Zboard Gaming Keyboard
Ideazon

Ahhh, The never ending search for a better source of control in our gaming. Just about everything you can think of has been done to try and get rid of the QWERTY keyboard and replace it. Time and time again, these fancy new control mechanisms fall into the abyss, never to be seen again. A few have their place and are actually usable in some games, but for this review I am focusing on FPS (First Person Shooters) as that is mostly what the Zboard is based around.

So what IS a Zboard anyways? Well, it's a unique approach to replacing the normal qwerty keyboard that has been a part of the desktop computer for generations. The Zboard approaches the takeover with a pretty interesting idea, removable "keysets". In a matter of 30 seconds you can go from a normal QWERTY keyset on the Zboard to the gaming keyset, which has a much different layout.

-First Impressions
I have really wanted to try out a Zboard ever since I saw it; it just had that "Cool" factor to it. So when I received it I was like a giddy schoolgirl (seriously, the FedEx lady didn?t know what to think). I got it inside and ripped open the package like it was Christmas. I gently slide my new Zboard out of its neatly designed package, and started to salivate. It came with the gaming key set already attached, and I didn?t even know there was a normal QWERTY key set inside at first. There was also decent "what you would expect" documentation, as well as drivers, and an attachable wrist rest.

I found the QWERTY key set folded up nicely, I popped the tab on the side of the Zboard base, and pulled out the gaming key set, and was able to quickly pop in the QWERTY key set. Needless to say, 10 seconds later, after I quit admiring this ability, I ripped out the QWERTY key set and went back to the gaming key set (for obvious reasons). A few moments later I also realized that on the back of the Zboard, are 2 USB slots, to plug in a mouse, webcam, or whatever you feel like. The Zboard base itself also has several buttons along the top for volume control, video controls (pause, rewind, play, etc), and a slew of programmable quick-keys that open programs and/or websites.

-Installation
Installing the Zboard was a quick and painless process, I slid the plug into my USB slot, and as it should, windows automatically installed the basic needed drivers. I was going to install the drivers off of the CD but I knew there was a newer version on the Zboard website, so I jumped on and grabbed those, downloaded and installed them without a hitch.

-The Feel
Overall, the feel and comfort level of the Zboard was very nice, if your used to the standard WASD layout for FPS games, your hand will feel very comfy on the Zboard. The gaming keys of the Zboard were... interesting... I really didn?t know whether I liked the feel or not, it was sort of a mixed bag. The keys don?t have any sort of tactile feedback on them, like a normal keyboard that kind of "clicks" when you hit a key. The keys on the Zboard seemed to just kind of mush down, which is one thing I noticed and disliked right away.

-Using The Zboard
So, of course it was time to fire up a game and try this baby out, so I loaded up my current favorite FPS game, Enemy Territory. I didn?t want to use the installed software just yet, and remapped the keys in my game myself, it took me quite some time to decide what should go where, as I have honed my key config for this game perfectly for my normal keyboard. But after I had it all set up, I jumped in a game.
?Wow... This is.... different.? That was my first thoughts as I ran out of my spawn.

The layout of the keys, just doesn?t jive with me... It was very comfortable, but even after a good 6 hours of practice with the Zboard I just couldn?t pull off some of the things that I could with my old "normal" keyboard. A lot of the keys I needed to use were just a bit too far away from WASD (Forward/Back/Strafe) So I would end up having to move my fingers off the movement keys for a good half a second to get to the needed keys (Half a second doesn?t sound like much, but it is). With the old QWERTY board I would be able to reload, prone, and pull out my health kits within half a second, all while still moving.

I knew it would just take some practice, so I did make sure to take my time with the Zboard, but even after a good 6 hours there didn?t seem much room for improvement as far as speed went.

I tried out another game that I hadn?t played in a while, Area 51, and was able to play that game just as good as I could with my old keyboard, so I think a lot of it came down to the fact that I had used a qwerty board so long in Enemy Territory, but I am still confident that a lot of the problems come with my style of play in the game, where ever other second I?m reloading, ?proning?, pulling out my knife, etc. etc.

I also tried it out in my all time favorite FPS, Tribes 2. After only 15 minutes I just knew it wasn?t going to work out in that game, there are just too many keys to bind that the gaming section of the keyboard couldn?t cover it.

Overall, I really think its a very awesome idea that Ideazon came up with, but it just isn?t suitable with the type of FPS games that I usually play, your mileage may vary. Some of the problems come from habit, I just couldn?t adjust to the feel of the Zboard, I even made sure to give it a good chance, and played around for almost a week with it, but never was able to pull off what I could with my QWERTY board. I think this keyboard would be great in a new game, that I hadn?t played before, as no habits for the game would have been formed yet.

-Software
The software for the Zboard is very nice, and easy to use. It allows you to change your key layouts for any of the supported games (There is a nice big list), by just clicking the game you want, a handy picture on the right shows the keyboard and what every key is bound to. Its as simple as clicking the game you want, clicking accept, and waiting about 5 seconds for it to register the change.

The software also allows you to program the buttons at the top of the Zboard to open any program, folder, or URL that you would like. Its very basic and I would have liked to see some macro abilities, but at least they put the ability to change the programs associated with the keys in there, so its not all that bad. But I was upset that when you want to program a URL to a key, it forces you to use internet explorer (which I despise, I'm a sophisticated Firefox man thank you). But that?s just a little gripe, I didn?t really want to program any URL's in anyways.

-Pros
+Cool factor, as mentioned, just the way it looks will get you chicks, I swear!
+Very comfortable, the large movement keys are nice.
+Changeable keysets, and how quickly they can be changed.
+The programmable top buttons, volume controls, and video controls.
+The extra 2 USB slots on the back of the keyboard
+Extra long USB cord.
+Good software with support for lots of games, and the ability to quickly change layouts.
+Non-Gaming Keysets for programs such as photoshop are available.
+Keysets fold over 3 times to save space, great for LAN's (too bad the base doesn?t fold though)

-Cons
+Gaming keys too far away from movement keys (the movement keys don?t need to be THAT big)
+Keyboard sites too high, after a while it started to wear out my wrists, it sits up almost an inch off of the desk. But I understand there isn?t much of a way to have exchangeable key sets without this problem, still, it hurt my wrists after a bit.
+Wrist rest didn?t offer much support, was generally uncomfortable, and was too large.
+No tactile feedback when you press a key, and a general squishy feel to the keys.
+New key sets are quite expensive, the Zboard and 3 key sets for your favorite games would run around 100$
+Can take several tries to get a key set in correctly, it has to line up with the rubber connections just perfectly.
+No macro support

-Final Thoughts
A very, very cool idea. Just not pulled off to the best that it could have been, don?t expect to go into a game you have played for months (or years) and do better with the Zboard, it just wont happen, however, for brand new games, starting out with the Zboard may prove to work out well. I don?t think this will be the QWERTY keyboard killer everyone is looking for, but it has its place in the "holy crap that?s cool" category. I know a lot of the downfalls of this keyboard come from me just being used to using a normal one, so I won?t be too harsh with the score. Overall I give the Zboard a 3.7 out of 5.

Buy It From Amazon

Review By Mister13

It took me awhile to get my hands on the Zboard, after all I am probably the one who complains the most about his keyboard. As I have stated many times, I am a ergonomic QWERTY fan. Ergonomic keyboards were built with me in mind and I absolutely despise having to use anything else.

Until recently I snorted at the idea that I would have to use anything other than my happy (and dirty) ergonomic keyboard to type out anything on my PC. I soon found out that I did not have that luxury when I got the Zboard from Ideazon.

Firstly I was pretty much in awe of how a keyboard, something so simple could be turned into a multi-faceted gaming interface. As Neticule stated, you have the base and “pop-in” keys for the various games that you may play. With some games a little more key intensive than others, your configuration could look different at any time.

The thing I was most impressed with was it’s durability and the ability to get back to regular keyboard style when you were done playing, which was honestly something I did not think you could do at first glance at the board.

Of course the real proof is when you actually use the keyboard in game and begin to play. I tried it with several games. With all the controls were laid out in a nice and simple manner it was a breeze to get acquainted with the game. All shortcuts easily laid out as well and labeled very plainly to make using them a breeze. I did fear getting too accustomed to using the board because if I went to a regular keyboard I would have gotten my but t smoked.

As for word processing, it does not have a soft touch, but it is not loud and clackey either. For a multi purpose keyboard (the term does not even do it justice), I would have to say that if you are truly a game and do have the extra dough to spend, you should absolutely invest in the Zboard, especially if you are a part of a clan and are engaged in competitions and such.

The Zboard for me, for it’s awesome forward thinking design, ability to accommodate most any game with it’s inserts, and excellent handling of word Processing, I give Ideazon’s Zboard a 4.3 out of 5