Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard

Examination:

Rather than simply making a few minor changes to a conventional keyboard and selling it off as a new gaming keyboard, the Razer Tarantula was designed with new innovations from the ground up. This design is in sharp contrast to Metadot where they had taken a $15 KeyTronic OEM keyboard and painted the keys and then selling it as a $70 Gaming Das Keyboard. On the right hand side of the keyboard are ten programmable macro keys. Using Razer's software, the macro keys can execute up to a series of eight keystrokes. Razer's software also allows adding up to 200ms delays with the macro keys. At the top of the Tarantula is what Razer is calling a BattleDock. The BattleDock is a USB port that can be used for connecting to other Razer devices such as the Razer BattleLight or Razer BattleEye. Some of the other features for the Razer Tarantula keyboard include optimized Hyperesponse keys, anti-ghost capabilities, replaceable keys, on-the-fly program detection, and 32KB of onboard memory. The Tarantula also supports storing up to 100 profiles and an iridescent glow to enhance the look of this keyboard. The replaceable keys are to setup gaming keys for reference. Meanwhile, the objective of Hyperesponse is to provide ultra low latency response times. Razer Synapse powers the 32KB of onboard memory to store up to 100 customizable profiles.

At the top of the keyboard on the upper right hand side are two USB ports as well as a headphone and microphone audio jacks; thus connecting to the computer are two audio and two USB connections. These ports on the keyboard are handy but it is unfortunate that the Razer Tarantula will occupy two USB ports. When it comes to the keyboard itself, it is a full size keyboard with a wrist rest at the bottom of the keyboard -- it also has an illuminated Razer logo at the bottom. There are 104 standard keys and an additional 20 function keys. On the bottom of the keyboard are four non-skid feet.