Rosewill RK-9000 Mechanical Keyboard Review

20 Sep, 2011

One week ago, Rosewill sent us one of their RK-9000 mechanical keyboards to test out. Since then, we’ve put it through the ringer of some pretty hardcore gaming and writing as well. It’s seen its share of shooters, strategy games, simulators, and of course, adobe creative suite. Now, after a solid week of time spent with the RK-9000, we have to say goodbye, but not without sharing with you our full review.

The RK-9000 is a remarkable keyboard for its price.

Mechanical keyboards, as opposed to rubber dome keyboards, are becoming the norm among more avid gamers and power PC users. Mechanical keyswitches are designed so that keystrokes are registered without fully depressing the key to bottom of your keyboard. This saves a remarkable amount of energy while typing and gaming.

The Rosewill RK-9000 uses Cherry MX Blue Switches which is a very nice mid-range switch for mechanical keyboards. They feature two levels of activation, mid and full depression. It features the option to install and use either USB or PS/2. Using the PS/2 cable enables 104-simultaneous key strokes. It also prevents your keyboard from being delayed by your USB bus. If your motherboard still has PS/2 inputs on the back, then by all means, this is the input method we wholeheartedly recommend.

Either cable can be installed via a mini-usb input located directly on the keyboard, clearing up wire clutter behind your tower. The cable itself is nicely braided and roughly ¼” thick. The keys themselves are laser printed to give it a seemless feel under your fingers. And behind the keys is a red-colored background to give the keyboard some contrast.

While typing, the RK-9000 was a huge improvement over our rubber dome keyboard. We were typing slightly faster and with fewer keystroke errors. Aside from that, there is an odd sense of satisfaction to hear the old faction “clicking” sound of older keyboards. People who aren’t used to mechanical keyboards may have a moment or two of adjustment when changing over. But once you get used to a mechanical keyboard, it’s tough to use anything else.

The model we tested used Cherry MX Blue keyswitches. Cherry MX Red keyswitches will be available in late October or early November.

While gaming, we experienced absolutely no ghosting whatsoever. While we can’t say it helped our kill to death ratio that much (but that’s more of a testament to Randy’s aim and tactics), we can say we felt no moments of frustration from input error.

The Rosewill RK-9000 is a high-quality, but no frills keyboard. The keys are not back-lit. There are no extravagant designs on the housing. There are no USB inputs for external devices. There is no wrist rest for those of us who lazily drop our wrists when typing. And there are no assignable media keys.

But it is a very solidly build peripheral. Nothing about its construction feels cheap or junky. And for a mechanical keyboard of its caliber, it’s priced nicely at $100 USD. For gamers who don’t need to self-advertise, the RK-9000 is fantastic for both work and play. In fact, the RK-9000 makes the perfect office keyboard for gamers or for anyone who is interested in what makes mechanical keyboards so special.

What we liked:

Price
Sturdy construction
Responsive keys
Fantastic for typing
Above average for gaming
Choice of USB vs. PS/2

What we disliked:

Lack of wrist rest

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Model: RK-9000 Mechanical Keyboard
Manufacturer: Rosewill
EG Score: 4 out of 5 / “Worth Buying”

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