Ideazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
by Ideazon
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Ideazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
Customer Review: perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
This product though used and refurbished is in perfect condition. I have had no issues with it, the person selling was quick to send it out and I had it within the time given. I would buy from this person again in a heart beat.Customer Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars
Never had a problem with and its great when u need he light out so u dont mess with anyone trying to watch a movie in the same roomCustomer Review: works great!
Summary: 5 Stars
This keyboard was shipped fast and works perfectly.
One of the better, lighted keyboards I have used/seen.
Customer Review: If you want a top notch gaming keyboard, look no further.
Summary: 4 Stars
As a former avid MMO player, I purchased the Merc Stealth about 6 months ago hoping to expand my key-bind options for games that require a ton of buttons. I was immediately drawn to the left side of this keyboard and the brilliant consolidation of buttons within reach of my left hand, which seemed obvious and yet strange no one else was doing.
I can't say getting used to the Merc wasn't awkward , but now going back to the standard WASD configuration is no longer an option. What I like best is how much easier Alt, Ctrl, and Shift are to find on this keyboard, which, in a sense, triples your key-bind options (pinky finger on the modifier, and whatever you can add with the other 4 digits). That and my index finger can comfortably read buttons 1-6, where before I tended to only use 1-4.
Traditionally my thumb was exclusively tied to the spacebar button, but the Merc has condensed the space bar on the gaming panel and added 3-4 other buttons around the area that are now accessible to the thumb- which again leads to more key-bind options without compromising my thumb's favorite button.
The only thing I'm not really a fan of on this keyboard are the handful of rounded, convex buttons. I assume Ideazon thought by mixing convex and concave buttons into their configuration, players would have an easier time discerning specific buttons along the tightly packed space. My problem with the convex buttons (you'll notice two to the left of the main movement/WASD keys, one to the right of those keys, and then another way at the bottom, just above the condensed spacebar key) is that my fingers do not "slide" onto them as well as the standard, flatter, concave keys. It's a personal thing, but I find that my pinky (which is a pretty weak finger to start with) sometimes has trouble getting over the hump of the convex keys. It's not a major, gamebreaking issue, but I would have preferred ideazon just made all the keys flat and let my muscle memory, not design do the rest of the work remembering what buttons to push.
This is also a small nitpick but shrinking buttons 1-6 into a space normally occupied by only 5 buttons you'll have to get used to pressing buttons with different fingers. For example, on a standard keyboard's WASD configuration button 2 is easily a ring finger press, buttons 2 and 3 middle finger, and 4 and 5 Index. On this keyboard buttons 2 through 4 are much closer together and button 3 is a little awkward to find. I only bring this up because 3 is so easy to hit on a standard keyboard when your index finger rests on W, but with the Merc this is not the case and will take some new muscle memory training to get used to.
It's been mentioned before, but the number-pad has been remapped and anyone who relies on the number-pad for anything serious will likely be frustrated. I don't use the num-pad for anything more than the occasional numeric password, so it's not a big deal for me.
This keyboard does come with configuration software (Zboard) with a ton of templates for specific games. While this is a nice added bonus, I personally don't play enough games to form a strong opinion on this feature. Supposedly the software does detect what game you're playing and switches your configuration automatically, which is nice when I go from playing an MMO and then switch over to a FPS. You are able to reconfigure the stock templates and save them as custom configurations, which adds to the versatility of the software.
Apparently you can bind all sorts of custom macros with this board/software, but I've never figured it out (and unless I'm mistaken are not useable in games like WoW or WaR or anything else where developers take a stand on fair play).
Finally, you may notice a number of shortcut keys at the top of the keyboard, that do everything from managing the sound levels to opening your default browser or windows media player to changing the color and brightness of the keyboard's illumination. Initially I found these buttons to be nice touches, but outside of the volume keys I rarely bother with any of them.
Unfortunately I recently spilled a beverage all over this keyboard, essentially breaking a number of critical keys, so I need to replace my Merc Stealth. I'll be buying the standard Merc keyboard, which is basically the same layout, minus the illumination and USB/Headphone ports. I'm actually surprised how many people complain about the lack of illumination on the standard Merc boards, as I've always found the feature showy, but completely unnecessary. Then again, I'm not a hardcore gamer who never sees the light of day, and most of my gaming is done with the lights on.I guess for those diehard basement dwellers it's a must. but I'd rather save $30 and go without a cute glow or more ports I will never use. If either of those features are beneficial to you, you'll definitely want to buy this model, but for me a standard Merc will do just fine.
Overall it's a great keyboard, priced evenly with every other the gaming boards I've seen on the shelf, and the Merc has the added benefit of a uniquely designed gaming panel ideal for gamers.
Customer Review: Nice gaming board.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm a big fan of Ideazon products. I previously owned their Zboard, but had some problems with it. The Merc Stealth, though, that solves all the problems I had and then some.
On the positive side of things, the keyboard is responsive, with solid keys and good action. A complete, full-sized QWERTY board sits next to a pad of game specific keys, allowing easy transition from gaming to typing without any problems. The back lighting is clear, with three colors to choose from, all at three levels of brightness (or off, if you'd rather). Unlike some earlier boards of this type, the lettering on the keys themselves is translucent, so the light actually shines through. This makes them very visible in dim light. A jack for a mic and headphones, a pair of USB ports and a few multimedia controls fill out the physical features.
The software the board comes with allows you a great deal of flexibility. Using the software, you can build a keyboard layout profile for any specific game, changing what each key will do when pressed. You can just swap letters, or set up entire macros that will run on a single key press. A goodly number of pre-made profiles comes with the board. It's easy to use the software, and you can print out a sheet showing exactly what each key is programmed to do, in case you forget. The board will automatically switch profiles based on what game you are running.
On the negative side, this thing is HUGE. It pretty much takes up the entire keyboard shelf on my desk, and is big enough it can be awkward to get to various keys at times. It also has no integrated wrist support, you'll need to get something separate for that. The software, while good, can be picky. In my case, it took a bit of work and an email to Ideazon to get everything working. And while there is a full numerical keypad, there is no separate section with the delete, home, end and page keys, they are all part of the number pad. When you have number lock on, you have a number pad. When you have number lock off, you have the various keys that surround the home key. That can be a bit awkward to use.
Finally, Ideazon was recently bought up by SteelSeries. It remains to be seen what level of support SteelSeries plans to give to the older, Ideazon products. They seem to have integrated the products into their website, but it still might pay to be aware of this potential problem.