Ideazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
by Ideazon
|
List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Ideazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
Customer Review: Mecr Stealth: Its the Best
Summary: 4 Stars
The Merc stealth is in my oppinion the best gaming console out there. For me there were two main insentives for buying this device. First was the built in gaming pad, second was the backlit keyboard. Now I already owned the Ideazon Fang gamepad and I had nothing but love for how it enhanced my gameplay, so when I found out that there was a kepboard with the gamepad built in I was estatic.
The pros:
The buit in gamepad is ergonomically designed and fits the hand well. For those used to the Fang there are a few adjustments to make but not overly so. The Gamepad is programable to your favorite video games, many templates can be found already on the company website or on the installation cd, plus you can share your own configuration with others. The keyboard is backlit and has 3 brightness and color settings (red, blue and purple: purple has been my fav for gaming in the dark). The connections (its a wired keyboard) are gold plating as you might expect of an gaming hardware for speed and response. Also the Merc has 2 usb ports (which is nice) and a headphone/microphone jack (which is awesome!). Lastly the price point is good for a gaming keyboard.
The Cons:
The keypad is on the small side and will take a bit of getting used to if youve been using a larger keyboard like me. Also as mentioned befor anyone who is acustomed to using the Fang will find some of the thumb buttons are a little awkward, but if this is your first experience with the Ideazon products should find no issue with this.
Final:
The ability to game without having my lights on, a gamepad built in and have my mous and headphones jacked in to one device for greater freedom of movement is worth its weight in gold as far as Im concerned. I cant recomend this product enough.
Customer Review: Great product -- for some people.
Summary: 4 Stars
Summary: Excellent gaming keyboard, if the angle of the left-hand pad works for you. Not so great for normal typing / office applications. Very high quality and good feel overall.
Pros:
1) Works exactly as advertised.
2) High quality manufacturing impression.
3) Excellent tactile feedback.
4) Very attractive and functional backlighting system.
5) Versatile programming software.
6) Nice gaming keypad (but see below)
Cons:
1) Non-standard numeric/functional keypad on right. This takes a LOT of getting used to, and it has proven impossible for me to re-train my touch typing reflexes. My productivity has slowed way down due to always having to visually search for the keys. To Ideazon's credit, I don't know how else they could have kept the footprint this small. So I understand, but I don't like it.
2) The angle of the gaming keypad is fixed. It will either work for you or it won't.
3) The gaming keypad offers less functionality than the original Fang it was derived from, and the default software template (at least for World of Warcraft) did not put the same functions in the corresponding locations as the Fang software.
My bottom line is that I gave it to my spouse. It is intrinsically an excellent keyboard, and she is delighted with it.
As an aside: My personal solution was to buy the original Fang standalone keypad from the same company (Ideazon) and reinstate the conventional keyboard I was accustomed to touch typing with. This solution does have two drawbacks: The Fang is not backlit, and the footprint is obviously larger. The upside is that the Fang can be angled to anyone's preference, and it offers more functional buttons.
Customer Review: An Excellent Keyboard that Hits all the Marks Except One.
Summary: 4 Stars
I am not Role-Player and only occasionally play FPS games. I bought the keyboard for the fully customizable keys to help in my playing of IL-2 1946. It has but it could have been so much better. The gaming keypad to the left of the keyboard are great, Idealzon did an excellent job of trying to make the keys fit all hands, (personally, I wish the #3 key was a bit more to the right or the #4 key was a bit more to the left, but that is a minor point), and for designing it for a massive group of different people, they did a good job.
The fully customizable keys is fantastic and I have barely set touched upon the uses available due to this feature.
The back light is excellent, it even helps to see during the day
My only dislike for this keyboard (and it is what makes it four stars instead of five stars in my book) is that the normal keyboard is not a standard 104 keyboard setting. The Number Pad and the 'Insert,' 'Delete,' Page Up and Down keys are merged together, so to use one you must push the Num Lock key first then press it again to use the other. I had not noticed this fact until after buying this product nine months ago. If I had, I might not have bought it. I am not a great typist, so having the unique setting of the right side of a 104 keyboard makes it easier to find keys in the section.
However, the keyboard has shown that it has great use and I have used it for non-gaming programs such as Photoshop and Blender by have my most used actions programed into the gaming pad.
Customer Review: Best 'compromise' keyboard I've tried
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had the Merc Stealth for about a year now, and I love it. I found the gaming keys to suit my hand perfectly, with the addition of a Fellowes gel wrist rest (a wrist rest for a MOUSE fits the gaming keys perfectly). I've tried a couple of the dedicated gaming devices such as the Belkin Nostromo n52 and I couldn't get comfortable but the MERC is great - I suspect this is hit or miss depending on the shape of your hand, so YMMV.
Regular keyboard use is pretty good. I like the feel of the keys, the illumination is actually most subtle and usable on purple (as unlikely as that sounds), the media keys work well, and the Z-Engine software is pretty well evolved and not too blinged-out, once you turn the skins off (skins; meh).
Not all perfect of course; the main problem is the lack of a number pad. Well, there is a number pad but the keys are shared with Home/End/PgUp/PgDn etc. I got so sick of hitting NUM LOCK every time I wanted numbers *or* the DEL key that I learned to leave NUM LOCK off and just use the 1-0 keys across the top (if you mainly use a laptop you're probably already used to this). Of course, if these keys were split out the keyboard would be impossibly wide, so I guess it's an OK compromise.
Also as noted in other reviews the USB hub is useless; almost every device I try gives me "USB Hub Power Exceeded" messages under Windows.
But overall I love this keyboard - mine's so well used I'm thinking about getting a new one :)
Customer Review: One Man's Opinion
Summary: 4 Stars
Obviously, the backlit keyboard (it's best sale feature) where the light is not only shown around the keys but also through the keys, an obvious plus with the room lights OUT, is also an advantage with the room lights ON, especially for those of us who are hunt and peck typists.
Gaming controls are an improvement over standard keyboards (101key-PS2), although I feel there are too many grouped into one location. Maybe it's just me, but memorizing 22 programmable function keys to be used by my left hand is a little to daunting ,unless I am totally committed to a game and don't mind spending the time to commit to memory where a key is located without having to look down or at a key function chart and temporarily distracting me from my next game move. Doing this by feel only is difficult because the only raised mark on the keys is on the down movement key. Directional keys and common use keys (i.e. Walk, Duck, Jump) are located conveniently amongst the numbered function keys.
Overall, I believe this is an above average keyboard for the price, but a gaming experience should allow you to immerse yourself in the game without distraction. If this keyboard doesn't seem right for you, I suggest trying a combination of a high-quality laser mouse in conjunction with a gamepad. It allows you to use both your right hand and left hand in unison allowing your brain to disseminate and integrate hand movements to achieve your goal. (Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional).