Are you an MMORPG junkie? Do you spend as much time in Azeroth as you do at your day job? Maybe you know Tyria better than your own neighbourhood? If you spend a lot of time performing the same string of button presses, or know how horrible a missing an ability or miss-pressing your keys can be, this keyboard could be your saving grace.
+7 to modified pwnage
So you use 1-0 for your basic commands, with alt+1-0 for the next 10, right? What about alt+shift+1-0? Or alt+shift+ctrl+1-0? Unless you are a contortionist, or you play your MMOs without a mouse, this probably isn’t the most efficient key combination. What if you forget which does row two and which controls row four of your hotkeys? The Anansi has seven ‘thumb modifier keys’ situated just below the space bar. If you don’t need that many rows of spells or abilities available, the keyboard uses a nifty piece of software to allow you to change what various key presses do. Thorny issues of whether you are breaking any ToS or EULA by using these features aside, you can teach your keyboard to use one button to enter in a series of key presses, complete with delays down to the millisecond. Personally I thought this would be great for say, popping a shield, drinking a healing pot and activating a trinket, but there seems to be some contention about the use of these features. Use your own discretion kids.
At this point I should point out that this keyboard isn’t really left-handed friendly, as the thumb keys sit exactly where you want to rest your wrist.
100+ programmable keys
Maybe you have a pile of programs that you keep running on your machine? Set M1 to open your e-mail, or the ever handy calculator. The usefulness of the keyboard isn’t limited to MMORPGs. In Dota 2, I had a macro that made T7 activate Lifestealer’s Rage and Armlet of Mordiggian for six seconds, allowing for an intense burst of damage. You can also switch between profiles at the touch of a button, reducing the time you need to switch between your healing setup versus your DPS key presses.
Mood lighting, baby
Because this is a gaming keyboard, you can disable the pesky windows key by pressing the function button and F11, which puts your keyboard into gaming mode. Now if only it disabled work as well. Keeping with Razer aesthetics, the Anansi has a 16 million colour backlight, which can be set to either slowly move through a range of colours, or make it glow to suit your mood or the rest of your computer’s lighting scheme. For all this lighting power, the Anansi uses two USB ports, something to be kept in mind, depending on your peripheral count. The backlit keys shine through a custom font, adding that little extra of feeling of something unique.
Extra large, slightly alien
The Anansi feels massive. At 515mm wide by 190mm high, this keyboard is not built for sitting on a retractable keyboard tray. I found the footholds to not offer enough resistance on my wood desk, but it sticks in place on my glass desk. At a hefty 1020g, this isn’t really a problem unless you push weights as often as you grind dailies.
As with any slightly different layout or setup, allow time for acclimatisation. One thing I noticed, is that I reorient my hand by finding the left CTRL button, which is generally the key at the bottom left corner. Instead of pressing CTRL though, my hand would be resting over M5, which was one of my macro keys. Needless to say, this can lead to disasters in a dungeon, so get used to the keyboard in a safe environment before trying to main tank that new hard dungeon.
Get a keyboard that works as hard as you do. The Razer Anansi costs about R1000, and it will make you a much better gamer (maybe)!
Last Updated: April 3, 2013
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Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 12:34
Epic review about an epic product by an epic dude
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 12:58
Hmmm, not so epic downvote 😛
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:04
rectified with an upvote
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:04
Right back at ya
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:05
Have another for that!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:05
Ditto, uhhh, tritto?
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:09
This upvote. I like it…. ANOTHA!!!!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:13
NICE!
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:14
Indeed!
Deon Steyn
April 3, 2013 at 13:15
Moar upvotes!
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:19
YES! BRING THE UPVOTES!
Deon Steyn
April 3, 2013 at 13:34
Our upvotes are stronger!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:17
I sense upvotes in the Force
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:21
Inderdaad ou maat
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
April 3, 2013 at 13:31
ME TOO PLS! Upvotes are all that matter to me. trolololol
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:37
Have an upvote!
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 12:48
Great review dude.
Looks like an amazing product. Although I will admit the M keys could have been better placed. I just know I will be hitting one of those keys while going for ctrl at some point hehe.
DaxterZA
April 3, 2013 at 12:53
Nice review, but I would much rather recommend a Mechanical keyboard like the Razer Black Widow…
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 12:57
I need to play on mechanical one first to be able to discern, but very curious to do so!
ElNicko
April 3, 2013 at 13:00
also have a Black Widow – only problem with a Mechanical kb , its very loud , especially during something like WOW with constant key pressing. The thing is sturdy and strong though
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:05
How loud is very loud?
ElNicko
April 3, 2013 at 13:21
it will probably keep up people if youre playing late at night.
and on another note – I see Skippy the Downvote Troll has returned to plague us once again
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:24
Kill it with fiiiiiire
ElNicko
April 3, 2013 at 13:35
will that be enough ?? Better bring some extra napalm along too
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:47
Yeah, one can hope
DaxterZA
April 3, 2013 at 13:22
Depends on what switch you decide on. The “Cherry Blue” switch is used on the Black Widow, it responds and types very nicely, but is also the loudest switch type.
If the loudness bothers you, rather get the Cherry Red or Cherry Brown switches, they all respond in different ways, so its up to the user to decide what he/her prefers.
Take a look at the Cooler Master Mech keyboards, they are cheaper than Razer and offer more switch types.
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4&sort=3a&filter_id=30
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:24
Not a bit fan of the coolermaster brand, get it, fan?
DaxterZA
April 3, 2013 at 13:26
Go go gadget Gigabyte
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=7166
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:28
Another rebeltech regular, have an upvote!
DaxterZA
April 3, 2013 at 13:29
Thank you my good sir, have one yourself! Taaa!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:16
😉
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:22
normal keyboard: tap tap tap click tap tap
Mechanical KB: CLICK CLICK CLANG CLICK BANG CLICK CLICK CLICK
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:23
XDXD
ElNicko
April 3, 2013 at 14:02
that sounds about right
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:04
Mechanical KB’s are great until you try to play quietly lol 🙂
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:22
…
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:22
Nee! Ek sien wat in jou mind nou an gan! Nee!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:26
(don’t think your spelling mistakes in original post went unseen….)
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:31
Drat!
Slade Boender
April 3, 2013 at 12:59
haha ^maybe^. Good Review
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:13
We have some trolls on this page…Skelm downvoters
FoxOneZA
April 3, 2013 at 13:21
I concur, good Sir p_0
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:25
monocle enabled!
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 13:25
Great review man. The sad loser downvotes will cometh! Bring it, bring it on NOW!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:27
I suspect its the 4/10 dafuq trolls still bearing a grudge
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 13:28
Hahah! What NOOBS!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:33
The funny thing is disqus counts up AND downvotes as a vote, so vote away you ignorant fools!
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 13:37
Yeah, I didn’t know that when I had Gumpy my Troll. I don’t know what happened to him. I fear he may had had an accident under his bridge. Very sad 🙁
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:40
Not a tear shed by me, every time a troll dies, a fluffy unicorn is born…
SO FLUFFYYYYYYYYYY
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:43
Whahaahahahaha!!!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:59
EpicFluffyNess10k
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 14:05
No. I think he spawned kids with the amount of upvotes lately. He was on maternity leave. That’s all
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 14:33
NoooooooooO!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:43
“maternity leave”
Hahaha.
Don’t you mean spawning season?
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 14:58
Spawn camping?
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:44
I roll with a diamondback and a lycosa, the diamondback is now almost 8 years old, and still in bewdiful condition, the lycosa is now 4, and has seen the face of war.
Looks like it might be time to replace…….
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 3, 2013 at 13:48
lol, ok why are you guys downvoting each other?
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
April 3, 2013 at 13:51
We aren’t. There be downvoters among us.
BUT HAVE NO FEAR!
THE #UPVOTERSQUAD IS HERE!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:17
OVS, deploy!!!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 13:54
The ones commenting, are the ones upvoting, haha, BANANAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:33
Looks like the troll passed out, haha
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 14:34
I think its camping…
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:35
BACK UNDER THE BRIDGE
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 3, 2013 at 14:59
It might think that it has an overwatch position from within a sewage pipe…
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 15:30
We woke it up XD
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 14:37
Who knew Garth would pull in so many comments! lol! 😉
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 3, 2013 at 14:37
lol so much spam! hahahaha
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 14:39
Haha! The comments here have about as much substance as the inner workings of a downvoting trolls mind!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:42
Oi, I resent that you silly sausage! Some of them have quite the content 😛
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 14:45
Haha! Ya, if you consider the contents of the new KFC Double Down as quality 😉 trololol!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:49
Have you had one yet? Whats innit? Only heard about it on radio
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 14:54
Ya, had one last week. 2 deep fried breasts, with cheese, sauce, fake bacon round thing, near instant heart attack!
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 3, 2013 at 15:06
I was going to get one this weekend, but when I saw another dude eating one (it was practically drowning in oil and fat in the wrapper), I thought… “hell no” and got a box meal instead.
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 14:56
Here is picture, placed on black plate to look classy…
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:57
No bun?
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 15:02
No, the actual chicken IS the bun! 0_O
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 15:06
How doth one ship it?
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 3, 2013 at 15:08
It comes in this weird denim-style wrapper… lol. It’s very weird. When I saw that I thought.. “Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh…. box meal it is”
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 15:10
Yeah, though I must say it was pretty nice, I think I gave it a 7/10 on twitter, with a 100% chance of maiming you if more than one is consumed in one sitting…
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 15:15
ROFL
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 15:30
#MoerseHungryNow
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 15:14
What a weird and wonderful world we live in. Chicken, as buns….BUNS OF CHICKEN!!!
WOOOOOOOT
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 15:37
LOL you are a messy eater…SAUCE ON FOOD
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 15:41
Actually, sauce on right I added! Sauce in middle was there from when the KFC staff member dipped the whole monstrosity into a boiling vat of UBER-USED OIL 0_O
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 15:44
So they dip the WHOLE THING???
#AwesomeHeartBomb
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 3, 2013 at 15:49
Hehe, nah, they deep fry the outside ‘bun’ and the stuff in the middle is added later. Not sure what the round pinkish stuff is supposed to be… In the good ol’ USA it’s two pieces of deep-fried, saturated bacon! MOAR!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 15:51
Bacon wrapped in bacon deepfried XDXD
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 4, 2013 at 13:06
Stil hungry for this!
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 4, 2013 at 13:15
I think I’ll send one out to you man! Just talking about this is wroth at least 50 comments… That way when your loved ones want to look back at who you are, and why led you to the fatal heart attack, they’ll know who to blame. And my work shall be done!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 4, 2013 at 13:19
Nah, strong healthy heart this side!
I’ll just nomnomnom my provitas with cheese and imagine them to be this beastie
Sir Captain Rincethis
April 4, 2013 at 13:25
I had a strong heart, until I took one of these to the… 0_O
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 4, 2013 at 13:37
pfff….EATING COMPETITION CHALLENGE RAISED
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 14:58
73 already!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 3, 2013 at 16:14
This article, and the comment thread, was super fun!
Thanks to all that contributed POSITIVELY!!!
The rest, go suck lemons 😛
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 3, 2013 at 17:47
If we get this to 150 comments, Garth is going to shave his beard and head…
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 4, 2013 at 07:41
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 4, 2013 at 09:06
[insert shaved wookiee joke]
http://www.shavenwookie.com/images/shvsmll03.jpg
Matthew Figueira
April 3, 2013 at 18:37
LIFESTEALER OP! 😛
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 4, 2013 at 07:40
Is that ALL you took out of this?
😛
Matthew Figueira
April 4, 2013 at 13:13
No 😛 but it did stick out for me!
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 4, 2013 at 13:15
Liar, you bloody Dotaslut 😛
Matthew Figueira
April 4, 2013 at 16:25
RUN! SAVE YOURSELF! Its too late for me I’m afraid 😛
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 4, 2013 at 11:51
You know what I hate? This article was so damn good. The product and the company is ACE in my book (Admiral Chief Erwin, get it? :P), the trolling, the fun, all was so damn epic…
The feeling is now all gone, replaced by sadness for the whole Disney Lucasarts thing.
IR SAD