Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice keyboard...and not just for gamers., January 3, 2008
First, I'm not a gamer. I enjoy a good FPS but generally get pwned by kids 30 years younger than me. I didn't buy this keyboard for it's gaming features. I needed to replace my Logitech MX5000 BT keyboard because it was driving me crazy with it's connection issues. The criteria I had for the replacement was that it be wired (I've tried too many flaky wireless solutions); that it preferably have laptop style keys; that it be relatively quiet (so my wife can sleep in the next room); and that the keys have a switchable backlight (more on that later). The Lycosa met these requirements for me.
The keyboard itself is really nice looking, not too big, and very low profile. The high gloss body finish does show finger prints and dust. The keys have a matte rubber finish that feels good under the finger tips.
I'm almost a touch typist and I have been intrigued by the Das Keyboard II but I just wasn't really ready to commit to a completely unmarked keyboard. The Lycosa is actually a nice compromise in this regard because I can turn off the backlight completely and have a virtually unmarked keyboard.
Speaking of backlighting, it is true that the backlighting for the keyboard it somewhat dim, especially when viewed from a slightly slouched seating position. If you are not very familiar with the standard keyboard layout and you like to slouch when surfing or gaming, then this is probably not the keyboard for you. However, when sitting in a normal typing position the lighting is perfectly adequate even in a well lit room. I do understand the desire to want to control the brightness of the backlight. Maybe that can be supported through a driver or firmware update at some point in the future. It is interesting to note that when the keyboard backlight is in "WASD" mode, that the lit WASD keys are significantly brighter than normal full keyboard backlight mode.
I want to mention that I continue to use my Logitech MX1000 BT mouse and that I have the BT receiver for the mouse plugged into the USB port on the back of the Lycosa and it is working well.
The Lycosa will not be the right keyboard for everyone. If you need to be able to see you keys all the time, look elsewhere. If your a confdent typist and are looking for a nicely designed, high cool-factor, keyboard, then this one is worth considering.
Other keyboards I considered:
Razer Tarantula: Didn't like the industrial design as much and only the side keys were illuminated. Did like the photo-editing keys on the left side (I'm a photoshop user). Didn't have laptop style keys.
Saitek Eclipse: Popular keyboard. Terrible design IMHO. Ugh.
Saitek Eclipse II: Well reviewed. Only slighty better ID than the Eclipse. Backlight was too ambient making keys harder to identify. Keys felt a bit smaller than I'm used too when I was playing with one.
Das Keyboard II: Very high quality, totally unmarked keyboard. I might have to get one someday just for the pure novelty.
Logitech DiNovo Edge: Really nice looking and well reviewed. Nice laptop style keys. Not wired. Very expensive. Too expensive. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it's expensive.
I intentionaly steered clear of the Microsoft and Logitech herds of keyboards because that's what I've used for the last 20-some years and and I've never had one I truly liked. In fact the last keyboard that I truly enjoyed using was the original model-m keyboard that came with my original IBM PC in 1983. These are still made today, but did not meet my "quiet" requirement.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Supernice!, January 16, 2009
After doing a lot of research I finally decided on this keyboard (instead of the G15 or a game pa). I'm used to just using 13 dollar microsoft keyboards, so it was a lot of money for 'just' a keyboard, but so worth it!
Just the keyboard alone, minus the programmable aspects, have been great. I love how it looks when lit up (which I've had no trouble with it seeming too dim), and when my computer is off it looks good too with it's dull black look instead of a shiny plastic like most keyboards.
I also love that it's a very economic design, and especially small for a programmable keyboard. One of my concerns was that some of the other programmable keybards simply seemed huge, and I felt like they were investing too much desk space both for normal computer use and especially for gaming where I have the bad habit of shoving the keyboard to the far left to use mostly the right side.
On that note, because I'm a 'goofy footed' gamer that doesn't use the standard wsad with my left hand for movement, this keyboard was exactly what I needed. Most of the programmable keyboards I saw had the 'special' keys on the far left side, which I can't easily reach when I play games. With this keyboard you can turn ANY key into a programmable macro and it has quick and easy profile switching (and even auto-switching when a program starts up). For me this was great because I was able to turn the insert-pgdwn block of six keys into programmabed macros for my online gaming. It even let me bind macros/programs to the print screen and pause/break keys, which most games don't let you bind actions to in game so they're wasted. As well, you can disable any (any) key on the keyboard that you want (again controllable via profile options), meaning you can disable the pesky windows start/control button that will crash a lot of games to desktop!
Typing on the keyboard is very comfortable too. I write a lot, so I was worried I'd have to effectively have two keyboards, one for gaming and one for writing, but I've found this keyboard to be very comfortable with standard typing (as opposed to my work computer that I'm on right now that the keyboard feels like a game of whack-a-mole to get words out). Sucks though, no going back to the cheapo MS keyboards now even for writing, this one is just too comfortable.
Also being able to plug my usb drive into the back of the keyboard is nice, and keeps me from forgetting it. Having a headphone/speaker jack right in the keyboard is sweet too istead of having to fumble around the base of my tower for the right hole (feeling like a virgin drunk on prom night!). I've never had any problems with the keyboard slipping either, which has been a problem in gaming with the cheaper keyboards I'd use previously.
Oh yeah, I was concerned about how hard it would be to 'program' keys being my first programmable keyboard. I can't compare it to any other keyboard, but it was very easy (no need to read instructions, yay!). It will take a few hours to fine tune 'programs' between the keyboard and game, but once you get the hang of it you won't know how you ever managed without a programmable keyboard for gaming!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great keyboard - steep price, July 31, 2009
I got this keyboard under the brand "HP VoodooDNA Keyboard" but it is infact the Razer Lycosa rebranded.
Amazing feel - has that "clicky" feel and not the "muddy" laptop keyboard feel.
The keys are low-profile but retain a good balance between sleekness and usability. They also have the same feel as Razer's mouses rubber. They grip your fingers much better than the typical Dell plastic keyboard which has no grip on the keys whatsoever, causing your fingers to slip off frequently.
My favorite feature of this keyboard is the programability. BE SURE TO INSTALL THE SOFTWARE THAT COMES WITH THIS KEYBOARD. I failed to do this for the first few days I had this keyboard and was left wanting more. The software allows you to record keystrokes and bind them to any key on the entire keyboard, and reprogram every single key to do anything you want.
If you play any video games which require complex keystrokes, this is very VERY helpful. World of warcraft becomes much easier when you can program your keyboard to do complex tasks such as creating a material for another recipe and then create the recipe itself.
While many keybinding options are available in games, the ability to program this keyboard with the provided software allows for you to bind a key ONCE and have it work for EVERY GAME, or only specific ones.
The only reason this is not a 5-star is because of the price. If you can find this on sale - go for it.
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