Ideazon Zboard Gaming Keyboard

The Zboard

The main feature of the Zboard is the ability to swap out keysets.  The standard keyset is just like any other keyboard you have seen before.  Something you may not have seen though is the gaming keyset.  The big difference between the status quo and the gaming headset is that the number pad has been shifted to the left side of the keyset and reconfigured.  The large red keys are automatically binded to the W, S, A and D keys you would use to move in most games currently on the market.  Here is a small incomplete list of the games the Zboard works with.  Other keys with generic game function labels are within easy reach of the oversized red movement keys.  We'll look more closely at these in just a second.

Here you can see that the keyboard with the inlay installed is about the same size as any other USB keyboard.  The USB cord measured two meters long, giving an end user plenty of reach from board to box.

Below are the Zboard sections close up to give you a better idea of key functions and layout.  Notice along the top, above the keyboard inlay, the quick start hot keys for a variety of functions from music volume and track selection to basic e-mail, calculator, open document etc.  Something I do want to point out is how nice the volume control feature was.  My Zalman 5.1 headphones are great except they don't have a volume control.  The keyboard control here worked fantastic to this end.  Be sure to notice that your home, page up, page down etc keys are lined up along the length of the Zboard above the letter keys.  This was necessary to give the game key area as much room without feeling crowded as possible.  The predefined hot keys we mentioned a minute ago can also be changed at your leisure to open whatever program you like with an Edit Hotkey Utility that is installed with your Zboard software.

     

The top right side of the Zboard base has two USB 2.0 ports in it.  From a gaming standpoint this is perfect for say a joystick or a thumb drive with some maps on it. 

The keyset is held in place on one side by its slipping to tabs into the Zboard base.  The other side locks in place with a small clip you can see below.  The third pic below is the bare base in case you hadn't figured that out already.

     

The key sets fold into three sections for easy transport and storage.  The underside of the right corner has some gold leads on it that communicate to the base (and your PC) what keyset you have installed.  If for whatever reason the installed keyset isn't recognized, an update keyset from internet option is available which we did use with an add in keyset and found it worked well.

  

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