Razer RZ07-00740100-R3U1 Orbweaver Elite Mechanical Gaming Keypad

Pros: Plenty of keys for you to bind to. 3 Shift states for maximum keybinding abilities. Keys feel nice and solid. hand position is nice and easily adjustable. trigger is good and spacebar is acceptable but not the best (thumb paddle).

Cons: This is where it gets bad. The unit has 2 keys that rub, so when I press one of those keys there is a small chance that it gets stuck and doesn't pop back up.

#2) The rubber molding on the hand rest has gone bad and is leaking gooey honey tar glue out the sides. its impossible to realign because the rubber is not happy. This makes your whole hand get glue on it and then its like trying to touch a keyboard after you dipped your finger tip in honey. Its gross, unprofessional, and certainly not something you'd be able to play a game with.

Other Thoughts: For a 3rd generation product, I feel that the glue and the grinding keys is a major miss for me. I contacted support and they will replace my unit but its at my shipping cost and its also at my loss of time. Can't play any games without it so basically stuck for 2 weeks while they fix it and send it back (if its even fixable, more like replacable).

The keys are also loud as hell. Which is great for new customers because you can buy the stealth one, but early adopters had no choice.

Final thought, support does not offer a advanced replacement. which means you not only test the products for them, when the tests go wrong you lose in the long run.

After this keypad I will seriously consider waiting for other users reviews before I jump onto another product.

Already replaced my razer mouse (15 razer mice later) with a new RAT 7 never been happier.

Manufacturer Response:

Hi,

Sorry to hear that you're having issues with the new Orbweaver. If you could please forward your correspondences with the Razer Customer Support team to feedback@razerzone.com, we'd love to take a look into your issue.

Thank you for understanding.

Razer Customer Satisfaction

Pros: Works Well With Others, Customizable for your own Attack/Defense, An Extension Of Your I'd...

Cons: I have the Nostromo model, but everything else is Razer.

Other Thoughts: I'll never go back doing Digital Art without one, it would be like tying one hand behind my back. The first time I tried the games on my Hackintosh I realized you really do need all that power and a (bag of) good chips, this lets the creative right half of my brain join in and try to keep up with my msi GT 70 when it was stock!

Pros: -Responsive keys. I had a Nostromo before, and it had some issues when pushing a lot of buttons at once rapidly.
-Comfortable
-Looks great
-More buttons than the Nostromo

Cons: There are a few downsides to this keypad, first and foremost being the price. It's not cheap but, again, this is Razer quality we're talking about.

The side piece which has the thumb space-bar button and D-pad is a little bit wobbly. I don't notice it at all when playing games, so it's not a huge deal. Since this thing is so adjustable for the shape of your hand, you should expect a little bit of wobble.

Other Thoughts: The keys are loud, BUT I don't care. They are also quieter than the Blackwidow Ultimate, which is what I am using to write this review. If you think this will be a problem for you, then get the Orbweaver Stealth. Problem solved.

Pros: Mechanical keys, even the d-pad feels mechanical, adjustable palm and wrist rest, adjustable d-pad distance, individually lit keys, solid construction, does not rock or slip around my desk. Very comfortable!

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: A great replacement for my beloved Logitech G13. I also own a Razer Nostromo. I.M.O. the Orbweaver is a huge upgrade from the Nostromo.

Pros: really love this. I upgraded from the nostromo which i never used a couple of the inputs on to this which i am now using everything. i didnt think i would like how clicky the buttons are but after the first couple of days it really grew on me.

Cons: the space bar has a strange sensation when you use it. it is more like a paddle than a space bar. this isn't really a con but i i personally don't much care for it. i find myself using the base of the "bar" to activate it because the part that is furthest away from the device feels flimsy.

Other Thoughts: i would say overall i would recommend this to anyone who is interested. if you can get past the price point I'd say it is worth it.

Pros: comfortable palm rest, smooth responsive keys, nice backlight, adjustable, mechanical keys

Cons: no braided cord, thumb controls a complete miss, software can be flakey

Other Thoughts: the palm rest, wrist support and finger accessible keys are perfect. it adjusts nicely and stays in place. the lack of a braided cord is boggling at this price point. the thumb controls are a complete miss. lower thumb button easily triggers at the slightest move. it also catches on the side of my keyboard as it sticks way out there. if this game pad had the thumb controls of the nostromo (originally created by belkin) it would be perfect. definitely an upgrade for me but i'm still fighting to get used to the thumb controls. I docked Razer 1 point for the lack of a braided cord and 1 point for the entire thumb control section of the pad. if you can get used to that and aren't to hard on your cords it's a no brainer.

Pros: Physical hand size/position customization is alright, could be better

Cons: 1) first and foremost - my primary gripe: it claims instant switching between keymaps(not profiles) but it's more like 3 seconds to switch
2) top row is hard to reach, and should be angled - could also reduce key's vertical length
3) keys need more marks/indents/angling for feeling one's way across the pad
4) key actuation distance should be reduced
5) dunno why they switched away from the braided cable to the still low grade cable.
6) imo the keys are just too f-in loud

I've heard people complain about the thumb space-key and joystick but both were great and responsive - best parts of the keypad imo.

Other issues (Not Hardware Issues)
It doesn't come with a software cd - which wouldn't be a problem except the download for the software(synapse 2.0) takes 30 mins for a 10mb file (which corrupted twice before first successful dl so 1.5 hrs) which then takes another hour to update ( I have a 50+Mbps connection). Considering the price tag I should not have had to undergo nearly 3 hours of installation woes of this nature.

Was so excited for this pad and could deal with it's other flaws, but without speedy keymap switching it's worthless... the whole point is mapping more than one hand's worth of keys to the same region... I'll patiently hope and wait for a product revision....

Manufacturer Response:

Hi,

Sorry to hear that you're unhappy with the Orbweaver. We also offer the Orbweaver in a Stealth edition, which comes with Cherry MX Brown switches, so it's significantly quieter.

If you need assistance with using the device and Synapse 2.0, please don't hesitate to contact us at http://razersupport.com/contact-us or by calling 1-888-697-2037.

Thank you for understanding.

Razer Customer Satisfaction

Pros: Been using a Logitech G13. Good product just not very quick updates on the software side and have been using several years and was ready for a change. The feel is more condensed (better) even having bigger hands the g13 was a reach sometimes. Excellent profiles and nice looking design.

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: People need to think before they review, I wrote this after looking at some very poor reviews. For example, mine broke. Everything breaks, that's why there are warranties and with your attitude being "nothing should ever break" I doubt you did get very far. Then I stopped with the next one that said "no braided cord", are you kidding??? Does it advertise a braided cord? There should be something in place to prevent people from giving products bad reviews because of their ridiculous expectations. I've had "bad" experiences with just about every different component at one time or another, I don't say oh, company "x" is garbage because my video card went bad. If we lived in a perfect world products wouldn't have warranties because they would all work first time, every time, and forever. Lower your expectations, be glad when things do work, be courteous as you would expect someone would be to you when you have an issue. And if you choose to review, like "Mr. Braided cord" guy. Does it say, anywhere, (newegg, razers site) that there is a braided cord. And even if it did (which it doesn't) that's really a reason to knock a product down??? And then the other guy who got the poor service it sounds like you were willing to put all of 5 minutes work to resolve the problem. What a spoiled ungrateful people we've become. And I am NOT trying to initiate discussion, just hopefully this is read by Newegg and although people should be free to post bad experiences they should not be able to post negative comments about features/etc that a product never claimed to have. It makes it difficult to make a choice and everywhere else the reviews on this product are pretty good.

Pros: The hardware seems great.

Cons: This new synapse software/driver is junk and has pretty much made me abandon all razer products. Please razer go back to the right way of writing drivers and software.

Pros: Good key response
Nice adjustments for palm and thumb
Green led is ok.
Rubber feet/grips actually hold on some push
Dpad/stick is super sensitive
No scroll
20 keys (22 + Dpad)

Cons: feels breakable
Dpad sensitivity (read thoughts)
lower thumb button is really close to the Dpad
"Razer sized" (read thoughts)
Cord not braided
USB not gold plated
"Razer priced" (read thoughts)
Price, not enough to justify 130usd retail for 1/3 a board.

Other Thoughts: Overall great upgrade from nostromo. More keys the better, no scroll, meeh for me as I learned to use it, not a big deal though to not have it with more keys. Dpad after firmware update was outstanding, really sensitive though. I have larger hands and found just the weight of my thumb resting would move forward (tension adjustment would be a nice feature). The lower thumb button is so close to the Dpad I found myself actuating it as I moved, annoying. Razer tends to make their products for smaller hands and I have trouble with their mouse sizes as well. I'm a hardcore gamer and I'm over 6'2, the adjustments for the palm and thumb extension are great improvements. Getting used to four rows of five keys was not that hard, a few hours and it becomes familiar. Price for this product is not reasonable lacking certain things that should be standard on high quality electronics. I’d gladly pay 90-100usd for this and 150usd for a more sturdy, more detailed product. As this unit feels flimsy, and breakable, defiantly not portable for a traveler. I feel short changed in all as I expect to get a lot from half a board and still pay the same price. Keep your nostromo or don't this is still decent and worth an upgrade if you have had yours a while like I did. No real deal breakers so I will keep it.
PS. Software is glitchy and I needed to close and open the program once or twice in a week to as macro and keys didn’t work. Not sure how many profiles are allowed but 8 key maps on a single profile is nice. Wish I could switch key maps on the fly.