Razer goes mechanical with BlackWidow gaming keyboard

Mechanical keyboards quickly became a trend in the peripheral world, and they are now leaking over into the world of PC gaming with Razer's introduction of the BlackWidow Mechanical Gaming Keyboard.

Mechanical keyboards use a different technology to register key presses. Rather than using the common membrane and scissor-switch style key designs, each key uses its own mechanical switch underneath the cap to actuate the stroke. Mechanical keys require less vertical travel distance to register a press, and therefore add speed and accuracy for the touch typist.

According to Razer, it designed the BlackWidow's key architecture to deliver half the throw action of what you'll find on other mechanical keyboards, such as the Das Keyboard or the Matias TactilePro 3.0, giving you faster key presses during gameplay.

Razer offers the standard BlackWidow ($80) and the Ultimate Version ($130) that nets you a full spread of backlit keys with five levels of lighting configuration, a set of microphone and headphone jacks, as well as an extra USB port. Both models let you program unlimited macros with the capability to switch between 10 profiles with the press of a button.