First off, I want to say that Razer did an amazing job with this keyboard. Everything with the keyboard is almost flawless. The only thing that I *sort of* dislike is the gloss finish around the body. It attracts dust and finger prints but I don’t really mind them that much as I usually play in the dark.

Pros:

On the fly macro recording. Its simply amazing. Fn + G. Hit a key to record it to. Type what you want to record. Fn + G. And its saved. You can also use the software from Razer’s website to record macro’s and set the delay between keystrokes. One really great thing is that the computer recognizes the macros as individual actions instead of a program interfering with your game; this means that your macros are undetectable in game and can be used in secured servers such as VAC and gamehack.

Cherry MX Blue key switches. Feels great when your fingers hits one of these bad boys. Theres nothing else to say. Simply amazing to type on.

Adjustable back-lighting: You can adjust the brightness of the keys to whatever you want. You can even turn them off or set them to glow (although really annoying). No more sore eyes from your glaring keyboard.

Back-lit keys: I can play in the dark… Amazing!

Laser-etched keys: Unlike the regular version, this keyboard has laser etched keys meaning that they don’t wear out. Well they do, but unlike other keys, they will wear out at the same rate as your overall key. This means that you will never lose sight of the character on your key until it snaps in half.

Mechanical: This keyboard may be the last keyboard you ever have. Just like any other mechanical keyboard with Cherry keys on it, its rated for over 50 million key-strokes. Compare 50 million to a conventional rubber or membrane based keyboard that usually have a maximum of 10 million (on a really good day. Its usually around 5 million).

Typing: You will enjoy typing, just as I am enjoying typing this review. Some may claim that it will raise your words per minute but I think its largely situational. Many people, like me, will simply enjoy typing on this keyboard. As we log more hours on it (because we enjoy it), we’ll become faster at typing. Aside from that, I do think that right off the bat this keyboard does increase your typing speed a bit. I switched from a membrane keyboard and used to type at about 80 WPM. When I switched to the Blackwidow Ultimate I started typing at around 90 WPM. Now I’m up around 100 WPM.

Media Keys: Great for when you’re gaming because you don’t need to tab out of the game. Quick note though. The media keys will not work for iTunes. The way you can fix that is by searching in Google: “razer blackwidow itunes support”. Click on the first link which should take you to razer support. From there they will direct you to a website which will show you how to slightly modify your iTunes so that it will work with your keyboard. This problem does not only occur with the Blackwidow. The procedure takes about 2 minutes, 5 minutes if you’re retarded. All it requires is you to download a small file, create a folder, and drop the file in.

Construction: Keys are mounted on a metal plate. All the wires are glued twice, then tied to the inside for maximum security. Coming out the keyboard is a 1/4th inch braided cable containing the USB pass through, keyboard USB, audio pass through, and microphone pass through. The cable is plenty long so don’t be worried about reaching the back of your computer unless its in a different room. The keyboard is pretty heavy and has good traction. Even on my slippery desk the keyboard refuses to budge without considerable effort.

Overall: I love the Razer Blackwidow Keyboard. There’s not much else I can say.