Available to Pre Order - Razer Black Widow 2014

rjk

rjk

rjk

OcUK Staff
Joined
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These new boards from Razer dont have cherry switches but instead come with switches optimised by Razer to be more focussed for gaming.

The switches are made by a company called Kailh for Razer.

Altered activation points and weighting make them ideal for gaming.

Whats more is that the Razer switches dont pay licensing costs to cherry meaning the switches are cheaper to produce.

This is fantastic news for you lot because it means you can get a Razer Mechanical Keyboard for a lot less money than last years 2013 model which had cherry switches.

the new Razer switches made by Kailh have the same sort of design as a cherry switch meaning they are compatible with aftermarket keycaps and keyboard mods.



Razer Blackwidow 2014 - Expert Mechanical USB Keyboard @ £89.99 inc VAT

KB-091-RA_400.jpg


Designed specifically for gaming, the all-new Razer Mechanical Switches actuate at an optimal distance, giving you speed and responsiveness like never before. No matter how intense your gaming marathons get, each Razer Mechanical Switch is engineered to withstand up to 60 million keystrokes, so you’ll enjoy the Razer advantage for longer. Never miss a single key, or ten for that matter. With built-in anti-ghosting technology, the Razer BlackWidow lets you perfectly execute up to ten commands at the same time, every time.

Key Features:
- Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 50g actuation force
- 60 million keystroke life span
- 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting
- Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
- 5 additional dedicated macro keys
- Gaming mode option
- Audio-out/mic-in jacks
- USB pass-through
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling
- Razer Synapse 2.0 enabled
- Braided fiber cable

Specifications:

- Macro Keys: 5
- Key Switch Type: Razer Mechanical 50g Actuation Force Switch
- Anti-ghosting: Up to 10 keys
- Key Strokes: 60 Million
- Interface: USB
- Cable Type: Braided 2.0 meter

Only £89.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW





Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition 2014 Essential Mechanical USB Keyboard @ £69.95 inc VAT

KB-090-RA_400.jpg


Designed specifically for gaming, the all-new Razer Mechanical Switches actuate at an optimal distance, giving you speed and responsiveness like never before. No matter how intense your gaming marathons get, each Razer Mechanical Switch is engineered to withstand up to 60 million keystrokes, so you'll enjoy the Razer advantage for longer. Together with detachable USB cable, the Razer BlackWidow Tournament Edition gives you all the essential keys in a sleek, compact form, perfectly suited for your gaming needs on-the-go.

Key Features:
- Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 50g actuation force
- 60 million keystroke life span
- Compact layout
- 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting
- Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
- Detachable braided fiber USB cable with cable strap
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling
- Razer Synapse 2.0 enabled

Specifications:-

- Key Switch Type: Razer Mechanical 50g Actuation Force Switch
- Anti-ghosting: Up to 10 keys
- Key Strokes: 60 Million
- Interface: USB
- Cable Type: Detachable braided fiber USB cable with cable strap
- Case Colour: Black
- Product Width: 154mm
- Product Length: 366mm
- Product Height: 30mm
- Product Weight: 0.95Kg

Package Contents:-
- Keyboard
- Quick start guide
- Razer Sticker
Confirmation of Razer (Razer Certificate)

Only £69.95 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW






Razer Blackwidow Ultimate Stealth 2014 Elite Mechanical USB Keyboard @ £124.99 inc VAT

KB-088-RA_400.jpg


Description:
Designed specifically for gaming, the all-new Razer Mechanical Switches actuate at an optimal distance, giving you speed and responsiveness like never before. No matter how intense your gaming marathons get, each Razer Mechanical Switch is engineered to withstand up to 60 million keystrokes, so you’ll enjoy the Razer advantage for longer. Whether you’re gaming under low-light, or no light, individually backlit keys ensure you never misclick – after all, it could very well be the difference between victory and death.

Key Features:
- Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 45g actuation force
- 60 million keystroke life span
- Individually backlit keys
- 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting
- Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
- 5 additional dedicated macro keys
- Gaming mode option
- Audio-out/mic-in jacks
- USB pass-through
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling
- Razer Synapse 2.0 enabled
- Braided fiber cable

Specifications:

- Macro Keys: 5
- Key Switch Type: Razer Mechanical 45g Actuation Force Switch
- Anti-ghosting: Up to 10 keys
- Key Strokes: 60 Million
- Interface: USB
- Cable Type: Braided 2.0 meter
- Case Colour: Black
- Backlighting: Individually backlit
- Audio Ports: 2 x 3.5mm Jacks ( Headphones and Microphone)
- Product Width: 171mm
- Product Length: 475mm
- Product Height: 20mm
- Product Weight: 1.50Kg

Package Contents:
- Keyboard
- Quick start guide
- Razer Sticker
- Confirmation of Razer (Razer Certificate)


Only £124.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW





Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2014 Elite Mechanical USB Keyboard @ £124.99 inc VAT

KB-089-RA_400.jpg


Designed specifically for gaming, the all-new Razer Mechanical Switches actuate at an optimal distance, giving you speed and responsiveness like never before. No matter how intense your gaming marathons get, each Razer Mechanical Switch is engineered to withstand up to 60 million keystrokes, so you’ll enjoy the Razer advantage for longer. Whether you’re gaming under low-light, or no light, individually backlit keys ensure you never misclick – after all, it could very well be the difference between victory and death.

Key Features:
- Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 50g actuation force
- 60 million keystroke life span
- Individually backlit keys
- 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting
- Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
- 5 additional dedicated macro keys
- Gaming mode option
- Audio-out/mic-in jacks
- USB pass-through
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling
- Razer Synapse 2.0 enabled
- Braided fibre cable.



Specifications:
- Macro Keys: 5
- Key Switch Type: Razer Mechanical 50g Actuation Force Switch
- Anti-ghosting: Up to 10 keys
- Key Strokes: 60 Million
- Interface: USB
- Cable Type: Braided 2.0 meter
- Case Colour: Black
- Backlighting: Individually backlit
- Audio Ports: 2 x 3.5mm Jacks ( Headphones and Microphone)
- Product Width: 171mm
- Product Length: 475mm
- Product Height: 20mm
- Product Weight: 1.50Kg

Package Contents:
- Keyboard
- Quick start guide
- Razer Sticker
- Confirmation of Razer (Razer Certificate)

Only £124.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW
 
Last edited:
in linus' preview of the 2014 blackwidow, he couldnt tell the difference between the cherry blue and the new switches, so yea, possibly a bit pointless and more of a sidegrade. durability of these new switches are also unproven
 
tamzzy said:
in linus' preview of the 2014 blackwidow, he couldnt tell the difference between the cherry blue and the new switches, so yea, possibly a bit pointless and more of a sidegrade. durability of these new switches are also unproven
Click to expand...

Yeah the fact that Razer went from quality German made switches to switches made in some factory in china for 1/10th the price has me questioning this product versus the Cherry MX switch version :-/
 
tamzzy said:
in linus' preview of the 2014 blackwidow, he couldnt tell the difference between the cherry blue and the new switches, so yea, possibly a bit pointless and more of a sidegrade. durability of these new switches are also unproven
Click to expand...

linus was pretty fair in his analysis imho

he mentioned that the differences were quite small and the majority of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Its a sidegrade as you put it for sure, but ultimately if it doesnt have an impact on your experience of the board and it performs exctly the same but cheaper then that is only a good thing right?

Dicehunter said:
Yeah the fact that Razer went from quality German made switches to switches made in some factory in china for 1/10th the price has me questioning this product versus the Cherry MX switch version :-/
Click to expand...

being a person who comes to work and buys mechanical keyboards, I am more than familiar with how these things work. The main gripe I have with our market currently is that availability of Cherry switches is pretty dire if I can be blunt about it.

Demand has exploded over the past two years since razer made mechanical keyboards a gaming orientated thing.

now, Razer are saying they have guys on QA in the manufacturing facilities, make of that what you will. Obviously, it is my job to sell this product to you guys, but if I can share my opinion honestly I will.

my own thoughts are that whilst this switch may not have the brand and heritage associated with a Cherry equipped peripheral, it seems a little backwards that it is being so easily dismissed. you read on Geekhack [mechanical keyboard fanatic forum] and other places online and people are slamming these keyboards left right and centre.

the problem is that these are all elite typists who smash out 180WPM and have an opinion on the internet. If they want to go and spend £150+ on an ultra high quality Ducky or Filco etc then that is up to them. we cater for that.

the other end of the spectrum that is often ill considered by these internet commentators is the impact that a more affordable switch can have on our market. I am constantly asked for cheap mech boards by customers and I think we are at the point now where this is starting to happen.

as an entry level product starts to get some market penetration then it will mean that we will hopefully see a nice range of full size affordable mechanical boards from decent brands, supported by good warranty terms for under the magic £50 mark.

this is obviously not going to happen with a razer board, as they have the brand tax associated with a razer board attached to them but ultimately, it will reduce the prices of these boards and make a mech board a viable option to everyone.


the only thing i want to happen is for these new switch types to be standardised really otherwise it runs the risk of becoming massively confusing to a new user with loads of different colours and actuation forces.

I have already had once customer asking the difference between the Razer Green and the Cherry Green for example.

I see this as a good thing but as a retailer I would like to see some range standardisation.
 
Yeah, the hate for these switches on Geekhack is pretty strong, But I agree with what rjkoneill is saying.
While they're not the proven cherry switch, 70% of people wouldn't know a cherry switch if it wasn't written on the front of the box, and from reviews they feel similar it seems, leaving only possible negative as how long they last.
And at the end of the day they might not last as long but the main people who buy these 'gaming' keyboards are not the kind of people to harvest their switches and move them from keyboard to keyboard over the years, they're the kind of people who (as above) consider replacing a 2013 model with a 2014 model for what could be negligible improvement
 
Last edited:
rjkoneill said:
linus was pretty fair in his analysis imho

he mentioned that the differences were quite small and the majority of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Its a sidegrade as you put it for sure, but ultimately if it doesnt have an impact on your experience of the board and it performs exctly the same but cheaper then that is only a good thing right?



being a person who comes to work and buys mechanical keyboards, I am more than familiar with how these things work. The main gripe I have with our market currently is that availability of Cherry switches is pretty dire if I can be blunt about it.

Demand has exploded over the past two years since razer made mechanical keyboards a gaming orientated thing.

now, Razer are saying they have guys on QA in the manufacturing facilities, make of that what you will. Obviously, it is my job to sell this product to you guys, but if I can share my opinion honestly I will.

my own thoughts are that whilst this switch may not have the brand and heritage associated with a Cherry equipped peripheral, it seems a little backwards that it is being so easily dismissed. you read on Geekhack [mechanical keyboard fanatic forum] and other places online and people are slamming these keyboards left right and centre.

the problem is that these are all elite typists who smash out 180WPM and have an opinion on the internet. If they want to go and spend £150+ on an ultra high quality Ducky or Filco etc then that is up to them. we cater for that.

the other end of the spectrum that is often ill considered by these internet commentators is the impact that a more affordable switch can have on our market. I am constantly asked for cheap mech boards by customers and I think we are at the point now where this is starting to happen.

as an entry level product starts to get some market penetration then it will mean that we will hopefully see a nice range of full size affordable mechanical boards from decent brands, supported by good warranty terms for under the magic £50 mark.

this is obviously not going to happen with a razer board, as they have the brand tax associated with a razer board attached to them but ultimately, it will reduce the prices of these boards and make a mech board a viable option to everyone.


the only thing i want to happen is for these new switch types to be standardised really otherwise it runs the risk of becoming massively confusing to a new user with loads of different colours and actuation forces.

I have already had once customer asking the difference between the Razer Green and the Cherry Green for example.

I see this as a good thing but as a retailer I would like to see some range standardisation.
Click to expand...

Well said Sir, I would like simple choice when it comes to Keyboards, I'm selling all my stuff soon anyway as I'm moving country, Nothing keeping me in europe any more so it makes no difference to me but if Razer replaced all their switches on all their devices i.e keyboards and keypads to a choice of just 2 *Green clicky or Orange silent* in my opinion it would be a better thing for the end user.
I'm still waiting to see if these new switches match the cherry ones as Razer have been known to spout a lot of hot air and charge a lot for it.
 
Razer must be having a laugh here.

The 2014 Blackwidow Expert is the same price the 2013 model was last July. So basically they have pretty much halved their production costs and are passing the saving onto... themselves?

Zalman sell a keyboard with cherry red copies for almost half what the cheapest MX red keyboard costs. Yet because these cherry clones have "Razer" stamped on them they are somehow worth more than other Chinese clones? Do they really expect people to fall for this? :P

I predict a rise in the value of 2013 models lol.
 
ubersonic said:
Razer must be having a laugh here.

The 2014 Blackwidow Expert is the same price the 2013 model was last July. So basically they have pretty much halved their production costs and are passing the saving onto... themselves?

Zalman sell a keyboard with cherry red copies for almost half what the cheapest MX red keyboard costs. Yet because these cherry clones have "Razer" stamped on them they are somehow worth more than other Chinese clones? Do they really expect people to fall for this? :P

I predict a rise in the value of 2013 models lol.
Click to expand...

I think you give the masses too much credit
 
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