1. #1
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    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate Gaming Keyboard vs Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Gaming Keyboard

    Hey guys, I'm planning to buy a gaming keyboard, and have decided to pick up a razer blackwidow.

    Being a bit of a newbie when it comes to gaming keybaords, I'm not sure what the major differences are between these two keyboards, the normal blackwidow ultimate and the 2013 edition.

    The non-2013 edition is roughly £30 cheaper, so I'm wondering what more do I get for my money in the 2013 edition?

    Thanks for reading.

  2. #2
    http://www.custompcreview.com/review...-review/16647/
    The glossy finish is now a matte finish.
    Razer is now offering 10KRO (key rollover) rather than 6KRO.
    The BlackWidow 2013 is designed from the ground up to work with Razer’s new cloud based Synapse 2.0 software.
    Razer is now going with green rather than blue backlighting, which better fits Razer’s company colors of green and black.
    They also supposedly fixed some of the quality flaws they had with the BlackWidow.

    Personally I would stay far away from any Razer keyboard.
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  3. #3
    Deleted
    Thanks for the quick reply.

    Would you recommend any other mechanical keyboard similar in price to the BlackWidow?

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by gamerhi View Post
    Thanks for the quick reply.

    Would you recommend any other mechanical keyboard similar in price to the BlackWidow?
    Depends what you are looking for.

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  5. #5
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    If you're looking at a mechanical board, the single most important thing to check out is the switches they use for the keys. Most keyboards (but not all) use Cherry switches, which are all color-coded; different colors will have different resistance amounts as well as some activation cues; there can be both a tactical "click" feel, or the same with an audible click as well.

    http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/me...e#post_6009482 is a good review of the most common switches.

    I know the original Blackwidow uses blues, which are both tactile and clicky, so they're a bit loud. I'm reasonably sure the 2013 does as well. The Blackwidow Stealths use blacks, which are similar but "quiet" (though even non-clicky mechanical keys are louder than a membrane keyboard).

    The board I recommend every time for the price range you're looking at is the Corsair K90; this is the one I use myself. This uses Cherry Red switches; no click, no tactile "bump", and they have a lower actuation force; that may be something you like, or you may prefer more resistance. The build quality is really, really solid. The one thing to be aware of is that it's not fully mechanical; only the main QWERTY portion, the arrow keys, and the numpad are mechanic, the function keys and the macro keys are membrane. IME, those don't get used enough that I worry about them not being mechanical.

    They're coming out with a new version, the k95, in the near future. This one will be fully mechanical, and has improved key-customizable backlighting, but otherwise is basically the same board.


  6. #6
    The Stealth version of the BlackWidow uses Brown Cherry MX switches, no?

    The 2013 edition of the BlackWidow is actually decent. It has a very bright lighting, as well. As Endus mentioned though, the Corsair K90 is a solid keyboard. Also recommending the Logitech G710+. Love it.
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  7. #7
    Elemental Lord Korgoth's Avatar
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    My 2011 Blackwidow's build quality was such shit that it literally had parts popping off it. Like the plastic little logo cover near the space bar. Hopefully they have fixed that by now.

    The Corsair and Logitech also have dedicated media keys which was the other thing I really hated about the blackwidow. Using 2 hands to adjust volume sucked.
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    I had a blackwidow ultimate stealth at home. I also have a blackwidow at work, which they just had lying around and it's kind of loud considering the cherry blue switches. They feel nice to type on, but I feel like I'm annoying people with the clicky noise when I type. Several other people have blue switch Das keyboards as well at work, as well as a bunch of Steelseries 6gv2 in the LAN room in the office too.

    The blackwidow I had worked great, absolutely no problems, but then I got a Ducky Year of the Dragon 10 keyless and gave the blackwidow to my brother.

    Overall, it depends how much you're willing to spend on it. Filco & Duckys are pretty pricey. Think the cheapest good mechanical keyboard you can get is a Coolermaster Quickfire for like $70.
    Last edited by obake1; 2013-03-08 at 06:50 AM.

  9. #9
    I have a Razer Blackwidow and personally have regretted getting it from day 1, along with a few mates that also have them.

    I would personally recommend looking at the logitech G-Series keyboards, I had one before this- and a few mates have made the switch from the Blackwidow to the G's, all are quite happy with them.

  10. #10
    I just bought one a few days ago to replace my really old g15 with. It looks pretty nice from the reviews on youtube. The backlight color doesnt really bother me i guess. Razer should just have software by now where you can pick whatever color backlight you want from a color wheel.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by n0cturnal View Post
    http://www.custompcreview.com/review...-review/16647/


    They also supposedly fixed some of the quality flaws they had with the BlackWidow.

    Personally I would stay far away from any Razer keyboard.
    Stay away from all Razor products. I had 2 Razor mice fail on me one was DOA the other died with in 2 weeks. It's a shame because their stuff looks good.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by neuk View Post
    Stay away from all Razor products. I had 2 Razor mice fail on me one was DOA the other died with in 2 weeks. It's a shame because their stuff looks good.
    Anecdotal evidence isn't the way to shop for products. I'm generally skeptical of Razer products, but they've gone to lengths to better the quality of their peripherals over the last couple of years. The BlackWidow 2013 is a marked improvement over previous versions, to the point where after I had originally bought it just to test how I liked mechanical keys (it was the only mechanical board available locally) I decided to keep it instead. I also bought my Deathadder as an emergency mouse after my previous one broke a couple years ago, and have had no problems whatsoever. Not saying my experience is indicative of what everyone's has/will be, but it's proof that anecdotal evidence goes in both directions, and should be taken with a grain of salt.

  13. #13
    I had widow, didn't like it at all. Maybe the 2013 line is better, but from what I gathered there are better options out there.

    My part in this story has been decided. And I will play it well.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Crusader Cronus View Post
    Anecdotal evidence isn't the way to shop for products. I'm generally skeptical of Razer products, but they've gone to lengths to better the quality of their peripherals over the last couple of years. The BlackWidow 2013 is a marked improvement over previous versions, to the point where after I had originally bought it just to test how I liked mechanical keys (it was the only mechanical board available locally) I decided to keep it instead. I also bought my Deathadder as an emergency mouse after my previous one broke a couple years ago, and have had no problems whatsoever. Not saying my experience is indicative of what everyone's has/will be, but it's proof that anecdotal evidence goes in both directions, and should be taken with a grain of salt.
    Why wouldn't you consider others' experiences when looking into a product? Once you throw that out the window, all you really have to go on are spec sheets and marketing. Anecdotal as the evidence may be, there are a lot of stories that attest to durability issues in Razer's products and I think it would be wise to piece that together as a trend. Of course nobody's saying that everything they make is defective and useless, but there's no good reason to subject yourself to the potential inconveniences of a higher-risk product when you have options with a better track record.

    I'm glad your peripherals are still working and you're happy with them, but I die a little every time I see someone here recommend a Razer Naga as the best mouse ever made, despite being on their third one in two years.

  15. #15
    Dreadlord
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    my blackwidow ultimate has made it a year and a half without any problems at all, but my naga that i bought at the same time i had to open up today because the 6 key was sticking..cleaned it up a bit and it works perfect again for what thats worth.. i do think alot more gamers use razer so you hear about them failing alot, coupled with the fact that they are slightly cheaper made. i went through several logitech mice before my naga and it has outlasted almost everyone, it seems im the only person with that scenario though lol.
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  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by asb View Post
    Why wouldn't you consider others' experiences when looking into a product? Once you throw that out the window, all you really have to go on are spec sheets and marketing. Anecdotal as the evidence may be, there are a lot of stories that attest to durability issues in Razer's products and I think it would be wise to piece that together as a trend. Of course nobody's saying that everything they make is defective and useless, but there's no good reason to subject yourself to the potential inconveniences of a higher-risk product when you have options with a better track record.

    I'm glad your peripherals are still working and you're happy with them, but I die a little every time I see someone here recommend a Razer Naga as the best mouse ever made, despite being on their third one in two years.
    Razer mice are super cheap feeling and have a bad rep, i honestly haven't heard to many bad things about the 2013 blackwidow. Again i would never buy a razer mouse but some of their mechanical keyboards are good.

  17. #17
    I've had Logitech G710+ for few months now and like it a lot. Dedicated media keys was one of the requirements why I got it and I don't need 18 macro buttons which is why this rather than K90. Also tried red switch keyboards in store but don't like the fact there's no tactile feedback on it at all which also shot down K90, but I'm sure there are as many people as me out there who don't like the browns because there is tactile feel to it.
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  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by asb View Post
    Why wouldn't you consider others' experiences when looking into a product? Once you throw that out the window, all you really have to go on are spec sheets and marketing. Anecdotal as the evidence may be, there are a lot of stories that attest to durability issues in Razer's products and I think it would be wise to piece that together as a trend. Of course nobody's saying that everything they make is defective and useless, but there's no good reason to subject yourself to the potential inconveniences of a higher-risk product when you have options with a better track record.

    I'm glad your peripherals are still working and you're happy with them, but I die a little every time I see someone here recommend a Razer Naga as the best mouse ever made, despite being on their third one in two years.
    There's a difference between looking at a few user experiences and looking at a lot of user experiences. This thread doesn't contain enough information to make an informed purchase in either direction, which is why I'm just making sure the OP doesn't take any of our opinions as gospel. It is important to pay attention to our arguments towards a companies products, whether good or bad, but I don't think anyone should simply buy any piece of hardware based on a handful of opinions on a forum.

    Naga no doubt have some serious durability issues, but this thread's not about the Naga, is it? It's not even about Razer mice. From what I've seen, Razer has more problems with some of its products than others, and its Synapse software is certainly trash, but I don't think you should discount a company's entire catalog for a few of items which are subpar, especially when the product a person is inquiring about isn't even the same product or type of product as the one you or someone you personally know has experienced issues with. If we shopped like that, then no one would ever be able to recommend any brand.

  19. #19
    I didn't mean just this thread. There have been a lot of threads here about problems with peripherals; the majority seem to be about Razer, though admittedly mostly the Naga. Certainly that one mouse's quality isn't necessarily representative of any of Razer's other products, but neither is it necessarily an outlier. I'd personally attribute the large volume of complaints about the Naga to its popularity, not it being their most/only flawed product.

    I don't hear much about the BlackWidow specifically on this forum, but I've still heard a lot more negative things about that keyboard than probably any other mechanical on the market. You could attribute this to popularity too, since it's one of the few mechanical keyboards commonly found at retail stores, but I still don't see why you'd go for this keyboard just because the stigma surrounding it may be unjustified. You know what I've heard as negatives about a Majestouch or Quickfire Rapid? Faded keycap lettering.

    I don't think the BlackWidow is garbage or that you're foolish or wrong to have bought one--I just think if someone's taking the time to look into an item they may as well take what seems like the safest route. If the guy loves the appearance and branding of Razer's gear, that's cool and he should go for it since nothing else will exactly fit his needs. If he has to buy from a physical retail store and that's his only choice, that's fine too--I'm sure it's worth the price. However if he simply wants a mechanical keyboard and has the option of ordering one, I'm of the opinion that there are some generally more reputable products to choose from even in the same price range.

  20. #20
    I agree with you, I just wanted to make sure the OP didn't avoid something he may have wanted, possibly for the reasons you listed (because once you get by the switch type, everything becomes a tad more superficial), based on random opinions on products which aren't even the same model as the one his post was asking about. There's no doubt that there are some better options for less if you're willing to sacrifice certain features, and heavy competitors around the price point. All I'm suggesting is that the Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 shouldn't be ruled out as an option simply because of conjecture, because it is undoubtedly a major improvement over the previous model.
    Last edited by Berserker Cronus; 2013-03-10 at 02:02 AM.

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