Merc Stealth Gaming Keyboard Author: faceless105 -- Posted: 2007-10-01
Now one of the types of products that I really enjoy reviewing is the specialty types. This to me is some type of hardware that's a bit out of the ordinary and used for specific purposes. Today I'll be taking a look at Ideazon'sGaming Keyboard, the Merc Stealth.
Out of the box this keyboard looks like it's right on the money. It has a solid feel and a great look to it. Now the advantage in this gaming keyboard is the extra set of keys to the left. This is setup to give you all of your controls that are easily accessible with one hand; you shouldn't ever have to reach across the keyboard with this one.
From a first hand experience this one will feel a little strange the first couple of times you use it, but don't let that stop you. Like any new keyboard it just takes a little bit to get a feel for it. After using it for a few hours doing some serious gaming, I've really come to enjoy the feel of this keyboard. It's about average height but very rounded so it's very comfortable. I've used some keyboards in the past where it feels like they're just cutting into my wrists. In addition to this, the gaming section is tilted 11% to match the natural angle of your hand. This is a plus for all who are big into ergonomics. I know after a day of gaming, comfort is everything.
The functionality is great as well. The gaming section of this keyboard I found is setup incredibly well. Everything is placed logically around your hand in very easy to reach places. In addition to your gaming keys, you can use the Z engine to customize the keys to give you the perfect gaming environment. There are also over 125 pre-defined key mapping layouts so there's a good chance you'll find your perfect layout without having to map it yourself. Now in addition to the software they also include two USB ports as well as audio hookups. This is something that I'm starting to see more and more in your higher end keyboards and I really love these kinds of additions. This just makes things much easier to connect your thumb drives and nice headsets.
Now to touch on the looks because I really love the way this keyboard looks. First it's a nice mat black keyboard with a very sharp logo. What really sells the image though is the fact that this keyboard is fully backlit. It's very well done as well, the lighting is even throughout the entire keyboard. Now this does make things like gaming at night pretty cool, but if you're anything like me, you'll have an even better time when people look at your keyboard and say "whoah, that's really cool looking". Now I'm reviewing the red illuminated version so if that's not the color you're aiming for, there are two other colors as of this moment you can choose from.
I also want to follow up with MaximumPC in one of their latest articles. They compared gaming keyboards to normal keyboards and used this exact keyboard. They came to the conclusion that a normal keyboard has just as many advantages as a gaming keyboard but I really have to disagree. I'm sure that's what a normal user would say but any hard core gamer knows that every feature makes a huge difference, and that's why you don't see any wireless gaming keyboards. To a gamer we know that having everything within reach of your hand is a big advantage in many games that throw a ton of controls at you.
I'd like to take a moment and thank Ideazon for giving me the opportunity to review this keyboard. I've really enjoyed being able to thoroughly test it out. For all big gamers out there, I know these are a bit of extra money but they're a great investment. I urge all of you to check out the Merc Stealth Gaming Keyboard as it has far more advantages for gaming then any other high end keyboard I've come across.
As always, if you have any questions, I'd love to hear them :)
