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Razer Black Widow Keyboards - Anyone Using Them?

Scylax said:
Now that Razer has brought out the mac version, I am more tempted than ever to buy one. My only worry is this: Will I have to pay customs import duties of some kind on it to get it delivered to the UK? The site gives a delivery cost (massive, but probably worth it), but I've also read that I could face further massive charges to import things like this. I've tried to find out but I'm coming up empty. Does anybody know, or even better, has anyone done this?

Thanks :)
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Yes, you're very likely to have to pay import charges. It's something like 20% if I remember correctly when I bought some stuff from OWC in the US.
 
kamuix said:
I actually have a similar problem, but rather pulsating the keyboard remains lit on the highest setting. I haven't found a solution as there doesn't seem to be any new drivers of firmware updates available for the mac side. I believe there is for the windows side, so maybe there's a solution. Here's a link for all blackwidow products:

http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=view&parentcategoryid=190&pcid=77&nav=0,77
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Yeah I have the latest windows and mac driver. It's still doing the annoying light reset. Not keeping my setting. A little annoying.
 
the officially supported systems for the mac driver for the black widow ultimate keyboard are 10.5-10.6

for the 2012 razer mamba however the driver is compatible with 10.7 as well...

i'm skeptical about upgrading my imac to lion again, because i had some major problems with the black widow and lion

i've been waiting for a driver update but there hasn't been an update since the release of the original driver back in september

does it not matter that the black widow driver is officially only compatible with snow leopard? can i upgrade?

(i have the latest firmware for both the black widow and mamba. i also have the latest driver for the mamba)
 
Lion compatible

I am running lion on my macbook pro and am using a Razer Blackwidow (Mac edition) and a razor Imperator with the latest firmware without any issues. I don't have issues like some of the previous posts states about it not remembering what backlit setting I last leave it on either mac or windows 7 via bootcamp. Probably the best purchases I have made as it is a blast typing on although it is quite loud but i don't mind it too much.
 
Cannot get it to connect at all

I know this thread has been long dead but wanted to see if anyone would respond. I recently bought the blackwidow ultiamte stealth edition and i cannot get it to recognize it all (i have a macbook pro running 10.7.5) If anyone could help that would be great.
 
I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd post my experience here rather than start a new one.

I have been eyeing mechanical keyboards for a long time, but in my area it is very hard to find them in stores to try them out. I have been considering the Razer, DAS, and Mathias models for Mac, but uncertainty has kept me from doing much of anything about it.

I was at Best Buy yesterday and saw that they had the Black Widow Ultimate 2013 for PC there, and decided to pick it up. Best Buy is good about returns, so I figured I'd try it out and if I like it, I can order the Mac version online and return this one.

I already had the Razer Synapse software installed on my MBP since I use a Razer mouse (Death Adder, horrible name but a great mouse). I was surprised and pleased when I plugged in the keyboard. The OS X dialog asking me to identify what type of keyboard it was popped up. As soon as I did that, Synapse immediately recognized the keyboard and started downloading the drivers/kext/whatever for it. I did have to close and restart Synapse in order to get everything working. Once I did that, Synapse showed the keyboard with all the customization options, backlighting, etc.

What was pleasantly surprising was how easily the keyboard worked with the Mac using the Synapse software. The media controls, volume controls, etc, all work, which I was not expecting. There is no screen brightness control on the PC version, so I can't do that, but the others seem to work fine.

I used the Mac keyboard preferences to swap the Option (Alt) key and Command (Windows) key. In the pref pane, you set Option to Command and Command to Option. That way the center Windows key is the Option button, and the Alt key is the Command button, just like the normal Mac keyboard layout.

I'm not sure if it's my imagination, but it seems like they keys on this keyboard are smaller and/or closer together than most other keyboards I've used, and this is taking some getting used to. But overall it's a really nice keyboard. The feel and sound of the keys are amazing, and I can tell I'll be able to type faster on it once I get accustomed to it.

TLDR - I really like this keyboard. Even the PC version is a totally workable option for a Mac user.

Before I make a final decision though, I have to ask the community here - has anyone compared this keyboard to the DAS and/or Mathias Tactile Pro? If so, what are the differences?
 
EricT43 said:
I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd post my experience here rather than start a new one.

I have been eyeing mechanical keyboards for a long time, but in my area it is very hard to find them in stores to try them out. I have been considering the Razer, DAS, and Mathias models for Mac, but uncertainty has kept me from doing much of anything about it.

I was at Best Buy yesterday and saw that they had the Black Widow Ultimate 2013 for PC there, and decided to pick it up. Best Buy is good about returns, so I figured I'd try it out and if I like it, I can order the Mac version online and return this one.

I already had the Razer Synapse software installed on my MBP since I use a Razer mouse (Death Adder, horrible name but a great mouse). I was surprised and pleased when I plugged in the keyboard. The OS X dialog asking me to identify what type of keyboard it was popped up. As soon as I did that, Synapse immediately recognized the keyboard and started downloading the drivers/kext/whatever for it. I did have to close and restart Synapse in order to get everything working. Once I did that, Synapse showed the keyboard with all the customization options, backlighting, etc.

What was pleasantly surprising was how easily the keyboard worked with the Mac using the Synapse software. The media controls, volume controls, etc, all work, which I was not expecting. There is no screen brightness control on the PC version, so I can't do that, but the others seem to work fine.

I used the Mac keyboard preferences to swap the Option (Alt) key and Command (Windows) key. In the pref pane, you set Option to Command and Command to Option. That way the center Windows key is the Option button, and the Alt key is the Command button, just like the normal Mac keyboard layout.

I'm not sure if it's my imagination, but it seems like they keys on this keyboard are smaller and/or closer together than most other keyboards I've used, and this is taking some getting used to. But overall it's a really nice keyboard. The feel and sound of the keys are amazing, and I can tell I'll be able to type faster on it once I get accustomed to it.

TLDR - I really like this keyboard. Even the PC version is a totally workable option for a Mac user.

Before I make a final decision though, I have to ask the community here - has anyone compared this keyboard to the DAS and/or Mathias Tactile Pro? If so, what are the differences?
Click to expand...

So I had a fairly different experience with the Synapse software, though admittedly it was like a year ago, so they may have improved things by now. I ended up uninstalling it and dealing with some keys not really being functional.

I did have the opportunity to compare it to the DAS model, after I spilled a bottle of hard cider all over my Black Widow :mad:. Overall, the feel is very similar, although I think I favor the DAS slightly for having its buttons work "out of the box" with no special drivers (I got the Mac edition), but really I was quite happy with either one.
 
Thanks for the reply. I think it and the DAS use the same switches. If I decide to stay with the Razer, I will order the Mac version and exchange the PC version for that one. I only got the PC version because it was the only one available in-store and I was anxious to try it out.

The Razer software has been fine for me so far. Like you, I had a problem with it a while ago, but a few months ago I reinstalled it and it has been working fine. I DID have a recent problem with the latest update in Bootcamp, though, it stopped recognizing the mouse. I had to do a system restore in Windows in order to roll back, it wouldn't even uninstall at that point.
 
EricT43 said:
Thanks for the reply. I think it and the DAS use the same switches. If I decide to stay with the Razer, I will order the Mac version and exchange the PC version for that one. I only got the PC version because it was the only one available in-store and I was anxious to try it out.

The Razer software has been fine for me so far. Like you, I had a problem with it a while ago, but a few months ago I reinstalled it and it has been working fine. I DID have a recent problem with the latest update in Bootcamp, though, it stopped recognizing the mouse. I had to do a system restore in Windows in order to roll back, it wouldn't even uninstall at that point.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they didn't have the Mac version when I bought mine. I highly recommend the mechanical switch keyboards though - like having two monitors, I'm not sure I could ever go back!
 
FluJunkie said:
Yeah, they didn't have the Mac version when I bought mine. I highly recommend the mechanical switch keyboards though - like having two monitors, I'm not sure I could ever go back!
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The switches used by DAS and Razer are the same. Cherry MX blank_color. Mine is the BlackWidow 2013 Ultimate Tournament which uses Cherry MX Brown switches. My friend has the DAS which also uses Cherry MX Brown switches.
 
SnowLeopard2008 said:
The switches used by DAS and Razer are the same. Cherry MX blank_color. Mine is the BlackWidow 2013 Ultimate Tournament which uses Cherry MX Brown switches. My friend has the DAS which also uses Cherry MX Brown switches.
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I'm using a Ducky with Cherry MX Brown, but you can get it in all "flavors" and your choice of backlight colors. It has a dip switch to change the settings to Mac from PC.
 
I've heard good things about the Ducky keyboards. What's the difference between the Brown and the Blue?

I still really like this keyboard, and I ordered the Mac version of the Black Widow Ultimate 2013. They had a promo at NewEgg over the weekend, so it came out to $115 with free shipping. I get it next week, and I'll post my comments once I have some time to play with it.

One thing I like about the Synapse software is the ability to save preference profiles. I have a gaming profile with the backlighting turned on and "gaming mode" activated (function keys turned on, use the FN modifier to use the volume and media controls). I also saved a "Cinema" mode with backlighting turned off and gaming mode turned off. The only problem is that changing profiles on the menu bar it buggy. I have to open the Synapse app and change it from there.

I really like the mechanical keys and I find myself able to type noticably faster. I'm thinking I might order a DAS to use at work. The Razer is a little too flashy to use at the office!
 
EricT43 said:
I've heard good things about the Ducky keyboards. What's the difference between the Brown and the Blue?
Click to expand...

Both the brown and the blue have tactile feedback. When you reach that point when you press down, the blue will click and the brown will not.

I can change backlit settings by pressing a function key. I keep it at 60%, but you can put it on full power, pulsating, scrolling, light up each key when you touch it, and light up movement keys for gaming only. No software needed. It's really a nice keyboard.
 
I got the Mac version of the Black Widow Ultimate over the weekend, and it works pretty well. All of the special function keys like launchpad, iTunes controls, volume, etc, work...EXCEPT for the screen brightness keys (F1/F2). Those do not work for some reason, and those functions seem to have been mapped to the F13 and F14 keys. Also, the F2 key doesn't click, so it seems that a different switch (brown maybe) got put there. I'm going to try to contact them to see if there's a fix. Maybe I just got a bum keyboard.
 
Update:

The F1/F2 screen brightness keys DO work. BUT, they only affect the built-in display. With the Apple keyboard, when the MBP is closed and I'm only using my Thunderbolt Display, those keys control the brightness of the ATD. Today I tried opening the MBP so that both displays were on, and I found that the keys actually control brightness on the built-in display, and the F13/F14 keys control brightness on the ATD. So I guess that kind of makes sense, but I prefer the behavior of the Apple keyboard.

Aside from that, I'm loving this keyboard. It's a real pleasure to type with it.
 
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