The Razer Lycosa

When I first got to see the Razer Lycosa keyboard it was when I asked Hardware Editor James Yu if he had a USB keyboard I could borrow. You see, it was game night and the PS3 does not recognize any kind of keyboard except those that connect either via bluetooth or USB. Truth be told, typing text messages with the sixaxis is an exercise in frustration for me. James handed over the black box containing the Lycosa keyboard. When I got back to my desk I plugged it in, and proceeded to begin typing out messages aplenty. The keyboard was light and well balanced on my lap. In the dark of the after-hours office, the keys were very impressive and easy to find thanks to soft blue backlighting. After an hour with the soft keys I knew I had to get one for myself. After returning the keyboard to James, I inquired if he had another one. He said no, but later darkened my door to tell me I could use the one I borrowed if I wrote a hands-on for the hardware blog. After spending more time with the Lycosa, I came to understand how clacky other keyboards sound. While the keys are firm, the resistance isn't too much and the noise is all but negligible. Their texture couldn't really be much softer if it was covered in silk, but I never noticed problems with slipping thanks to Razer's trademarked non-slip hyperesponse technology. Sure I've fat-fingered more than my fair share of entries since I've used the board, but that is user error not design flaw. The keyboard supports additional devices via USB, audio in, and audio out ports on the top of the unit. I plugged in my headphones and my laser mouse. While I opted out of leaving my headset's microphone jack plugged in, the pickups worked. The mouse is just as responsive and the convenience of having all of the inputs going through one source was not much of a problem. While I had some minor static through my headset, it was more of a function of having a smartphone, an SD video capture deck, and two high-end consoles running within relatively close proximity. Most times it isn't a problem since I run my computer's audio primarily out of some desktop speakers that i can easily disconnect to switch to the headset. Utlimately, the keyboard offers numerous customization options. Multiple profiles can be set up and accessed via the Touchpanel above the 10-key cluster on the right. These profiles can be easily customized for use in various games. The macro features are also equally beneficial when using graphics design programs as they are graphically intense games. All around the Lycosa's on-screen programming and profile set-up make it simple to make the keyboard do what you want it to do. With a detachable wrist rest, a thin profile, and a lot of sexy design, the Razer Lycosa gaming keyboard is hard not to recommend. As long as you have a PC with a built-in USB port, a CD-Rom drive, 35 megabytes of free hard disk space and are running Windows XP, x64, Vista, or Vista64, you should have not problem making the most of this elegant and powerful keyboard.

The Razer Lycosa

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