Ideazon ZBoard Age of Empires III KeySet

Ideazon ZBoard Age of Empires III KeySet

Most fans of PC games, especially first person shooter games, will tell you the best way to play them is on a good old fashion keyboard. Having all your controls at your finger tips on the keyboard beats any console or game pad. With that said there hasn't been a whole lot innovation in keyboard design especially when it comes to PC gaming.
Ideazon has changed that with their innovative Zboard gaming keyboard. The Zboard gaming keyboard is a unique PC accessory that allows you to swap out the standard keyboard layout in exchange for a gaming keyset. Comprised of 3 components, a keyboard base, standard keyset, and gaming keyset, the Zboard can be utilized both as a gaming accessory as well as an everyday keyboard.
Installation of the Zboard is simple enough, the base is USB keyboard device and includes a nice array of buttons that provide functionality such as opening your media player, email, Internet browser, volume control and other typical functions found on most multimedia keyboards. Included in with the Zboard base are two keysets that snap in and give the keyboard it's real functionality.

Standard Keyset

Standard Keyset
The standard keyset is just that, a standard keyboard with the normal keys, number pad, and function keys. Like all keysets for the Zboard it is divided into thirds so it can be easily folded in and out of the base. Once in place the performance of the Zboard as a standard keyboard performs admirably, the keys don't provide the smoothest typing around and can be sticky at times but overall, it gets the job done.
One main issue that kept coming back each time the standard keyset was used was the placement of one of the two folding dividers and the spacebar. The divider splits the space bar in two, the spilt is located in just the right spot to become an annoyance by being difficult to depress or becoming stuck when typing quickly.

Where the Zboard really shines is with the gaming keysets. Included with the purchase is a standard gaming keyset that can be configured for a specific first person shooter's controls. This configuration can done automatically by the Zboard software for ever expanding library of games or you can customize the layout yourself. It was tested on Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4 and performed flawlessly for both games. The configurations for these games was not preloaded on the software but became available after downloading updated configurations from the Internet.
The standard WASD key controls for shooters has been replaced by large "butterfly" buttons with direction arrows for easy and comfortable use. Directly above the movement controls are oversized buttons that take the place of the numbers 1-6 on a normal keyboard. These are most often used for quick access to weapons or to swap weapons while playing a game. In addition, there are strategically place buttons for common game options such as crouch, throw, use, jump, objectives and more.

Gaming Keyset
The size, shape and location of all the buttons have been well thought out and are strategically placed to optimize and enhance your gaming experience. Gamers who have for years used a standard keyboard for FPS, may experience some difficulty adjusting to the larger directional keys as well as other buttons used for misc game features. Once this adjustment period is over though more time can be spend watching the computer screen rather than looking down at your keyboard to make sure you're pressing the right key.
Limited Edition Keysets

In addition to the standard Zboard keysets, Ideazon also offers limited edition keysets for some of the most popular releases. Currently there are more than a dozen limited edition keysets available for games such as Doom 3, Call of Duty 2, World of Warcraft, Age of Empires III just to name a few. These keysets are designed and customized for each game. Instead of having generic labels found on the standard gaming keyset, the limited keysets have the game's title, custom buttons, and all of the specific controls/names listed on the keyboard.

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There's not much difference between the limited edition keysets for first person shooters such as Call of Duty 2, Doom 3 and others. They all contain the butterfly directional keys found in the standard gaming keyset as well as custom keys for the specific game's features such as throw, crouch and others. This is helpful when there's a unique feature to a game, but overall the limited edition keysets don't have the biggest impact on game play other than saving the task of printing the controls from the Zboard software or looking through the game manual.
The limited edition keysets available for strategy and RPG games are very similar to the standard keyboard. The number pad on most is replaced by directional keys for movement but the usefulness of strategy keysets lies in the custom labeling of a game's hot keys. This is most helpful when you're in the midst of a game and unable to look up specific hot keys. With that said, learning hot keys on a standard keyboard isn't a difficult task so the usefulness of keysets for RTS and RPG games isn't as apparent as the FPS keysets.

Product Quality
The overall quality of the Zboard is very good, the base/keyset combined is lightweight but also quite sturdy at the same time. The keysets themselves seem very durable as well, this should expected since they are made to be interchanged numerous times over. There has also been a great attention to usability in the keyboard which adds to the product's overall good quality.
Bottom Line

The Zboard offers some great innovation to PC gaming with it's unique interchangeable keysets and provides a gaming accessory and standard PC keyboard all in one. The standard keyset is not the best in terms of comfort but it does provide you with all the features found on some of the more expensive multimedia keyboards. With customizable and comfortable keys on the gaming keysets, those looking to enhance their gaming experience, especially for first person shooters should really try to give the Zboard a test drive on their favorite game

Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #44378 in Consumer Electronics
Brand: Ideazon
Model: ZBD214
Platform: No Operating System
Dimensions: .90 pounds

Features
The Age of Empires III Limited Edition Keyset for Zboard lets you:
Rapidly find and move throughout your empire with seven quick access "find" and 11 "camera" keys
63 uniquely labeled and colour-coded keys for ease of use and quick access to units, chatting and more
Beautiful game graphics immerse you in the New World

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Ideazon ZBoard Age of Empires III KeySet