The highly anticipated keyboard from Razer has long made its debut. Programmable macros, unsurpassed aesthetics, now we can finally dissect its every weapon to see if it can stand up to the demands of hardcore gamers who seek the very best and nothing less.
Category: Keyboard
Manufacturer: Razer
Product: Tarantula
Gallery: Click Here
Price: $99.99
Razer is known as the big boy around the block when it comes to high end computer peripherals. Just stroll into any major tournament around the globe and you'll know it. Unlike others, Razer offers a product catered specifically towards gamers, so it must meet the high demands of individuals looking for the very best in hardware today. We emphasize with peripheral reviews that personal preference plays a large role in determining the final score. That being said, the goal of this review is to supply you with as much information about the personal experience when using the keyboard in both desktop and gaming applications as possible.
- Anti-Ghosting Capability: Unlimited Simultaneous Key Presses
- Optimized Hyperesponse™ Gaming Keytop with Replaceable Keys: For Reduced Key Latency and Maximum Response
- 32KB Onboard Memory Powered By Razer Synapse™ with 5 Onboard Profiles
- 100 Profile Capability with Razer Tarantula Drivers Installed
- 10 Programmable Gaming Macro Keys
- 10 Hot Keys (With Icons) To Add On Keytop
- Plug and Play Without Driver
- Battledock™ Function
- On-The-Fly Game Detection: Activated Automatically Once Program/Game Is Loaded
- Normal Keys Can Be Programmed to Act As Other Keystrokes
- Earphone-Out, Microphone-In Jacks
- Fully Interchangeable and Programmable Keys
- Convenient Media Keys Allows Media Program Control
- Gold Plated USB Connectors with Covers
Hardware Configuration
- Case: Antec Solo
- Power Supply: Antec TruePower Trio 650
- Motherboard: DFI Lanparty 939 nForce4 Ultra
- Processor: AMD Opteron 146 2.0GHz (Overclocked 2800 MHz)
- Hard Drive: Western Digital 100GB IDE HDD
- Hard Drive: Seagate 300GB SATA HDD
- Hard Drive: Maxtor 250GB SATA HDD
- Video: eVGA GeForce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express
- Memory: OCZ Dual-Channel PC4000 Gold Edition VX 1024MB
- Optical: Lite-On 8x DVD+/-RW
- Audio: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
- Cooling: Zalman CNPS9500 CPU Cooler
- Cooling: Zalman VF900-Cu GPU Cooler
- Cooling: ThermalRight HR-05 Chipset Heatsink
- Media: Mitsumi 7-in-1 Media Drive
- Display: Samsung Syncmaster 710N 17" LCD
- Surface: Engineered Wood Desk
Software Configuration
- Motherboard BIOS: NF4LD406 BIOS Update Revision A (2006/04/06)
- Chipset: nForce4 Series AMD Windows Vista 32-Bit v15.00 WHQL Certified
- Operating System: Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2 & Windows Vista Business Edition
- Video Driver: NVIDIA ForceWare Version 91.47 32-bit WHQL Certified (November 2 14 release) / NVIDIA ForceWare Release 100 v100.65 32-bit WHQL Certified
- Audio Driver: Creative SB Audigy 2 Series Driver 02.08.0004 / Creative SB Audigy 2 Series Vista Beta Driver 2.12.0001
- Driver: Razer Tarantula Driver v2.01b
- Test Game: Counter-Strike 1.6
- Test Game: Battlefield 2 v1.41
- Test Game: Counter-Strike: Source
- Test Game: Quake 4 v1.4 Beta
- Test Game: Need for Speed: Carbon v1.3
User Comments
Bad build quality, over pricing, poor tech support, lack of USEFUL features, poor design choices, reliance on dirvers, and an apparent attitude issue.
But like all of their products, it looks stellar.
Id recomend the creative fatal1ty if you want the look, or just a plain jane logitech keyboard if you want lots of cool buttons.
ive got a logitech g15...the drivers doesnt seem to work with my pc no matter what i do and im not gonna format just for that...even back when it was working the only thing i really used it for was monitoring temperatures and displaying songs which hardly justifies the near $100 i paid for it..
all these gaming keyboards are usually bought on the basis of good looks as opposed to ultra responsive keys no locking up when pressing many keys etc.
if i had the money right now id buy the tarantula because it looks absolutely amazing and would look nice on my desk with my glossy black speakers and case. I wouldnt buy it thinkin that im going to better at cs or w/e
I had bought a razer copperhead (red) from amazon.com and received it in a week. Right when I got it out of the box I thought it looked great! The only problem was that my computer didn't notice it...on 3 of my usb ports. It finally noticed it and then I started to install the drivers. Once they were done I went into the control center or whatever it's called and was greeted with a bunch of errors saying stuff like "Please connect the razer mouse before continuing!" or something like that.
I finally got everything to work fine in about 2 days...then 2 months later the mouse dies and starts being random. Sometimes the left click mouse button would work; and sometimes i'd have to double click for it to work (even on things that only needed 1 click). The right click button was the same. I contacted razer about this problem and their support sucked. They didn't help me one bit and I was on my own.
Being that I didn't have a mouse I could use for the time being...I went out to bestbuy and purchased my godly Logitech MX518. Although it was around $80 it was still the best mouse i've ever bought and i'm glad I did buy it...the only problem is that they don't sell it anymore here. :( I'm just hoping it doesn't die out on me soon...I do treat it well though.
Razer is terribad, I had the package I sent to them tracked and they took a week after getting it to put a new one in the mail. ive already detailed how uncaring they are so I then had to go out and spend money to get my mother a mouse she could actually use.
If you are going to buy a keyboard for looks, Id suggest the creative, its nicely backlit, very small, and has a clean matte finish. Its much better than the tarantula in terms of build quality as well. When you pick up the tarantula the keys rattle , but on this you dont hear anything. It might just be the key design but Im not buying another razer product ever, they just arent better than their cheaper, better built, often better designed products counterparts.
ie3.0 > deathadder (the liftoff distance is still unnaceptable, plus it feels like it should cost 5 dollars)
g5 > copperhead
mx518 > diamondback / krait
it goes on and on, they make prodcuts that have better, cheaper alternatives. Its a wonder they stay in business.
They have good marketing, thus they are able to sell something like a copperhead for a price of 2 times the g5. They tell you it will make you better and so on. And with clueless reviews of their products (not this one, other reviews) saying its the best thing out there....of course people will buy it.
#7
"" ie3.0 > deathadder (the liftoff distance is still unnaceptable, plus it feels like it should cost 5 dollars)
g5 > copperhead
mx518 > diamondback / krait ""
Simply isn't true... Its down to the good old word 'preference'. Imho Copperhead whoops G5 all day. Much better feel and glides across my 5L lovely. G5, again imo, is far too chunky and raised. Not my style.
Having said all this. I have had a Copperhead break after around 4months of pretty inactive use (the wire - not the usp end but the mouse end - came away and was a nightmare to fix. Then it truely died after another month) since then I have bought another one after trying the G5 which, as I mentioned, was not the mouse for me. So far so good but there is NO denying Razer have serious reliability issues. I hope that alternative gear with a similar design will be made by another company which has far higher reliability. They would steal Razer's loyal customers who, like myself, are waning!!!
as reference to #13
I also do not prefer logitech mice, the ms 3.0 is good but has an annoying scroll wheel.
As of now i am using a 2 year old diamonback, sad to say the right click did lose its spring and no longer works. Same is happening to the left click. But it had it's lifesworth and i would definitely purchase another. But, im getting a deathadder.:D
As for this keyboard: if it was $50 i would buy it, the price now is too much for what your getting, i think the steelkeys is better.
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