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Razer Tarantula

Manufacturer: Razer Inc. Part number: RZ0100070100

Zoom Compare with most popular

$55.99 - $93.83 at 5 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
4.0 stars Excellent
Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 17 reviews

Nov 2006

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Accessories; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: Razer brings all the polish to its Tarantula gaming keyboard that it has to mice over the years. The Tarantula is a little more expensive than other keyboards geared toward gamers, but its build quality, customization options, and responsiveness are definitely worth it.
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CNET editors' review

Razer Tarantula

price range: $55.99 - $93.83

Reviewed by: Rich Brown
Edited by: Matthew Elliott
Reviewed on: 11/06/2006
Released on: 11/06/2006

The good: Sleek, smart design and key layout; grasps desktop surface firmly; superresponsive keys; keys are infinitely customizable; built-in memory means you can take your custom profiles with you.

The bad: Takes up a fair amount of desk space; expensive if you aren't serious about gaming.

The bottom line: Razer brings all the polish to its Tarantula gaming keyboard that it has to mice over the years. The Tarantula is a little more expensive than other keyboards geared toward gamers, but its build quality, customization options, and responsiveness are definitely worth it.

Read full review

Editor's note: This review has been updated to clarify that only some of the keys, and not the main QWERTY keys, are backlit. (11/9/06)

It only makes sense that after tuning the lowly mouse to gamer specifications, the various input device makers would turn their attention to keyboards. Razer's new $99 Tarantula gaming keyboard is not the first of this new breed, but it's definitely one of the best. It's also one of the most expensive. Still, if you're willing spend a little bit more for gaming-input precision, then the Tarantula should be your pick. Among other reasons, it has more out-of-the-box features that will matter to gamers as soon as they set it up.

Gaming keyboards seem to universally take up massive swaths of desk space. Although it looks very large when you take the glossy, KITT car-black Tarantula out of the box, it's only a little wider than Saitek's competing Eclipse II gaming keyboard (19.5 inches vs. 20.25 inches). And Logitech's 21.5-inch G15 is even wider.

One of the things we like most about the Tarantula is its build quality. At 2 pounds, 8 ounces, it feels more substantial than the Logitech (2 pounds, 14 ounces) or the Saitek (2 pounds, 11 ounces), even though it actually weighs the least of the three. Its glossy black finish also looks the sharpest. The Tarantula has stick-fast rubber feet on the bottom that give you the confidence that during an intense gaming session, it won't slide out from under you. It almost feels like it attaches itself to your desk. The other two don't hold their position as well.

All three keyboards have LED backlighting, making it easy to see the keys in a darkened game room. Like the G15, the Tarantula lights up blue but only on the keys along the outer edges, not the main letter keys. The Eclipse II, on the other hand gives you blue, red, and purple options, so if custom colors turn you on, the Tarantula can't compete. But we much prefer customization options with a more practical purpose, and the Tarantula beats the other two by far. Like the G15, the Tarantula comes with customizable hot keys. The Tarantula doesn't have quite as many, 10 to the Logitech's 18, but we think the Tarantula's are laid out in such a way that it's easier to remember which button does what, with 5 running down each side of the keyboard, rather than clustering the buttons like the G15 does.

The Tarantula's customization edge lies not only in the placement of its hot keys, but also in their design. In the box, there's a plastic tool that looks like a small mouth harp, as well as 10 free-floating keys, each with a different game-related icon theme. There's a button with an image of a knife on it, one with a grenade, one with a fist, and seven other game-related icons. With the mouth-harp tool, you can pry up one of the generic left or right function keys and pop in one of these handy icons, giving you an instant visual reminder of which key does what. Further, you can use the tool to take out any of the keyboard's other keys, and with the easy-to-use Razer software you can change the standard QWERTY layout to any configuration you can imagine. You can integrate the icon keys in with the letters and reassign virtually every single button. The software lets you set up to 100 different profiles. The Tarantula also comes with 32KB of built-in memory, which lets you store your profiles on the keyboard itself for when you move it between machines.

Gamers don't care about movable keys if the keys' response isn't tight. Razer has obviously gone to great effort to make sure that keys feel crisp. We can't say the same about either the Logitech G15 or the Saitek Eclipse II. Their keys feel simply, well, regular. The Tarantula's spring back satisfyingly when you press them.

Aside from the full-size keys, the Tarantula has easy-access media control and image zoom keys running down each side, and they feel more accessible than when those keys line the top edge of a keyboard. It's also intriguing that the Tarantula has a socket in the middle called the Battledock that will accept Razer-made accessories, such as a Webcam or a light. We can also imagine a microphone attachment for voice chatting. Razer has already built a headphone and microphone jack into the Tarantula. Logitech can perhaps claim that its G15's built-in LCD screen is more useful than the Tarantula's Battledock, and indeed, if you can find or write the software to make the screen work with your favorite game, you might find the G15's display more useful than a superfluous light. But there's not exactly a flood of downloadable applications for the G15, and the keyboard has been out for more than a year.

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 17 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 17

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4 stars

Beware of the Tarantula!

by hawk318 on June 11, 2007

Pros: Nice tactile feel to the keys.

Cons: Non existant tech support!

Summary: Well gang, broke down and bought a ?Razor Tarantula? Gaming keyboard.
Loved the tactile feel of the keys?.
Built in wrist support is a bit narrow for we gamers that

...

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Summary: Well gang, broke down and bought a ?Razor Tarantula? Gaming keyboard.
Loved the tactile feel of the keys?.
Built in wrist support is a bit narrow for we gamers that use the lower keys?..
Has programmable keys, macro?s?? Pretty blue back light on some keys?..

So you?d think I?d be happy, right?
Think again?.. Ok there is a key (denoted by a note) to bring up your favorite music program. All the favorite programs are listed, well except those of us that use Music Match (back before it was loaded with tons of adds) Well keys are suppose to be programmable?. Well note this one, so the note key is useless to me and others that do not have their software pre-programmed into it.
I wrote tech support asking if there was a way to add Music Match to the note key.

I didn?t stop there. I saw there was a firmware update on their web site. So hoping maybe it added more music programs to the note key, downloaded & installed it?..
Nope! No new music programs.
Went into the game I?m currently playing and guess what? ?. I no longer have sound control (Vol, up/down or mute)
No problem I thought, went to the add/ remove programs and removed the firmware. Rebooted, and loaded the firmware that came with the keyboard?.. The update does not remove!........ I wrote tech support asking how I can remove the update as I can?t control sound in ANY game since the update??
Been 3 weeks since the first tech request and 2 since the last?.. No reply, nothing!
Wrote Razors customer support about the lack of tech support?.. They haven?t responded.
So here I sit with a $70.00 ?gaming? keyboard that does not fully function in games, no clue if there is anything I can do about it as the company, once it gets your money, ignores you.

Do I like my new Razor Tarantula?
I pulled out me old one?.....
At least it works!!!

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6 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

Best Gaming Keyboard

by momentomomento on November 19, 2006

Pros: Great macro functions, Anti-ghosting is perfect, Sleek, Very Cool

Cons: Expensive, Need Large Area on Desktop

Summary: I own the Logitech G15 and the Saitek Eclipse and the Razer Tarantula owns them all. The onboard macros are only for real hardcore power users though and while it ...

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Summary: I own the Logitech G15 and the Saitek Eclipse and the Razer Tarantula owns them all. The onboard macros are only for real hardcore power users though and while it doesn't have the bling of some of the keyboards out there, the Tarantula's anti-ghosting and keypresses are frigging advanced.

Top notch keyboard!

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3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 stars

Very Nice, but not for the price.

by Clinkzz on March 27, 2007

Pros: Excellent build, customization, stylish

Cons: Big, glossy surface shows smudges, !!! Not all keys are illuminated !!!

Summary: This keyboard, despite its drawbacsks, is still very nice. It's a joy to type on, and is allmost completely silent.

The customization is fantastic - any key can be

...

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Summary: This keyboard, despite its drawbacsks, is still very nice. It's a joy to type on, and is allmost completely silent.

The customization is fantastic - any key can be changed, or configured - the board even supports profiles that can be switched with one custom button. Very useful - especially for MMORPG games where you are struggling for more macros on your keyboard.

The problem I found was that the extra functions (such as standby and homepage) are NOT modifyable. Id like the option to have hibernate/shutdown instead of standby, or the ability to change which browser to use when i pressed homepage.

Another dissapointment is that not every key is illuminated. I was shocked they didn't add the option. In disbelief i searched for an "on/off" switch to turn on the glowing keys, but no luck. It wouldn't be hard to include this feature, but Razer is a business. If the keys were illuminated, the battle dock light would be pointless, and they want more of your money.

The last problem I have is the extra USB ports included (a nice idea to include). The ports are usb 1.1, and even though I was able to shrugg off that setback, my Memorex USB key wouldn't work. Windows poped up telling me that the hub inside the board wasn't able to provide sufficient power to run the USB drive. How embarassing...

Having the headphone and microphone jacks near the board are VERY nice - I can use my headphones without having to stretch them out across the table.

The build is very nice - aside from the glossy finish that is vulnerable to smudges - and the keyboard hugs VERY well to your table.

The tool that removes individual keys is genius.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Unboxing the Razer Tarantula uber-gaming keyboard

by neoben on November 6, 2006

Pros: Pics in the link below

Cons: Video coming in December

Summary: Howdy...

Here's a link to some 'unboxing' photos of the Razer Tarantula..

http://www.neo-fight.tv/2006/11/unboxing_the_razer_tarantula.html

Best,

Benjamin

----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.neo-fight.tv [The TV

...

Read more

Summary: Howdy...

Here's a link to some 'unboxing' photos of the Razer Tarantula..

http://www.neo-fight.tv/2006/11/unboxing_the_razer_tarantula.html

Best,

Benjamin

----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.neo-fight.tv [The TV Show for The 'Not-So-Geeky']

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 stars

looks great, performs terrible

by dundhoone on May 29, 2007

Pros: 10 out of ten for design/looks

Cons: doesnt perform as advertised

Summary: I have three problems with this keyboard.
1. keystrokes o not always register when typing normally (note the missing "d"!!)
2. headphone port is not shielded and so there is

...

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Summary: I have three problems with this keyboard.
1. keystrokes o not always register when typing normally (note the missing "d"!!)
2. headphone port is not shielded and so there is a load of interferance noise when using this
3. worst of all, during games, when im holding down "w" and try to press a or s to wieve, there is a noticable delay.

Its taken me longer than it should to type this due to keystrokes not registering. This board is all marketing and no substance. I really wanted it to ork , it looks so nice! its going back though.
Also very disappointed that these issues were misse by the cnet review

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2 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
2 stars

Not great..not even good!

by ffsteve61 on March 22, 2007

Pros: Looks cool...thats about it!

Cons: cost,software and firmware,bulky

Summary: I purchaced this keyboard a couple of days ago. I run windows vista so I had to update the software. Then I had to update the firmware....pain in the ***!...

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Summary: I purchaced this keyboard a couple of days ago. I run windows vista so I had to update the software. Then I had to update the firmware....pain in the ***!I had a problem with the M key. It would either not work or it would place multiple M's on a document. Needless to say I returned it to the store and plugged in my old trusty keyboard. Save your money and skip this keyboard.

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2 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

Worth every penny

by bloodvenom14 on December 30, 2008

Pros: Features, Looks, Feel

Cons: Macroing locks all other actions

Summary: Amazing keyboard, well built, half of these reviews are circumstantial and it is possible to get DOA material of course. I have NEVER had a problem with this keyboard in ...

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Summary: Amazing keyboard, well built, half of these reviews are circumstantial and it is possible to get DOA material of course. I have NEVER had a problem with this keyboard in 2 years. Its worked perfectly and all the features work perfectly. From the Music key being able to pull up itunes behind my games and play/stop/etc right from the keyboard without minimizing. Also the macro keys are outstanding, minus the small issue of it locking all other keys while its running the script, which of course would make sense. All in all, 5/5 As macroing is technically done as such. Outstanding device, would recommend it to anyone who is hardcore about gaming, and isnt a tech noob.

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5 stars

Great Keyboard, but does not last very long.

by anthonypace1991 on September 16, 2008

Pros: Large Full sized keys, Multimedia buttons, and unlimited customizablitiy.

Cons: Shiny, Plastic is not as top notch as I expected, and the key extenders are useless, as they are easy to break. for the price a G15 is better.

Summary: I bought this keyboard a couple of months ago, and I had to return it to the store, as all of the keys were not typing after the first 2 ...

Read more

Summary: I bought this keyboard a couple of months ago, and I had to return it to the store, as all of the keys were not typing after the first 2 months of use.

(turned out that the cable got shorted)

it might be great that the keyboard has headphone and microphone ports, but at what cost? The wire being the thickest I have ever seen used on a computer.

the four wires used to connect this keyboard up is unpractical, and very difficult to set if you use the keyboard with a laptop, and it's even worse with a desktop computer.

and the keytop ?

well, when new the quality was topnotch, but after a few months, the keys started to wear out and the travel between keys and became harder, and more uncomfortable to use.

The incorporated wrist rest is a great idea, but even that wears out very quickly.

leaving a shiny patch where your hands would be.

and the overall keyboard surface, is too delicate, try dropping a coin on the surface even by accident, and a big ugly scratch wil appear.

Conclusion:
Great keyboard, but won't last you long enough. and it is too expensive when compared to it's competitors, and also when it's main competitor the G15 v1 & v2 offer much more to compensate for the price.

I would recommend this keyboard for users who don't use a keyboard very much, and treat them as house ornaments.

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3 stars

looks good, doesnt work good

by griffed on February 28, 2008

Pros: looks awesome, nice macro keys

Cons: key delays when in game. hard to press

Summary: When i brought it out it was awesome. looked great, had cool extra keys, but when i went to use it you had to press the keys really hard to ...

Read more

Summary: When i brought it out it was awesome. looked great, had cool extra keys, but when i went to use it you had to press the keys really hard to get it to register. when trying to turn left and right with A and D there is a crazy delay. other people have had this problem too, typing sucks. Im gonna exchange it for the G15 hopefully that will work better...

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8 stars

first bad later gr8

by nehaj007 on January 15, 2008

Pros: quality, battlelight, ease of replacing keys

Cons: firmware update is a pain, limited customisation options

Summary: Hi, this is my first review here. So it was christmas and I got this keyboard (battlelight included) as a present. Before that I had standard black not even usb ...

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Summary: Hi, this is my first review here. So it was christmas and I got this keyboard (battlelight included) as a present. Before that I had standard black not even usb keyboard. First came out the negative stuff. First and most problematic is that this keyboard had different size keys than standard so at first I had to look what I tipe and in on-line playing that is an instant death. Then if this keyboard is so expensive I want more customisation options for the extra keys. For an example if I want to program on r1 key a phrase "Yo mamma must be so ashamed right now", and I can only reach "Yo mamma mu" and I'm out of space that just pisses me of.

Now on a more positive side: Battle light helps a lot for a long night gaming. Keys for media player and internet explorer actually work on other apps even if they are not listed on the keyboard options. For example I use GOM player and Irfanview and they work just fine. Keyboard IS really lightning responsive and fast and I can cast 5 spells at the same time and move, so no ghosting featire really works. And check this, it actually has a croatian layout (I'm writing from there so it's important for me) In the end this is not a keyboard for everybody. And it took some time to adjust even for me. And u have to have a huge desk for it, some prefer compact keyboards for lan parties. So at first I didn't like it but now it really grows on me. Sorry for any spelling errrors.

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Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 17

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Razer Inc.
Part number: RZ0100070100
Description: The Razer Tarantula is the first definitive keyboard created For Gamers By Gamers in Razer's suite of advanced gaming peripherals. The sleek design and fully customizable functions are specially engineered to empower competitive gamers with seamless control and unparalleled flexibility. PRODUCT FEATURES: 32kb Onboard Memory Powered by Razer Synapse; Anti-Ghosting Capability; Profile switching with ease; Keymaps; Fully interchangeable keys; Macro Keys; 10 Gaming Hotkeys.

General
Device Type Keyboard
Color Black
Form Factor External
Localization US
Localization United States
Input Device
Interface USB
Connectivity Technology Wired
Buttons Qty 10
Key/Button Function Programmable
Expansion / Connectivity
Interfaces 1 x Microphone - Input - Mini-phone 3.5 mm, 1 x Headphones - Output - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 2 x USB - 4 pin USB Type A
Connections 1 x USB - 4 pin USB Type A

Miscellaneous
Windows Vista Readiness Certified for Windows Vista
Interface(s) Required
Port(s) / Connector(s) Required 1 USB 4 pin USB Type A
Interface Provided
Port(s) Total (Free) 1 Microphone Input:Mini-phone 3.5 mm, 1 Headphones Output:Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 2 USB 4 pin USB Type A

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