/or were so uncomfortable to use they had to be replaced. I've also read a lot of user reviews on them and a lot the reviews had similar experiences to mine...

Unfortunately, I can back this up. I have owned the Razer Lachesis (v1.0) and the Razer Lycosa. The Lycosa suffered from (supposedly) poor soldering on the keys which caused the certain keys to spam sporadically - two of my friends also encountered the same problem. Razer also tried to sting us on the return postage as well, even though it was a well documented issue. The media panel was also dodgey and suffered from unresponsiveness at times. All of these problems occurred within 6-8 months for me and the two friends in question.

I loved the Razer Lachesis, it lasted me three years, but the shell split across the left mouse button which caused the button to pop out of position. As you can imagine, that was a bit of a ball ache when playing online!

Off the back of those failures, I decided to shell out the cash for the Logitech G19 Keyboard (complete waste of money in comparison to the G15, but still a stellar keyboard and I was feeling flashy at the time!) and a Logitech G9x mouse. The G9x is rock solid and quite customizable. It comes with a set of weights (four 7 gram weights and four 4 gram) and two interchangeable grips. Got a lot of love for the braided cable as well.

I have also recently had a Logitech G700 mouse, and whilst it was a good mouse, it just didn't match up to the G9x. I liked the option to go wireless, but I really didn't like the tactile/grainy finish on the mouse. I got it for ?20 off a work mate who found it "too heavy" and just recently traded it with a friend in Scotland for an HDD & ATI 5770 for a rig I'm building my nephew.

[trag3dy]

Interestingly enough, Logitech does in fact now have a gaming mechanical keyboard! I'm going to have to look into these:

http://www.logitech....gaming-keyboard

How I missed this I will never know. And it has proper dedicated media keys!

Edit: Actually it appears that it's pretty much just been put on sale.