The ZBoard™ by Ideazon (shown with optional EQ and MOHAA Keysets)

Every once in a while we get a chance to look at some hardware that is potentially capable of improving the gaming experience for the MMORPG player. Recently we received a complete ZBoard setup from Ideazon for MMORPG.com to evaluate and review. The package contained a basic USB ZBoard base, standard Windows key insert, ZBoard gaming keyset, EverQuest keyset and a Medal of Honor: Allied Assault keyset.

The ZBoard is a very innovative and useful product. It consists of a USB "base" unit that allows you to interchange dozens of unique keysets in seconds. These are not just standard keyboards with cute paint jobs, these are completely customized keyboard layouts carefully designed to maximize efficiency as well as provide comfort for the hard core gamer. The ZBoard also offers a complete suite of products aimed at mainstream office applications like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash MX, Word, Excel and many others. Each keyset consists of 3 hinged panels which allow you to fold them for easy storage and safe installation into the base.

To give the ZBoard a fair and accurate review I decided to disconnect my Logitech "Cordless Elite" wireless keyboard for the weekend and use Ideazon's basic Windows layout instead. The swap did take a little getting used to - mainly because of the difference in key pressure, key curvature, positioning and other fine details that make each keyboard unique. The keyboard has a very nice feel when you press the keys and with the added wrist rest it is quite comfortable. Within a couple hours I was back up to speed and used to the Zboard.

I primarily spend my day programming, answering hundreds of e-mails and working on the website - so it is fair to say that I typed more than a few thousand lines of text while testing the ZBoard. In this time I did have one bad experience where one of the keys got stuck in the down position. After removing the keyset it appeared that one of the rubber buttons in the base got snagged on the inside of the hole that it rests in. This only happened once, and in the first few hours of using the product - so I am writing it off as "the break-in period."

The keyboard seems to be of very high quality. It is very lightweight, yet the base is heavily reinforced with gives it a solid feel. All electrical connections use gold plated terminals which will prevent corrosion. The keysets seem to be made of a highly durable plastic which seems to be nearly indestructible (and yes, I twisted and tortured them a bit to test this!). I find this important as we all know how cluttered and dangerous the average gamer's environment can become! One of my few gripes about the keyboard itself would be that due to the hinged design the spacebar on the standard "Windows" keyset is divided into two keys - and the gap in between them can be a little unnerving - especially at first.

A nice improvement to the Zboard keysets would be to see the "butterfly" keys (these are the trademark movement keys on nearly all of the ZBoards that replace the standard "WASD" movement keys that most FPS games use) made out of a rubber material…much like what is found on a TV remote control. Because your fingers live on these keys - something soft with a little traction would be cool and a very luxurious feature.

The heart of the ZBoard lies in this trademark control pad found on most keysets.

Using the ZBoard control panel you can adapt the basic gaming keyset to an updated list of games. Unfortunately, customizing these is not possible yet.

Although the ZBoard comes with drivers and a software control panel - you won't find yourself using it very often due to the "intelligent" nature of the custom keysets. Each keyboard insert has an identity chip on board that auto-configures your system for that particular game or application. After plugging in a keyset you will not have to do anything except launch the game (you can even have the ZBoard launch the appropriate game for you after you insert each keyset!).

The one feature I think this product is lacking is the ability to re-program the keysets as you see fit or program your own profiles. Although most games let you re-map your keys, being able to do this within the ZBoard software would save time and allow you to share profiles with friends (i.e. it would be nice to come up with profiles for popular MMORPG games and post them on our site for download!).

Now I will take a look at the 4 keysets that were included in my review package. Although Ideazon makes over 17 different keysets, we will only be looking the EverQuest, Medal of Honor, ZBoard gaming keyset and the Windows/IE keyboard.

EverQuest® Keyset

This keyset is really the reason that we are reviewing this product at all. It is currently the only MMORPG keyset that is offered for the ZBoard. I played EQ for about 2 hours using this keyset and it was a really cool addition to the game. For starters, the keyset just looks great - it has a hand painted feel and a theme that fits the game. However, because EverQuest is a game where you will find yourself doing a lot of typing - the keyboard layout is not that different from your basic keyboard. It does feature some extra big movement keys for your comfort and some nifty camera control keys.

The real power of the keyset lies in the fact that it labels virtually every command in EQ right on the keyboard...so new players can put away the reference guide! In addition to the labeling the shortcuts, it also features pre-programmed macros that you would not have with any other keyboard. It features a built in chat macros for "Thanks", "Congratulate", "Bye", various "Who" commands and "Pet" commands.

My only complaint about this keyset is the fact that like all keysets - you can't change the macros or any other keys without using the in-game key mapping feature. Being able to store my own chat commands would be a great feature.

Medal of Honor® Keyset

I dropped in the MOHAA keyset and loaded up the Omaha Beach scenario. I have to admit - getting used to the "butterfly" movement keys does take a little while. And I ate a whole lot of blood and sand before I got accustomed to it. Once I did it really did help improve my skills in the game. The big weapon selector keys were a great feature along with the big crouch/reload/jump/use keys.

If you play Medal of Honor in multiplayer mode - you will likely find that getting used to the round letter keys and the offset of the keys might really slow down your chatting and take some more getting used to. This was obviously a necessary sacrifice that was made to create such a great control area on the left side of the keyset.

Much like the EQ keyset, this one also features pre-programmed macros that allow you issue 10 pre-defined voice commands when in multiplayer mode.

ZBoard Gaming Keyset

This keyset will cover most of your basic FPS style games. It features the trademark ZBoard "butterfly" keys as well as nice and big weapon selector, reload, crouch, use and various empty keys which will vary from game to game. When you have this keyset installed you will need to open your ZBoard control panel in order to select which gaming profile to use. There are profiles for many popular games including Far Cry ,UT2004, Quake, GTA3, Battlefield Vietnam, Max Payne 2, Call of Duty and over 15 other titles as well as a "standard" profile that will work with most all other titles. Again, a major lacking here is the ability to create and edit your own profiles. Currently if your game is not listed you will need to use the standard profile and define your keys using the key-mapper that is built into most games.

To test out this keyset I hoped into Far Cry. This time I was already used to the butterfly keys so the advantage was immediate and my foes were taking hot lead to no end! This was pretty much the same experience I had with the MOHAA keyset, however I like the actual typing area of this keyboard much better - but it is still very odd compared to a normal keyboard and one should expect to type sentences much slower than normal.

Windows/IE Keyset

The last keyset I will talk about is the one I used the most - the basic keyset which is designed to improve your efficiency while doing day to day tasks like surfing the net and typing e-mails. It really has a lot of great features and once again every shortcut you can imagine has been labeled on the keys. Although you can access most of these from any keyboard - having them painted on helps you to save your brain cells for other things. This keyset does feature some unique hotkeys however. On the right side of the keyset the number pad can go into "Pad Lock" mode which allows you to execute 16 commands including your Date/Time settings, Control Panel, My Computer and other common Windows destinations.

If you took away the split spacebar, this would probably be one of the nicest keyboards I have owned...but because of this I think I will have to stick with my Logitech wireless for day to day tasks.

In conclusion I would have to say that this is a really fantastic product that the hard core gamer should seriously consider adding to their arsenal. It is very apparent that Ideazon has gone to great lengths to create a keyboard that will really enhance your gaming and everyday tasks. If you are anything like me - you probably tire of most games in a few weeks. With most custom keysets being in the $15-$20 price range, you might want to purchase these only for titles you plan on playing for at least a few months…especially since the basic "gamer" keyset will suffice for most titles.

Although I would not prefer to use the ZBoard for normal work use - I will use it for nearly all of my gaming needs - which is where this product really shines. If you are interested in purchasing a ZBoard for yourself you can do so at their official store at this link.

NOTE: After submitting this article to Ideazon for technical review they did inform me that they are currently developing a "next generation" ZBoard that will address many of the cons I mentioned in this article.