Razer Armadillo Cable Management System - Review

Posted by HyperLithium

March 12, 2009

It seems like everyone is going ‘wireless.’ If you were to go to Staples or anywhere else for a new keyboard and mouse I would bet that 3/4 of the selection have had their cords severed. Heck, can you even buy a router anymore that doesn’t have an 802.11x standard built into it? There was just a study saying 25% of all adults in Washington DC are cell phone only. No cords for those folks! Well, call me old school, archaic or anything else but I refuse to give up the cords for my keyboard and mouse. I even use a PS2 keyboard! So, if you’re like me and want your mouse attached then you’re going to want to look at the Razer Armadillo Cable Management System.

First, let me just say, I’m am “Razer guy.” Yes, I love Razer products. It started with a Razer Boomslang 1000 that was replaced with another Boomslang 1000 (free!). After those two I got a Boomslang 2000, Razer Diamondback, and now a Razer Boomslang CE. Really, it was that first Boomslang 1000 (3 years of solid gaming) that had me hooked. The toothpick and alcohol routine to clean the rollers was a minor annoyance for ultimate in-game performance. However, all of these mice have the same problem; what do you do with the cord?! Enter the Armadillo.

I had a fUnc Surface 1030 to go with my first Razer mouse and it was a decent intro to cable management but not great. The fUnc Surface had a small metal clip at the top corner that held the cord in place. It mostly worked but would often have to be weaseled back into place. Contrary to the little clip, the Armadillo is like a wire holding tank. If anyone can remember the Mouse Bungee, with its sleek finesse of cable tidying, the Armadillo takes the opposite brute force approach.

Weighing in at about 5 pounds the Armadillo is solid. It also looks great with its titanium finish. I thought it would be bigger but the Armadillo is shorter than a standard pen cap. The first impression was that it felt like an after market shift knob. The next thought was that “Cable Management System” was a HUGE term to tack onto something that is merely a hunk of nicely machined metal with a screw on cap. Nevertheless, I had the pudding and needed the proof.

The major hiccup at my desk is the LCD stands. I’ve been really happy with the Dell LCD’s I have but the stands are these obnoxious “D” shaped things (I much prefer D sized things). The Armadillo now made the one “D” a safe haven of cable management goodness. It’s very easy to set this thing up too. Screw the top off, place the cord in, and screw the top on! Adjustments to cable length are easy to make with a slight twist and pull on the cord.

So, the verdict? Great!
Yes, it’s basically a hunk of machined metal with a giant screw but it does a very good job. The real trick to this thing is geting the cable up off the desk a little and the weight. I had to mess around to get a comfortable cable length but now I don’t think I’ll even notice it. This is definitely a much better solution than trying to coax the mouse cord to stay up on my desk or dealing with a constant tug. For $20 any old schoolers like me shouldn’t hesitate. The only note I would have is that I don’t think this will be friendly to people actually using a keyboard and mouse tray. Most trays are small and there just wouldn’t be enough room for the Armadillo to really work well.