Gamertell

Product: Merc Gameboard System by Ideazon
Price: $39.99
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Takes the place of a regular keyboard with multimedia buttons, programmable hot keys, butterfly key pad with programmable hot keys, sleek wave design and extra USB ports.
Cons: Rather huge keyboard, the butterfly pad turns your left hand inwards making it tough to reach all of the hot keys.
Overall: A neat keyboard despite its bulky size. The butterfly key pad is nice except it’s tilted inwards because of the wave design making all the buttons on the left hand side of the direction keys slightly difficult to press with a small pinky finger without having to stretch it out to reach.

This keyboard teeters on the edge of clutter with its bulky size, forcing me to push my disk rack aside or mount them on the wall just to have it nearby. Photos of family, friends and pets had to be relocated to the bookshelf in the next room to make room for the game board.

After connecting the keyboard and inserting the Z-engine installation disc into my computer, it was ready to for use within 15 minutes, though your installation time may vary depending on your computer system. After you install the software and select the game you want to play from a list of 100 configurations, you’re ready to play.

An average keyboard isn’t enough for me. It has to be durable for those quick firing tactics I usually employ when engaging battle with the enemy. Nothing sucks more than a key stuck on the board after pounding it repeatedly during a firing mission. Then you’re stuck prying it loose only to accidentally crack the key or bend the piece that holds it there and off to the computer store to buy another cheap keyboard.

The Merc keyboard provides the durability for my aggressive negotiations with the enemy. The programmable buttons that line the top of this keyboard is an added bonus, but after playing with the keyboard I rarely use those buttons. The only buttons I messed with were the multimedia buttons because I need some techno to energize my game play experience.

Design – Sleek wavy design with a game pad tilted in an 11 degree angle inwards. Silver strip along the top with multimedia buttons on the left and function buttons on the right. The game pad uses a butterfly style direction buttons with numbered item hot keys for quick access. Extra USB ports on the front of the keyboard and an extra long USB port cable.

Features – More than 100 pre-configured game templates for the keyboard, a set of multimedia keys to allow access to music without having to minimize the game to set up. Shortcut keys that allow you to print screen or quickly minimize the game window for privacy.

Performance – I thought they keyboard performed just as well as any normal keyboard with the only exception of the game pad which was a little sensitive but reacted well to the different commands. The keys were durable enough for the heavy handed typist or the average temper-tantrums any kid could dish out. They USB cable is long enough to position the keyboard anywhere on my desk and having the extra USB ports is an added bonus.

Overall – The keyboard functioned great. The only thing I didn’t care for was its large size and having the game pad tilted at an 11 degree angle.

Editors Note: The categories were weighted in the following manner to reflect the importance of some features over others (in our humble opinion). Design 40%, Features 20%, and Performance 40%.