Your Choice of Razer Gaming Keyboard

Is this the 2013 blackwidow?

For comparison

I was considering the Lycosa as a replacement to my Azio Levetron, but these reviews make me think I’d be having the same ghosting problems I have with this. Maybe if it was a good bit cheaper, but I don’t want to drop $45 on something that might be just as bad.

DO NOT BUY THE LYCOSA.

I bought one on woot a few months ago. I was excited to get it. I’m ready to throw it in the dumpster because it literally is the worst keyboard I’ve ever used. Nearly every key is too sticky to press unless you press directly straight down. The key design is HORRIBLE. The only way I could maybe possibly keep the keys from sticking would be to remove and lubricate every single one. I couldn’t even press WASD keys with any consistency. I had better luck with the $10 GE keyboard from Target that I was replacing with the Lycosa, and since went back to it.

I have a refurb Lycosa, and honestly it isn’t THAT bad, as some of these other comments might suggest.

I mainly purchased it because it was one of the cheaper keyboards with a bright, even backlight. I play games in the dark at night, and it serves it’s purpose well. The keys have a nice response, and after at least two years of heavy use, the rubberized coating is only showing some wear on the “D” key.

The bad? Occasionally I will get a stuck key; not mechanically stuck, but the key will screw up and register as always depressed. To fix this, you have to unplug and reattatch the keyboard, which as you can imagine is very annoying in the heat of an intense game. Seems to happen exclusively during a game, and only with one of the WASD keys, so your character will start running forward/backward endlessly or in circles.

That said, it hasnt been a big enough problem for me to go buy a new keyboard. If I were on the fence, I would get the Black Widow instead.

What happened with one and two day shipping options?!? I was switching between each to see the price difference and all of a sudden those shipping options were greyed out and I could no longer select them!!!

I concour I bought the Lycosa off of the last woot and typing this simple sentence I already had 4 missed keys. It squeaks the keys are too close together, it misses keypresses frenquenty. The angle is bad and you can’t see anything on the keys. The only reason this pos keyboard is still connected to my computer is because my old ergo board was soo worn that the 1,2 keys didn’t work 50% of the time and I haven’t justified throwing this out yet and buying a new one. I also am not a razer hater as I love their mice switched from logitech due to faliure rate and I have the nostromo which is decent. Overall if you want to feel like you are typing on a timex sinclair go for it if you want any semblance of a real keyboard stay far far away.

Can’t say enough about this Razer Keyboard, me and the wife both own one each and we play World of Warcraft, and they get the hell beat out of them!!.. Cant wait to get my new ones as backups for this price…
Thanks Woot!!! Wonderful Keyboards

I have a regular Black Widow (no backlit keys) and all I can do is smile every time I use it. It weighs a ton and stays put, great tactile response, and makes a great mech-key click sound. The online config software seems like an unnecessary step at first. Then you buy a second one for work or home and you make changes once, save it to a profile and it works the same everyplace. Had mine for around 2 months now and highly recommend.

No, it’s the original (2012, I believe.)

“Not a gamer. I’m an adult”. Seriously? Because you can’t be both?

Does anyone know if the BlackWidow has anti-ghosting?

Also, my two cents on the Lycosa: I did not like it. The keys felt very rigid and were not pleasant to press (read: somewhat difficult), and the touch-buttons were iffy at best, not registering half the time.
In addition, it has two USB cables – one for the keyboard, one for the additional USB port on the keyboard. I realize this means it’s intended more for relocating the port instead of adding one, but that may not appeal to everyone.
Plus, I did not like the rubberized feel of the keys.

I bought one of these last time they had them. Lycosa. Here’s my thoughts:

  • When I got it two keys were “stuck”… not broken, just tighter pressing. If you have an issue Razor will not help you… they will tell you to first go back to Woot. Woot will only refund your money. They will offer you another unit if another comes up for sale on the site in the future or when the woot day is over and if they have any left. I decided to just keep mine and it sorted itself out after use.

  • I leave the lighting on all the time and it’s working great so far. If the lights do go off, like one person mentions you can’t see them in the dark. I think 99.9% of people remember where things are if they use them often. Button is very easy to find without even thinking/looking.

  • Anyway, I was initially worried about some negative reviews. The unit I received was not part of the problem batch Razor told me. I have not ever had any issues. The one issue I had turns out was a game thing, not the keyboards fault.

  • My initial typing on this keyboard was slower… you know you have to learn the feel. The keys seem a bit low/flatter. But now I don’t mind and am used to it.

  • The keys do press a little tighter than other keyboards I’ve owned.

  • Keyboard is very quiet. Whoever said clicky clacky must have big meaty fingers? I think it’s quiet… it’s comparable to other keyboards.

They were talking about the better BlackWidow mechanical keyboard also being sold here.

I purchased the Razer Lycosa when it was listed on January 4th. It matches my refurbished Razer Lachesis that I bought here back in 2009. Hehe.

I agree that it’s inability to remember the configurations sometimes is a bit of a pain. I have had no issues with the keyboard otherwise.

I have fairly small hands, so I haven’t had any issues with pressing more than one key by accident. I haven’t noticed the key press detection being off either.

I am with everyone else on not purchasing it if you’re really rough on your keyboards. The matte coating will probably rub off fast. The coating on the side buttons on my Lachesis have already been removed, though the top of the mouse remains fine.

Clearly.

What is with backlight love? I prefer tactile hints to where your hands are, as I don’t want to take my eyes off the screen (what ever I am doing) to know what I am pressing. Also the lights are way too bright for the darkness. I wind up wincing from them.

I have the Lycosa, which replaced an ancient Saitek, which replaced the Logitech G15 (original). I hate the Lycosa. I don’t mind the surface feel of the keys, but the keys are terrible to type on. They have more of a chicklet action, and to get the key to type, you need to depress the center of the key. If you depress the side, it won’t type. Also, I have to press very hard. Absolutely avoid the Lycosa. This one will be resold.

I am thinking of getting the Black Widow instead.

This is true, I bought one(lycosa) from woot and have regretted it ever since. The keys will eventually and often lock up, you’ll have to manually unplug and plug back in to get functionality… Which is piss poor in the middle of a game. I did like the feel of it so I went and bought a brand new one from frys thinking maybe mine was just a bad refurb… Nope. Seems like all lycosas come with that major defect and no fix in sight.

bought the Lycosa from woot, HUGE ghost problem, returned it few days after.would rate 2/5.