G.SKILL RIPJAWS KM780R RGB On-the-Fly Macro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, Cherry MX Red

UPDATED: I repurchased the keyboard a few months later and have owned it for more than 6 months now and I love it. I got used to the keys and they are awesome. I make less mistakes when I type. The only problem I find is the software. Even the updated one is still not user friendly. It's kind of challenging and awkward to use. But it works. I have not found any stability issues with it. It works it just needs to be more user friendly. The quality and functions of the keyboard are excellent. The volume control wheel is really nice and the volume indicator lights are a nice addon. I like being able to see the measure of the volume rather than no indicator at all. The lights are bright and the patterns are nice. They are not too bright to a point where it detracts from the game but not dim to where you wish it could be brighter. Its right amount of brightness. I also like the color button presets at the top left. And the 6 media keys are a great and useful addition. At first you will hate those keys because you will find your self wanting to hit the CTRL key and you'll be hitting a media key. But after a few months you get used to it and you develop muscle memory as to where they are. I think the first keyboard I got must have been a bad one because this one was night and day different. The keys have a very satisfactory response to them. The clicky mechanical sound is the right volume without sounding annoying. It also serves as a cognitive que that you are typing which makes the typing experience more satisfying. The construction quality is stellar. Lots of aluminum, very comfy hand rest, and the raised keys are awesome. I can pull them off each year to do a deep clean with a q tip and some alcohol. This will keep my keyboard looking in pristine condition forever. Also on my previous Logitech I spilled my beer and ruined it. But on this one I spilled some Boneyard RPM beer which can be stickier than most and was able to clean it right up with q-tips and water. The aluminum construction feels heavy duty like I could run this over with my car and still be fine. Its also has good aesthetics. It has a rugged industrial sexy look to it. Excellent job Gskill. I bought this keyboard for $90 and have been extremely happy with it.I've tried Corsair, Razer, Logitech and Roccat. My 2 favorites by far are the Gskill and Roccat Ryos MK FX. The Roccat is heavy, extremely well built, made in germany, easy to use and stable software, keys feel excellent, but the keys are a little dim. Razer, Logitech and Corsair on the other hand have software issues, quality control issues, and I feel that Logitech is only limited to gaming and not work. My Gskill and Roccat are both excellent for work and gaming. I have 2 computers so I use both keyboards.Gskill has redeemed itself in my eyes.Received the item in open box/used condition not the Brand New status they were advertising. Yet another deceptive/false advertising from Amazon. This happens far too often and shouldn't if they had internal controls. Obviously they do not.As for the item the left shift key doesn't push down all the way. It's not working right. Some of the other keys are funky and don't feel right at all. The keyboard does not have the high quality that reviews have touted. My Logitech K800 is much more higher quality than this. My Logitech is a well made keyboard. This feels like every other Gskill product I've tried. Makes a lot of promises with aggressive advertising but completely falls through with the terrible software, poor functionality, and doesn't last very long. I could see myself upgrading over this keyboard in 6 months. Also the keys are raised so high up that you can see the under part of the keys and its very distracting and looks poor quality. 2 friends pointed this out when they were over here checking it out and gave me crap for it. Thats the last thing you want to hear when you buy something that was highly regarded in reviews. You should lookup the review sites that gave it a stellar review and write them down so you know not to refer to them next time you buy a computer product because I am shocked at how they thought this was a stellar product.This is a poorly designed product. The keys themselves are narrow and seem to be designed for smaller finger tips. I feel like this product was marketed towards people with small hands and fingers and not everyone else in mind. The tactile response of each key is generic feeling. I chose the MX Brown as I wanted a balance between typing and gaming. My logitech has the best typing feel I have ever felt. Also it's buttons are wider and have a smoother more tactile response to them with a clickety feel that is silent and fulfilling. The Gskill feels like you can touch a key without any feedback at all registering that you pressed the key down. Maybe I just got a bad keyboard but I am disappointed in both Gskill and Amazon. I wish Amazon would stop sending me used goods. It's not the first time this has happened.One thing i do really like though is that there is no recessed bedding below the keys. So if I spill beer on my keyboard it won't accumulate on a recessed bedding below. instead it will flow down and make it very easy to clean.I might be willing to try again. Hopefully Amazon doesn't send me an open box product.The pic below shows the outline of the sticker as having previously been opened and resealed.

TL;DR version: The keyboard is great. Colors are bright and smooth. Cherry MX Browns feel great. Very robust and durable feeling keyboard & wire. Decent updated software that's quick to learn and powerful. Best (only right now) keyboard with these features for the price. Recommended.I almost missed this keyboard as an option and was about to order a Corsair k95 RGB or k70 RGB. Both were close to what I wanted, but not exactly. I didn't want the huge footprint of the k95, but I wanted some macro buttons since I do play MMOs sometimes. I didn't want Razer because of the poor quality control I've heard horror stories about from them, and at the same price they were missing dedicated media controls, something I wanted and had one few macro buttons. I knew I wanted Cherry MX switches, so no Logitech. Besides, their Romer G switches feel all mushy to me. The long and the short of it is that there really isn't a keyboard on the market that ticked all my boxes til this one. And to find that it sits $60 below all the competition? Such a winner.Only major complaint is to G.Skill: Why does the version with Blue switches have to cost $40 more? That's such a rip off. I had wanted blue switches, but decided it wasn't worth the premium after trying my roommate's keyboard out with browns. I still sort of wish I did by them, but browns are still a nice typing feel, and I guess slightly less straining due to lower actuation force.Overall physically, it has good key placement, even for the gaming keys. They feel natural to reach to, but there's just enough of a gap to where I don't find myself hitting them instead of the end column of the normal keyboard. The board itself seems very solid from the metal rail running around it, and the thick braided cord is durable feeling and protected a bit by the rail as well. I didn't think I'd use the mouse cord caddy, but it's actually pretty nice and helps to fight the pull of extra cord off the back of your desk. The dedicated media controls are nice and on the fly macro recording is super intuitive. Also, the included wrist rest is nice to have. The molded texture on the top makes the lack of soft touch plastic much more acceptable and the fact that it attaches to the metal tube like all the other accessories is nice and secure.The RGB lighting is good and really not that hard to set up. I disagree with the amount of complaining people have with the software. I guess G.Skill did an update since some of the early reviews, since things people mentioned specifically aren't a problem anymore. So that shows G.Skill is working on improving their product. While it's slightly more involved than clicking once on the effect you want and being done, if your computer ability is above IE and Office only, you're going to be more than capable of setting up simple lighting profiles. More advanced stuff will take time, but the capabilities of the lighting tool are pretty impressive. It would have been nice if they included the volume level and "num lock" "caps lock" and "scroll lock" indicators in the RGB scheme instead of static red, but they look okay as is. Also, just having the volume level there is a nice touch. Probably could have done with only one row of windows for it as the bottom one is lit and the other two above it just glow a little.