Redragon K550 RGB Gaming Keyboard, 104 Keys + 12 Macro G Keys Wired Mechanical Keyboard w/Aluminum Top Plate, Custom Clicky Purple Switch, Extra USB Port & Wrist Rest

This is by far the best mechanical keyboard with many macro keys that I have come across since I got my original Gateway 2000 Anykey keyboard with my Gateway 2000 computer back in 1994. I've tried a number of keyboards since, but this one is the first to have all the features of the Anykey, plus more, all at a very reasonable price. Yes, older versions of the Corsair K95 had 18 macro keys to the Redragon Yama's 12 (the Anykey also has 12), but for $200, the old Corsair K95 just didn't really provide significant additional value. Neither did the various Logitech keyboards of years past that provided large numbers of macro keys. And today, it seems to be impossible to find a keyboard with at least 12 macro keys that is sold as new. Most keyboards, including the Corsair K95 and K100, have a maximum of 6 dedicated macro keys.The K550 Yama is no longer listed on the main Redragon site, although you can still find it on their redragonzone.com site. For this reason, if you're considering buying this keyboard new, you might want to do so in the not too distant future.The keyboard can be run strictly as a plug-and-play keyboard, with full macro key functionality available, available with a wide variety of 18 preprogrammed lighting schemes. Or you can download software designed specifically for the K550 Yama, which allow you to reprogram just about any key on the keyboard, either with a single key replacement or a custom macro - just like the Anykey. You can also create your own custom lighting schemes. The software comes with three custom profiles, so you can easily switch from one to the other depending on your needs at the time.The biggest gripe that people have with this keyboard is that by default, when macros are recorded, the delay implicit in typing the macros is recorded with the macros themselves. This appears to be a rather bad design decision, but fortunately it's very easy to overcome via an undocumented feature. If you don't want any delays between keypresses when your G macro is replayed, simply hit the Rec button twice quickly (instead of once) when you start to record your macro. Normally, any time you hit the Rec button, it will toggle its state between lit and unlit. But if you hit it rapidly enough twice in succession (which isn't very hard), it will light up after the first hit and stay lit after the second. Any macro you record now will not have any delays.The other problem people have is that they can't find the current software for the K550 Yama, as it isn't listed with the software for Redragon's other keyboards. As I mentioned earlier, the K550 Yama is no longer listed on the main Redragon site, and so you have to go to a different Redragon site to find the K550 Yama and its software. You can find everything you need at https://www.redragonzone.com/pages/download. There's an image of the K550 in the second column, third from the bottom. If you click on this image, you get a little popup window that contains a link to the actual software in the form of a zip file. Don't be discourage by the fact that the first two files in the zip file are in Chinese; the third file is the actual program, and it is entirely in English. It also appears to work fine.Using the software, you can also save and restore your configurations.All in all, this is a fantastic keyboard at a great price, and the availability of RGB lighting with essentially unlimited lighting schemes, plus a few extra dedicated keys for frequently used programs (email. browser, calculator, calculator, search, etc.), make this the best keyboard I have seen in 30 years, and the first to truly surpass the Anykey.

So here I am, with this Redragon K550 RGB on my desk, deployed, plugged in (both cables) to my KVM, at 50 years old, and I just bought my first gaming keyboard. Up until...well, today some time, I had been especially favorable toward the Unicomp/IBM Model M keyboards - which these days cost over $100. (But hey, it's a pretty good keyboard!)And then I started playing a MMORPG called Palia, and boy oh boy did that bug bite me hard or what.Installation went mostly like any other keyboard, only this one has two USB ports. One is for the USB port on the back of the keyboard (the USB A connector says "PORT" on it). The keyboard does take a moment to figure out what it wants to do, but it will ultimately light up after a couple seconds.Usage is utterly divine. The horiz knob off to the right acts as a volume controller and has graduated stops. ALL of the option keys on the very top - G keys, what looks like player profiles, etc - are fully responsive, even in Linux. The keys handle like a dream, they just don't click; not a killer for me, though, as I'm more for the texture than I am for the sound of me typing so fast it buzzes. Lighting effects are fun, and I've even settled on one. Only one button to control brightness, and it has four stages and an "off" stage, no need to go to software to control this if you don't feel like you want to. If this is any indication, I imagine the G keys will handle just like a dream.Overall, the keyboard is similar in feel to the Model M. It's not the same by any stretch. Biggest difference *other* than appearance between the two is that the part where it otherwise clicks is a bit softer, and overall the keyboard itself is quieter due to the lack of click - but I can live with that, and I really wish I could give more than five stars, because this thing deserves ELEVEN stars.

Better than expected. Great quality, the colors are very vibrant and the preset light patterns are really cool. Overall amazing price for a fully mechanical 100% keyboard. I also didn't expect to fall in love with the metal frame, but it looks great with my setup.