Anyone have a Razer Blackwidow/Blackwidow Ultimate and happy with it?

I was right there with you until you said Cherry MX Browns were "significantly better" for gaming. That's nonsense. The main advantage they have is that they are quieter as some people can't stand the noise made by Cherry MX Blue switches. Aside from that, any difference they might have is nearly impossible to perceive. I've played games on Blacks, Browns, Alps switches, IBM Model M's and various units based on the Cherry MX Blue switches. There is no difference in how good I am or how the game play really felt based on any keyboard. Hell it's the same with rubber dome garbage boards. It's just not as pleasant to touch because the keys feel like a bad of dogshit and congealing bacon grease being pressed down.

There's a reasonable number of Starcraft 2 players that have tried Blues and and get slowly driven insane because they double tap keys and the second tap doesn't register because the key takes longer to reset.

Maybe that doesn't affect you, and that's great for you, but it affects other people. It affected me. I no longer own a board with blue switches because of it.

Also, I didn't say "significantly better for gaming". That's you editing what I wrote to say something else entirely. I said brown switches typically make for better gaming boards because double tapping is significantly easier. And it is, even if only for specific games. If all you play is FPS games, you're likely not going to notice.
 
Well I'm surprised you liked Steelseries 6GV2/7G for typing. I didn't do enough research on switches before I ordered it, just figured it would be great on account that it's probably the most widely known and renowned mechanical keyboard, and it never crossed my mind any switch could be bad for typing, I mean as much as you use your keyboard for gaming, you probably use it for typing more - emails, searches, chat, forums, papers if you are a student, I mean typing will always be at least half the usage.

So anyway, long story short, I got my Steelseries 6Gv2 today and it's not bad but man does it take a LOT of force to press those buttons. First 2 hours or so I literally got muscle fatigue all the way up to my shoulders believe it or not, my arms felt exhausted. First 10 minutes I used it half the presses didn't even register just because I wasn't used to pressing so firmly. Black switches are just so stiff and yeah you don't get the tactile feedback, although I've never used any other switch, I didn't even know much about different kinds until this afternoon, but based on what I've learned from the research that I immediately delved into following the shock of how hard black switches are to press, I think browns would be much better suited for me.

I mean I don't think blacks would be that great for gaming either, maybe for FPSs, but I'm a hardcore StarCraft II player and having a high APM is hard when it takes so much force to press, you just can't do it that fast. I don't know maybe I'll get used to it, I thought I would until I did more research and it turns out most people never really get used to it and eventually end up getting a different keyboard if they have to use it for typing much. I just find it hard to believe that so many people who use the 7G don't use it primarily or at least to a significant extent for typing, that just seems weird to me. But I digress a lot. Basically, black switches aren't for me. I think I'll use the 6Gv2 for another couple of days, then RMA it and get a Das Silent. Brown switches seem to combine the best of both worlds - silent, tactile (great for typing) and keys reset faster than the blues, so it's also great for gaming. It would be nice if I could try out the Das and the BlackWidow and compare to the blacks of the 6Gv2, but I live in Manhattan and there is literally no place in this city I've been able to find either, which I think is ridiculous. All best buys are out and the Das isn't available anywhere. You'd think in a city of 8 million there would be one computer store that would have it, but so far nothing, if any of you know of such a place in NYC, please let me know.

I typed all this on a 6Gv2, I need more calcium for my finger joints now. By the way, if you don't like the short backspace of the 7G, the 6Gv2 has a normal one, but it doesn't have the really comfortable wrist rest of the 7G. That's the other thing. The Das is probably the best keyboard with brown switches but it's glossy and has no wrist rest. Mechanical keyboards are raised pretty high, you need one especially for gaming and I'd hate to have to deal with a separate one. The 7G has an amazing wrist rest, but it has black switches. Why isn't there a mechanical keyboard that has it all?
 
You get used to the Cherry MX Blacks over time. It took me writing one review on my Deck Ice Legend and now it's not a problem. Though I prefer Cherry MX Blues and use a Das Keyboard Professional now. I wish Deck would make a unit with Cherry MX Blues. The Deck keys just don't wear out or shine like the ones on the Das Keyboard do. After a year any keyboard I get looks like shit.

Then again I type a lot more than most people do.
 
I can type on any keyboard and not feel 'fatigued' I use my 6gv2 for work five days a week, 8 hours a day. Granted I'm not typing nonstop for those 8 hours, but I've never had so much as a cramp from using black switches. But I do agree that they take more force to type on. I use the BWU as my home/gaming keyboard, and I really like it, although I'm curious to see how other blue switch mechanical keyboards feel in comparison. Until then, I guess ignorance is bliss.

Personally, I prefer ANY mechanical keyboard over a laptop or membrane keyboard now.
 
I can type on any keyboard and not feel 'fatigued' I use my 6gv2 for work five days a week, 8 hours a day. Granted I'm not typing nonstop for those 8 hours, but I've never had so much as a cramp from using black switches. But I do agree that they take more force to type on. I use the BWU as my home/gaming keyboard, and I really like it, although I'm curious to see how other blue switch mechanical keyboards feel in comparison. Until then, I guess ignorance is bliss.

Personally, I prefer ANY mechanical keyboard over a laptop or membrane keyboard now.

True enough. I'll take the worst mechanicals over the best membrane keyboards. And yeah, I don't get fatigued by typing either. In fact I just finished an article. There is a lot of typing involved in that. :)
 
I just returned mine. I've always used the G15 but this is for a different computer. I wanted something high end for gaming. Anyways I thought the software was decent. I liked the fact I could map out any key to any macro I wanted. Problem with the software though is that it wouldn't always launch the profiles when I launched the software and even when it did the macros would be different. My next big complaint was the keyboard wasn't very ergonomic. I got hand cramps within 15 minutes of use. I need a good palm rest and my keyboard didn't come with one. For that kind of money you would think it would be included. Pretty much just thought it was way over priced for what you got. Didn't care about the feel or the noise that much. :rolleyes:
 
So I finally opened the BWU and I'm using it right now... oh heavenly typing!

My observations sofar:

1. I do NOT like that the keyboard has a natural incline... meaning even with the back feet folded up the board still has an incline.
2. Everyone had me thinking that this thing was going to feel flimsy or of poor quality - I'm not getting that at all. It seems put together quite well and has that solid 'I could kill someone with this thing' weight and feel.
3. Unsurprisingly I DO NOT like the glossy finish - I think I'm with 95% of the people on this...
4. 2KRO... don't believe the 'optimized gaming matrix' bullshit that Razor throws all over their boxes and website. The keyboard is 2KRO plainly and simply. Yes, you can mash down WAS and D all at once but so what? For the price this thing costs I would expect 6KRO at the least.

With the above being said this thing is a dream to type on. It's not a bad keyboard by any means but as I've been told in this thread and elsewhere there is much better for the money.

I just found out this morning that Ducky actually sells a keyboard with WHITE LED backlighting which is like my holy grail. For $15 more than I paid for this Razer I can get the Ducky Shine with white LED backlighting and any switch I want ... which will probably end up being blues or browns.

So looks like I'll be returning this thing and using the money towards the Ducky Shine. :D
 
So I finally opened the BWU and I'm using it right now... oh heavenly typing!

My observations sofar:

1. I do NOT like that the keyboard has a natural incline... meaning even with the back feet folded up the board still has an incline.
2. Everyone had me thinking that this thing was going to feel flimsy or of poor quality - I'm not getting that at all. It seems put together quite well and has that solid 'I could kill someone with this thing' weight and feel.
3. Unsurprisingly I DO NOT like the glossy finish - I think I'm with 95% of the people on this...
4. 2KRO... don't believe the 'optimized gaming matrix' bullshit that Razor throws all over their boxes and website. The keyboard is 2KRO plainly and simply. Yes, you can mash down WAS and D all at once but so what? For the price this thing costs I would expect 6KRO at the least.

With the above being said this thing is a dream to type on. It's not a bad keyboard by any means but as I've been told in this thread and elsewhere there is much better for the money.

I just found out this morning that Ducky actually sells a keyboard with WHITE LED backlighting which is like my holy grail. For $15 more than I paid for this Razer I can get the Ducky Shine with white LED backlighting and any switch I want ... which will probably end up being blues or browns.

So looks like I'll be returning this thing and using the money towards the Ducky Shine. :D

The quality of the key caps is terrible. Try a Filco, Das, Deck, etc. and you'll see what we are talking about. Also the switches don't feel right on the Razer Black Widow Ultimate. I don't know what it is, but they just aren't right. Possibly a key cap issue.
 
Hmm, I take back most of what I said yesterday about the 6Gv2, after using it for a day I've gotten mostly used to it and have started to enjoy typing quite a bit and my typing speed has actually increased. I found a place in NY that has the Das, so I'll go check out what typing on brown switches feels like tomorrow, but I gotta say the linear nature of the blacks so far I think is contributing to the smoothness and ease of my typing. My fingers have kind of figured out how much pressure is needed for a key to register (muscle memory?), so I don't actually press half the keys all the way and they all still register, it's pretty awesome and I think it'll be harder to do on browns or blues. And I don't find keys as stiff and hard to press anymore, I guess part of it was also that the keyboard arrived extremely cold yesterday haha, It was like a block of ice, they should really take that into account when shipping electronics, but that might have contributed to the stiffness. Today it's much better and I think I'll keep it unless I try out the Das tomorrow and just have a surreal experience, but the glossy finish (God knows I HATE glossy) and the lack of wrist rest are pretty big drawbacks of the Das. That 7G wrist rest is heaven, I got it from a friend who doesn't need it anymore, fits perfectly over the 6Gv2 :D
 
Hmm, I take back most of what I said yesterday about the 6Gv2, after using it for a day I've gotten mostly used to it and have started to enjoy typing quite a bit and my typing speed has actually increased. I found a place in NY that has the Das, so I'll go check out what typing on brown switches feels like tomorrow, but I gotta say the linear nature of the blacks so far I think is contributing to the smoothness and ease of my typing. My fingers have kind of figured out how much pressure is needed for a key to register (muscle memory?), so I don't actually press half the keys all the way and they all still register, it's pretty awesome and I think it'll be harder to do on browns or blues. And I don't find keys as stiff and hard to press anymore, I guess part of it was also that the keyboard arrived extremely cold yesterday haha, It was like a block of ice, they should really take that into account when shipping electronics, but that might have contributed to the stiffness. Today it's much better and I think I'll keep it unless I try out the Das tomorrow and just have a surreal experience, but the glossy finish (God knows I HATE glossy) and the lack of wrist rest are pretty big drawbacks of the Das. That 7G wrist rest is heaven, I got it from a friend who doesn't need it anymore, fits perfectly over the 6Gv2 :D


Yeah, I did the same thing and took the tray off of a 7G for my 6Gv2. Perfect fit. Honestly, unless you have baby/toddler hands, I don't see how a regular mechanical or membrane keyboard could impact a person's fingers' that much where it was unbearable to type on. I guess by using the black switches, you can build finger muscles? Let me know what you think of the Das, I really like my 6gv2 too!
 
So I finally opened the BWU and I'm using it right now... oh heavenly typing!

My observations sofar:

1. I do NOT like that the keyboard has a natural incline... meaning even with the back feet folded up the board still has an incline.
2. Everyone had me thinking that this thing was going to feel flimsy or of poor quality - I'm not getting that at all. It seems put together quite well and has that solid 'I could kill someone with this thing' weight and feel.
3. Unsurprisingly I DO NOT like the glossy finish - I think I'm with 95% of the people on this...
4. 2KRO... don't believe the 'optimized gaming matrix' bullshit that Razor throws all over their boxes and website. The keyboard is 2KRO plainly and simply. Yes, you can mash down WAS and D all at once but so what? For the price this thing costs I would expect 6KRO at the least. But the only time Ive ever had a problem in the 6 months Ive been gaming on it was the one time in Batman AC I mentioned. So its not a super big problem.

With the above being said this thing is a dream to type on. It's not a bad keyboard by any means but as I've been told in this thread and elsewhere there is much better for the money.

I agree with ya on most of this. I actually did like the glossy finish. Thought it looked pretty cool and I had no problem with smudges or anything but Im in a dimly lit room so they probably wouldnt show up that well.

I too thought it is a lot of fun to type on. I definitely like the Blues as well.

The 6 key thing works for the most part. You can go to that Microsoft NKRO website and see that you can pretty much press down any 6 keys but there are some combinations where only 2 work and youre right, for a $120 gaming keyboard, you should have pure 6KRO no matter what the combination.

Dan's got me wanting to try out a Das since I liked the Blues so much. Will be getting a little bonus from work next month so I might have found something to spend some of it on.

Funny, but I never thought Id get addicted to keyboards! Of all freaking things! If I get a Das, this will be the 3rd, $100+ keyboard Ive bought in the last 9 months! Thats just insane! :D
 
I purchased both the BWU and K90 over the past weekend and have them side by side. Alot of people like the aluminum of the K90, but I'm sitting here looking at it and it does not appeal to me. There is alot of black light bleed on the K90 (since they keys are actually elevated for cleaning). The black light bleeding is pretty much non existance on the BWU. .

The k90 does NOT have backlight bleed, the led lights are elevated, they reflect off the bottom of the keys, thus illuminating the aluminum finish, it was made like this purposefully, while the look may not be everybodys cup of tea, calling it backlight bleed is like calling all the little holes in a screen door a design flaw.
 
Im breaking my Razer back out. I swear Im bipolar or something. I cant decide between this and my G510 for shit. I tried that Batman section again and it worked just fine. I also tried the Microsoft NRKO test and it shows I can run, move and double tap the 3 key all I want and it registers. I can get between 5 and 6 keys showing at the same time so its obviously more then 2KRO. I dont know what the deal was, maybe it was the crappy software not acting right or something. I was switching between the Logitech and Razer several times trying different things so maybe the drivers got screwy or something.

I dont know what my problem is but I just really want this Black Widow to work good. LOL! Maybe its because I spent $125 on it and am too stubborn to admit its not any good. I do know that typing on this is less fatiguing to my hands than on the G510.
 
Im breaking my Razer back out. I swear Im bipolar or something. I cant decide between this and my G510 for shit. I tried that Batman section again and it worked just fine. I also tried the Microsoft NRKO test and it shows I can run, move and double tap the 3 key all I want and it registers. I can get between 5 and 6 keys showing at the same time so its obviously more then 2KRO. I dont know what the deal was, maybe it was the crappy software not acting right or something. I was switching between the Logitech and Razer several times trying different things so maybe the drivers got screwy or something.

I dont know what my problem is but I just really want this Black Widow to work good. LOL! Maybe its because I spent $125 on it and am too stubborn to admit its not any good. I do know that typing on this is less fatiguing to my hands than on the G510.

Well generally when you talk about rollover you're talking about the worst case scenario and depending on which keys you hit at different areas of the keyboard there are situations where you can run into not being able to get the board to register more than 2 keypresses at the same time. However whether you would really ever run into that problem when gaming? I sincerely doubt it - yeah there was your Arkham City incident but even you can't seem to repeat it.

I had the original G15 keyboard and I can say without a doubt this Razor is much much better. My only concern aside from the key rollover issue is long term reliability of the internals. I keep seeing reports from people that their keyboards just up and quit working completely, or certain keys stopped working, and there are quite a few videos on youtube showing the LEDs flickering or going out. That kind of strikes a nerve with the paranoid in me, I had to save a few months to afford this keyboard and I can't afford to just replace it at the drop of a hat if it decides to stop working.

I'm still on the fence, I'm really leaning towards returning it to Fry's and using the money to buy a Ducky Shining (I've since learned it's not actually called the 'Shine' anymore) with Blues or Browns and white LED backlighting (hell yeah!).


EDIT: Something else I noticed on the BWU, the function keys are actually shifted to the right slightly. Why they gotta go and fuck with things? LOL :D
 
I know exactly what you mean dude. I loved this keyboard when I bought it then had issues with the software and poo poo'd it to others.....then broke it out again cause it typed so well and looks cool as shit.....then have an issue with it and hate it.......then break it out again........I need medication. LOL!

So Ill keep my recommendation to not buy one because its cool enough that youll want to keep it but buggy enough that youll want to get rid of it. Save yourself the torment and just get a Das Keyboard instead.

I dont think Id be as conflicted if Filco or Das made a backlit mechanical with Blues. I do love these blues.
 
Okay, so I tried both the Das Professional Silent (browns) and regular (blues) at J&R today and I have to say I definitely prefer my Steelseries 6Gv2 for both typing and gaming.

I know I'm going against the stream by saying that black switches are better than browns/blues for typing, but honestly once I got used to the heft of the blacks, typing on browns, while having a very cool and unique feel, does not require anymore force to do than a membrane keyboard. Not saying that that should be indicator, but somehow blacks feel "more" mechanical if you will because of the more solid feel, to me that equals a more tactile typing experience and it's harder to make a mistake.

I'm not a fan of the mid-point bump for typing either, with blacks I can type without pressing all the way down, my fingers know the pressure required for a press to register, with the mid-point bump I feel like this way of soft typing just isn't as smooth. I have to press either to the mid-point or all the way down. Blacks are also significantly quieter than browns. Blues are fun to type on for a while and I do enjoy having some audible feedback but cmon it's like the sound of German soldiers invading Poland. Browns I expected to be significantly quieter, similar to blacks, but no, they are still pretty darn loud. Blacks are quieter and just have a softer yet not rubber soft/repressed sound, it's very cool. So blacks win in that regard as well.

I definitely do not wanna transition to any other type of switch anytime soon.
 
The tinier keys and their placement, along with the glossy crap, and the noise that bothered others were the reasons I ended up just selling my BWU a short while after purchasing it.
 
Okay, so I tried both the Das Professional Silent (browns) and regular (blues) at J&R today and I have to say I definitely prefer my Steelseries 6Gv2 for both typing and gaming.

I know I'm going against the stream by saying that black switches are better than browns/blues for typing, but honestly once I got used to the heft of the blacks, typing on browns, while having a very cool and unique feel, does not require anymore force to do than a membrane keyboard. Not saying that that should be indicator, but somehow blacks feel "more" mechanical if you will because of the more solid feel, to me that equals a more tactile typing experience and it's harder to make a mistake.

I'm not a fan of the mid-point bump for typing either, with blacks I can type without pressing all the way down, my fingers know the pressure required for a press to register, with the mid-point bump I feel like this way of soft typing just isn't as smooth. I have to press either to the mid-point or all the way down. Blacks are also significantly quieter than browns. Blues are fun to type on for a while and I do enjoy having some audible feedback but cmon it's like the sound of German soldiers invading Poland. Browns I expected to be significantly quieter, similar to blacks, but no, they are still pretty darn loud. Blacks are quieter and just have a softer yet not rubber soft/repressed sound, it's very cool. So blacks win in that regard as well.

I definitely do not wanna transition to any other type of switch anytime soon.

I rather like the Cherry MX Blacks as well but I prefer Cherry MX Blues. I'd love to see something like the Belkin Nostromo N52 made with Cherry MX Blacks or Reds for gaming. This would allow me to continue to use Cherry MX Blue based keyboards for everything else, but have a quieter solution when I play games. I liked the Cherry MX Blacks for gaming and while Blues are noisy for that, I've learned to tune the noise out or simply use headphones. And as much as I game, I type a lot more. In other words I prefer MX Blacks for gaming and MX Blues for everything else. But I dislike the Cherry MX Blues for gaming less than I dislike the Cherry MX Blacks for typing and general work related tasks.
 
i own the blackwidow stealth ultimate and its amazing. I have had no issues with it and was one of the best keyboard purchases i have ever made. I got the stealth since im not a fan of the glossyness. I would have gone with the BF3 edition if they had it.
 
I have a regular blackwidow that I've had for a while now, maybe close to a year? I'm not sure exactly. Its pretty good, I don't like the clickity clack though. I actually bought it for work and it was far too noisy so I ended up buying a Das Silent with brown switches for work and bringing my Blackwidow home, and the noise still annoys me even at home since I live with other people. I do prefer the Das, but the Blackwidow certainly doesn't feel "cheap" to me, it feels fine to me and was only $100 where the Das cost me $150. If I were to recommend one over the other not considering the price difference, I'd recommend the Das, but for me it was a pretty big price difference so I wouldn't have any trouble recommending the Blackwidow given it was two thirds the price... assuming you can live with the damned noise!
 
I have a regular blackwidow that I've had for a while now, maybe close to a year? I'm not sure exactly. Its pretty good, I don't like the clickity clack though. I actually bought it for work and it was far too noisy so I ended up buying a Das Silent with brown switches for work and bringing my Blackwidow home, and the noise still annoys me even at home since I live with other people. I do prefer the Das, but the Blackwidow certainly doesn't feel "cheap" to me, it feels fine to me and was only $100 where the Das cost me $150. If I were to recommend one over the other not considering the price difference, I'd recommend the Das, but for me it was a pretty big price difference so I wouldn't have any trouble recommending the Blackwidow given it was two thirds the price... assuming you can live with the damned noise!

It's only $79.99 most places now (the regular BlackWidow).

I still haven't made up my mind. I've got a couple weeks left on my Fry's Electronics Free Trial (lol)... It really is a joy to type on and I, for one, find the noise a pleasant form of feedback to go along with the tactile bump. I am super heavy handed though so I bet no matter which switches I get I'll be making tons of noise bottoming out the keys.

Still leaning heavily towards returning this and getting the Ducky Shining with Cherry Browns and white LED backlighting. :D
 
I have a regular blackwidow that I've had for a while now, maybe close to a year? I'm not sure exactly. Its pretty good, I don't like the clickity clack though. I actually bought it for work and it was far too noisy so I ended up buying a Das Silent with brown switches for work and bringing my Blackwidow home, and the noise still annoys me even at home since I live with other people. I do prefer the Das, but the Blackwidow certainly doesn't feel "cheap" to me, it feels fine to me and was only $100 where the Das cost me $150. If I were to recommend one over the other not considering the price difference, I'd recommend the Das, but for me it was a pretty big price difference so I wouldn't have any trouble recommending the Blackwidow given it was two thirds the price... assuming you can live with the damned noise!

My Das Keyboard Professional was only $129.99 as I recall. Though the Black Widow regularly reaches prices as low as $79.99 these days. The Black Widow Ultimate tends to run about what the Das Keyboard Professional does. Though it does offer back lighting and macro keys. But the firmware issues and terrible feeling keys make it a non-starter for me. I just can't recommend them when there are better keyboards out there for about the same money.
 
Yeah maybe, I live in Australia, so the Blackwidow and Das go for $110 and $150 respectively, and I got the BW for $100 on sale. I would agree the BWU isn't worth the price, but that's because I don't think backlighting and the couple of extra features are worth the huge price increase, but the regular BW I think is ok value, there's a couple of other mechanical keyboards in the same price range, but I haven't used them to compare. All I can say is the Das and BW are both good keyboards, the Das is better, but its also 50% more expensive out here on Oz, and by your pricing its 63% more expensive, which may or may not be a big difference depending on the user.

I will say that I would rather I never bought the BW and just bought a Das for home and a Das for work... but that's mostly a noise issue with the Cherry Blues, not the keyboard itself. I like the macro keys and media keys on the BW, though admittedly I don't use the macros much since you need the Razer software running and there's no linux version of it (that I'm aware of at least), and the media keys don't work in many games (which is not a problem with the BW itself, just that many games don't support changing volume levels with media keys).
 
I thought I would update this thread....

I have to eat some cow and say that the quality complaints were right on the money... as my 30 day return window came to a close last weekend I took a long hard look at the keyboard and one thing caught my eye - they matte finish on the spacebar was already worn off on the right side and the key was becoming shiny. I would expect that kind of crap from a $10 keyboard but NOT from something that costs $130 + tax.

I returned the BWU and am ordering a Ducky Shine from TigerImports on Monday.
 
I've had my stealth since November now with heavy typing use between my wife and I. Still looks like new. Must be hit and miss, or they corrected some issues with the stealth.
 
Just get a ducky with backliting,pay the extra cash u wont regret it. I have a ducky teenkeyless and its amazing. Top quality keyboard,feels very strong,switches are amazing to type on just wish it had backliting and a wristrest. Im looking into buying one wristrest. Go for the ducky dont hesitate and stop crying about the price ,i payed doublue its value in shiping and vat since i live in europe.
 
The "shiny" look on the keys is usually caused by oils and grime on your hands. That can and will happen to any keyboard if you have oily hands or use lotion on them. Also if your hands sweat and are tacky, they will eat away at the finish faster. Also depends on your environment (humid vs dry).

That's not to say the BWU is a great keyboard, but it's no worse than the other various brands of backlit keyboards I've used. My wife and I both have Lycosa keyboards with the matte finish keys. Mine is around 5 years old and hers is barely 3, but hers looks like hell compared to mine. The finish on a lot of her keys is eaten away whereas mine is worn, but not deteriorated like hers.

The only way you can avoid that is to not get a keyboard that has a finish sprayed on it, otherwise no matter how much you pay the same thing can, and probably will, happen.
 
I guess I just got lucky with mine. Well I had issues with the first one I had but then when I exchanged it for the one Ive got now, Im 8 months trouble free so far. Even though I switch back and forth between it and this Logitech G510 all the time, I still like my BWU and dont regret buying one. But I think youre taking pot luck on getting a good one. Quality control does seem to be inconsistent at best.

Im always bitching about the software, and when I installed my new Sabertooth mobo and reinstalled Windows, I thought Id try installing the BWU software and see if I had any issues with keys sticking and stuff like that. I didnt. No keys acting wonky or nothing. Got all excited thinking I could use my macros again.....then I noticed my computer would wake up from Sleep mode after a couple hours. Yep, its the BWU software even though I unchecked the "allow this device to wake computer" in the device manager. LOL. Oh well.
 
i like my regular blackwidow, its just weird sometimes when i switch to another keyboard because of the side macro buttons
 
I also like my regular black widow. the Keys are a little wiggley, but otherwise its great. I find the cherry blues to be very satisfying to type on and I've had no issues with the keyboard.
 
I guess I just got lucky with mine. Well I had issues with the first one I had but then when I exchanged it for the one Ive got now, Im 8 months trouble free so far. Even though I switch back and forth between it and this Logitech G510 all the time, I still like my BWU and dont regret buying one. But I think youre taking pot luck on getting a good one. Quality control does seem to be inconsistent at best.

Im always bitching about the software, and when I installed my new Sabertooth mobo and reinstalled Windows, I thought Id try installing the BWU software and see if I had any issues with keys sticking and stuff like that. I didnt. No keys acting wonky or nothing. Got all excited thinking I could use my macros again.....then I noticed my computer would wake up from Sleep mode after a couple hours. Yep, its the BWU software even though I unchecked the "allow this device to wake computer" in the device manager. LOL. Oh well.
its entirely possible that this issue has nothing to do with the keyboard. this was a known issue with some asus efi for a while. I know I had it personally and I tried multiple keyboards and mice with and without the razer software. nothing worked until bios update.
 
I have a BWU, paid 100$ for it and bought it specifically for the clicky-ness. Prior to owning the BWU I used a Lycossa (rubber keys) for 2 years. For typing (8 page papers for school) the BWU is much better, but I never had an issue with my Lycossa. Many people hate the rubber keys but I preferred the Lycossa over many laptop. genero keyboards and my friends Logitech g110's.

I gave my Lycossa to my friend (for free after a thorough cleaning;)), but being used to mechanical keyboards he didn't like it and got a g110.
 
I've had the blackwidow for several months and it does what it should do, and it hasn't broken yet.

I did the mistake of cleaning the keyboard with rubbing alcohol so it screwed up the acrylic razer logo big time and now it looks pretty gross.
 
If not the BWU, then what for a mech keyboard? I've been looking at the Azio KB588U keyboard, but it seems pretty new and I'm not sure whether it's worth the risk... SteelSeries 7G looks is appealing too. Not the greatest site in the world but this post had a few interesting tidbits too
http://www.squidoo.com/top-gaming-keyboard
Looks like BWU is number one on there - but maybe people just don't know enough to care otherwise?
 
If not the BWU, then what for a mech keyboard? I've been looking at the Azio KB588U keyboard, but it seems pretty new and I'm not sure whether it's worth the risk... SteelSeries 7G looks is appealing too. Not the greatest site in the world but this post had a few interesting tidbits too
http://www.squidoo.com/top-gaming-keyboard
Looks like BWU is number one on there - but maybe people just don't know enough to care otherwise?
  • Filco Majestouch
  • Das Keyboard
  • Deck Legend
  • WASD
  • Leupold
There are plenty of great options out there. You just have to look around. The Razer's are pretty much bottom of the barrel as far as mechanical keyboards go.
 
Maybe it's just me, but the 2kro on the blackwidow's drove me nuts. I couldn't really tell you why, but I find myself using the Corsair K60 the most out of my pack of mechanical keyboards.

And out of all the mechanical keyboards I do own, the blackwidow ultimate has been the only one I've ever actually returned (I may be a tech pack rat....).
 
As a first time mechanical keyboard buyer, I wanted something that was backlit so I picked up a Blackwidow Ultimate. While the Blackwidow is a fine keyboard and I did not have any functional issues, I found that I am not a fan of Cherry MX Blue switches. The constant clicking drove me nuts. I didn't want to wait for the Blackwidow Ultimate stealth to come back in stock so I ordered a Corsair K90 (Cherry MX Red switches). It's nearly silent unless I bottom out the keys and it's a dream to type on. I will be keeping the K90 and posting the Blackwidow Ultimate in the for sale section once I have enough posts. It only has about 5 hours of use, so if you are looking for one of these send me a PM.
 
Bought the Blackwidow today at Fry's, to replace the old wireless one that came with my MX Desktop like eight years ago. The mouse had died, so it was time.

I LOVE this thing. I'm not really a connoisseur of mechanical keyboards, but it's tons better than any membrane one I've ever used. The action is deliciously satisfying, and while I don't think I type any faster on it, it feels an awful lot nicer.

My only real gripe with it is that there's a little piece of plastic with the Razer logo on it at the very bottom that sticks out about half a millimeter at one side, and it digs into my hand right there. I'd imagine it's probably just mine that's like this, but it's still annoying. 30 seconds with a small file fixed this, but it seems like a silly problem to have with a product that's intended to be extra ergonomic.
 
The "shiny" look on the keys is usually caused by oils and grime on your hands. That can and will happen to any keyboard if you have oily hands or use lotion on them. Also if your hands sweat and are tacky, they will eat away at the finish faster. Also depends on your environment (humid vs dry).


My hands are pretty clean usually - but it definitely wasn't residue - the finish was worn to a shine. Regardless something that costs $130 shouldn't wear in a month's time.

No offense intended in any way, but everything you said above should apply to a cheap $10 - $20 keyboard. For the price Razer should have been using PBT keys or something that takes a lot longer to wear.

But aside from the finish wearing off on the spacebar I had no other problems with quality on the BWU - it typed like a dream. If they lowered the price to around $90 or made some better construction choices I would be much more inclined to recommend it.
 
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