The Razer Lycosa
On paper, the Razer Lycosa is an amazing accomplishment in gaming technology. Fast response times (supposedly 1 millisecond), the ability to use any key as a macro, a backlit keys, a touch sensitive panel for volume, profile, and media control, and a comfortable rubberized feel to every key. I waited months to find this keyboard finally released for sale after Razer announced that it was coming.
In practice, the design has many flaws. Some of which are simple design decisions that Razer had to make in the name of innovation, but many seem to stem from manufacturing shortcomings. In fact, in researching for this site, it appears that there is even a new revision of the Razer Lycosa now being sold. It is my belief that you can have one of the world’s most amazingly featured products in a category, yet still fail to capitalize on that if your manufacturing capability is not to the standards your customers expect. Here, I will show you pictures of my keyboard and demonstrate some of the flaws both inherent to the design of the Razer Lycosa, and made evident in the build process for these keyboards.
Wear and Tear
As you can see in the above images, this keyboard has endured a great deal of wear and tear in the months since I purchased it. I used it on the same desk without moving it from the day it was first brought into my home. It served as my primary desktop’s keyboard from November of 2007 until late May of 2008, when the right hand shift key completely failed to register presses. The rubberized coating on the Lycosa’s keys felt comfortable, but wore away on the arrow keys after only two months. Largely a cosmetic issue, but an unpleasant one.
Hypersensitive Media Controls
It is a difficult task to reach for anything on the upper right corner of your desk area without brushing something against the media control keys of the Razer Lycosa. The brush of a thumb, or occasionally even foreign objects would be able to hit the controls for the Lycosa with unexpected consequences. Additionally, the sensor to change backlight modes is right beneath the location for the volume up control. Many times, I found myself having to mess with turning on my keyboard backlight when trying to adjust volume.
Invisible Keys in Daylight
Fortunately, I have been able to touch type for over a decade on the standard US 101/104 key layout, otherwise the Lycosa would have seemed almost impossible to use with the backlight disabled. The keys are hard to make out even up close and under direct lighting if the backlight is off. The media keys are even worse, as they only appear when backlit. Great idea for appearance, not so good for function.
Component Failure
My shift key died. What more can I honestly say? Only that in a world where keyboards are routinely designed with millions of keystrokes intended before a failure, mine died in under a year.
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?