So, Im a big fan of Das Keyboard, but I've seen on the forum more than once people who swore that the Blackwidow was just as good, if not better. Problem is, nobody seems to have tried both side-by-side. So, I needed another keyboard and thought, "What the hell? Its almost half the price of the Das.. why not?" Less than 24 hours later, Amazon had it at my doorstep. Perfect, now I'm the proud owner of a Das Keyboard Model S Professional (Cherry MX Blue, $130) and a Razor BlackWidow Gaming Keyboard. (Cherry MX Blue, $71) Razor Review The good: Well, the Razor has 5 more keys (macros,) its plenty heavy, and its quite attractive. The lit razor logo isnt as obtrusive or cheesy as I thought it might be. In fact, its very attractive. The Bad: The font is god-awful, the alternative keys (the stuff you have to push shift to get) are printed below the default labels. Thats wierd... right? Look at your keyboard and imagine the dollar sign, ampersand, percent sign, etc. under the numbers instead of above. It really is akward to look at. That combined with the alienware-ish font makes for a very foreign object to look at. I think that was their goal- mission accomplished. Oh, and the whole damned thing (apart from the keys) is Glossed Piano Black... what the hell were they thinking? (of course, so is the Das... I dont approve... its a fingerprint magnet with no way to avoid it... its a keyboard.) Das Keyboard: I love my Das Keyboard. Its glorious, and its classic racket pisses off my coworkers- which is priceless. There is something about its professional looks, its simplicty, and its military-grade, will-never-fail feel that makes me love it. That being said, its overpriced. Comparing the Two/ My Biased Opinion: There is just something about the keypresses on the Das that makes it win over the Razor. Its a totally tactile difference, yet intangible. Very hard to describe... of course, it may just be placebo, or that I need to let the Razor break in? I dunno, we'll see. However, when you take the simple fact that $10 more than what a single Das costs me, I could have two of these razors- or even better, same money as the base model Das gets me the top-end exclusive backlit model Razor and $10 bucks more gets the Silent Cherry Brown keys added. Summary: The razor competes well against the Das in terms of feel/performance. And blows it out of the water in price. If I could go back, I'd probably just have two Razors. Hope this helps the few guys out there shopping!
Thanks for doing the review of both of them The only thing keeping from from getting a Das keyboard is I require a backlight. I play in the dark 99% of the time so while I can type pretty well without looking, I still type significantly better when looking at the keys. No backlight means I cant see the keys I am hitting :/
You aren't going to be getting a lit keyboard from Das Keyboard anytime soon, I bet. They seem to be more focused on the professional community- which is what originally attracted me to it. Its got clean lines and an unassuming execution of design. With your requirements, I'd say go for the BlackWidow Ultimate- which is a mechanical keyboard backlit in blue. Its the only true mechanical keyboard with lit keys that I was able to kind from a company I recognized. If the backlighting is the same as the blue light that is in the backlit emblem of this base model keyboard, man that'd be fantastic. Its not ULTRA in your face LED blue, if you know what I mean. Its tinted a deeper and softer blue. Although I can't verify its the same deeper hue on the Ultimate edition, It makes me really want to return this base model and go for it. While vetting the specs I quoted for the review, I found myself at the Razor website for the first time. You can buy the keyboard direct, and they have exclusive models of some of their products. For the keyboard, they have a backlit Silent model with Cherry Browns rather than the noisy MX Blues for $140. This is very, very enticing after testing out this base model. If anyone ends up getting one, I'd be very interested in their experiences. I've used a Das Keyboard with browns, and it was wonderful- but different, in a good way. I think it'd lend itself to gaming very well. A backlit gaming board with silent Cherry Browns sounds just fantastic!
Why can't they put everything into one keyboard at Razer >< I ended up with the Anasi, and love the thumb keys and the fact I can change the color to match the rest of the theme in my man cave (Red). However its not mechanical but it still freaking loud. Would love an Anasi Black Widow Steath!!