ZBoard - "The Ultimate Gaming Keyboard"
Using one isn't L337, merely G33KY.

Firstly I should explain that I didn't buy this keyboard, so the review should be that tiny bit more objective than if I've shelled out a load of money for the thing. This isn't to say that the other reviews on this site are hideously biased; I always attempt to be as objective as possible. However, it's an oddity for me to be given something with no warning at all.

For anyone wondering, when I pre-ordered the currently less than stellar Battlefield 2, reviewed on this site here, I was entered into a competition with two prizes; $1000 worth of games and a second prize of a ZBoard gaming keyboard with limited edition Battlefield 2 keyset. I'm assuming you can work out the rest for yourselves.

So, you may be asking yourself, what on earth is a ZBoard? Well, ignoring the xtreme-esque hyperbole, put simply it's a keyboard base with hot-swappable keysets. You're doing some work, say editing a website. You unhinge a clasp at the side of the keyboard, fold off whatever the current keyset is and replace it with one comprising of a standard-ish QWERTY keyboard. You want to play a first-person shooter? Fold off the QWERTY keyboard and insert a game-specific keyset.

So far, so logical. But how do the keysets actually fair against a normal keyboard?

For comparison, I have the Microsoft Wireless Comfort Keyboard, which is a cross between a standard straight keyboard and the older split "Natural" keyboard. Unfortunately for the ZBoard, I think it's an absolutely fantastic keyboard with only one minor flaw. If you press a key for more than a couple of seconds and the keyboard just stops listening to the signal and it's as if you'd released the key. Needless to say that this trait in games ranges from a slight nusiance to an outright game-killer. Thankfully this problem seems to be related to the wireless nature of the keyboard and doesn't occur in the Zboard. So that's a plus point right there.

The installation of the keyboard is easy and simply involves plugging the usb connector into any usb socket on your pc and installing the included software, assuming you can find it. Eventually I found the installation CD hidden in a plastic sleeve inside the cover of the manual. In a way I can see the thought-processes behind this, but it did mean a couple of minutes of tearing the packing apart before I finally found the cd. This might be news to Ideazon but someone ought to tell them, they're trying to sell a product to geek gamers. The last damn place any of that group is going to look for anything is the manual.

Since the installation I've been going backwards and forwards between the Zboard and my normal keyboard and, inevitably, comparisons have been made. Most of them not all that favourable.

Were I to own a standard, straight QWERTY keyboard with no multimedia keys, wireless, etc, then I'm reasonably sure I'd think the Zboard wasn't bad. The travel and feel of the "standard" keyset is reasonable, although not outstanding. With the addition of the "hot keys" on the upper edge of the base, there's a bonus over a keyboard without them. The swapping process isn't arduous and the automatic identification of the inserted keyset thanks to a small chip in the upper corner is a good idea, but I found myself repeatedly questioning some of the design choices that Ideazon has made. The multimedia keys along the top edge are all identical except for a small printed icon beneath each one. Why weren't they laid out in groups? They're also transparent and my first though on seeing them was "I bet there's LEDs beneath them that light up". No, there isn't. But there should be! If you're going to aim for the hardcore gaming market and use letters from the arse-end of the alphabet to make your product look "Xtreme!" then they've missed a number of tricks. The other key one being that only a total moron is going to buy another keyset for this keyboard if the only things that're different are the markings near the keys and the background graphic. The Battlefield keyset I received with the ZBoard was identical in key layout to the included "generic" FPS keyset. If that's the case why not make the graphic overlay around the keyset a separate layer, say a thin magnetic sheet, and then see them along with the appropriate game in question? It'd be cheaper to make, cheaper to buy and, if bundled in for free with games, more likely to generate sales of your keyboard. As it is, I can't imagine a scenario where I'm likely to buy another keyset for this thing.

Which brings me on to my third "missed opportunity". There's only keys on this thing. That might seem an obvious statement, but what I mean is, why not include some other, possibly analogue controls that a game might benefit from? A slider or rotary knob might be handy. Even a tiny joystick perhaps. Anyone who's tried to control an aircraft in Battlefield 2 using only keyboard and mouse will attest that it's somewhere between tricky and absolutely-goddamn-impossible (depending on your dexterity - for myself it's firmly embedded in the latter category). So, if you're going to create the ultimate control set for a game, why wouldn't you take account of this? There's is a nice option (which I originally missed) to auto-launch the game (or any other executable) when a particular keyset is inserted into the base. However with game's producers insisting we have to have their damn cd/dvd in the drive to play the game then it's of questionable use since you'd have to go off and get the install media to play it anyway, which usually auto-runs on insert.

So what's the keyboard like to actually play a game though? To be honest... not all that flash. The separate WASD flower for movement control is quite good, but the distance between it and anciliary controls like crouching and sprinting is just a little too large to be confortable, unless you have much larger hands than I do. The keyboard on the right for typing messages mid-game is confusing and difficult to type on. The learning curve for being able to find keys is no quicker or more gentle than were you just to use the keyboard you normally use. And if keys were tricky to find or hard to reach on your normal keyboard, you'd do what any sane person would and remap them to somewhere you do like.

Overall the Zboard is not a product that's the ultimate anything. It's a middling to average standard keyboard and it's a reasonable if not outstanding FPS keyboard too.

Which brings me to my last killer point. I'm, as anyone who knows me knows, a total gadget nut. I love a good and useful gadget, and all the more if it's sexy looking, and the ZBoard is questionably useful and... not remotely sexy. It's clunky square lines and nasty plastic finish mean that this is more a product you're going to wind up justifying to your friends, not being asked where they can get one from.

Score 5/10

© Barny Russell 2005