ROCCAT RYOS MK Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with Per-Key Illumination, Blue CHERRY MX Key Switch

First of all, I love mechanical keyboards. It's a shame that all keyboards aren't mechanical. There are quite a few otherwise impressive keyboards that are worthless because they lack those sweet sweet mechanical key switches. I favor the blues, I like the feel and I love the 'clickyness' I even enjoy annoying those around me who have to listen while I pound out the occasional angry email.If you use the DVORAK keyboard layout then you NEED this keyboard. I have not found any other keyboard that is as programmable as this one. I was able to re-program the keys to the DVORAK layout, and this programming lives in the hardware... meaning you can plug this keyboard into any computer after you program it and BAMMIE WHAM! you have a DVORAK keyboard without changing any computer settings. The keyboards that I used before this was the Razer BlackWiddow which you can reprogram the keys using the Razer Synapse driver software.... only issue is that synapse has to be running for your programming to work. So when I boot up It takes a couple minutes before I can start typing with DVORAK which can be terribly frustrating. And of course, if you boot into your BIOS you will be stuck with dumb old QWERTY... That is IF the BlackWiddow is even recognized at all... which I have had mixed results with. However; this amazing keyboard worked with the BIOS of my ASUS motherboard where the BlackWiddow did not.I don't have time to list all the amazing things this keyboard can do... It's 300% worth the money!Pros: Most programmable keyboard I have found. Lights are cool as hell.Cons: Software isn't the easiest to use. Huge built-in (non-removable) wrist rest. No choice of LED color - stuck with blue.Make sure you also get the free ROCCAT Power-Grid software and app for your smartphone. Available for Android and iOS (in case you like boring phones with tiny screens)**Stardock WindowBlinds users** If you use Stardock WindowBlinds you will have to disable it before using the software to program this keyboard or it will hang when you try to make a selection from the drop-down. Once you are done programming you can re-enable WindowBlinds, It seems to cause no other issue.

I want the two hours of my life back that I spent trying to get the LED lights to work. It doesn't come with drivers in the box. The ROCCAT website has a drivers section that has drop downs but no drivers for this keyboard (Ryos FX). The drivers for this keyboard are on the product page for it way on the bottom, but not on the drivers page. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers and swarm several times and even tried some hacks I found on the net. No thanks to ROCCAT support which is a 1-2 day response by email and no phone number, ultimately I got it to work by discovering a link to the control panel but it still doesn't work in Swarm.The second disappointment is the audio in jack. It works only as a pass through. This is not really ROCCAT's fault. But I was hoping it would recognize when I plugged in a headphone the way my PC does. It does not. You can probably make some macro to switch outputs but I'm not interested in wasting more time on that. So even though that was one reason I chose this one over some other ones, I'm not going to use it after all.Overall, the size and feel of it is great. This has the wrist rest (pad?) built in which is good if your keyboard hangs over the desk a little like mine does, and you don't have to worry about dropping the pad. I got the blue keys and I love how they feel. Reminds me of the old school electric typewriter keyboards. They are not silent though so if you are in the room with a light sleeper it will almost certainly bother them.The main reason I got this was for the LEDs. Other than the problems I had getting it implemented, the only other disappointment was that I thought they were multi colored. They are only blue. Or at least I can only get blue. I'm still not 100% confident with the drivers and software. Not a big deal though. I have it set so that only my J F and 5 keys are lit, this makes it much easier to find my finger position in the dark. Then when you hit shift or ctrl, different keys light up. So it's easier to do a ctrl-C etc.

I've owned this keyboard for a while before writing this review and it's still holding up strong. The software interface has survived the upgrade between a few versions of Windows but I'm sold on the quality of this keyboard. The wrist rest is a big deal in comfort. The extra functionality that I was interested in when I first bought the keyboard has gone mostly unused but now that I'm playing an MMO I have some ideas of what to do with it.My only complaints are that the switches are loud and the LEDs are not very replaceable. For the switches, that's what you get for buying MX blue. But for the LEDs, as my keys are dying out in increasing numbers it's looking like I'll be forced to retire the keyboard or acquire a soldering iron. Keep in mind that I've been using this product extensively for 3 years and the idea of upgrading did not cross my mind until I started writing this review.I highly recommend this product.

I have had this keyboard for about 2 years now. I really wanted to like it.While mechanically the keyboard is fantastic the software for it is horrible. I constantly have issues with it. For over a year I have had an issue in which I can not start the macro configuration application reliably. Sometimes I can get it after an hour of trying. Even when I do get it, it is buggy. For 6 months I had to live with the incorrect / non-default mapping coming up on startup, making it very difficult to type in my windows password. And after all this time they have still not fixed this issue!For the price there are keyboards out there which use the same cherry keys but have actual WORKING software. Avoid this keyboard.

awesome keyboard. great flexibility

*UPDATE 2019: Keyboard still works great, other than losing a few lights. But for the years of heavy use, this is completely acceptable imo.Very sturdy and responsive keyboard, but beware of the software... it has a bunch of compatibility problems. So much that one of the Frequently Asked Question on the keyboard support page is "I can't open the Ryos driver". If you don't happen to have any issues with the Driver software, every other aspect is top notch. Very customizable and the keys feel amazing.6 months Update: Keyboard is working as new, keys remain crisp and responsive. Software works as intended.