Entered CNET Catalog: 12/14/2005
SKU: 897126000577
Manufacturer: Razer Inc.
Manufacturer description
The Razer Tarantula is the first definitive keyboard created For Gamers By Gamers in Razer's suite of advanced gaming peripherals. The sleek design and fully customizable functions are specially engineered to empower competitive gamers with seamless control and unparalleled flexibility. PRODUCT FEATURES: 32kb Onboard Memory Powered by Razer Synapse; Anti-Ghosting Capability; Profile switching with ease; Keymaps; Fully interchangeable keys; Macro Keys; 10 Gaming Hotkeys.Product summary
The good: Sleek, smart design and key layout; grasps desktop surface firmly; superresponsive keys; keys are infinitely customizable; built-in memory means you can take your custom profiles with you.
The bad: Takes up a fair amount of desk space; expensive if you aren't serious about gaming.
The bottom line: Razer brings all the polish to its Tarantula gaming keyboard that it has to mice over the years. The Tarantula is a little more expensive than other keyboards geared toward gamers, but its build quality, customization options, and responsiveness are definitely worth it.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: Yes
- Reviewed on: 11/06/2006
It only makes sense that after tuning the lowly mouse to gamer specifications, the various input device makers would turn their attention to keyboards. Razer's new $99 Tarantula gaming keyboard is not the first of this new breed, but it's definitely one of the best. It's also one of the most expensive. Still, if you're willing spend a little bit more for gaming-input precision, then the Tarantula should be your pick. Among other reasons, it has more out-of-the-box features that will matter to gamers as soon as they set it up.
Gaming keyboards seem to universally take up massive swaths of desk space. Although it looks very large when you take the glossy, KITT car-black Tarantula out of the box, it's only a little wider than Saitek's competing Eclipse II gaming keyboard (19.5 inches vs. 20.25 inches). And Logitech's 21.5-inch G15 is even wider.
One of the things we like most about the Tarantula is its build quality. At 2 pounds, 8 ounces, it feels more substantial than the Logitech (2 pounds, 14 ounces) or the Saitek (2 pounds, 11 ounces), even though it actually weighs the least of the three. Its glossy black finish also looks the sharpest. The Tarantula has stick-fast rubber feet on the bottom that give you the confidence that during an intense gaming session, it won't slide out from under you. It almost feels like it attaches itself to your desk. The other two don't hold their position as well.
All three keyboards have LED backlighting, making it easy to see the keys in a darkened game room. Like the G15, the Tarantula lights up blue but only on the keys along the outer edges, not the main letter keys. The Eclipse II, on the other hand gives you blue, red, and purple options, so if custom colors turn you on, the Tarantula can't compete. But we much prefer customization options with a more practical purpose, and the Tarantula beats the other two by far. Like the G15, the Tarantula comes with customizable hot keys. The Tarantula doesn't have quite as many, 10 to the Logitech's 18, but we think the Tarantula's are laid out in such a way that it's easier to remember which button does what, with 5 running down each side of the keyboard, rather than clustering the buttons like the G15 does.
The Tarantula's customization edge lies not only in the placement of its hot keys, but also in their design. In the box, there's a plastic tool that looks like a small mouth harp, as well as 10 free-floating keys, each with a different game-related icon theme. There's a button with an image of a knife on it, one with a grenade, one with a fist, and seven other game-related icons. With the mouth-harp tool, you can pry up one of the generic left or right function keys and pop in one of these handy icons, giving you an instant visual reminder of which key does what. Further, you can use the tool to take out any of the keyboard's other keys, and with the easy-to-use Razer software you can change the standard QWERTY layout to any configuration you can imagine. You can integrate the icon keys in with the letters and reassign virtually every single button. The software lets you set up to 100 different profiles. The Tarantula also comes with 32KB of built-in memory, which lets you store your profiles on the keyboard itself for when you move it between machines.
Gamers don't care about movable keys if the keys' response isn't tight. Razer has obviously gone to great effort to make sure that keys feel crisp. We can't say the same about either the Logitech G15 or the Saitek Eclipse II. Their keys feel simply, well, regular. The Tarantula's spring back satisfyingly when you press them.
Aside from the full-size keys, the Tarantula has easy-access media control and image zoom keys running down each side, and they feel more accessible than when those keys line the top edge of a keyboard. It's also intriguing that the Tarantula has a socket in the middle called the Battledock that will accept Razer-made accessories, such as a Webcam or a light. We can also imagine a microphone attachment for voice chatting. Razer has already built a headphone and microphone jack into the Tarantula. Logitech can perhaps claim that its G15's built-in LCD screen is more useful than the Tarantula's Battledock, and indeed, if you can find or write the software to make the screen work with your favorite game, you might find the G15's display more useful than a superfluous light. But there's not exactly a flood of downloadable applications for the G15, and the keyboard has been out for more than a year.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18out of 18 user reviews
Over Hyped brand
Pros: Not much to be honest!
Cons: For Gamers, by Gamers, surely Gamers want the best at affordable cost... So Gamers are notorious for over charging each other for average gear!
out of 18 user reviews
Worth every penny
Pros: Features, Looks, Feel
Cons: Macroing locks all other actions
out of 18 user reviews
Great Keyboard, but does not last very long.
Pros: Large Full sized keys, Multimedia buttons, and unlimited customizablitiy.
Cons: Shiny, Plastic is not as top notch as I expected, and the key extenders are useless, as they are easy to break. for the price a G15 is better.
(turned out that the cable got shorted)
it might be great that the keyboard has headphone and microphone ports, but at what cost? The wire being the thickest I have ever seen used on a computer.
the four wires used to connect this keyboard up is unpractical, and very difficult to set if you use the keyboard with a laptop, and it's even worse with a desktop computer.
and the keytop ?
well, when new the quality was topnotch, but after a few months, the keys started to wear out and the travel between keys and became harder, and more uncomfortable to use.
The incorporated wrist rest is a great idea, but even that wears out very quickly.
leaving a shiny patch where your hands would be.
and the overall keyboard surface, is too delicate, try dropping a coin on the surface even by accident, and a big ugly scratch wil appear.
Conclusion:
Great keyboard, but won't last you long enough. and it is too expensive when compared to it's competitors, and also when it's main competitor the G15 v1 & v2 offer much more to compensate for the price.
I would recommend this keyboard for users who don't use a keyboard very much, and treat them as house ornaments.
out of 18 user reviews
looks good, doesnt work good
Pros: looks awesome, nice macro keys
Cons: key delays when in game. hard to press
out of 18 user reviews
first bad later gr8
Pros: quality, battlelight, ease of replacing keys
Cons: firmware update is a pain, limited customisation options
Now on a more positive side: Battle light helps a lot for a long night gaming. Keys for media player and internet explorer actually work on other apps even if they are not listed on the keyboard options. For example I use GOM player and Irfanview and they work just fine. Keyboard IS really lightning responsive and fast and I can cast 5 spells at the same time and move, so no ghosting featire really works. And check this, it actually has a croatian layout (I'm writing from there so it's important for me) In the end this is not a keyboard for everybody. And it took some time to adjust even for me. And u have to have a huge desk for it, some prefer compact keyboards for lan parties. So at first I didn't like it but now it really grows on me. Sorry for any spelling errrors.
out of 18 user reviews
Beware of the Tarantula!
Pros: Nice tactile feel to the keys.
Cons: Non existant tech support!
Loved the tactile feel of the keys….
Built in wrist support is a bit narrow for we gamers that use the lower keys…..
Has programmable keys, macro’s…… Pretty blue back light on some keys…..
So you’d think I’d be happy, right?
Think again….. Ok there is a key (denoted by a note) to bring up your favorite music program. All the favorite programs are listed, well except those of us that use Music Match (back before it was loaded with tons of adds) Well keys are suppose to be programmable…. Well note this one, so the note key is useless to me and others that do not have their software pre-programmed into it.
I wrote tech support asking if there was a way to add Music Match to the note key.
I didn’t stop there. I saw there was a firmware update on their web site. So hoping maybe it added more music programs to the note key, downloaded & installed it…..
Nope! No new music programs.
Went into the game I’m currently playing and guess what? …. I no longer have sound control (Vol, up/down or mute)
No problem I thought, went to the add/ remove programs and removed the firmware. Rebooted, and loaded the firmware that came with the keyboard….. The update does not remove!........ I wrote tech support asking how I can remove the update as I can’t control sound in ANY game since the update……
Been 3 weeks since the first tech request and 2 since the last….. No reply, nothing!
Wrote Razors customer support about the lack of tech support….. They haven’t responded.
So here I sit with a $70.00 ‘gaming’ keyboard that does not fully function in games, no clue if there is anything I can do about it as the company, once it gets your money, ignores you.
Do I like my new Razor Tarantula?
I pulled out me old one….....
At least it works!!!
out of 18 user reviews
looks great, performs terrible
Pros: 10 out of ten for design/looks
Cons: doesnt perform as advertised
1. keystrokes o not always register when typing normally (note the missing "d"!!)
2. headphone port is not shielded and so there is a load of interferance noise when using this
3. worst of all, during games, when im holding down "w" and try to press a or s to wieve, there is a noticable delay.
Its taken me longer than it should to type this due to keystrokes not registering. This board is all marketing and no substance. I really wanted it to ork , it looks so nice! its going back though.
Also very disappointed that these issues were misse by the cnet review
out of 18 user reviews
loos good, but highly overrated
Pros: highly customizable
Cons: cramped, not enuff lights, came defective (non functioning K key)
Thats the good news. The board is too thick, too cramped, the keys are loud, caps loc is too close too sensitive to a key. My k key has to be mashed to work..its going back.
Home end delete are cramped and jammed into a tight space. This board is designed for teens with small hands. IT s not a functioanl board for gaming or general use.
By comparision my last board was a enermax aluminum board... very nice feel. The shift key failed tho after extended use.
out of 18 user reviews
Best gaming keyboard
Pros: 10x anti-ghosting, 100% customizable, 10 macro keys, great design, awesome build quality, replacable gaming keys, battle dock for accessories
Cons: Collects dust and fingerprints, expensive if your not serious about gaming
out of 18 user reviews
Very Nice, but not for the price.
Pros: Excellent build, customization, stylish
Cons: Big, glossy surface shows smudges, !!! Not all keys are illuminated !!!
The customization is fantastic - any key can be changed, or configured - the board even supports profiles that can be switched with one custom button. Very useful - especially for MMORPG games where you are struggling for more macros on your keyboard.
The problem I found was that the extra functions (such as standby and homepage) are NOT modifyable. Id like the option to have hibernate/shutdown instead of standby, or the ability to change which browser to use when i pressed homepage.
Another dissapointment is that not every key is illuminated. I was shocked they didn't add the option. In disbelief i searched for an "on/off" switch to turn on the glowing keys, but no luck. It wouldn't be hard to include this feature, but Razer is a business. If the keys were illuminated, the battle dock light would be pointless, and they want more of your money.
The last problem I have is the extra USB ports included (a nice idea to include). The ports are usb 1.1, and even though I was able to shrugg off that setback, my Memorex USB key wouldn't work. Windows poped up telling me that the hub inside the board wasn't able to provide sufficient power to run the USB drive. How embarassing...
Having the headphone and microphone jacks near the board are VERY nice - I can use my headphones without having to stretch them out across the table.
The build is very nice - aside from the glossy finish that is vulnerable to smudges - and the keyboard hugs VERY well to your table.
The tool that removes individual keys is genius.
out of 18 user reviews
Not great..not even good!
Pros: Looks cool...thats about it!
Cons: cost,software and firmware,bulky
out of 18 user reviews
Gaming keyboard
Pros: Awesome key action, macro keys, and other devices available.
Cons: None that I can think of.
out of 18 user reviews
Good Idea, poorly built
Pros: Changable keys(software, and hardware)
Cons: half the keys barely work
out of 18 user reviews
Best Gaming Keyboard
Pros: Great macro functions, Anti-ghosting is perfect, Sleek, Very Cool
Cons: Expensive, Need Large Area on Desktop
Top notch keyboard!
out of 18 user reviews
Returned 1st one , now this one too
Pros: Crisp keys unlike Eclipse's wobbly ones
Cons: If you hit S while running with W movement stops, windows key not lockable,all keys not lit,expensive
out of 18 user reviews
Unboxing the Razer Tarantula uber-gaming keyboard
Pros: Pics in the link below
Cons: Video coming in December
Here's a link to some 'unboxing' photos of the Razer Tarantula..
http://www.neo-fight.tv/2006/11/unboxing_the_razer_tarantula.html
Best,
Benjamin
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.neo-fight.tv [The TV Show for The 'Not-So-Geeky']
out of 18 user reviews
They weren't ready to market this product
Pros: The USB hub is a nice idea - not much else is.
Cons: Poor implementation, poor software, poor customer support
Right now, 11/04 their website is screwed up, so you cannot download from it. Are you starting to form a picture of this company's customer support?
back to the keyboard...
I hooked it up and set it on my desk. For a gaming keyboard the traction stinks. It slides at a very low threshold. After installing the software and rebooting, I attempted to customize my profile(s). The configuration software doesn't allow you to do it. What the help file says to do doesn't work! I know that sometimes documentation is written separately from the software, but hell - take the time to run it at least once to verify they agree. I presume that you can customize the profile, but it is not evident from the interface how to do that. As for the interface, yes people like flashy, but come one - they went way overboard trying to use the dark background and "cool" colors to make it look nice. In my opinion they spent way too much time trying to make it look nice rather than making it easy to use.
I recommend products to all of my coworkers and friends - take my advice, wait a while for Razer to get their act together. Their customoer support needs to take a giant leap into the 90's. Their software developers need to get their heads out of the clouds (probably cannibus smoke) and realize flashy doesn't mean that it "works".
Best of luck in what you decide, but mine is going back to the store this morning.
out of 18 user reviews
The Razer Tarantula, Razer's first line gaming keyboard on the market, a gamers dream.
Pros: anti-ghosting capability, 32kb onboard memory powered, fully interchangeable keys, a great companion with the Razer Copperhead.
Cons: like a notebook - the key are fairly close together, palm rest is easilyeasily scratch able.
