Customer Reviews
Too flimsy 
2008-10-02
I have had this keyboard for approximately 6-8 months and I just have to say that I am dissappointed in the quality of this keyboard. I have had other Microsoft keyboards that are not supposed to be gaming keyboards that have lasted me longer than this one did. I will not be buying this keyboard ever again.
Great 
2008-08-25
A great product,however it is quite a bit bigger than a standard keyboard and that tends to make you miss keys when your not accustomed to it. The backlight is great and is nice for gaming in the dark. However I got done for shipping, got a bone to pick with amazon, but all in all a great product.
great keyboad 
2008-07-20
I have been very happy with my keyboad. It works great in low light situations and even better in no light!
Is it the Keyb too sensitiive or is my fault? 2008-07-01
I really like this keyb. It is absolutely fancy, mmatch my PC coolors and add a soome style to my desk.
Hoow dooes it works? Not that goood IMO. Great when gaming, but so far horrible typing a docuument.
II come from a very standard keyb, one of those for 10 bucks att any store, and typing docs and email i never had typo issues. Noisy clicks, mayybe yes, not fanncyy look, ok.. for 10 bucks, but no typo mistakes whatsoever.
The Reclusa, looks nice, has a soft keyb, not too noisy, but for me is a nightmare to type on. mayybe tooo sensitiive, but thhere is no way to really fix thhe problem. I already set evverything I could at low sensitivity. Ok I''ll show you what I mean:
-- Starting now, I am typing withhout fix alll the typo errors gennerated by thhe kkeyboard. As you can see, it''s a nightmare. of course iit possibble it s mme, althou withh my old keybb iit never hhappened and at mmyy office i have no issues wiithh a bbasic DDELLL kkeybb. ----
So, now you have an idea. I am tryinng to get used to it. Writiing a documents takes ages now and I am not happy for this. It is possible I will send it back if i cannot improve my typing skills on it.
I will give it a shot, and that s why I set 2 stars. otherwise it would be only 1 star. All the othher functionalities are absolutely OK and a snap to programm.
Unfortunately, if u cannot use a keyb to type, in my mind it fails the reasoon why it exists.
I've bought two 2008-05-27
I'm a computer science guy, and I'm very picky when it comes to accessories to my computer. Keyboards and mice have to feel just-so, monitors can't have the flicker I see on 75% of LCD screens, etc.
I picked up one of these on a whim when CompUSA went out of business (at 70% off), and fell in love with it. Even though it bears the Microsoft logo (which generally means average quality), it bears the marks of the quality engineering of the Razer co-developers.
Yes, as other people have said, the software for it is terrible, and by default, the eject button will eject your CD. But -- you can set the keyboard to control Winamp (or Windows Media Player) instead, and then the play/shuffle/eject/next/previous keys on the keyboard control your mp3 player *from inside a game*. If I'm playing a full-screen game and a song I want to skip comes on my playlist, I no longer have to alt-tab out and back in (which can take ages, or crash some games) -- I can control winamp directly from inside of the game. Including the volume, which is also awesome.
I also disable the buttons which launch Firefox and Thunderbird when in full-screen mode, so as to avoid accidentally punching them (though after using the keyboard for a week, I no longer do so), and don't see any use for the copy/paste buttons or the left jog dial (which works just like a mouse scroll button).
However, the ability to control Winamp from inside of a game + the LED backlighting (which is critical in low light situations) + the very well-tuned feel of the keys made me like the keyboard so much, I bought a second one for my second main computer. I highly recommend it.
Fantastic Keyboard 2008-03-29
Games are fun but can be very serious and tense. That's why an ordinary keyboard just won't do. You need a keyboard that's specifically designed to withstand the challenges of gaming. The Microsoft Reclusa is the second collaborative effort between Razer and Microsoft Hardware. Featuring 12 programmable gaming hotkeys, including two 360-degree jog dials, it comes with advanced features and best-in-class design elements that will set gamers apart from their competitors. While this can also be used as a regular keyboard, as well, the Reclusa with Razer technology has been optimized for game performance. Connect it to your PC and claim the winner's edge. On-The-Fly Profile Management - Users can create and store Key Mapping and Macros for each game profile; keyboard software also automatically assigns different game profiles for supported games Detachable Padded Wrist Rest - Ergonomically designed for exceptional comfort Approximate size - 551mm (length) x 236mm (breadth) x 61mm (height) USB Cable with gold-plated port Gold-plated USB Ports Provides additional peripherals plug-in access with maximum conductivity.
My lighted Reclusa keyboard 2008-02-26
I love this product. It has all the features I hoped for. It is easy to use & looks great. I'm sorry I did'nt get sooner.
Awesome Keyboard 2008-02-13
I purchased the Microsoft Reclusa a little over a month ago, and I must say that this is an awesome keyboard. The board has a great feel when typing and is very responsive to the slightest touch. It is also a comfortable board to type on and comes with an optional wrist pad (I prefer not to use those).
As a gaming keyboard it has been great! The board software is easy to use, and makes setting up macros hassle free... I have read reviews where people are disappointed that the Reclusa does not have more macros, but for my purposes it has been perfect. The board also has two knobs that can be set up to control volume or can also be used to store macros.
The blue led looks awesome. The light coming from under the keys creates a perfect illumniation for typing/ gaming late at night. Though the led cannot be adjusted, I feel that it gives off the perfect amount of light.
I use my computer for gaming and word processing/ web applications. I have concluded that this board offers the perfect combination for gaming and comfortable typing, and I would highly recommend it.
YAY! 2008-01-23
I bought this keyboard, not as a gaming keyboard as it is touted, but as just an everyday regular keyboard for the system that I just built. The keyboard my fiance had given me for the system was really getting on my nerves because it had the laptop type keys, and I kept mistyping. I was looking for a nice keyboard that had regular keys, but I wanted to have backlighting (my system has all kinds of blue light up stuff). I looked at most of what was available, and decided on this one.
The keys are easy to hit, and have a really nice tactile feel to them. I like clicky keys, and while these aren't super clicky, they are just enough so that they feel really good. I haven't really played with any of the macro keys, but like I said, I didn't really buy this keyboard for gaming (even though I do game).
I agree with the previous poster that the shiny plastic part on the top is going to be really scratch prone, and I am also a little disappointed that it doesn't have the Razer logo on it. All in all, I might not have spent so much on a keyboard had I not had a gift card, but I am glad that I was able to get this one. It does what I need it to do without making me crazy. If I were a true gamer, I could see that this may not be the best choice out there, but for my purposes, it is the perfect addition to my system.
{EDIT} Also happily works with my mac. I was concerned that I would not have volume control and eject available on this keyboard through the Mac. I am very excited that it works great, and I can get rid of my Mac keyboard and mouse in order to use this keyboard and the Razer Diamondback G3. I have both the PC and Mac set up on the same desk and having two of each was making me nuts! Now I just need to get a switch so there isn't unplugging each time I decide to go from one to the other!
Keyboard is a pain to use 
2008-01-12
Wow, what a disappointment. I was hotly anticipating this Christmas present but after giving it a chance for two weeks I finally gave up on one of the most unusable keyboards I have ever seen.
To start with, the special purpose buttons are rather limited--five on the left, five on the right, and two dials. Bizarrely for a gaming keyboard, they come preset mostly to media functions (eject, play/pause) and document functions (copy, paste, etc.). This is a gaming keyboard in name only.
The backlighting is not nearly as impressive as the pictures indicate. 90% of the backlighting bleeds between the keys, in fact the bleed is brighter than the illuminated key lettering! The function keys barely light up at all.
Basic keyboard functions such as sleep and console lock are absent and in fact can't be added to the supposedly programmable multipurpose keys. The programmable keys won't run shortcuts with arguments properly, so while you can create a sleep shortcut icon in Windows these keys refuse to run it. Still worse, if you program the keys to launch an app, that app sometimes isn't given the focus. WTF?! Pathetic.
In fact Microsoft's rather plain media keyboard has way more special keys on it, from media keys to document keys to sleep and lock, as well as having five programmable keys that work they way they are supposed to.
But that's not the Reclusa's worst failing. No, by far the one show-stopper that made me send it back to Amazon is the fact that six of the programmable keys are sitting right next to some of the most used keys on the keyboard and as a touch typist I was constantly hitting them by mistake. If you use the numeric keypad at all you are guaranteed to hit the eject button by accident instead of Enter, and similarly the keys on the other side are far too close to Shift, Caps Lock, and Tab. They aren't sunken keys either, they are fully sized reguarly keyboard keys, hence the ease of pressing them by mistake. How Razer and Microsoft could let this ergonomic howler through is beyond me. Someone was totally asleep at the wheel on this one.
Also annoying are that the key faces are flatter and while the key response is a bit better I found the key action much less comfortable.
I have gone back to my cheapie Microsoft media keyboard, which cost less than half this one and works ten times better. Apart from the USB ports and the welcome absence of the F Lock key, this keyboard has absolutely NOTHING to recommend to gamers or anyone else.
