Anyone have experience with the Razer BlackWidow Tournament Keyboard?

[aref]

I just found this on Amazon and it kind grabbed my interest. I know it has Razer's (China-made) MX Blue-like switches; similar to Cherry MX Blue switches with, I'm told, shorter actuation travel and slightly less noisy. I prefer 10-keyless KBs and am kind of intrigued with this Razer. If anyone has used this KB, I'd really appreciate to hear what you think of it. I've tired/used all of Cherry's switches, and if you can compare it to any of them, it'd be a help. As an aside, I'm thinking about getting the KB for writing, not for gaming. Thanks, GH.

[heyitse-sportsguy]

My experience has been ok, the build quality wasn't bad, and it was plate mounted which is good. The switches for me had a semi noticeable difference in quality from MX Blues, and everything worked well. I never got into the macro feature, but the Windows key lock was good for gaming and it was nice being able to turn the Razer LED logo off. Overall, I think because I got it for $60 it is a good board for the price, especially if you like MX Blues. 

[davkol]

Several redditors have complained about inconsistent switches (feel, click). The keyboard is okay otherwise, especially if you get it on sale like the recent CES one (it went for $40 IIRC), but good luck finding replacement keycaps for the bottom row. And yeah, it's Razer—I don't really consider them an ethical choice.

[aref]

Gentlemen, thank you for your input. I'm not enamored of China-made key switches; I've seen too many quality issues with products I've owned that were made in China. Like my Corsair K65, finding key-caps is real trick. You just save me about 80 bucks; thank you, gentlemen.

[tDr1v3r]

Gentlemen, thank you for your input. I'm not enamored of China-made key switches; I've seen too many quality issues with products I've owned that were made in China. Like my Corsair K65, finding key-caps is real trick. You just save me about 80 bucks; thank you, gentlemen.

The keycaps are compatible. Ish... the switches has the same format as the original MX switches (that's why some of us call it "MX Compatible"), but the buttons at the botttom line (ctrl, win, alt, space, etc) has unique sized keycaps. It's hard to replace it.

Btw my BWTE just arrived like a hour ago, it's a 2013 model with MX Blue switches. Pretty great actually, despite all of what I read... but I regret buying it a little bit because of the non-replaceable bottom buttons. But the quality of the keyboard is awesome, I love how they used the matte-rubberized surface on the housing and the buttons. And the switches are great too (at least how a mech-virgin can see it because this is my first MX-powered keyboard).

[jamster]

Several redditors have complained about inconsistent switches (feel, click). The keyboard is okay otherwise, especially if you get it on sale like the recent CES one (it went for $40 IIRC), but good luck finding replacement keycaps for the bottom row. And yeah, it's Razer—I don't really consider them an ethical choice.

I found one in a store just yesterday and tried the arrow cluster, which was exposed via a demo cutout in the packaging.

The switches even in that four key cluster were inconsistent- two had blue-like clicks and two were quieter and felt slightly mushier (though that could have been a side effect of the lack of click).