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When it comes to gaming peripherals, most gamers do not want to compromise – especially the hardcore ones, since they more or less believe that their performance is being limited by the hardware that they use. Much to most of their chagrin, it is the other way around, and regardless of how good a piece of hardware you are using at the moment, your gaming skills are more or less maxed out some time ago. Well, if you are a staunch believer that your gaming performance will be raised to the next level with the right hardware, then perhaps it is time you checked out the Razer Tartarus membrane gaming keypad.
Specially developed with ergonomic comfort and touting “infinite” customization options, the Razer Tartarus will continue from where the hugely popular, award-winning Razer Nostromo left off. The Razer Tartarus will boast of an increasingly comfortable form factor in addition to 25 programmable keys that will comprise of an eight-way directional thumb pad to boot. This particular thumb pad lets you move around with additional precision, all the while functioning as modifier keys as and when required, which in turn multiplies the keyset count by eight so that you end up with 128 different command options.
Apart from that, there is also support for unlimited macro lengths and unlimited game profiles, and if you are interested in picking one up, it is already available today for $79.99/€79.99 a pop. [Press Release]
Razer Tartarus Membrane Gaming Keypad original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Most PC gamers are content to game on the standard QWERTY keyboard layout, but a select few prefer a special niche peripheral: the keypad. Razer’s been building these single-hand keyboards since it helped Belkin create the n52te SpeedPad and it’s still at it, today announcing the Razer Tartarus. Featuring 15 face keys and 25 programmable buttons (including an eight-way directional thumb pad), the Tartarus is billed as a successor to Razer’s Nostromo — although it actually has more in common with the $130 Orbweaver.
Like the high-end keypad, the Tartarus has fully programmable keys with unlimited-length macro support, Razer Synapse 2.0 for profile syncing and key-binding and the company’s modern design language, but it eschews the Orbweaver’s articulating ergonomics and mechanical keys to hit a lower $79 price point. These efforts shaved 50 percent off of the product’s sticker price, but also cost it an additional row of keys. We spent a few minutes with the device and were pleased at how well it worked right out of the box, handily emulating the standard WASD gaming setup it’s built around. We did miss the Orbweaver’s additional buttons, however, as the smaller keypad’s three-row setup left us reaching for a row of numerical analogs that simply weren’t there. It’s not the game controller for everyone, but it’s good to know that there are options for niche peripheral fans on a budget. Read on for the company’s official press announcement.
Filed under: Gaming
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