Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard Review

This shows the Logitech G15 has a larger footprint than the Tarantula.

The entire keyboard sports rounded edges with a flat layout as opposed to your typical stadium seated keys, and the way the board plateaus into the multimedia keys on either end of the keyboard give an accentuated look. They keyboard is also noticeably wider than your average board, due to the fact that the wrist rest is permanently attached, and the top edge is wide enough to accommodate the modular BattleDock - more on this later.

Unlike the majority of gaming keyboards, the Tarantula doesn't put much of an emphasis on glowing. Whereas other keyboards from Logitech G15, Saitek Eclipse II illuminate the entire board, Razer chose to only illuminate the two columns of macro keys on either end of the keyboard, the Profile Key, the three indicator lights, and the ever pulsating Razer logo that sits just under the right wrist, which flashes when the onboard memory is being accessed. The overall effect is rather dim, hardly illuminating at all really and certainly not as bright as the Razer Copperhead.

And unlike the other glowing keyboards, the brightness can't be adjusted or turned off completely. Of course, there's an army of gamers that will tell cry that it's all about performance, not eye candy. To counter, why not both? More on this as I get around to explaining the BattleDock.

Clackety Clack
The Tarantula's so-called HyperResponse keys are certainly a redeeming point for the keyboard, and to be honest, are actually the best keys I've typed on outside of an ergonomic layout. Each of the keys is relatively thin, almost laptop natured and as such has very little travel distance to register a press. Despite this, they also have a finely tuned resistance to them, preventing accidental keystrokes and giving an incredibly tactile sense both through feel and sound. This enables gamers to shave precious nanoseconds off their reaction times, while maintaining that all-important tactile feel. If you could mash an old IBM buckling spring keyboard with a laptop keyboard, this would be the end result. It's really quite beautiful.

The layout I'm a little less comfortable with, although I have grown more used to it in these 2 weeks of testing. Despite the long length of the keyboard, it actually uses a condensed layout, replacing the center 6 keys with the annoying two column structure that is typically found on Microsoft keyboards. The right Windows key has also been removed so that the menu, control, and arrow keys could be moved further to the left.

On either side of the keyboard is a column of hotkeys for music and imaging controls, as well as a sleep and browser homepage key. The media and image controls are program specific and not global, which to me is useful for the music controls but annoying for imaging. The media controls (play, stop, next, previous, launch, shuffle) will work with iTunes, Real Player, WinAmp, and Windows Media Player. Image controls (zoom, rotate, 100%) work for Windows Picture Viewer, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, and ACDSee.

The Six-Fingered Gamer
Another important thing to note is the anti-ghosting capabilities of the keyboard, and pay attention, this isn't just marketing babble. You can read a good explanation of what ghosting is over at ExtremeTech but for simplicity's sake just know that due to the matrix circuitry within your keyboard, there are some groups of keys that when pressed simultaneously will generate a phantom keystroke, known as ghosting. On newer keyboards, the circuits have been upgraded to implement blocking, which will prevent that last key from being pressed if it would otherwise generate a phantom key.

Now depending on the keys you're pressing, you may be able to register 6 keys at the same time, the maximum allowed by USB. However, certain keystrokes will only register 2 or 3 keys, even on highly rated keyboards such as the Logitech G15. If you or a friend has a Mac, plug in your keyboard and open up the Keyboard Viewer (it's in the International Menu) and start pressing bunches of keys together to see what I'm talking about. Razer managed to eliminate the ghosting issue entirely with the Tarantula buy making each key its own circuit, so that 6 keys can be pressed at all times no matter the combination. This may just help do away with some of those unexplainable deaths that would be otherwise be attributed to "WTF, I HIT JUMP?!?"

Custom Keysets
There's two ways to customize the Tarantula for maximum pwnage. First, branching off an idea from Ideazon's zBoard, it's possible to have custom keysets that match to their function in game instead of a letter. Using the Razer Tarantula Tool, a plastic ring with two feet, it's easy to pull off keys without damaging them like you would with a dime, then clean underneath or replace the keys with one of the 10 hotkeys that Razer provides out of the box.

Of the 10 included keys, there's a knife, fist, pistol, assault rifle, grenade, chat balloon, zoom in, zoom out, an ammo selector (or reload) key, and an upside-down U that I'm guessing is a helmet. Razer plans to release additional keysets in the future.

Each of the replacement hotkeys differs from its standard cousins, clad in blue with a transparent, laser etched icon in the center as opposed to black with white painted text. The transparent effect isn't so hot, as it actually makes the keys harder to identify when they're not placed on one of the 10 lighted macro keys. Also, the laser etching is done fairly deep into the paint from the topside, making it somewhat distracting and prone to fingernail picking. Truth be told, the hardly visible keys feel like a gimmick.

Profiling for Points
The other way to customize the keyboard is through the extensive driver suite, allowing up to 100 profiles to be set on the Tarantula that can be switched to by holding the Profile Key then tapping one of the function keys that's been bound to a specific profile. Profiles 1-5 are stored on the keyboard's internal 32KB of memory, while the remaining profiles 6-100 that are stored within the drivers can be set to autoload as the foreground application is changed by binding the profile to a specific EXE.

Under a profile, there's two ways to program keys depending on what you want to do. First, the 5 macro keys on either side of the keyboard can be programmed to execute programs, Tarantula profiles or strings of keystrokes, especially useful for Counter-Strike newbies players that have extensive loadouts that would otherwise require hitting the buy key and a bunch of numbers over and over. Macros can be interspersed with time delays, although they're limited to increments of 50 up to 200, which doesn't give the fine control needed for certain pwnage combinations. Also annoying is the 8-keystroke limitation, making text macros or menu driven macros (alt-letter-lots of arrows-enter) virtually impossible. I mean come on, I can't even macro "Troutslap", let alone "Please wait, recharging". Mouse events (clicking, scrolling) and the Windows key are also excluded from Razer's macro creation.

The remaining standard keys can't be set to perform macros, although they can be bound to other standard keys (X can become Y). Though the uses for this are extremely limited in a single computer environment, it'd be handy when dealing with lousy games that don't allow key rebinding (EA's pathetic initial release of Battlefield 2 comes to mind). Tournament players taking advantage of the 5 onboard profiles would also find it especially handy as they could rebind their custom mappings to the default keys once and be done with it instead of binding every time they sit down at a tournament computer.

One especially handy function within profiles 6-100 is the ability to have two sets of keymaps per profile. Think about it, say I was playing World of Warcraft and had all my spells moved to the center keys, then needed to type a quick message to my allies. By tapping the profile key, I can switch to the alternate keymap that's left in a QWERTY configuration, type away, and then switch back to my spell mappings. This also works with the macro keys, so scripters can effectively have 20 macros.

My only major quarrels with the drivers are the lack of on-the-fly macro programming, and the fact that the window used to configure every key is too small, making it hard to clearly see the individual keys on the virtual keyboard. It'd be handy if Razer had made separate skins for different resolutions, or at least make it so the virtual keys light up as you press their real-life counterparts for quick identification.

Bonus Round
The Razer Tarantula offers a few extra features that aren't found on most keyboards. First, it offers two USB plugs in the back for connecting extra peripherals such as cooling fans and speakers. Unfortunately they're USB 1.1 making them worthless for large file transfers, although they do provide more power than the G15 making them suitable for small portable speakers. This comes at the added cost of taking not one but two USB ports on the computer.

Second, the keyboard acts as a headset extension cord, providing 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks next to the USB ports to give your headphones some slack. This isn't USB audio; it's merely an extension, as you'll still have to occupy the ports on your soundcard, which most gamers will prefer anyway. The last time I saw this feature was on an old Hewlett Packard keyboard, and it's all manufacturers don't do this.

Finally, while not really a bonus feature, the Tarantula does in fact support legacy USB mode, so you can use the keyboard within the BIOS. I've read a couple of other reviews where people have been mentioning it doesn't work, but with my MSI motherboard (Award BIOS) board it's been working flawlessly. Your mileage may vary on this one.

BattleWhat?
One of the features I'm not so thrilled about is the modular BattleDock at the top center of the keyboard. Underneath the dock cover, there's a simple female mini USB connector, allowing for upgrades to future BattleDock accessories. Currently, there's nothing on the market that takes advantage of the BattleDock, although Razer does intend on releasing their BattleLight and BattleEye accessories.

Now before I start trash talking these two accessories, let me just state that I have not reviewed them, and as such, everything in the next two paragraphs is based on educated speculation. Take it for what it's worth. The blue BattleLight does seem significantly brighter than most LED lamps and would look at home on the Tarantula, but shouldn't this be built into the keys to begin with? I know Robert Krakoff stated in his blog that it's impossible to effectively put the backlighting circuitry into the keys since the more-important anti-ghosting technology already takes up enough space, but still, I can't imagine the bling factor being that great with this solution.

As far as the BattleEye goes, is there really a need for a gamer's webcam? We're already busy enough killing players online, do we really need to see our zit-faced friends take up valuable pixels to accomplish that? Even then, gamers are always demanding FPS, which the BattleEye most likely can't provide due to the fact the Tarantula's hub is only USB 1.1, insufficient for more than 15 fps at any reasonable resolution. (This would also explain why the iPod dock featured in the Razer Pro version of the Tarantula isn't a planned BattleDock accessory.)

It's actually funny, because as a member of a well-known hardcore LAN Party organization in Southern California, every now and then we're contacted by gaming market researchers looking for input on current and future products. One developer that works with another well known gaming keyboard manufacturer and several of the large OEM manufacturers recently was polling us about a gamer-oriented webcam, to which everyone heckled. Bandwidth, low lighting, distractions, screen real estate, and software conflicts were among the top concerns from my LAN mates. There's just no need for it at this point in time.

Personally, I'd like to see a BattleStats LCD that looks like the OLED display on the concept Tarantula that Razer talked about last year, a BattleFanlight that cools and lights, or some BattleSpeakers that act as a secondary audio source for light music or clip viewing at a LAN party where full blown speakers are frowned upon. Now those would be worth buying.

Recap
To summarize, I think that the Razer Tarantula is a great keyboard for those who aren't all about bling. The anti-ghosting ability to use any 6 keys at the same time has the potential to solve quite a few unexplainable deaths, the keys themselves feel incredibly tactile despite their short travel distance, and the ability to create custom keymaps that are saved directly to the keyboard is a godsend for tournament players that don't want to waste time rebinding keys every session.

Unfortunately, the Tarantula's macro abilities are sub-par compared to other gaming setups due to the lack of on-the-fly setups and limited delay inserts. Barely visible custom keysets and a lack of decent backlighting will also tarnish the keyboard's appeal to some gamers, while the USB 1.1 BattleDock will remain unused for the foreseeable future without appealing accessories.

Simply put, if you're a touch-typing hardcore gamer that's all about the feel of the keys and maximum performance, this is the keyboard for you. If you depend upon macros or lust for the bling bling, move along. There is no compromise with the Razer Tarantula.

By Scott Clark, Consumer Technology Editor