Ideazon, makers of the highly innovative swappable-keyset Zboard, are all about customization and PC gaming. The original Zboard allowed players to swap game-specific keysets into a base, allowing for excellent key labeling and crazy macro-action. The original Zboard was also the beginning of Ideazon's very popular butterfly-directional pad, a serious improvement over the typical WASD buttons on a normal keyboard.
Expanding upon their previous experience, Ideazon has rolled out a new keyboard, the Zboard MERC. Foregoing swappable keysets, the MERC takes the best of the Zboard's previous incarnation, namely the butterfly directional pad and macro layout, and merges it with a fairly standard QWERTY keyset. The final product is a unique gaming keyboard that has the potential to let fans of all genres, from FPS to RTS to MMORPGs discover new levels of performance and ergonomics.
Overview and Features
The most distinguishing characteristic of the Zboard MERC is undoubtedly its unique butterfly directional keys and macro buttons on the left side of the keyset. Offset at an ergonomic angle, the big red directional keys are surrounded by a great variety of extra buttons (all configurable through the Zboard Engine software, which we'll get to in a second). Some are labeled with their expected functions, and the general layout remains pretty true to the standard FPS arrangement on a normal keyboard, albeit with much more space and larger buttons. The macro keys surrounding the butterfly are made easy to locate via touch by mixing convex and concave tops. Many fans of the original Zboard have long wished for a full selection of weapon keys (the 1 through 11 buttons) all available at finger tip access, and Ideazon modified the original butterfly layout in order to accommodate this request.
The rest of the keyboard is relatively standard. Multimedia keys extend along the upper portion above the butterfly, and all the usual windows and function keys are present. In a somewhat un-standard move, Ideazon merged the right-hand-side number keys and Ins-Del button grouping into one column of keys, most likely to save some space on the already very wide (22 inches) footprint. Number-lock alternates between the numeric keys and the Ins-Del functions, much like a laptop.
The Zboard Engine macro software is a key component of the MERC's performance, and the software has one of the best key assignment systems we've yet seen. Ideazon currently provides 84 pre-programmed layouts that cover pretty much all of the recent hits as well as obvious classics like Unreal Tournament 2003. New layouts (or MOD Files as Ideazon calls them) are available on the Zboard website as new games come out. The Engine also makes it easy to program your own layouts as well. Selecting an active layout is as simple as finding the game in the genre-organized list and giving it a double click. You can also refine pre-made layouts to your liking, or download layouts from other MERC users.
In Use
We rocked the Zboard MERC with a variety of games, including F.E.A.R., Quake 4, World of Warcraft, and Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004. The change from the typical WASD layout to which I had become so accustomed was a little strange at first, particularly having much larger directional keys to press. It wasn't long before I began to seriously appreciate the extra room to roam though what really did it for me was the massively superior access to weapon switching, crouching, jumping, and reloading the surrounding action keys provided in FPS games.
Nice design touches abound. The Reload key is domed on top, while all around it are hollowed in, and it's positioned in the most natural location for index finger reach. The extra large jump and crouch keys are spaced for natural thumb and pinky reach. Easier access to crouch was particularly useful in death-matching, as I had long suffered for not crouching in fire-fights because my hand got tired from making the necessary claw with a standard keyboard.
The array of numbered buttons above the butterfly was also particularly useful in World of Warcraft for assigning spells and abilities. Large raids often rely upon rapid targeting switching and quick casting of different heals/buffs/abilities. The easy access to assigned spells, as well as target-next/target-closest allowed me to keep my mouse centered and ready, rather than gliding from target to spell icon and back.
While I admit I began to really like the butterfly and action keys quite quickly, there are some things about the MERC that I wasn't so pleased with. I'm quite accustomed to "clicky" keyboards (the Logitech G15 was my previous keyboard of choice) and the Zboard MERC's keys are decidedly softer than what I'm used to. It's a subjective issue of course, and did not seriously detract from my enjoyment of the butterfly, but for general typing use the MERC began to annoy me. It's also true that the standard QWERTY keys are packed pretty close and feel a bit smaller than most standard keyboards, especially compared to the G15. In another subjective point, I also like the wrist-area-attachment on the G15 and other keyboards, and the MERC does not have one, and is actually a little thick on the bottom, which took some getting used to.
The MERC lacks USB ports, which are a convenient feature now days and it is also unable to disable the windows keys, which will sometimes crash games if inadvertently pressed. Finally, the keys are not backlit, which would have been a really nice feature. Such complaints should be taken a bit lighter than usual, however, as the MERC exists primarily for the butterfly controls, which are excellent.
Conclusion
The Zboard MERC is an excellent innovation in gaming-specific keyboard design. The layout and butterfly keys expand upon and improve the original Zboard's design. While the MERC forgoes the cool limited edition game-specific Zboard keysets, it is a far more versatile keyboard as a result and won't require upgrades down the road. The Zboard Engine software is excellent, intuitive, and powerful, and Ideazon has a solid history of keeping up with new releases with downloadable MOD Files. In the end, it's one of the very few keyboards that actually deserve to be called gaming-specific, and any PC gamer who's ever been blasted due to cramped hands or slow weapon switching should definitely give the MERC a try.