Ideazon Zboard Gaming Keyboard

Product: Ideazon Zboard Gaming Keyboard
Provided By: Ideazon
Real-Time Price:

Introduction:

There are many companies that manufacture and market gaming peripherals, and I'm sure many of you have already heard of Ideazon.  They are not the biggest company around, but they manufacture some of the most innovative and unique products that we've seen in terms in input peripherals.  Their first and possibly biggest claim to fame has been the Zboard Keyboard.  This keyboard features a static base and interchangeable keysets.  This gives the Zboard some unique possibilities for gaming as well as other work-related tasks that you cannot find in other keyboards.  Today we are looking at the basic Zboard package and will show how well it works in Vista.

Whether you love or hate it, Microsoft's latest Operating System - Vista is here to stay.  It may not gain the popularity that Microsoft wants, but until someone figures out how to implement DX10 into Windows XP, Vista remains you only source of DirectX 10 gaming, and let's face it, there are thousands of impatient gamers who have DX10 hardware and want to use it.  Support of Vista has gotten better, but because Ideazon is committed to gamers, they have better support than most companies.

 
Z-Board Box

Specs & Features:

USB Hub

• Your Zboard Base is equipped with 2 USB (bus powered) connectors. This HUB supports low voltage devices (up to 100mA) such as mice, joystick or memory sticks. Now you can plug devices directly to your Zboard without the hassle of crawling down to your PC.

Hot Keys

• A set of nine hot keys launch common functions such as E-mail, Calculator and My Computer or allow you to instantly return to a pre-selected destination, such as a file, folder, program or web page.

Multimedia Keys

• A set of 7 one-touch multimedia control buttons: play/pause, stop, next/previous track, volume up/down and mute.

Additional LED Indicators

• In addition to the standard 3 LED (Caps, Scroll and Num lock) Zboard has additional 3 LEDs to indicate Zboard enhanced functionality (Pad Lock, Bar Lock and Enable).

Swap Keysets

• Easily interchange between the gaming keyset, the standard keyset or any one of the Limited Edition Keysets.

Fully Customizable

• Programmable with easy-to-use drag-and-drop macro editing
• Over 125 pre-defined key mapping layouts
• Learn more about Z Engine

Gaming Keyset:

"Butterfly" Movement Keys

• Enlarged and sloped "butterfly" movement keys that keep fingers comfortable and accurate!

Labeled Command Keys

• Commonly used command keys for FPS/Action games are labeled for faster and better performance in game.

Dome-Shaped Keys

• Unique domed action keys give gamers the responsive feel that they demand.

Control Zones

• Players can easily access more critical commands with the one hand control zone.

Technological Advantages

• Registers up to 7 simultaneous key-strokes, in comparison to 2-4 on most other keyboards! Jump, move forward, lean left, change weapons and shoot at the same time!
• QWERTY (Standard) keys for chatting without interrupting the action.

Gaming Keyset

The Standard Keyset:

Everday Typing

• Based on a traditional 108 key layout, your easily use the Zboard for daily computing functions.

Control and Windows® Labeled Commands

• The typing zone has 2 sets of commands common to Windows® applications labeled for your convenience.

Special "macro" Keys

• The activation of the "Bar Lock" and "Pad Lock" keys reassigns the numerical keys and the function (F) keys to advanced functionality inherent to Windows® applications.

Windows® Quick Commands

• The Windows® Pad includes 16 commands for frequently used Windows features such as Minimize/Maximize, My Computer, Show Desktop and more.

Internet Explorer Quick Commands

• The Internet Bar includes 12 commands for frequently used Internet Explorer features such as Home, Backward/Forward, My Favorites and more.

On the next page we'll take a closer look at this Z(key)board.