Razer Unveils Optical Laptop Keyboard
by Anton Shilov on October 16, 2019 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Keyboard
- Razer
- Notebooks
- Optical Switch
Razer has introduced the industry’s first notebook keyboard based on optical switches. The low-profile keyboard promises tactile feedback of mechanical switches as well as near instant actuation required by gamers. The keyboard will first be used by Razer’s Blade 15 Advanced notebook with more models coming in 2020.
Razer’s new optical laptop switch uses an infrared light beam to detect when a key is pressed. According to the developer, the actuation point of its switch is one millimeter, which allows gamers to input more commands in less time. Meanwhile, the switch features mechanical tactile click to provide a more comfortable typing experience than membrane keyboards.
In addition to the new switches, Razer’s new noebook keyboard supports N-Key Rollover with anti-ghosting as well as Chroma RGB lighting in every keycap.
The first Razer laptop to use the company’s optical keyboard is the Blade 15 Advanced that costs $2,649. As the name suggests, the notebook is equipped with a 15.6-inch display featuring a Full-HD resolution and a 240 Hz refresh rate. The laptop is based on Intel’s six-core Core i7-9750H that is accompanied by NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2070 with a Max-Q design, 16 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2667, and a 512 GB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD.
The mobile PC is equipped with Intel’s Wireless-AX200 Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5 adapter, one Thunderbolt 3 port, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 connector, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 port, two display outputs (a mini DisplayPort and an HDMI), and a 3.5-mm audio jack. Just like other modern laptops, the Razer Blade 15 also has a webcam, a microphone array, and stereo speakers.
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Source: Razer
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Sttm - Wednesday, October 16, 2019 - link
Seems cool. Cannot touch them though with their hardware failure issues.Dragonstongue - Thursday, October 17, 2019 - link
I was having similar thought(s)Last thing I had from them (as well Steelseries) left me with a very bitter taste
based on product support / understanding of situation
simple example, headset I had, earpads failed prematurely
I reached out to Raz..under warranty time-frame (still year left at time)
They tried to "upsell" buying new earpads from their "store"
as they claimed "we only have X to the warranty service place and they are out of stock with no indication they will be having their stock replenished"
at the time I looked to see the price...I would have "saved" at MOST $20 from buying a 100% brand new set from all places I searched for them.
also when I brought up "if you all not used sticky tape that WILL fail with use (heat-sweat with ZERO ability to keep clean *for sure will make tape wear out instantly..found out after they refused as the way they did*
I was no so happy when they said the "new" elliptical version was also NOT compatible with the "base" version as their earpad mounting was not the same...I said WHY, seriously WHY, you all must be forcing folks to rebuy as many times as possible instead of fullfilling obligations to YOUR customers"
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needless to say, while I did enjoy the sound of the set I had, with the "attitude" or at least the perceived way I was "handled" .... will find other products / sellers for my things.
Razer, Steelseries, Motorola, NGREEDIA (Nvidia ;p), Apple, MSFT (kind of, but they are getting "better" since Ryzen - + - Ryzen2 launch (support)
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Anywho, that is my experience with these folks, they can make all kinds of shiny, slap a big price tag on it (which is their right of course)
for my $$$$$$$$$ I find others to support my needs as I do not support greeds *overall*
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p.s then of course there are things like the Razer chat and stuff which even though they seem to be making big $$$$$$ (unless I am completely wrong) they just as quickly "kill" if not faster then they "give" ... I do not believe any real reason as to the why they did such, just a "sorry we will be shutting this down thank you for your support"
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^.^
nico_mach - Thursday, October 17, 2019 - link
It's a keyboard full of lasers from a dodgy OEM. What could go wrong?TropicMike - Wednesday, October 16, 2019 - link
Kinda seems like debris and dust could be a real issue with this design. It looks like there's some kind of dust cap, but at some point, the moving key has to penetrate that and dirt will find a way in.vivekvs1992 - Thursday, October 17, 2019 - link
Its supposed to give great actuation times.. But doesn't the ir beam need an electrical circuit AND a senseor that needs to activate? Can someone explain the ideaJorsher - Thursday, October 17, 2019 - link
Yes, it looks like it's as simple as an IR beam being broken when the key is pressed. The circuitry I can't see being complex -- a sensor and a IR.Circuits have shrunk.
MamiyaOtaru - Friday, October 18, 2019 - link
no bounce, so no chatter (or need to debounce)https://deskthority.net/wiki/Chatter which links here for a little more in depth explanation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch#Contact_bounc...
The extent to which this is an issue on any keyboards in the wild is not something I can comment on. But an IR beam being broken or not would not have any bounce, and no need for processing to eliminate spurious keystrokes, which could theoretically speed things up. I'd be pretty surprised if it was to a degree that anyone could notice.
s.yu - Thursday, October 17, 2019 - link
Sounds like a whole lot of idle power.oRAirwolf - Thursday, October 17, 2019 - link
Remember when Razer had reliable products? Me either.hanselltc - Thursday, October 17, 2019 - link
C'mon, proofread it yall. What do you mean noebook? Wdym one USB 3.1 Gen 2 connector, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 port?