Yeah- that's a very big title but that's what written on the box and in most of the places. Judging by the font, I am assuming "BlackWidow" is one word. (Begone grammar/spelling Nazis!!!)
Gaming keyboards command a certain premium (for now): N-Key Rollover, Dedicated Macro buttons, dedicated buttons for FPS/RTS gaming, bigger-than-usual keys, soft/rubber feel buttons (and wrist rest), LED lights (either blue/White or multi coloured), ability to connect at least 1 USB 2.0 port, mic/headphone rerouting port, LED screens to show status of the game play (for example: health, bullets- the works) and also special edition keyboards for a game franchise.
And then it started: Few gamers who play and win on fairly regular basis started endorsing for the product and also started recommending it to people: certificates, videos, product placement ads, during interviews, taking company's name/product when they win a competition, wearing T-shirts, giving interviews- the list goes on. However some gamers don't need to speak. That's the beauty of product placements if you're doing it major international: pictures of high profile gamers during game play are taken and people can manage to see what kind of stuff they use. Out of which some will such products as well.
And then there's this trend I see where companies who probably you never heard of endorsing LAN gamers that participate multiple gaming LAN events- and win them. Give them tees for their clans, free hardware: Of course some gaming clans expand and try to sign up with gamers who participate and win multiple games. This trend is very much active in India: Like CS clan "ATE" incorporating COD4 and other type of gamers within their "label". We also have Roccat.ROG (As in republic of gamers?). I was also bit suspicious when some forum contributors (Indian and International) who haven't used any gaming keyboards in the past try to push the product as well by recommending it EVERYWHERE.
And then Ideazon was acquired by Steelseries back in 2008. Back then we had Razer, Steelseries, Logitech pretty much catering to gamers. Then Coolermaster started playing this game and then few companies appeared out of no where.
Still, every model/version/brand/rev has certain difference- anything between warranty till overall built quality.
But at the end of the day, we're consumers. Gamers are consumers too. Consumers have preference and certain needs. But the most common element is the ease of use, out of the box usability, practical and useful features, built quality and track record/ experience during RMA from their fellow friends and other users. Big thumbs up for the potential of the community power!
Out of enthusiasm, I've bought, used and reviewed Ideazon Merc Stealth Keyboard long time ago (Pre-BBQ days for the forums around 2007) and it was pretty decent at the time. I've been honest with whatever experience I had back then, and it was pretty decent. If you give me the same board now, I would probably find a lot of nitpicks since I am getting hands on a lot of stuff and spending time with it.
Razer sent Black Widow "Elite" keyboard. This is a mechanical keyboard made for gamers. Let see how she does.
Packaging and Specifications
There's a small cut-out to get a feel on the direction buttons. The feeling of the keystroke with the direction buttons is same as the rest of the keys. This is good, especially when there was a trend that manufacturers emphasize most on WASD-LShift-Lctrl-Lalt-Space (for Right Handed Gamers, its the directional keys) and leave the rest of the keys with the usual plasticky feel.
Moving on...
Except the directional buttons, the board is protected by the usual plastic case with cardboard in all 4 sides. The cable is "stashed away" on the thicker side of the cardboard.
You pop it out and this is what you get. You get 3 of the usual reading materials (quick start guide, master guide and few sweet words from the Razer Guy), 2x Razer logo stickers and the board itself.
I would have personally preferred a good metal finish case badge rather than a sticker.
The braided cable is about 7.5 feet long, with gold plated connectors- as expected from any Good/Premium keyboards (and mouse). The Mic/Cable 3.5mm jacks reroute the cable to the jacks on the right corner of the keyboard. USB connector labelled as "Razer" powers up the board along with the illumination and the programmable Macro keys, whereas "port" USB connector reroutes the USB port to the right corner of the board, along with the audio jacks.
Specifications gives you a vague idea about such devices but just to give you an idea:
Closer Look, User experience and NKRO testing
The front gives a basic idea about the keyboard: Silent mechanical key architecture, extreme Anti-ghosting features and 5 additional keys that you can use for gaming. The rear does the rest of the job, except it doesn't say how long the braided cable is. I wish the larger keys such as Tab, Caps, Shift didn't shake much.The smaller keys are firm with adequate space to prevent the keys from sticking.
The plastic is Matt black finish and the smudges/sweat can be wiped of easily with the hand, leaving no marks behind.
The driver "Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Configurator" is available via the product page for this board. The configurator lets you set upto 10 profiles with the ability to import/export profiles. You can remap, Assign Macro, assign profile, launch program and keyboard the keystroke on any keys- except the FN(Function) button. For you to use those keys, you'll need to pres and hold FN and press the key that you have assigned a particular task.
There are 5 mappable Macro towards the left. At first typists might press M2/M3/M4/M5 instead of Tab/Caps Lock/Shift/CTRL. That's one thing you need to get used to.You don't need the drivers to set the Macro buttons as you can save upto 10 profiles. All you need to do is press FN+ R-ALT and use one of the desired Macro buttons. Plain and Simple.
The board looks simple keyboard with backlit and that's the beauty of it, at least for real gamers. Contrary to how certain manufacturers think/believe, a lot of gamers do not prefer fingerprint magnet and/or glossy keyboards in the long run. Its more of a preference, but its a welcomed sight.
Before we continue, I've tested NKRO by pressing+ holding key combinations that gamers use during gameplay- especially FPS gamers.
I've tried holding the key combinations that gamers will use at the together but gets locked in Non-NKRO keyboards. This wasn't the case in this board. The board allows you to use upto 6 keys at the same time.
For those who want to know what is NKRO
Conclusion
The name of the board needs to be short- very short. There are 6 versions of Blackwidow boards under its lineup so the product number that I've tested is RZ03-00381600-R3M1.
But other than that, its a very good board for those users who needs a board which can satisfy typing needs, except the end users need to be familiar with the board as the alternate character keys on the board is not illuminated, same goes for the G button, Brightness, Sleep, FN(function key) and the Macro keys. The board comes with 1 year warranty period.
There are 2 boards you need to look at. One is this board- BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition "Elite" version and second is the BlackWidow Stealth Edition "Expert" Version. After doing a little bit of a search, Razer BlackWidow Ultimate uses Cherry Blue keys. I can imagine people getting confused here but once you get the facts out its easy to know what is what. As far as paper specs is concerned, the expert version does not have Extreme anti-ghosting capability (rather it says it has optimized key matrix for minimized ghosting), doesn't have USB/audio jacks and doesn't have LED backlit. Now, there's supposed to be an essential version as well and I am assuming its the "basic" version of it. Not sure what kind of mechanical keys they're using.
But honestly, for a board which says its the l33t version, having no wristpad is not really expected. Judging by the paper specs alone, the expert version is suited to be called as essential- or something else. Ditching the LED light on the expert version is not really a wise thing to do- for a gaming keyboard. If you keep the same board - the USB port/Audio jacks, you can see this board to be a great sellout, even with cherry browns. There are lot of end users out there who wants a decent mechanical keyboard good enough for gaming (therefore goes without saying that it should have NKRO support) and backlit. Why there is no LED on the Essential version is something one would find it strange.
Just my 2 cents, its about time Razer website has some way to compare their product lineups- atleast 3-5 at a time. It will also be helpful if Razer can say it on the specs itself which keys the board is using.
This Elite version's MRP aims at Rs. 7,299/-.
Its a good board- and its expensive. Expensive is not bad as long but should be justified. All BlackWidow edition can have upto 10 profiles (you'll need the drivers and only way to do so is to download it!) and map the keys. They're all mechanical, although I am sure most use some other keys. I would like to see a cherry brown keyboard with backlit, maybe no USB/Audio jacks and also a wrist pad.
I am sure a lot of people will appreciate that.
Gaming keyboards command a certain premium (for now): N-Key Rollover, Dedicated Macro buttons, dedicated buttons for FPS/RTS gaming, bigger-than-usual keys, soft/rubber feel buttons (and wrist rest), LED lights (either blue/White or multi coloured), ability to connect at least 1 USB 2.0 port, mic/headphone rerouting port, LED screens to show status of the game play (for example: health, bullets- the works) and also special edition keyboards for a game franchise.
And then it started: Few gamers who play and win on fairly regular basis started endorsing for the product and also started recommending it to people: certificates, videos, product placement ads, during interviews, taking company's name/product when they win a competition, wearing T-shirts, giving interviews- the list goes on. However some gamers don't need to speak. That's the beauty of product placements if you're doing it major international: pictures of high profile gamers during game play are taken and people can manage to see what kind of stuff they use. Out of which some will such products as well.
And then there's this trend I see where companies who probably you never heard of endorsing LAN gamers that participate multiple gaming LAN events- and win them. Give them tees for their clans, free hardware: Of course some gaming clans expand and try to sign up with gamers who participate and win multiple games. This trend is very much active in India: Like CS clan "ATE" incorporating COD4 and other type of gamers within their "label". We also have Roccat.ROG (As in republic of gamers?). I was also bit suspicious when some forum contributors (Indian and International) who haven't used any gaming keyboards in the past try to push the product as well by recommending it EVERYWHERE.
And then Ideazon was acquired by Steelseries back in 2008. Back then we had Razer, Steelseries, Logitech pretty much catering to gamers. Then Coolermaster started playing this game and then few companies appeared out of no where.
Still, every model/version/brand/rev has certain difference- anything between warranty till overall built quality.
But at the end of the day, we're consumers. Gamers are consumers too. Consumers have preference and certain needs. But the most common element is the ease of use, out of the box usability, practical and useful features, built quality and track record/ experience during RMA from their fellow friends and other users. Big thumbs up for the potential of the community power!
Out of enthusiasm, I've bought, used and reviewed Ideazon Merc Stealth Keyboard long time ago (Pre-BBQ days for the forums around 2007) and it was pretty decent at the time. I've been honest with whatever experience I had back then, and it was pretty decent. If you give me the same board now, I would probably find a lot of nitpicks since I am getting hands on a lot of stuff and spending time with it.
Razer sent Black Widow "Elite" keyboard. This is a mechanical keyboard made for gamers. Let see how she does.
Packaging and Specifications
There's a small cut-out to get a feel on the direction buttons. The feeling of the keystroke with the direction buttons is same as the rest of the keys. This is good, especially when there was a trend that manufacturers emphasize most on WASD-LShift-Lctrl-Lalt-Space (for Right Handed Gamers, its the directional keys) and leave the rest of the keys with the usual plasticky feel.
Moving on...
Except the directional buttons, the board is protected by the usual plastic case with cardboard in all 4 sides. The cable is "stashed away" on the thicker side of the cardboard.
You pop it out and this is what you get. You get 3 of the usual reading materials (quick start guide, master guide and few sweet words from the Razer Guy), 2x Razer logo stickers and the board itself.
I would have personally preferred a good metal finish case badge rather than a sticker.
The braided cable is about 7.5 feet long, with gold plated connectors- as expected from any Good/Premium keyboards (and mouse). The Mic/Cable 3.5mm jacks reroute the cable to the jacks on the right corner of the keyboard. USB connector labelled as "Razer" powers up the board along with the illumination and the programmable Macro keys, whereas "port" USB connector reroutes the USB port to the right corner of the board, along with the audio jacks.
Specifications gives you a vague idea about such devices but just to give you an idea:
- Full mechanical keys with 50g actuation force
- 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 cable
- Approx. size in mm: 475(L) x 171(W) x 30(H)
- Weight: 1.4kg
Closer Look, User experience and NKRO testing
The front gives a basic idea about the keyboard: Silent mechanical key architecture, extreme Anti-ghosting features and 5 additional keys that you can use for gaming. The rear does the rest of the job, except it doesn't say how long the braided cable is. I wish the larger keys such as Tab, Caps, Shift didn't shake much.The smaller keys are firm with adequate space to prevent the keys from sticking.
The plastic is Matt black finish and the smudges/sweat can be wiped of easily with the hand, leaving no marks behind.
The driver "Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Configurator" is available via the product page for this board. The configurator lets you set upto 10 profiles with the ability to import/export profiles. You can remap, Assign Macro, assign profile, launch program and keyboard the keystroke on any keys- except the FN(Function) button. For you to use those keys, you'll need to pres and hold FN and press the key that you have assigned a particular task.
There are 5 mappable Macro towards the left. At first typists might press M2/M3/M4/M5 instead of Tab/Caps Lock/Shift/CTRL. That's one thing you need to get used to.You don't need the drivers to set the Macro buttons as you can save upto 10 profiles. All you need to do is press FN+ R-ALT and use one of the desired Macro buttons. Plain and Simple.
The board looks simple keyboard with backlit and that's the beauty of it, at least for real gamers. Contrary to how certain manufacturers think/believe, a lot of gamers do not prefer fingerprint magnet and/or glossy keyboards in the long run. Its more of a preference, but its a welcomed sight.
Before we continue, I've tested NKRO by pressing+ holding key combinations that gamers use during gameplay- especially FPS gamers.
I've tried holding the key combinations that gamers will use at the together but gets locked in Non-NKRO keyboards. This wasn't the case in this board. The board allows you to use upto 6 keys at the same time.
For those who want to know what is NKRO
Conclusion
The name of the board needs to be short- very short. There are 6 versions of Blackwidow boards under its lineup so the product number that I've tested is RZ03-00381600-R3M1.
But other than that, its a very good board for those users who needs a board which can satisfy typing needs, except the end users need to be familiar with the board as the alternate character keys on the board is not illuminated, same goes for the G button, Brightness, Sleep, FN(function key) and the Macro keys. The board comes with 1 year warranty period.
There are 2 boards you need to look at. One is this board- BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition "Elite" version and second is the BlackWidow Stealth Edition "Expert" Version. After doing a little bit of a search, Razer BlackWidow Ultimate uses Cherry Blue keys. I can imagine people getting confused here but once you get the facts out its easy to know what is what. As far as paper specs is concerned, the expert version does not have Extreme anti-ghosting capability (rather it says it has optimized key matrix for minimized ghosting), doesn't have USB/audio jacks and doesn't have LED backlit. Now, there's supposed to be an essential version as well and I am assuming its the "basic" version of it. Not sure what kind of mechanical keys they're using.
But honestly, for a board which says its the l33t version, having no wristpad is not really expected. Judging by the paper specs alone, the expert version is suited to be called as essential- or something else. Ditching the LED light on the expert version is not really a wise thing to do- for a gaming keyboard. If you keep the same board - the USB port/Audio jacks, you can see this board to be a great sellout, even with cherry browns. There are lot of end users out there who wants a decent mechanical keyboard good enough for gaming (therefore goes without saying that it should have NKRO support) and backlit. Why there is no LED on the Essential version is something one would find it strange.
Just my 2 cents, its about time Razer website has some way to compare their product lineups- atleast 3-5 at a time. It will also be helpful if Razer can say it on the specs itself which keys the board is using.
This Elite version's MRP aims at Rs. 7,299/-.
Its a good board- and its expensive. Expensive is not bad as long but should be justified. All BlackWidow edition can have upto 10 profiles (you'll need the drivers and only way to do so is to download it!) and map the keys. They're all mechanical, although I am sure most use some other keys. I would like to see a cherry brown keyboard with backlit, maybe no USB/Audio jacks and also a wrist pad.
I am sure a lot of people will appreciate that.
and there is no 'essential' model in their mechanical keyboard lineup.