Oooh, more new kit....

[Nick]

Following on from our exclusive review of the RAPTOR GAMING M2 mouse (look here), a nice man has just dropped off this beauty..



The RAPTOR GAMING K1 gaming keyboard.

A quick look through the leaflets in the box show this isn't just a standard keyboard dressed up as a 'gamerz k3yb0ard'.

It comes with 8 non-slip, glow-in-the-dark replaceable keys and a little key removal tool to whipe them out with.

There's 2 USB 1.1 ports, the left hand Windows key is ready locked to save accidental in game pressing (can be unlocked if needed).

Features full N-Key-Roll-Over, meaning all keystrokes are transferred to the game, even when you bang em simultaneously... eliminating that keyboard overload beep mid-game.

Developed alongside the Cherry, it's got gold corsspoint contacts and a 30% shorter stroke than conventional keyboards (so it says here) making each key good for up to 50 million presses... right, time to get typing to test that one out...

[herulach]

I want to work for hexus damn it, you get all the cool stuff. Whats it like to actually type on? IS the short stroke really obvious? i was all set for getting a dinovo until i actually used one, and theyre worse than laptop keyboards.

[Lee H]

Lookin' good and if it was done with the help of cherry its gonna feel right as well

I want one *cries and throws rattle from the pram*

[Nick]

It feels cool to work with and the shorter keystroke is noticeable compared to my previous keyboard (Logitech Elite)

It's a much smaller foot print on the desk as the ctrl,alt and windows keys are the same standard square size as the letter keys. This means the arrow keys have been shifted over to sit partially underneath the return and right shift buttons.

And the page up/page down, home etc buttons are not in there own group but moved up above the number pad... which is odd when a near-touch typer like myself reaches for the delete key.

The good thing is, that with the exception of a few buttons, every button is the same size, allowing you to put those 8 glow-in-the-dark buttons wherever you want... and you have more room on your desktop to move your keyboard arounnd if you like to use the arrow keys rather than wasd.

The closer grouping of the arrow keys means that there's more keys easy reach than usual key layouts, so if you like the arrow keys, this could become an option again...

[webbyman]

looks nice but how about the cost

[Byatt]

the left hand Windows key is ready locked to save accidental in game pressing

Every keyboard should have this feature.

[beanbandit]

looks nice but how about the cost

Overclockers have them on "This week only" for £80. Bit too much for a keyboard imho.