Razer Phantom Keycap Installation No Talking
Razer Phantom Keycap Installation No Talking
Razer Phantom Keycaps:
- spacers
- keycap puller
- prongs
- stabilizer
If you game in the dark, you might be surprised and disappointed with some of Razer's keyboards, like the Black Widow Ultimate: the shifted characters don't light up--not just numbers and "@$#%" but also quotes, semicolons, etc. This is not a big deal but it does start to become an annoyance for those of us in low light or dark conditions.
The Razer Doubleshot PBT Keycap set solves this problem, though that isn't its main purpose. It just happens that the shifted keys are designed to light up the shifted characters. These keys are designed for gaming (okay, but does this mean that other Razer keyboards are not designed for gaming?).
They're sturdier, which honestly doesn't seem necessary--most keyboards will survive long hours of WASDing provided you don't slam your fist against it when things don't go your way.
The big gain though is they have this nice tactile feel that's just a bit coarse. It's a faintly stippled texture that grips the fingertips a bit better.
IMPORTANT TIPS:
The package is neatly fit into four trays. It comes with a key puller that makes it easy to remove the keys, but for a MECHANICAL keyboard you really want to tread lightly as you pull keys like SPACE, SHIFT, and ENTER - they're on metal hinges and it takes patience to figure out how to slip the key first off one side's hook and then off the other. The instructions should have spent a bit more time showing you how to properly separate these keys - I take neighboring keys off to give me room to maneuver.
Slide the key to the left until it unhooks from the right side, then lift the unhooked right side upwards and slide to the right - the key will unhook from the left side. Reverse the process to put the new key on. If you're having a hard time keeping the wire bracket steady while you line things up, use one 'fingertip' of the key puller to get under everything and hold it in place.
Keys like these that hook onto a metal retainer clip also require you to stick fittings on the underside of the key - they don't seem like they'll fit, but it just takes pressure, patience and persistence to snap them in place. The fittings aren't symmetrical, so you'll want to examine the key you removed to figure out which way the fitting should be pointed - look closely!
If they key won't fit when installed, or it fits but then won't come back up, just be patient, check the fittings and the hooks, and try again.
This kit does NOT come with O-rings, so if you have a yen to do something different, now would be the time to nab a set of your favorite ones. If your keyboard has O-rings, don't forget to pull those off the old keys and slip them on the new ones before installing the key.
Overall, for the price this is a nice kit and the keys feel good. The key puller works well. Razer could have spent a bit more time documenting the trickier mechanical keys and the fact that the underside fittings aren't symmetrical, but patience should get you though. It would also have been useful if Razer lit the shifted keys on all of their keyboards--there are a number of people who game in low light.