Get Razer Tartarus Gaming Keypad

CUSTOMER REVIEW



Assuming you already know why you want a keypad and are trying to choose the right one, skip to paragraph three.



First full disclosure, I have been an XBOX gamer since it first came out and was one of the first 20k accounts on Xbox Live! As it's been over a decade and I'm now 26 years old and married I've grown a little tired of the screaming 14 year olds and wanted a big change. I went PC. After years and years of xbox controller gaming with the majority of my collection being shooters like Halo and Call of Duty the transition to a mouse keyboard wasn't coming easily and I was seeking an alternative. Enter the Tartarus.



The Razer Tartarus (or any other gaming keypad for that matter) is essentially a mappable, half-keyboard with a more ergonomic design and maybe a couple added buttons. It appealed to me because it essentially places your hand on the correct keys and being new to PC gaming I was having a lot of trouble staying on the WASD keys, I also play on a low input lag high refresh rate 46in panel in my living room (console gamer habits die hard) so this gives me the opportunity to play on a lap desk sitting on my couch.



PARAGRAPH THREE, THE REVIEW:

The Tartarus looks the same as the Orbweaver but has fully backlit keys, not just the characters. The Tartarus uses membrane keys versus the more expensive mechanical alternative, by doing this it manages to be fairly affordable while retaining most the features of the more pricey Orbweaver. Other than the keys the differences are that the Tartarus has fewer keys than the Orbweaver. The Tartarus also has a couple features that the Orbweaver does not, it has a fully backlit keypad and a braided USB cord. Rather than write a big story on features I'll just list pros / cons.



PROS:

* Very nice, high quality, and extremely ergonomic feel. I've gamed 4+ hours strait on it and not had any noteworthy fatigue or wrist pain, certainly not something I could have said of any keyboard I've used. This in my opinion is the main reason to consider a keypad.

* For membrane keys, they feel excellent. Razer quality is certainly present here in not only the keys but also the braided cord.

* Fully mappable keypad, very cool spacebar button, and an extra button right over the 8 way knob that is defaulted to "ALT" but can be mapped to anything.

* 2 position adjustable handrest for large man hands and small child / girly hands.

* Excellent grip surface underneath, this thing won't slide around during use.



Neutral Notes (there aren't any true cons in my opinion):

* Braided cord is only 6 Ft long. I'm listing this as a con because when you pay $80 for half a keyboard, I am of the opinion that cord length should lean toward the excessive, not the short. This is really more of a neutral note as for a lot of people this won't matter at all.

* Razer Synapse 2.0, the software that this depends on is good, but not great. It will sometimes crash and isn't the easiest to understand. The reason this is a con is that if synapse stops working mid game, your device forgets it's settings so you're basically screwed.

* The 8 way stick is not in anyway a joystick, I wish it was, but it isn't. I tried mapping it to WASD and it's pretty terrible. I think you'll find it most useful to use as a "quick flick" selector for spells or weapons, etc. and will probably only want to map 4 directions as 8 gets really tricky to hit just right.



I hope I gave you some good info, for the money I do not believe the Tartarus can be beat in terms of value for a keypad. Now if someone out there will step up and make a wireless one my life will be complete. (Steelseries, you listening? haha)