List Price :
Product Feature
- Mechanical key architecture - for faster actuation and extended lifespan
- Individually backlit keys - for visibility under low light conditions
- Fully programmable keys + 5 additional gaming keys - with on-the-fly macro recording
- 10 Customizable software profiles - with on-the-fly switching
- Gaming optimized key matrix - for minimized ghosting
Product Description
Product Detail
- Color: Black
- Brand: Razer
- Model: RZ03-00381900-R3U1
- ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
- Original language:English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 10.24" h x19.70" w x2.36" l,5.34 pounds
Related Seller :
Amazon.com: Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical PC Gaming Razer PC Gaming Accessories Defeat your foes with PC gaming mice, keyboards, and headsets from Razer. Learn more.Razer BlackWidow 2013 Ultimate Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Razer BlackWidow, Revamped. Contrary to popular belief, mechanical keyboards have been around for an extremely long time, and as much as you loved that IBM Model M Razer BlackWidow Ultimate – Mechanical Gaming KeyboardThe Razer BlackWidow’s mechanical key technology provides a distinctive tactile feedback in form of a light pronounced tap to your fingers giving you an entirely Razer Battlefield 4 BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical PC Amazon.com: Razer Battlefield 4 BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical PC Gaming Keyboard: Computers & AccessoriesBattlefield 4 Razer BlackWidow Ultimate UNBOXING Welcome to our Battlefield 4 Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical Gaming Keyboard UNBOXING. The Razer BlackWidow's mechanical key technology provides a
Product Reviews
52 of 54 people found the following review helpful.
Great ProductBy MICHAEL T.
I purchased this keyboard to use at my work. I know it must sound crazy to spend so much on a work computer. However, after much research, I wanted a good reliable mechanical keyboard I could use everyday. The macros help with my basic functions at work that usually take a few steps to complete, now I just hit a button after programming all the steps onto the software program. The back-lit keyboard is an added bonus, I am not a "gamer" in any way so I keep the light on its lowest setting. I justified the money since I use the keyboard for about 10 hours a day 5 days a week. I am definietly getting my moneys worth out of. I have had it now for about 3 months and everything is still working and feels perfect. It weighs about 3lbs and built solid, and the mechanical keys are amazing. I wanted to write a review on anyone looking at this keyboard that is not a gamer. It is still a great keyboard that will last. I recommend.
69 of 81 people found the following review helpful.
Not Bad: Only Board I Could Find Built Like ThisBy Credo
I wanted:
The bank of Cherry MX macro keys on the left side of the keyboard.
Cherry MX Brown Switches (Stealth Edition)
Costar type stabilizers for the long keys
Good KRO in a USB connected board (2013 does 10KRO plus anti-ghosting).
Programmable keys/macros (for the entire board)
USB and analogue audio pass-through
Back-lit
To get a keyboard that meets these specs there was only one that I could find for less than $200 at the time I was shopping. The Razer Black Widow Ultimate 2013 Stealth Edition.
To get the Stealth Edition at the time I had to buy direct from Razer.
Only flaw I found in this board was very minor. It had a slight wobble on my desk if I was not using the kick-stands in the back (I don't use the kick-stands in keyboards).
At first I thought the board itself was warped. Upon much closer inspection, I learned that:
1. My cheap desk had bows and dips in it.
2. On a sheet of glass confirmed to be precision ground square/flat, the Razer sat rock solid.
3. Unlike my old membrane keyboards that will 'flex' a bit to fit an uneven surface, this BW doesn't 'bend or flex'.
My fix was simple. I took an Emory nail file/board and took a slight bit of material out of the soft rubber front-center pad of the keyboard and buffed it smooth like new. No more wobble.
Provided this thing lasts more than a year with no issues, it's definitely a five star product.
It fits what I wanted, and the price is in-line with other similar products.
I'm not one bit disappointed with my purchase. This thing is nice!
The keyboard is solidly built and it works flawlessly.
What makes this board 'different' from the rest:
I welcome the added features of the Razer Synapse software.
It has a clean UI that is easy to use. It makes it easy to remap or build powerful macros for almost every key on the board (the windows key and fn key on the bottom row don't seem to be re-mappable with Synapse, but they do offer some interesting gaming targeted options of their own none the less). Macro building offers some power user options like including mouse clicks, launching other applications/software/scripts, altering timings, and many more. Profile management is a breeze...making it easy to make alternate copies and move things around from key map to map.
Synapse also affords the ability to have keyboard profiles (including the back-light settings) auto swap as different applications/windows are brought to the foreground in Windows.
I also found it nice to be able to build quick and easy macros on the fly without opening Synapse.
Having the option to save profiles and share them on the cloud has been a great collaboration tool and a general time saver for me. I can't wait for this technology to expand even further as the platform has much potential to offer even more collaboration power if a web UI is added, and individual key bindings can eventually move across different devices (or even brands of devices).
Media Keys:
There is a basic set of media keys for adjusting volume, and stopping and starting media players that adhere to Microsoft's standards for such keys. On the Black Widow, these media functions are not 'dedicated keys' so they do share Function keys in combination with a special Fn key.
I found that the media volume keys worked fine for any application under Windows 7.
Microsoft Media Player, Real Player, Win Amp, and Media Monkey all responded to the volume, stop, and start keys, even if they were running the background. Nero 12 was the only media player I tried that suffered a hick-up. I had to bring Nero Kwik Media into the forground (top one of its windows) before all the media keys worked.
There's also a sleep function combo that can put your computer to sleep provided your OS is set up properly. For my Windows 7 64bit based system this worked great with no extra tweaking on my part. To wake up the computer all I had to do was tap any key or click any mouse button (might be dependent on your bios settings). Sleep work just fine for me without changing anything about the OS or BIOS settings, but don't be surprised if your system needs a little coaxing to make sleep work for you.
Other BW specific shared fn keys include one for quick recording macros on the fly.
You simply tap a fn+F9 combo and an led starts blinking to let you know it is recording. Punch in your macro. Tap the same key combo again, and it's done! If you need to edit the macro it'll be waiting for you in Synapse 2.0 with a default name which you can change, along with any other aspect of the macro you might want to edit.
You get a key to enable/disable a special gaming mode which can be taylored to block certain keys from accidental presses during gaming, while also stepping up extra hypersense and anti-ghosting technologies that the Black Widow provides.
Finishing out the fn key list, are a couple of combos for changing the LED modes.
What Razer did with the keys:
I enjoy the modified (Not a true ANSI/ISO layout) key layout on the function keys and the bottom most row for gaming. I find the keys are easier to reach, and less stressful for gaming. This does take some getting used to if you're a stickler for having an 'exact' ANSI/ISO key layout. For me the transition was painless and more than welcome...as the only time I need to quickly press function keys is when gaming anyway. It's a more comfortable layout for me.
The function keys are clustered closer together than standard. They are also pulled down a little closer to the top row of number keys. Is this better? If you have smaller hands and want to easily reach the function row while gaming...it's great! If you're more visually reliant as a typist, and concerned about easily being able to glance down and find the right function key it might not be so welcome.
Like any keyboard using the Cherry switches, you can easily remove the key-caps and refit them to other layouts (key angles may vary if a key changes rows); hence this board is ideal if you need to use alternate layouts (Dvorak, Other languages...etc).
The bottom most row of keys is slightly different from the standard as well. The ctrl and alt keys are over-sized, making them easy to find and press, while the windows-special-keys are reduced to a smaller key-size (same as the letter keys). This change also allowed them to pack an extra 'function' key on the right side for addressing keyboard specific functions. Personally, I like this layout for gaming. The only drawback here to me is that it might make it a little more difficult to match 'after-market' or 'custom' key-cap replacements on the bottom most row (You can still get after-market keys in these sizes, but it might be more difficult to get them matched up in pre-fab sets or packages).
The font on the keys is definitely non-standard and is targeted at a gaming market. This font IS very easy to see and read, and in my opinion it looks nice, and certainly isn't a deal breaker. The main thing most people notice is that the R key uses a Razer specific R that looks something like a Greek "Gamma" instead of an R. If this sort of thing bugs you, definitely take a look at some pictures close up before buying.
Due to the way Cherry MX switches are back-lit, only the top half of the keys can be lit evenly without some pretty expensive engineering. For this reason Razer chose to change some visual aspects of the key-caps. Non-shifted characters are located on top and lit. Shifted characters are placed in the center of the key and do NOT light up. This is inverted to what we're used to seeing, but the keys still type out what is expected.
Again, this should not be a deal breaker, as your choices in this price-range of back-lit Cherry based keyboards will most likely suffer from uneven back-lighting (the character printed in the center of the key will be dim, or not lit at all), or they will use the exact same technique as Razer has (not even trying to light the center of the key). Some more expensive boards (at the time this reviewer was shopping) out there might put the un-shifted character and shifted characters side-by-side on the top half of the key and light them both. In short, with Cherry MX boards, expect some kind of compromise on this back-lighting issue for any board in this price range.
Actual key-cap quality isn't bad in my opinion. Back-lit key-caps for Cherry switches all seem to require some compromises that can either shorten their lifespan or cost a premium to solve (some sort of opaque finish or layer has to be applied to a translucent plastic). Provided one keeps these keys wiped on regular basis (oils and sweat can have a high acid or base PH, so wipe them often), they should last for several years of typing/gaming abuse.
Razer's keys do have a more tapered and spherical shape to them, giving them a unique feel. I happen to like it, especially for gaming where hand-position can often be less than ideal, but those with really wide fingers, expecting 'flatter' key-caps should be aware of this. These keys are definitely the same 'size' as others, but with a lightly more spherical indent/shape to them.
The keyboard does light up green. Without using Synapse one gets a variety of brightness settings using a function key combo (6 I believe, from off, to a pulsating mode). Using Synapse, there are more like 100 brightness settings from barely glowing, to full bright or pulsing mode.
The chassis:
The chassis finish is a nice mate black.
You get the standard flip up feet under the back if you like more angle on your keyboard.
There is a lit Razer logo front and center of the small thumb rest area.
Pass-throughs and cabling:
The main cord is pretty thick and it has braided shielding. It splits into two USB plugs (one is optional for making the keyboard work, but mandatory for using the pass-through), and two 3.5mm stereo male plugs for the headphone/mic passthrough. (I'll get back with cord length when I can find my tape)
All the plugs appear to be gold plated. I guess this is intended to help cut down on corrosion in high humidity climates?
I occasionally use an inexpensive analog style headset from Radio Shack for Skyping while my primary audio comes from Bose loudspeakers. I found the passthrough for the headset easy to reach (on the right and side of the keyboard), and as far as I can tell the signal throughput is just fine. No crackles or jiggles there.
I frequently use the USB passthrough for storage sticks, and occasionally for charging things like iPods or eCigs. This is also located on the right hand side for easy reach. Since I keep the keyboard in a rolling tray, and the mouse itself lives up a level on the desk, this is a great placement for the USB passthrough...no worries about it getting the way of the mouse given my setup.
56 of 70 people found the following review helpful.
A non-gamer's perspective. Note that this review is for the TENKEYLESS "Tournament" edition.By Primrose Hill
I was in the market for a new keyboard because my old keyboard died suddenly two weeks ago. It was about 4-5 years old, a Logitech, had cost about $45, attached with a USB cord, and was moderately nice - no great shakes, but had nice-feeling keys and an adequate construction quality.
I was looking for a keyboard that is:
-wired (my metal desk doesn't allow me to use wireless mice or keyboards because of interference; I've tried that)
-less than $80, preferably around $50
-not a too-slim, too-flat, too-quiet, laptop-type of keyboard (like the $80+ backlighted Logitech is)
-designed for fast touch-typists, with keys that are easy to find without looking down, with concave, not-slick keys that are easy for flying fingers to land on, stay on, and press with assurance
-not in a curved, so-called "ergonomic" shape, just straight and traditional
-not overly blinged-up with all kinds of gaming keys and lights and gizmos (I don't play computer games)
-solid, with a decent weight to it, built to be relatively long-lasting
-(in an ideal scenario) without the right-hand number pad area (ten-key) because that is just in my way and takes up too much space on my desk and takes up extra time in moving my right hand between mouse and keyboard.
I first checked around at typical stores in my town - big box stores like Walmart and Target, office supply stores like Staples, electronic stores like Best Buy. I was surprised that there were not many options for me. I discovered that the price point (and quality level) of about $40-60 for keyboards (at least the *corded* ones) seems to have disappeared entirely. There are a few that cost $12-20 which are really plastic-y and cheaply-made, and then a few that cost $70+ which don't feel very good to my hands (they are very flat, have low-profile keys, have slightly different spacing of keys than my hands are used to).
[No stores in my town, even Staples and Best Buy, display or stock any mechanical keyboards, oddly enough. They can be ordered online for in-store pick-up, of course.]
I then turned to electronics review sites to see what keyboards they recommend, and expensive gaming keyboards top the results, understandably. Previously, I had not thought about gaming keyboards as an option, because I wanted to pay nearer to $50 for my new keyboard than $150, and I don't need any extra bells & whistles, glowing lights, macro keys, etc.
On one best-of list, I saw a review of a CM Storm keyboard that was very toned-down for a gaming keyboard and had a sub-$100 price, so I checked it out on Amazon and I swiftly bought it based on the overwhelmingly-positive reviews for it. I was interested in the "mechanical"/old-fashioned key mechanism, but the thing that TOTALLY excited me about it was the lack of the dedicated number pad / tenkey area. It was: CM Storm QuickFire Rapid - Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with Blue CHERRY MX Switches (SGK-4000-GKCL1-US)
Alas, on the day the CM Storm arrived, I used it for a couple of hours and found several things wrong with it (one actual defect, plus a couple of personal dislikes regarding the really tall height and weird key/row profiles). I sent it back.
I then did more research into mechanical keyboards -- I spent a long time reading several enthusiasts' forums, reviews, watching online demonstration videos, etc. I learned some of the terminology. I made notes on the manufacturers, model names, reputations, etc. (In case it might be helpful to someone, I will post some links to various informational mechanical keyboard websites in the comments area below.)
I considered ordering sight-unseen a few different makes/models of tenkeyless keyboard, but every option would have involved some extra hassles and expense (112-150 dollars, which was a lot more than I wanted to spend). (I will post information on the other keyboards I considered in the comments area below.)
I was at the point of either giving up the idea of getting a mechanical keyboard, or gambling on spending $112 for a Leopold keyboard (which I'd never heard of before and had never seen in person - from a website I'd never heard of before, and which doesn't allow returns, only exchanges), when I was absent-mindedly doing the search on Amazon for "tenkeyless mechanical keyboard" that I had done several times before, and somehow I stumbled my way into the listing for the Razer Blackwidow "Tournament edition", which is quite hidden amongst all the other, more popular, Blackwidow varieties, and which is really just a tenkeyless model and should be named as such.
I looked it up on the internet and found very few mentions of it (the tenkeyless Blackwidow). Apparently it's new as of July 2012. It's got the matte black case of the so-called "2013" full-size Blackwidows.
I decided to give it a try, got it today, and love it!
---
Below are my impressions of the Razer "Tournament" tenkeyless keyboard (that I initially wrote on my Amazon review of the CM Storm with blue switches):
I think that the Razer company is missing a big marketing trick by keeping this tenkeyless version of their mechanical keyboard well-hidden from the general public.
Maybe they don't realize that there is segment of non-gaming people who would love a tenkeyless, affordable, attractive, sold-in-the-USA-by-major-US-retailers mechanical keyboard. There is an even bigger segment of folks who would like something like this, but don't even know yet that this kind of keyboard exists.
I had to really, really search around in the world of mechanical keyboards before I even noticed it.
This Razer tenkeyless keyboard is not discussed much at all on the mechanical keyboard forums (I think I found 3 enthusiasts' references to it on the internet, compared to thousands of references to the other tenkeyless mechanical keyboards out there).
It's even buried on Amazon (it's just one option out of seven formats on Amazon's Razer Blackwidow keyboard listing).
Razer simply calls it the Tournament edition (not "tenkeyless"), but the descriptor "tournament" means nothing to someone like me who is not a gamer.
This tenkeyless edition is not sold on many sites that do sell the normal-sized Razer. I think I found this tenkeyless version for sale at just 3 major sites. (One of the other sites is Walmart, by the way; same price.)
If you are not in the market for a gaming keyboard, you may worry that a Razer keyboard will have more bells and whistles, fancy lights, banks of macro keys, etc. than you are looking for, since that brand caters to gamers. I expect that those concerns would be true of the standard, full-size Razer Blackwidow keyboards, but the Razer Blackwidow tenkeyless keyboard is gloriously stripped-down and sober:
-No macro keys.
-There is only one glowing light (behind the Razer logo) and you can turn it all the way OFF.
-It's simply matte black all over, with white lettering on the keys.
-Now, the font is pretty silly, like that of a science fiction paperback book cover from 1973, but I don't look at the keys when I type anyway.
-This is entirely personal, but the Razer logo feels creepy to me - I don't even know what it is, seems like thrashing snakes or a menacing symbol or something - so I don't look at it. I was going to cover it up with a piece of tape if there had been no way to turn off the illuminated logo! But as long as the keyboard is devoid of markings, I don't mind.
One nice feature of the Razer tenkeyless is that it comes wrapped in a special cloth pouch that velcros shut on one end. It's for protecting the keyboard when you are transporting it. It could also be used as a dust cover on the keyboard, if desired.
One criticism that some reviewers of the full-size Razer Blackwidow have mentioned is that, for the special functions of the full-size keyboard like macros and different illumination colors and so on, Razer requires the keyboard user to download drivers from the internet, and to register with Razer to get them. However, even with the standard size of keyboard, this is NOT necessary to do if you just want to use the keyboard as a keyboard. It is plug-and-play. You don't need to sign up with Razer to use it, you don't need to download any drivers. Razer states this in their online FAQ about the entire range of Blackwidow keyboards. (I'm not sure why you'd need any drivers to use the tenkeyless version since it doesn't have macro keys anyway, but in any case, I just plugged it in to my computer in order to use it.)
The current Razer tenkeyless "Tournament" model is only available at the moment (October 2012) in blue Cherry switches, but they announced in July that they are making one with brown Cherry switches, and it is expected to be sold at the same price as the blue (80). On the Razer website at the moment, one sees a 5-second message that the tenkeyless model with brown switches is expected to ship in November, and then one's browser is redirected to the main Blackwidow page and backspacing doesn't work.
When I was doing my research into mechanical keyboards last week, I determined that I should probably go for brown Cherry switches out of the 4 types of Cherry mechanical switches available, so I was a little reluctant to order this blue Cherry Razer when I found out that I could get a brown Cherry Razer in another month or two. But I didn't want to wait that long for a new keyboard - every moment on the crappy cheapo Logitech was a moment too long - so I took a chance on getting the Razer tenkeyless with blue switches.
Now that I have it, I think the blue switches are absolutely fine. They aren't loud at all. They feel great. There is no weird stuttering or missed letters like the CM Storm had. I'm more pleased than I expected to be. YAY!
The Razer Tenkeyless feels so much better and more natural to me than the CM Storm. It's so much easier to type on, it is quieter, it has a lower profile on the desk, it feels well-made and sturdy, it is understated and elegant in matte black with no logos on it.
Come to think of it, this Razer is *exactly* what I was looking for, even down to the exact price I had stated (but I had to trawl around in the 'unique' world of mechanical keyboard manufacturers, reviewers, and enthusiasts for 2 weeks just to find the thing sitting "under my nose", so to speak, here on Amazon).
One final point: A big concern that I had when ordering the Razer tenkeyless is that Razer generally has an "iffy" reputation on the mechanical keyboard forums... and even on Amazon's listing page for the Razer Blackwidow family of keyboard, there are lots of negative reviews. It seems that many of their customers are pleased, but a substantial-enough minority of Razer Blackwidow keyboard users have run into major troubles with the quality and longevity of their keyboards.
Given the current price (which is a good price for a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard with cherry switches), given the convenience of ordering directly from Amazon and receiving it in 2 days, given the peace of mind that Amazon's good customer service offers (plus the 1-year warranty that Razer provides), I figured that it was a chance worth taking to order this keyboard sight-unseen, in the hopes the Razer would be styled in a much more ergonomic, normal, and pleasing profile than the CM Storm was.
I will certainly come back and update my review if anything goes wrong with the one I have purchased.
====
Update Feb 2013:
A few weeks ago, an entire mug of steaming hot chocolate made with cocoa, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and half-and-half cream was spilled onto the keyboard. The computer started making all kinds of screeching noises, and I pulled out the keyboard's USB cord from the computer immediately. I rushed the Razer to the kitchen and tried to wipe it down, but because it had been entirely doused with the sugary, chocolatey, creamy, spicy liquid (the keys were drowning in it), there was no way I could get the keyboard clean enough to use again unless I took the drastic step of washing it thoroughly under running water in the sink -- knowing full well that rinsing it with water was probably going to ruin the keyboard, if it wasn't already dead from the spill.
I dried it off as best I could, took a hairdryer and dried it on low for about 10 minutes, then left it on a clothes drying rack for 24 hours. When I was waiting for it to dry, I put a new Razer in my Amazon shopping cart, because I was pretty sure this one would be dead when I tested it, but when I plugged it into my computer, it worked just fine!
As of today, the keyboard is still going strong, and I love it.
=========
Update Nov 27, 2013
My keyboard developed a serious fault yesterday that I can't fix. I've checked the user guide, the Razer website, and various internet forums.
It's about a month after the normal 1-year warranty expired, so it might partly be planned obsolescence. (I think that I have a year's extension to that warranty because an extra year is a benefit of the credit card I used to buy the keyboard with, but I can't pursue the warranty anyway because getting it wet in February, as per my story above, voided the warranty.)
I came back here to Amazon to buy a new one, and see that the Tournament/tenkeyless edition is no longer in stock with Amazon. It seems to be sold out almost everywhere, including the Razor website's store (which says it expects new stock to arrive in 4 to 6 weeks). I also see in my web searches that the tournament keyboard was sold a few months ago on a few websites for a clearance price of about $40, and that would have been a good time for me to get one as a back-up, had I been aware of those sales. I am not sure if they will come out with more of the same model in 4 to 6 weeks, come out with a new 2014 model, or maybe not make a tenkeyless version of the Blackwidow anymore.
In any case, I need a keyboard now, and the larger Blackwidow with the numerical keypad will not fit on my keyboard slide-out shelf that I have to use with my desk. I wish that the tenkeyless CM Storm had worked for me, but no. I might have to get an inexpensive, mushy keyboard to get me through the next 6 weeks.
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