Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition Gaming Keyboard

10 Review to this product

• 

  protoguy
  December 13th, 2008 on 12:12 pm

  Rating

  EDIT: Due to the fact my keyboard is now on its way to replacement, I would like to change my rating to a 2. I had to pay for the shipping back to the manufacturer to get a replacement because the USB on it didn’t work anymore and a couple keys were already not working or barely working. I’ve only had they keyboard 4 months. This was a great keyboard but to be first manufacturing line out and the first problem I have is keys not working… that’s a bad sign. I don’t know if the USB ever worked but I didn’t have a need to use it until a few weeks ago. No working USB, no big deal. Having keys like ‘s’ and ‘backspace’ stop working is a huge deal.

  In short, I paid top dollar for a high end gaming keyboard. It failed on the S key. Meaning no more backpedal and no more gaming. The backspace also became problematic. The USB stopped working. This keyboard was expensive. I expect better. Especially if I have to pay $8 to ship it back for replacement.

  I just received this keyboard yesterday and since there are no reviews, I’m sure people are holding out to know if this keyboard is any good. Well, it is to a point. It’s backlit blue, there is no other color option just so you know.

  Pros:
  
  It looks sleek and shiny. The finish is very shiny and polished like some new HDTVs you see.

  The backlighting on the keys look really nice and well lit. It’d very subtle on all the keys and looks like the keys are naturally glowing instead of being lit. When the backlighting is off it just looks solid black, which is cool. The keys won’t light when on standby or powered off.

  The keystroke is somewhat short, which I kind of like. It’s halfway between a standard keyboard and a laptop’s keys without being too close.

  There is a macro program you can use to change key functions, disable keys, and enable macros that automatically activate when you start certain games. Best use, you can turn off the windows button or any other button you want.

  You can enable just WASD lighting on your keyboard for gaming, which actually helps a lot.

  Cons:
  
  The glaze mixed with short keys adds to typos. It might just take getting used to as I moved from a standard keyboard with huge keys to this.

  While the backlighting is great, the lighting on the Caps, Num, Scroll buttons is incredibly bright. I wish you could disable just certain lights, but you can’t. In fact, you can’t even turn it off unless you turn num off and so on.

  If you’re used to knowing where you are on the keyboard by the bumps on F, J, and 5… you might have a hard time. They are very slightly raised.
  
  The up arrow and left arrow are flush with the keyboard while the other two are slightly raised. This is a bit annoying for now.

  Fingerprints fingerprints, EVERYWHERE! Yeah, it’s a problem if you care about it. You only notice it in a well lit room. I can barely see them in my office and if you’re in the type of lighting where backlit keyboard would be needed, you probably wouldn’t notice them. They did include a nice microfiber cloth for ridding of your smudges.

  Concerns:
  
  Will this wear down? I worry that the glaze might wear off because I’ve never had a piece of electronics with this glazed look that I actually constantly touch.
  
  The lasting period of the backlighting. I couldn’t find any info on this. While it looks way more solid than competitor keyboards, all lights burn out eventually.

  Conclusion:
  
  I have not found any of the problems in this keyboard that most people had in their other razer keyboards. I actually like this keyboard quite a bit, the only problems I have are getting used to the keys and that annoyingly bright num lock. It does have a mic, headphone, and USB jack in the back of it. While the USB is helpful, I have surround sound so the headphones and mic are not. Both of those items plug directly into my system.

  You can’t see it but the ports are above the pause and scroll buttons on the back of the board. The board also has legs to prop it up slightly higher, not high enough I think as it barely makes a difference. The cord is slightly longer than a standard keyboard and the extra ports cords are all given enough rope to let you plug them in comfortably.
• 

  Dr Mango
  December 20th, 2008 on 8:20 pm

  Rating

  I have had this keyboard for a few days now. I am a light gamer but get plenty of typing in. I abandoned my Microsoft Natural Keyboard for this Razer because I wanted an illuminated keyboard and the product reviews for the Razer Lycosa impressed me more than the other illuminated keyboards I researched. I went with this particular Razer keyboard because I figured the glossy keys would not attract as much dirt as the other Lycosa keyboard with the matted finish.

  This is a very slick keyboard -literally! The glossy keys tend to make my fingers slide over them a little -but it is minor and I will adjust.

  The lighting is perfect for my conditions: a slightly darkened family room. Day or night -the lighting is excellent. One thing to note: there is a Razer logo on the wristpad but it does not light up.

  The keys possess a light crisp feel. Sort of in between a laptop keyboard and a standard pc keyboard.

  This keyboard is thin and the extended back legs raises the keyboard about half an inch. Keyboard measures 18 inches across.

  I have not used the built-in audio or USB ports -yet.

  The keyboard possesses a flat touch panel above the right hand number keys for changing keyboard modes: lighting off, wasd, lighting on.

  I do not regret this purchase. I wish it were in the MS Ergonomic style but I haven’t found one of those that are illuminated. All-in-all -very good feel, excellent build quality, excellent lighting.
  
• 

  TARIQ.M
  December 21st, 2008 on 1:05 pm

  Rating

  Excellent and very comfortable

  But the finder of dust and fingerprints
• 

  Josiah Suarez
  January 9th, 2009 on 12:44 am

  Rating

  This keyboard is beautiful to behold. The backlighting is just jaw dropping. It even looks impressive in broad daylight. At night it looks like something from a high budget sci-fi movie. Their is a practical benefit to the cool blue lights though. The readability of the keys is GREATLY enhanced. Typing in a pitch black room is no problem at all. The size of the letter on each key is slightly larger than a standard keyboard without taking up the whole key. It’s just right. You can tell they put a lot of thought into designing this thing.

  The layout of the keys is standard so you don’t have to retrain yourself to something exotic. The keystroke is a bit shorter than a standard keyboard, as others have said it’s somewhere between a standard keyboard and a laptop keyboard. It’s much easier to type on than a laptop keyboard though. It took me about half an hour to get used to, and then I was typing at full speed with no problem. The glazed finish does feel slightly different but it’s no big deal. I wouldn’t hesitate to write a paper or even a book with this keyboard.

  The backlighting and single USB extension port on the back of the keyboard worked immediately without even installing the drivers. I use the USB extension for the wireless dongle for my mouse and it’s perfect for that.

  Don’t worry about the lights burning out. They’re LEDs, so yeah they’ll eventually burn out, after about 100,000 hours. Over a decade if you have it on 24/7.

  I found only a few minor issues. The one significant drawback is the smudges. You will absolutely get smudges everywhere no matter how clean your hands are. A little cloth is included to polish off the smudges, but I don’t want to spend 5 minutes cleaning off my keyboard every time I touch it. Also, the volume control on the top right isn’t the best. Although the “touch panel” is responsive and attractive, the volume + and – “buttons” are pretty small. meaning you have to focus your attention deliberately to change the volume level.

  Finally let me say that the pictures I’ve seen around the internet don’t do this keyboard justice at all. You really have to see it in person to appreciate how impressive it is. I’m very happy with my purchase.
• 

  Ryan Johnson
  January 29th, 2009 on 6:15 pm

  Rating

  This is a good keyboard, but not 5 star.
  
  Pros: Its sleek, small, and very attractive. The audio ports and usb on the keyboard are very handy. Light up keys work great, use them all day, not just night.

  Cons: Get ready for very noticeable fingerprints and dust. This thing will not stay clean. The WASD cluster lighting, never use it. Why would I only want those buttons to light up? All my games use way more buttons than just those, and WASD I always know where they are anyway.

  Overall its nice keyboard as long as you don’t mind a dust collector. The sexiness makes up for most of the cons in my book, and the WASD cluster con isn’t much of one, just an option that I don’t use.
• 

  Charles English
  February 20th, 2009 on 12:09 pm

  Rating

  Absolutely love the sleekness, as well as the beautiful lights and tactile response.

  However, the touchpad media controls aren’t the best way to do it I must say, a hard button would have proven more practical. Also the keyboard very easily retains anything that was on your hands and fingerprints show up very easily.

  But its so pretty!
• 

  Heather M. Moy
  March 28th, 2009 on 10:21 pm

  Rating

  A+++++++++++++++ love this product, i like the glossy look it has) great product. u have to wipe it down every so often to keep it from getting dust in it. but other then that, its a great keyboard and i like how the “wasd” lights up. great product :]
• 

  Karen Murphy
  April 26th, 2009 on 1:02 pm

  Rating

  Well the keyboard and the keys are great quality and the blue lights are great but as I am typing this the touchpad is now broken and I have only had this for a week or so.
• 

  Christopher Okuley
  May 10th, 2009 on 1:18 pm

  Rating

  Purchased solely for the smooth, clean, back-lit keys and it’s gotta be the best one on the market for that sole purpose. However, I would opt for the NON-mirrored version available instead. The mirror finish on this is nice, but gets dirty so easily. Otherwise, no complaints!
• 

  Kevin White
  September 12th, 2009 on 9:19 pm

  Rating

  First box opening and i could see the reflection of my face in it, very awesome although finger prints are a problem. But, i clean my keyboard once in a while. The blue backlight is perfectly lit to see the key’s lettering and symbols. This keyboard is very stealthy and the keys are very responsive. This keyboard is a keeper.