14 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
Gamer's keyboard not for everyone
Date of Review: May 13, 2007
The Bottom Line: Though it lacks full programmability, the Merc will please gamers with its well-designed gaming keys. The consolidated number pad however, will keep it from attracting a mainstream audience.
If you're looking for a gaming-oriented keyboard, the Merc Keyboard by Ideazon is a good choice. Gamers will love its dedicated and ergonomic gaming keys. However, casual users may find its consolidation of buttons to be somewhat annoying. Furthermore, you cannot directly customize each key; instead you have to choose one of the many predefined "mods" for the keyboard which are provided with driver installation.
When it comes to computer games, the most common control scheme is centered around the A, S, W, and D keys. These keys represent the most common movement scheme for most games. This is especially true for first-person-shooter (FPS) games and Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games. With this in mind, Ideazon set out to create the gamer's keyboard. They first made the original Z-Board, a gaming keyboard whose keys could be physically swapped out with larger keys designed specifically for gaming. The main focus of the Z-Board was its signature ASWD movement keys which were enlarged and shaped for comfort. The drawback was you had to swap out the keys again to type in a normal fashion. Switching between the layouts can obviously get annoying.
Ideazon now has released the Merc Keyboard. Unlike the original Z-Board, the Merc keeps most of the standard keyboard layout while also giving you the specialized gaming keys which made the original Z-Board a favorite among gamers. A full QWERTY key layout makes up the center of the unit - just like any other keyboard you've ever used - no more swapping out keys like the original Z-Board. To the right-hand side are a set of consolidated keys that include the number pad. To the left hand side is where the specialized gaming keys are laid out.
Ideazon refers to these specialized gaming keys as the "dedicated gaming terrain," and it's really what makes this keyboard unique compared to its competitors. The gaming keys here are specialized in that they are larger, and shaped differently than the keys of rest of the keyboard. Furthermore, they are laid out at a slight angle so that your left hand rests over the keys in a more comfortable fashion. The main feature of the gaming terrain are the enlarged ASWD keys as well as the enlarged Q and E keys (just like the original Z-Board). These movement keys are the center of the dedicated gaming terrain, as all other gaming buttons surround them. Just above these movement keys are two rows of number keys (1-11). These number keys are easily pressed with your ring, middle, or index fingers. To the left of the movement keys are 5 more buttons (Caps, Tab, Left Alt, Left Shift, Left Control). These are accessed by your ring or pinky finger. To the right of the movement keys are 9 more keys (R, T,F, G, V, B, P, C, and Space). These keys are accessed with your thumb. The fact that the keys are easily reached by appropriate fingers means that your hand will never have to stray away from those all-important ASWD keys. And if you've ever played an FPS game, you'll know that quick access to important keys can be the difference between life and death.
This keyboard comes with a USB connector as well as a CD of the driver software. Simply install the software, plug in the keyboard to an available USB connector on your PC and you're ready to go. The Merc's software is called "ZEngine" which allows you to load keyboard "mods." Each mod changes the functionality of the specialized keys in order to cater to a specific game. (Mods rarely ever change the functionality of the QWERTY keys - which is a good thing.) This means, no matter what a key is labeled as, it's function is often different when a mod is loaded. For example, without a mod, the CAPs button on the dedicated gaming terrain will function to toggle between capital and lower-case letters. But if you load up the World of Warcraft mod, the CAPs button becomes the "Map" button. The software comes with many mods to choose from: Half-Life 2, Battlefield 2, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, City of Heroes, Final Fantasy XI, Everquest, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, and many more. These mods appear as a long list in the ZEngine software which you can browse and then choose from. You can also download new mods as they become available right from Ideazon's website. And should you forget what a key does, you can have the ZEngine software running in the background so you can quickly see all of the functions for each key. (You can also print the key layout on your printer.) Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there is no way to change the keymapping of an individual key, nor can you program multiple commands to it. So if you wanted a specific key to perform some other action; you cannot change it beyond switching to an entirely new mod. This is disappointing as other keyboards allow you to program each gaming button specifically to your tastes. (The Logitech G11 and G15 gives the user full programmability of several rows of game-dedicated buttons.) Still, most games today allow you to switch the functionality of keys within the game itself, so this is never a real show-stopper.
At the very top of the keyboard are a set of multimedia keys. These control sound, video, etc. There are also 3 launch buttons that can be used to start a web browser, or any other program of your choice. Just below this, in the middle area of the keyboard is where the standard set of QWERTY keys are located. These are laid out just like any other keyboard you've ever used. The keys are firm to the touch, meaning they are not soft like the keys on a laptop - so you will definitely hear these keys when you type. Typing however feels good and tactile. To the right of the QWERTY layout, is the consolidated number pad. These keys combine the number pad with keys such as Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, Delete etc. For instance, the 1 key also acts as the Delete key depending on the toggle setting (toggle buttons are at the top of the keyboard.) Using the consolidated number pad is very annoying to use. When I work, I use the number pad a lot as well as the Delete, Home, and End keys. Having to switch back and forth between the toggle settings gets tiresome really fast. If you intend to work more than play games, then avoid this keyboard. You will hate working with it.
If you're already used to the ASWD control scheme, you'll find that the Merc will feel a lot better than a standard QWERTY keyboard layout when you play your favorite games. Not only do the enlarged buttons feel great, but each set of buttons are shaped differently - so that you will get a different tactile feel when pressing different buttons. For example, the large ASWD keys (and the Q and E keys) are shaped as large, flat, red-colored keys; while the number keys are shaped as smaller, rounded, black keys. The buttons themselves feel very sturdy, and never do they "squeek" or feel cheap. The keys press down with good resistance and never feel too soft or too firm. In FPS games, such as Half-Life 2 the ASWD keys feel great to use when moving around. You will quickly realize that using the QWERTY layout caused your fingers to contort by-comparison. In the case of City of Heroes and World of Warcraft; the ability to access all the power/action buttons easily with my left hand is priceless - especially when fighting other players in Player-versus-Player combat. This keyboard can make you a better player simply because keys that were hard to reach in the QWERTY layout are now easily accessible with the Merc's dedicated gaming keys.
Although the Merc keyboard software doesn't allow you to directly remap keys manually, you can still get around this by changing the key-mapping within the game itself (most games allow you to do this). Add to this the fact that you'll have a choice of many well-designed mods, and the need to change keys manually becomes less of an issue. (Indeed, many of the mods are really great to use right from the start). The Merc isn't for everyone though. The consolidation of the number pad with other important keys will throw off anyone who uses these keys a lot. But, if you are willing to overlook this, the Merc will definitely make your hands feel more comfortable when gaming. The ergonomic design of the gaming keys combined with the standard QWERTY layout will definitely appeal to anyone who plays lots of PC games.
