My experiences with the Razer Blackwidow (First Mech keyboard)

[megadarkwood]

Hey guys, about 2 months ago I bought this keyboard to be my first Mech keyboard. The keyboard has Cherry MX Blues and they just feel soooo niiiceee.. but I will talk about that in the review.

 

The keyboard costs around $100 and has MX Blues, works with almost all Windows.

 

Build Quality

I personally like the build quality, it is made out of plastic but still feels extremely solid. No flex at all. The cable is extremely thick and has 4 connections, USB for the keyboard itself, USB passthrough, headphones and mic. The cable is also braided so it is @LinusTech approved

 

The typing experience

I love these MX Blues but my mother could say otherwise. To me, the clicking sound is very satisfying and don't fatigue me at all. I can hear the clicking even when I am wearing earbuds and watching a video or listening to music. I usually bottom out the keys and they don't mess up or anything and when gaming the macro keys help out quite a bit depending on what game.

 

Should you get it? Why do people hate?

I do not know why people hate about it but I like it, go to a store and try it out for yourself. I know that Razers customer service sucks but hope fully I dont ever need to use them.

 

I know that this review was short but I have a headache (not from the keys!) and am tired so imma go to sleep. Thanks for reading.

[IDprofile]

thanks for the review. My past experiences with Razer customer service was very pleasant and much better then some others.

[TheSLSAMG]

Not a bad review, but let me reiterate why I dislike their keyboards.

 

Trust me, it's warranted. Their keyboards are overpriced, underfeatured and the build quality is crap. I have a BlackWidow Tournament which recently died of a broken Mini-USB connector, and Razer won't ship me the part to fix it.

 

But when a company leaves a customer hanging, that's when it gets annoying.

 

Listen, we all have our opinions and experiences. I am not judging them on just my experience, I am judging them from all ends. Maybe I just got a dud on their customer service line, maybe you just got lucky. That I don't know. I find it difficult to recommend any Razer keyboard, when:

 

1. On the lower end, Rosewill, Cooler Master and Steelseries make superior keyboards

2. On the higher end, Ducky, Corsair, Filco, Cooler Master and Steelseries dominate.

 

I have no problem recommending other products that they make, such as the Ouroboros, Orochi, Deathadder, Abyssus, Kraken or any other mouse/headset they do. But, they simply suck when it comes to keyboards and computers. Especially when MSI makes a laptop which has the same specs and is better for the money.

These are the reasons. I have no problem with them, just their keyboards and laptops. You may want to say:

 

Haters. Gonna. Hate

 

But it's not the case here.

 

Source: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/69307-so-im-getting-a-mech-keyboard/

[megadarkwood]

Not a bad review, but let me reiterate why I dislike their keyboards.

 

These are the reasons. I have no problem with them, just their keyboards and laptops. You may want to say:

 

 

But it's not the case here.

 

Source: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/69307-so-im-getting-a-mech-keyboard/

Personally, I like the way it looks.

[Eroda]

Not a bad review, but let me reiterate why I dislike their keyboards.

 

These are the reasons. I have no problem with them, just their keyboards and laptops. You may want to say:

 

 

But it's not the case here.

 

Source: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/69307-so-im-getting-a-mech-keyboard/

 

that sounds like a common micro USB problem. my ultimate has been going strong  for a while now, if it were some overpriced logitech "G Series" crap it would have died by now

[TheSLSAMG]

that sounds like a common micro USB problem. my ultimate has been going strong  for a while now, if it were some overpriced logitech "G Series" crap it would have died by now

Whoops, I meant Mini-USB. I always make that mistake.

[mk005]

Most mechanical keyboards use the Cherry MX switches so you can expect the same high quality (that's why we pay so much for them).  I have the Black Widow Ultimate (legacy) and I pretty much love it.  The only complaints you usually hear are: they use non standardized key caps so you cant get replacement caps for them (you can, and they'll fit but they're a different size or shape); and the razer customer support isn't the best I've ever dealt with.  My only other complaint is that they caps aren't that easy to remove for cleaning underneath with out a key puller.

[Piggy]

Thanks for this review, I personally have a friend who has this keyboard and he loves it and so do I and I plan on buying it at Christmas time!

[sperkowsky]

Its so loud though

[juretrn]

@TheSLSAMG

 

I don't get your hate, I really don't. It has all of the functionality you need, the build quality is there, the mass is there... As for the customer service - i have never dealt with any tech company directly, and none actually have their offices here, just importers. And what the importers do is usually not the responsibility of the manufacturer - but that is going a bit offtopic. 

 

 

 

Also, it's not flashy and filled with 'gamer' BS like over-the-top design and backlights. Also, the only mech keyboard I could find here was a steelseries something, which I liked less, and was just as expensive, and a logitech G710+, which is just horrible to look at and costs 40 € more for no reason. 

 

It also lacks any detachable mini-USB cables, so one thing less thing to go wrong. 

If anything does go wrong, I will report back here, but for now, nothing has. 

[Turkatron]

 I know that Razers customer service sucks but hope fully I dont ever need to use them.

dohohohohohohoho. I think it is inevitable with Razer products. I dislike it because it is made by Razer.

[Alex780]

What do you think mechanical keys bring as an improvement over membrane keys? The keyboard noob that I am would like to know. Thanks!

[Kilerbomb]

I have a Razer Blackwidow as well. Sadly I have the older model, which has a glossy finish, and no pass-through ports. I hate the gloss on mine, if you rest your hand on it it starts to melt and get's all over your palm.

 

Other than that it's a great keyboard. Still, though, I'm probably going to get a different keyboard, such as the Crosair K70.

[GamerDude]

Very often, what we think of a product or brand is often colored by our experience, so someone here has a bad experience or two with Razer, you can't blame him for feeling the way he does. To me, and I'm entitled to my opinion, Razer is all fart and no shit.....basically, Razer is well known because it is able to sell itself like a cheap hoe......via print and media ads, and via sponsorship. So much to the point that there was a recent thread hereabouts on 'Vote the best mech keyboard' (or something to this effect) with Razer winning overwhelmingly, so I don't see the need for those to defend the product, or to go around repeating 'haters gonna hate' mantra.

 

I don't own a single Razer mech keyboard, but I have easy access to a great variety of keyboards in my neck of the woods here because the shops I go to allow me to fiddle around with their selection of keyboards. And yes, I have tinkered with both the BWU 2013 as well as the Stealth Edition.....and to be blunt, I don't like the feel of the board and neither am I impressed with the build quality, but that's me. IF you believe Razer build quality is good enough for you, or that the BWU 2013 is of outstanding build quality, that's fine as we look for different things in a keyboard. For me, I think Ducky, Filco and DECK are of much better build quality than Razer, but that's just my opinion......and shared by 99% of those in GH (who may be prejudiced against Razer in the first place). Heck, even the Keycool keyboards which I'd gotten strikes me as very good keyboards especially at the price I'd gotten them, much better deal than had I gone with a Razer.

 

Now, I'm no sheep and just following the herd mentality, I've already had a bad impression of Razer even before knowing about GH....anyway, good brief overview of the Razer BW.

[JoshuaTjandra]

Good review. I've tried both Razer BWU 2013 and Ducky shine 3. build quality is surprisingly good for BWU, I'd say that it's comparable to the DS3. They are both feel better than the CM Storm Quickfire Pro, less key wobble. (granted Quick fire pro cost like half).

The only 2 products I could recommend from razer is their BWU 2013 and DA 2013

[ManOfDisguise]

Cant wait to get my BWT.