SteelSeries Zboard Gaming Keyboard
by SteelSeries
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List Price: Our Price: $44.99 You Save: $5.00 (10%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $40.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SteelSeries Zboard Gaming Keyboard
Customer Review: nice keyboard, horrid website
Summary: 4 Stars
First let me say that thier is a P/S version and a USB version of this keyboard. The P/S is the one that stinks like last years socks and only comes with the standard keyset.(it also REQUIRES you to buy a keyset for every game). This version sold here is the USB version and comes with 2 keysets. The standard is very sturdy and comfortable to type on. The keys are firm and resistant to presses(which I like myself) I have no problem typing on the standard. The gaming keyboard is just that, it is for games. I love it! It is for any game. It has a left hand controll keyset for most FPS but I have found that it also works in CRPG's like Neverwinter Nights(which a keyset was once avalible for but is no longer) and even old infinity engine games like Icewind Dale- set your keys to: W=select all q=quest journal e=inventory and s=return as well as spells in A(wizards) and D(clerical) R to default(stats) and F=attack and your set to be carpel tunnel free.
my gripe(and 4* rating) is the lousy website that requires you to register personal info to get support(Mother's maiden name and all that) as well as the Zboard.com website not loading on dial-up connections. Just because some of us use dial up does not mean we don't have a life, we game too(hacker free becasue of disconnect.)
Customer Review: I had a mixed experience
Summary: 3 Stars
I've been PC gaming for a very long time (essentially since there have been PCs (Yes, I'm THAT old))
The good:
I was pretty impressed when I first saw the Zboard. I picked one up about a year ago for BF2 and was very pleased with the smart game layout and the easy access to commands. Very slick.
The bad:
As others have said, the drivers are a bit flaky and I've had to reset my system a few times to get things back to normal. If this were a better keyboard for general typing, I'd be happier with it, but frankly I'm not happy with the ability for normal typing.
The keys are very mushy and seem to need a longer than normal push to type. The keytops are also very wobbly and vague feeling. I normally type fairly fast, but my speed has dropped about 50% with this keyboard. Since they've munged the keyboard layout around, In-game messaging for the various keysets is difficult.
Switching keysets is sometimes problematic and I've had the keyboard get so confused that I have to reset my system.
I ended up giving this product three stars. 5 for game play and 1 star for normal keyboard use.
I finally ended up retiring the Zboard a few months back and have switched over to a Nostromo Speedpad N52
Customer Review: Not entirely customizable...
Summary: 1 Stars
Nice pictures from popular games, thats all about it. First, you have what they call the "browser bar" and the media bar. The installation cd advertises it with flash animated intros like if none else in the market does that. But the keyboard ONLY and ONLY supports Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player. You read that right, my $15 old keyboard supports my itunes and Firefox with no problem, the difference is that they make it HARDWIRED, so you don't use "strange software" and look ungrateful to the creator of the Operative system in which your games run. Even before I found all these "issues" the overall look of the keyboard was the first let down. The buttons are made of cheap coarse, plastic and when you switch the keyboards, which is the only amazing thing of this product seems to do, is that they don't sit correctly all the time and leave some in and some out. You have to do several attempts to finally get it well. The drive that comes on the installation also comes with yet another function added to your tray bar. You know, I'm always looking for more and more background functions to run in the background. If you don't believe me, buy it, but keep your receipt, the box and the cd. If you know what I mean.Customer Review: Awesome Keyboard!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
It did not take me too long to realize that I wanted this keyboard after seeing all of its features on Amazon.com. I can only say that I am absolutely blown away by this keyboard! You cannot get anymore features packed into a keyboard for this value!
First off, the construction of the base/keysets is top-notch, not plasticky-feeling like many keyboards out there. You get 2 USB ports to boot!
Second of all, I like the intuitive software that enables the gaming keyset to recognize the game that is loaded.
I especially like the fact that this keyboard comes with 2 keysets instead of one (gaming and standard). The Standard keyset has all of the key shortcuts beautifully integrated via color-coding on the keys. As for the Gaming keyset, I was very impressed with how comfortable it felt while gaming. The keys are very well spaced out and easily identifiable.
I've read complaints about how expensive other gaming keysets are for the Zboard and all I can say is this - with the customization that is available with the gaming keyset included, there really is no reason to get any other keyset (sorry Ideazon, but there isn't).
Awesome product!
Customer Review: Good keyboard, but not a big deal.
Summary: 3 Stars
I've had this keyboard for a while now. The keyboard itself was a gift - the keyset I bought here on Amazon. It seems like a great idea, but the most useful feature has been the two USB ports built into it. The keyset itself is for the most part a standard keyboard layout with a few labels for Everquest II (EQ2). The dedicated keys are all the same as hot-buttons already available on a standard keyboard or just a couple of clicks away on the in-game user interface. The one I've used most often is the Screenshot key.
The media player keys seem like a great idea too, but they only work with Windows Media Player, which I don't use.
I can't find anything wrong with the keyboard or the keyset at all - It's simply not all that useful. It certainly hasn't improved my game or made gameplay any easier. My overall impression is that it's just not worth replacing a standard keyboard for the very limited benefit of this specialized one.
This is just going to end up collecting dust. Maybe it's more useful in other games.