Hardware Ideazon Merc Stealth Keyboard

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...lth_keyboard/1

Gaming keyboards are a love 'em or hate 'em kind of device. While many people love extra macro keys, specific WASD layouts and pseudo-cool designs, others don't. So, did we love or hate the Merc Stealth gaming keyboard? There's only one way to find out.

[Smilodon]

Wonder how beat-resistant that thing is. Since it's a "gaming keyboard" it should be able to withstand the results of a 30-deaths-on-the-same-place-in-a-row situation...

[talladega]

I dont think any keyboard besides one made of pure steel could handle that.

i given my keyboard for my PS2 some good smacks (hard enough to crack my controller) and now some keys dont stay on the dang thing. lol

[Saivert]

I'm actually surprised of how much beating the Logitech UltraX keyboard (OEM product) takes. I have shook it vigorously and beaten the keys to get out dust and crumbs multiple times and the keys stay in place and still work. It's very rigid too. Great build quality and cheap as hell.

[Mankz]

Main issue I can see is that its FAR TOO WIDDDE.

[chiper136]

I use the original Merc and i have to say after the first 3 days of annoyance it does become second nature to use. Going round my friends house and used a WASD layout is painful now, firstly how cramped my hand feels compared to the freedom of the Merc and secondly having the keys thinner so they become quicker to respond.

Its software is quite good, it allows for full control customizing which, although you can do in any FPS, really becomes useful when playing a RTS like command and conquer that lacks full key mapping. Using the butterfly keys and mapping orders, stances and other strategic options to the buttons around it does give you a slight edge.

It main flaw in my mind is that the right side of the keyboard is compact to compensate for the left. You lose the arrow keys and the num-pad in amongst the Insert and Del keys. I work with programs like Maya and Photoshop and having to constantly turn the numlock on and off is annoying. But its not designed for this so really i'm nit picking.

[Smilodon]

Originally Posted by Saivert

I'm actually surprised of how much beating the Logitech UltraX keyboard (OEM product) takes. I have shook it vigorously and beaten the keys to get out dust and crumbs multiple times and the keys stay in place and still work. It's very rigid too. Great build quality and cheap as hell.

Well, mine didn't make it:





Now I'm stuck with an old version of the UltraX until I can get a hold of a new one.

[Ending Credits]

The Zboard has a similar WASD setup but I personally prefer the normal set.

Probably more because I can never reach the V key in CoD4.

[sam.g.taylor]

I'm really getting tired of all these "gaming" keyboards with alternative WASD setups. To paraphrase Yahtzee, these manufacturers have to take a perfectly good keyboard layout, "make it better", and c*ck the whole thing up.

I mean, I applaud these companies for exploring the capitalist system to its full innovative potential, but really, how come no one gets the point? I know that at least my friends and I have never had a problem with the WASD layout - it feels natural. People want a durable, [most of the time] QWERTY board with plenty of plug-in ports... exactly the features that make the G11 and G15 so good and so popular.

[Jipa]

It seems so wide... It just makes me wonder why the gaming part of things is angled outwards.. Either you have to move the keyboard to the right maybe 10 cm for your hand to be comfortably or rotate the whole thing counter clock wise? Seems a bit odd to me.

[p3n]

Still using the normal keyboard set in my ye olde zboard, dont know why ideazon think you can't possibly use keys under WASD, i use ZXC loads in all sorts of games

[Arkanrais]

It looks like a good keyboard, but 2 things that I have a gripe with: 1, theres no "z" or "x" keys on the left panel (the only functions that come to mind for them are health and flashlight on FEAR) and its combining the numbpad with the arrow keys and the other keys in that space (which I use a lot in day to day use)
I'm still using a keyboard from my amd k6-2 computer (350MHz 32MB ram 4GB HDD) and the thing has taken numerous beatings and is holding up better than the CRT screen from said machine which has suffered the same abuse. my keyboard has been dropped, kicked, dropkicked, punched, thrown around, slammed into walls, shaken vigorously and even stood on a few times and the only damage it has sustained is having its "standby" key cut off but that was on purpose.

[metarinka]

I'm a much bigger fan of of the belkin n52 and n52te, in fact now that the n52te is out I'm grabbing one as soon as I can find it in stock

in regards to sam taylor. now the wasd is not "perfect" or the ideal situation by any means. as a former semi-pro CS player and tournament WoW player (WSVG Wow Arena 3v3). good input devices make a huge difference. The first and foremost problem is that WASD the keys are staggered, this isn't very great ergonomically, and alser there's a real limit in the number of buttons you can reasonably hit with you left hand.

I had to switch, I have very long hands and playing with WASD gave me a bad case of carpel tunnel. I'm not a big fan of any "flat" keyboard like this as most of them give me carpel tunnel. However give them a try especially especially if you find one that fits your hands, it makes a noticeable difference especially the n52 series, that quite literally can redefine how you play pc games

[Jebus.exe]

I just bought one of these. and to be honest. i love it, i think it serves it purpose well to me. i didnt pay as much as what your quoting though, i think it was about £50. i agree about the numpad though.

[Orlix]

metarinka, I agree with you. The normal WASD layout is simply painful for me after 40 min or so. Those keys are too close to each other. I have a Zboard and love it. My hand fits, and after a couple of hours of using it I got used to it, remapped keys to my gaming style and was happily on my way.

[johnnyboy700]

I use the Z Board all the time and I couldn't go back to playing an FPS on a standard keyboard, it does take a bit of getting used to but once you're over the learning curve its actually very comfortable. I tried the Fang as it has a much smaller foot print but they missed off the Function Keys on this one, admittedly not all games use the Function Keys but some do and since you have to use different drivers for the Z Board and the Fang I'm afraid that the Fang has now gone in to hibernation.

I like the look of the new Merc, I'll probably buy one if I like the feel of it, I'll just have to find somebody local that sells one and ask for a try out.

One question, the pre-relase blurb said that the new Merc had illuminated keys but the review doesn't make any mention of this feature, is this simply an ommision or has this feature been dropped from the production model?

[CardJoe]

They are illuminated yeah, I just didn't mention it in the review as I didn't think it was a stand-out feature. Any hardware device with 'Gaming' in the title is guaranteed to have LEDs on it..

[Ownzyouall]

Originally Posted by Smilodon

Wonder how beat-resistant that thing is. Since it's a "gaming keyboard" it should be able to withstand the results of a 30-deaths-on-the-same-place-in-a-row situation...

I totally agree with you, I beat my g15 quite often. I hope this thing can withstand it too. Great looking keyboard, but shouldn't all gaming keyboards be backlit these days?

[Smilodon]

well, backlit keys are pretty useless IMO. It looks nice, though...

[Jebus.exe]

yeah it has the three colours, red/blue/purple and three intensities of light. im running ubuntu 7.10 with a 3870, and there is still no driver support so im still waiting to experience the merc in an fps.