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 digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard
Digital camera Review: Not worth the money.
Summary: 3 Stars
Just got it, so no say on durability yet. May update later about it.
The good points are:
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its shiny black.
can press more than 3 keys at once and have them register.
has easily pressed keys.
has reprogrammable keys.
media keys, and a port for expansions.
has a shuffle list key.
can bind programs to macro keys.
profile key can be used with other keys to cycle profiles.
friendly tech support, with some helpful tips. they haven't seemed to have gotten around to outsourcing their techs, so i can actually understand what they say to me.
a tool for popping out keys so i dont have to pull out a butter knife or something. (how i broke the space bar on my g15 while trying to clean it.)
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the bad.
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the audio/headphone ports require that the keyboards headphone/microphone jacks to be plugged into the pc. while many would say duh, that makes sense. i'd reply why have them unless i just feel like having my headphones closer to the keyboard?
also it DOES need 2 usb ports to be used fully. basically that extra line gives two usb ports connected to the keyboard. so really only 1 extra usb port gained.
as another review posted, the keyboard's play/pause DOES NOT WORK with winamp. it does w/o the software drivers. but after its just screwed. had to resort to using windows media player *shivers*. the keyboard actually functions better with media players without the driver/software.
the media keys DO NOT WORK with anything other than the selected player. why they decided to go from the universal controls, i have no bloody clue. i used to be able to go to any player i wished, and have it work. no software needed.
the media keys are not movable, or reprogrammable. i dont like having to take my mouse hand off the action to swap songs. would be much better if the keys were movable/remapped.
can not bind any keys/macros to use home/delete/windows etc etc. can't insert them, cant move around anything. can't click the times in milliseconds to modity them if dont want the standard timing.
now for the anti ghosting. yes, you can press 10 keys at once. sadly only 6 of them ever work for me. that is with the software installed too. granted 6 is better than 3, which i hardly did more than anyhow. i unfortunately wield usb 1.0 ports on my pc, so that is probrably why. not likely to ever use more than 6 keys at once anyway. i use more than 3 for stuff like descent 3 or freespace. after burner, turning up left/right, while banking left/right, while dropping chaff is sometimes needed. or when i have to hold shift to walk, and move diagonally and jump at same time.
the battle dock is completely useless. can buy an overpriced web cam, or a gimpy ineffective light. i dont see why i should have to hang a light over my keyboard to see the keys. if they can't have glowing keys, maybe a trim with lights, like it is on some of their mice. or more translucent casing in some areas or glow in the dark paint for letter keys, with the ability to toggle the light. also a little fan or something might be nice, or expandable keyboard memory. and a nice case to carry all that extra baggage.
no lcd display. i liked it on my old g15. would have made a nifty battle dock accessory.
the wrist rest is not removable, or adjustable. all for the sake to have a glowing snake emblem.
no disable windows key button either. have to remap it. i actually use the windows key often, so remapping it is a pain. there is an option for keymap a, keymap b, but, thats only for profiles not stored on keyboard, in other words, not standard. thats because the first 5, which are stored on the keyboard (for the rare case i'd actually drag it's ultra expensive butt some where else), only can have one keymap. the key maps are basically where i can rebind all the keys on one setting, hit profile and get the b side, with the normal goods. so basically i'd have to carry a flash drive if i want accurate functionality.
my hot fix would be to turn the razor key (which is really the right windows key/menu key) into a windows key, but apparently i cant.
no macros are able to be bound on any other key except the designated special keys. of which have an abysmal macro rate. on my old g15, i could store like 32 characters, this is more like 8. so before i could save entire commands.
tech support, basically almost any question about the functionality of the keyboard = me s.o.l. (and i dont mean satellite of love). They knew how to repair it, but not how to actually make it an acceptable piece of hardware for its high price. nice people though. so its not their fault.
the macros are executed very slowly.
the software only allows executables to be bound to macro keys. in order to bind files, batch files, or whatever, have to get the link manually, and input it into the open window.
over all my old logitech g15 owns this keyboard so badly, that i feel slightly sad i bought it. people might ask, why did i buy a tarantula if i had such a great keyboard. because i rode my old one so hard it started to fall apart. that is after a few years of hard service. one of the few logitech products that actually didnt break within 6 months. only minor annoyances.
the tarantula is not worth buying unless you absolutely need the extra few keys when gaming. if not, get a g15. it has better macro system, lcd display for looking at time, and winamp song. better media buttons, disable windows key switch.
dont misunderstand. this keyboard is actually a good keyboard. i do like razer products. they are overpriced in general, but usually worth having (at discount price). but this is no where near worth 80$, nor is it better than logitechs g15. which is the saddest part? me spending money on it, or the fact that this keyboard could actually dominate the logitech with a few minor changes? instead the tarantula tragically fails.
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Digital camera Review: Of questionable quality
Summary: 3 Stars
I like the keyboard's idea - programmable keys. However, there is a fleeting problem of USB occasionally reporting that the keyboard cannot be detected. This comes and goes, sometimes rapidly and can be very annoying while "gaming' because it changes the window focus. Sometimes it goes for days with no problem and then fails. It has 2 USB connections provided by a separate USB cable, however the voltage drop on the cable renders the two ports unusable. The programmable keys do work well but the keyboard in its totality is a flawed product.
ADDENDUM: Time often heals. I used a different manufacturer's key board for 3 months and then reinstalled the tarantula. It has caused no problems now for about seven months. Go figure! Remote USB support still fails.
Digital camera Review: Overall good
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using this keyboard for 12 months now. I still enjoy the very short keystroke, which lowers the noise output while typing. I wish it were easyer to keep clean under the keys, and the "battle dock" or whatever they are calling the expansion slot is pretty much useless. The mic and headphone port is also a waste because there's noise issues on both. The onboard USB hub should be powered considering that the keyboard eats up 2 motherboard USB slots, and with them being non-powered, their usefulness is restricted. The quick launch macros are a good idea, but I found that I stoped using them after the first couple of times that the settings were lost.
All that said, and as the title states, it's a very nice keyboard. I've enjoyed the ability to control winamp without closing full screen apps, and the left-side buttons for photoshop are recockulasly useful. The zoom rocker is a great tool for fine detail photoshop drawing and editing. The one button sleep function is great for when you need to jump up and leave in a hurry. And the board looks pretty nice too. I'm not sure it's provided any advantage in gaming the way that a mouse can, except for maybe some swagger.
Digital camera Review: Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this keyboard for my son's new desktop PC that we put together for his 15th Birthday. After spending a few hours researching for good keyboard with affordable price we had a few keyboards to choose from. After comparing them all - this one was a win over design, price and functionality. This keyboard allows to define, save/ load profiles for different games and PC systems (software included), assign 10 custom keys 5 from each side of keyboard (very cool and helpful for gaming PC) and change the custom buttons (included into package.) Additional shortcut buttons for media player, volume control, 2 USB connectors, Mic and headset connectors, and etc.
One thing is important to keep in mind. Keyboard connects to PC via USB connector. I ran into a problem of switching between options during the boot process. Simply, I was given a few options to choose from and I was not able to navigate using this keyboard. Luckily, we had our old keyboard that worked just fine. After Windows started new keyboard worked. Seems like PC didn't recognize keyboard (USB connector) until PC fully started. I think it could be an issue if you need to access BIOS for any reasons.
Overall, we are satisfied and pleased with this product.
Digital camera Review: Razer Tarantula Keyboard
Summary: 4 Stars
I am very satisfied with the product, however, it was clearly open box. I would be fine with this, except that the item was advertised as new. It was very easy to set up (It's a USB keyboard, how difficult could it be?). Although it comes with media keys, my media player (foobar2000) isn't supported. They do work with iTunes and Windows Media Player, though.
All in all, very satisfied with my purchase. I just wish it wasn't opened before I received it.