Today I have another product from our friends at Raptor-Gaming, up on the review block today is the Raptor-Gaming K2 keyboard. This keyboard has quite a bit of features including a ‘game-mode’ where you can set all sorts of macros, along with extra keys for multiple other functions. Most gaming keyboards are just that, gaming keyboards, the Raptor-Gaming K2 is made to be used as an everyday keyboard as well, you could say it is a gaming keyboard that features common functions for ease of everyday use. Read on to learn more about this very cool and feature packed keyboard…
RAPTOR-GAMING K2 Keyboard
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: RAPTOR-GAMING
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
RAPTOR-GAMING K2 Keyboard
The buttons of the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 have a very soft and particularly short keystroke. This feature offers utmost velocity and extreme reactivity advantages when playing games on the PC while at the same time increasing the entry speed and reactivity. The included hand/wrist rest offers more comfort for your wrists even in long battles. In addition, the button surface of the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 is by 20% larger than on common keyboards, enabling you to reach the buttons fast and easily even in hectic and intensive situations.
Due to its intended use in video games on your computer, the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 has been designed for long durability with a minimum of 20 million button operations, making the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 one of the must durable keyboards available. Additional buttons for accessing the Windows calculator, the email program, the Internet browser and the standby button are also included in the RAPTOR-GAMING K2, as well as 4 central additional buttons for volume control and selecting the multimedia program. The included RAPTOR-LOAD software enables you to individually block, configure or remap buttons (e.g. button A to button R) and to program complete button sequences and combinations on a single button. The manifold features for customizing the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 are complemented by the option to program and save up to 40 macros.
Technical details:
RAPTOR-LOAD software to program personal settings
Lifecycle of the individual standard buttons: > 20 million operations
Insensible to dirt and fluids
Constantly precise keystrokes
Compact, symmetrical design plus detachable hand/wrist rest
20% larger button surface
Weight: approx. 880g (31.04oz)
2.5 m long USB cable
Dimensions: 462 x 175 x 36mm (18.19 x 6.98 x 1.42)
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Delivery Content:
RAPTOR-GAMING K2
Hand/wrist rest
Manual (german, english)
Information sheet technical details (german, english)
RAPTOR CD with RAPTOR-LOAD
Hardware and Software requirements:
Windows 2000, Windows XP (Home and Professional), XP x64
64MB RAM memory or above recommended
7 MB free hard disk space for RAPTOR-LOAD software
Free USB port
(On a side note this review happens to mark review number 150 for DragonSteelMods and well over 300 for me personally!!!!)
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A Better Look at Things
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Black and silver seems to be the theme for Raptor-Gaming products on their packaging, the K2 is no different in that respect. The K2 comes wrapped in plastic, and you can plainly see the keyboard on the front of the box.
The back and sides of the box list all the features and specs and a few close up pictures of the main features as well.
Opening the box up we find the K2 keyboard wrapped up in plastic for protection, along with the wrist rest wrapped separately.
Getting everything out of the box we find the keyboard, the wrist rest, user manual, driver/software cd and some informational sheets pertaining to the specs and features of the K2.
The Raptor-Gaming keyboard is a full sized keyboard, the first thing I noticed was the buttons below the space bar and the extra LED indicator on the top above the function keys, the indicator is for the ‘game-mode’.
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A Better Look at Things
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The extra buttons below the space bar are your basic media buttons to control volume, mute and open your default media player.
Taking a closer look at the buttons going across the top, we find a calculator, email, home page and on/off above the numeric keypad. You’ll also notice the numeric keypad has copies of other buttons as well like page up/down, home, end and cursor buttons. Above the normal page up/down set of keys we find the standard buttons except for the center one which is to enable the game-mode of the Raptor-Gaming K2.
The standard function keys also double as special function buttons, the F9,F10, and F11 buttons are also search, my computer and favorites buttons.
The F1-F8 buttons also double as other functions as well, the F1-F4 block is your basic internet functions, back,forward, stop and refresh, while the F5-F8 block is your main multimedia controls.
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A Better Look at Things
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Flipping the K2 over we find the standard identification label and we find four small rubber feet to keep the keyboard in place while using it.
The K2 also features retractable feet along the top edge to bring the keyboard up at an angle for more comfortable typing if you prefer.
The K2 features a detachable wrist rest if you wish to use it, the wrist rest just clips on to the bottom of the K2. The wrist rest does make the K2 a bit larger than it already is, so if you are limited on desktop space you may not want to use it.
The K2 is a rather large keyboard overall, as big as any standard sized keyboard, actually a bit bigger than most. I personally prefer a smaller keyboard myself, but I did find that after using the K2 for a little more than a week I got used to its size fairly quickly.
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Installation, Testing and Comparison
Installation is easy, just find an open USB port and plug it in, Windows XP installs it automatically and you can start using it. If you really want to use all the features, like the game mode of the K2 then you will need to also install the Raptor-Load software which will allow you to program your macros and change other settings.
The Raptor-Load software is easy to use, one of the interesting features is that it will allow you to deactivate any key on the keyboard for game mode, this helps so you don’t accidentally hit a key you don’t want to while gaming. You can deactivate all the keys except those you use for gaming if need be, so you can just play and have no worries at all.
The Raptor-Load software also allows you to remap keys as well, you can swap ‘A’ for ‘F’ if you wanted to, along with of course the ability to create up to 40 different macro button combinations, up to six, that you can tie to a single key press. Personally I don’t use macros much, but for the review I did of course and found them to be very easy to program and use during gaming. You can also program button sequences, this allows you to configure the K2 so that pressing one button will will create a four button combination. You can also change the timing of the macros and button combinations in milliseconds to slow them down or speed them up.
Using the keyboard for everyday use did take me a bit to get used to, the keys are in different places than I am used to, but that is a common problem for anyone that switches to a different keyboard. If you read my review of the Raptor-Gaming M3 mouse, (find it HERE), you’ll note that I mentioned the mouse has a texture sort of like rubber, the K2 features the same textured surface on its keys as well. The keys themselves are also a bit larger than standard sized keys, and are curved in as well for better control over your key presses.
Another small feature is the ‘caps lock’ key, it is sort of a half key, it is a full sized key but half of it is set at an angle downward so you don’t accidentally press it like you do on other keyboards. Also below and to the the right of the control key is an odd looking key, Raptor-Gaming calls it the KeyM@n key, this key is for accessing the dual functions of the function keys, sort of like the ‘Fn’ or function button you’d find on other specialized keyboards.
As I mentioned, everyday use of the K2 is fine, I found the large keys to be very easy to use, and the shorter key press actually made my typing a bit faster. The keys are soft to the touch, and quiet when pressed, so no loud clicks will be heard during those late night gaming sessions… The keys of the K2 are very sensitive, and I found myself actually double keying things until I figured out the sensitivity of the keys.
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For gaming I found the K2 a bit not to my liking, but that is just for my personal key configurations, I don’t use the standard W,A,S,D control combinations, I use the cursor keys for movement and the keys around it remapped to other functions like jump, crouch etc. I found the K2 to be a bit to far spaced apart in that area of the keyboard for me to use comfortably, it seemed I had to stretch my fingers farther than other keyboards. As I said though, that is just me, and those that use the standard key configurations will be fine. I did play games with the standard key configurations as well, and I found that being able to deactivate keys is a very nice feature as to prevent accidental key presses.
The K2 is a very capable keyboard, the extra sensitive buttons make gaming a breeze, and can actually make your typing skills a bit better. The quality of the K2 is excellent, it is a very sturdy and well made keyboard that should last for quite sometime, overall I found no real issues with the K2, besides personal preference ones… and the fact that it is a bit large making it not very portable, but, then again most gaming keyboards are big…
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Summary:
For a gaming keyboard the Raptor-Gaming K2 is an excellent keyboard, in fact it is an excellent all around keyboard as well. Like the other Raptor-Gaming products I have reviewed, I found the K2 to be an excellent quality product that anyone would be very happy with. If you are in the market for an excellent gaming and general use keyboard then this is for you, I can honestly recommend it to anyone…
DragonSteelMods gives the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 Keyboard a 5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.
Pros:
-Excellent quality
-Multi-purpose
-Fully configurable
-Many options for configurations
-Comfortable for general use
-Sensitive keys
-Included detachable wrist rest
-Very long cord
Cons:
-A bit large, not quite portable
I would like to thank Raptor- Gaming for the chance to review the K2 Keyboard and for their continued support of DSM.
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