SteelSeries Zboard review (rubber domes)

[@enderbrine3000]

What the actual hell is that thing

[@hideru_osu]

Didn't expect to see you here

[@XalphYT]

This was the first Chyrosran thumbnail that I found in my video feed that made me stop and wonder: What?

[@cheater00]

ahhh yes, pure, unadulterated, human suffering. that's what chyrosran gets for typing space with the index finger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@lucasc5622]

fuckin weebs

[@yetanothaone2824]

Make more videos >:(

[@little-wytch]

This is a blast from the past. I once worked in an internet cafe/gaming center... and ALL of the gaming PCs had this keyboard. We had them with the normal layout but had a stack of this layout ready to be signed out at the desk... and a disturbing number of the kids used them too in the FPS games.

[@lettuce7378]

oh no

[@moofey]

I couldn't imagine. The mid-2000s was all about... counter-strike, maybe? The layout doesn't even match for CS.

[@Shaydin]

This gamepad that became the Merc Stealth/ SteelSeries Stealth is to this day the best thing I've used. They layout was perfect for gaming and gave you easy access to a lot more keys. The learning curve took about 5 minutes. I had a few friends who said they would never use it, I made them try it and they bought one the following day. A current standalone gamepad mechanical version of this would be amazing!

[@jasondoe2596]

4:34 → "HIIIIDEOUS!" 6:55 → "unacceptable!" 7:51 → nice poetic analogy Yeah, this is crap. I still like the company, though - they make an *awesome* cloth mouse pad, and some decent mice. Or at least they used to.

[@dudinacas]

Still rocking a Kana V2 - great mouse. Unfortunately the Rival 106, which looks like a direct successor to the Kana, is only coming out in China which is a bummer. I still have a soft spot for the company. The Apex M500 is a good budget mech, and as always their mousepads are solid. Their headsets are super comfortable too, although I don't own one.

[@hunnidisblack9337]

@@dudinacas wdym they still make great mice and mousepads

[@dudinacas]

@@hunnidisblack9337 I didn't disagree on the mousepads front, but they've made some questionable decisions when it comes to mice lately. Products like the Rival 710 come with gimmicks no one asked for, and the Rival 650 Wireless could have been a great mouse if they made an effort to lower the weight. Their build quality seems to have also gone down a bit. I'm not saying Steelseries mice are bad now, but their older products seemed to be more consistent in terms of quality.

[@jehezz]

@@dudinacas Rival 600 is good tho..

[@dudinacas]

@@jehezz Great shape, great sensor, but it also has build quality issues including the rubberized side grips that Steelseries never managed to get right.

[@limewirepro]

this keyboard is a visual representation of "there was an attempt"

[@cadelfistro7985]

4:35 This keyboard in a nutshell

[@kijetesantakaluSokete]

HHHHHHEAAAAADIYUZZ

[@stampycatfan01lol]

Actually that would be 6:55

[@thehammurabichode7994]

HEADPHONE WARNING, EH @Cadel Fistro

[@3229dan]

this is just ᵘⁿᵃᶜᶜᴱᴾᵀᴬᴮᴸᴱᴱᴱᴱᴱ

[@VuthMuul]

I used to have one of these, so many driver issues and software issues. The pad itself was pretty cool, and the mapping was nice, though switching plates from gaming to standard got annoying. They did sell another board, the Fang, which is just the pad section standalone.

[@hengineer]

Yea, I had the fang. It was ok, the spacing was just too wide for my hand. And the rubber domes just sucked for me.

[@MontyTFreek-gr6tf]

I loved this board ( fat fingers ) but yes to many driver issues .

[@TommyCrosby]

OMG! The memories it brings me back! By the way, you have the default gaming keypad layout, there was another normal QWERTY layout bundled in the box. I know that keypads are a niche product, but they still exists with the Logitech G13 and Razer Orbweaver, but since the Zboard combined the keypad with a TKL keyboard it was quite a space saver because TKL keyboard wasn't a thing yet. Back when I had this, it was still made by the Canadian brand Ideazon WAY before it was purchased by SteelSeries mid 2008 and it was actually quite a good gaming keyboard in the mid 00s (for someone who never used a mechanical keyboard and used more it's keyboard to game than type). When I play FPS games, I still have keymap habits that I developed while I had the default Zboard gaming keypad.

[@samoksner]

I remember seeing these at Frys electronics and thinking what the actual fuck and noticed how sloppy the construction felt.

[@MiguelFarah]

What do you mean, "TKL wasn't a thing yet"? Back in 2008, I was typing away daily on either of my two Model M SSK keyboards (one at home, one at work).

[@karshthegoblin4179]

@@MiguelFarah These date back to 2003... a full 5 years before what your talking about

[@MiguelFarah]

@@karshthegoblin4179 I BOUGHT my Model M SSK keyboards in 2008. They, however, were both MADE by IBM in 1987.

[@JackOfHarts96]

"TKL wasn't a thing yet" Uh, are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure the IBM Model M SSK predates this thing by a considerable margin...

[@ascendria]

Before watching this video, my thought was "I want one." After watching this video, my thought was "I still want one."

[@Capzielios]

Lol, these things were a trip back in the day, mine died after about 3 months so I wouldn't suggest ever actually using it. Just the neat layout choices

[@atomicdeath10]

I used a keyboard similar to this back in the day in WoW. Made the game so much easier due to the close works space for the left hand. Mine was a dedicated board, not the interchangeable one shown here. Had the "RPG" controls on the left and a standard keyboard on the right side. Loved the damn thing until it finally broke many years later.

[@marcus2944]

Another 'WANING' video... this is gonna be good :P

[@unknown96565]

*wAnInG*

[@CryoToast]

wAnInG

[@OdiumTV]

my morning couldn’t start off any better than listening to chyrosran verbally destroy a keyboard. good stuff

[@goosedupgreg272]

my cousin unironically used this keyboard with this layout for 15 years. He bought six in total, would scowler the internet to find one when he needed a new one. Just today was forced to get a new keyboard as he couldn't find anymore available.

[@benjaminrittgers8509]

I have this keyboard. It came with a normal layer in the box. The layout featured in the review had on the layout that was only meant to be used in first person shooters and it was useful for that purpose. Normally you put the normal layout on unless you were gaming.

[@SeverityOne]

These were produced by Ideazon before they became Steelseries. They had a couple of products, and this is just plain weird, but the Zboard Fang, a gaming keypad, is absolutely brilliant. Not in terms of quality: I've had to open it several times to clean or get keys working again, and I think another couple stopped working. Also not the look, because it has the same red keys as this ones, plus a bunch of others, and some media keys. But the layout is just great. I'm a big fan of Razer, even though their stuff tends to marry a high price tag with mediocre reliability, but I've never come across a gaming keypad that was so well laid out as the Zboard Fang. There was software for it, too, so that you could reprogram it for different games, and it came with a bunch of presets, but that stopped working pretty quickly as Windows moved on, and the software didn't. Still, great piece of kit that I'm still using.

[@Jesse__H]

There's a lot to hate about this but ... honestly I think that "B" placement is the strangest. I mean, I can see why they did most of it (they failed, obviously, but I can imagine what they were TRYING to do) but wwwwhyyyy is that "B" all on own like that??! WHY.

[@alligate420]

when he takes off the keys at 7:14 or so you can see that the domes are placed like a regular keyboard. the b key in the GaMeR layout is where right shift is on the regular layout, so it has to jut out to hit the rubber dome for right shift. that also explains why the right half of the keys are ortholinear, they're using the nav cluster and numpad domes from the regular layout.

[@ppsarrakis]

B is there cause of its the shortcut for "BAG" "inventory" on many RPG/MMOS.

[@andrewmarlowe1296]

This is one of the best boards I have ever had. I have come to LOVE the pad. Been using since BF2142 and would never ever go back. I even bought a used one after mine literally wore out.

[@voidstar.studio]

I still have an Ideazon (the company that made Z-boards before being bought by SteelSeries) Fang. it's like a more condensed version of only the left panel of that board and I used it in basically every MMORPG since WoW came out because it gave you access to all 12 hotbar keys without moving your hand at all. Put ctrl/alt/shift modifiers on your mouse side buttons and you've got several rows of hotbars without trying to do stupid things like peck at the tiny buttons of a Razer Naga with your thumb. Then all the surrounding buttons gave you your inventory, map, character screen, etc. SteelSeries doesn't even provide drivers for it anymore so it's essentially dead and I haven't played any MMOs in quite a while so I don't really care anymore, but have thought about building a mechanical equivalent using mouse switches under the keys to save space. The Fang was a real gem, but was brought down by the Z-board really being just a marketing campaign where they were trying to get game publishers to pay up to get a custom layout and make more money on some suckers, which gave the whole brand a bad name. Sure, it wasn't mechanical, it had some weird layout decisions, and a few truly horrendous buttons like the spacebar on the side, but the amount of control it gave in MMOs was nutty.

[@XX-121]

yeah, i have one. don't use it anymore, but i would always just remap the space (jump) to the bottom button on the top which was where your thumb rested anyway. really only reason i got it was because i had a couple friends that weren't into computers and couldn't wrap their heads around w,s,a,d. but prob with the help of the fang, actually turned one into a PC gamer :)

[@YSN]

I first found out about this keyboard in the manual for Age of Empires III. The ad showed off a layout that was "optimized" for Age of Empires, but at least it looked relatively normal compared to this monstrosity!

[@JayBee_TV]

Oh man, this brings back some memories. I got one of these when I was like 10 and had just gotten into PC gaming. I remember the old ads in Game Informer for the custom overlays you could lay on it and thinking it was the coolest shit ever. I actually used it as a daily keyboard for maybe a year before the contacts for the different overlays stopped working. Good times...awful keyboard.

[@alexeiz]

Swearing? Hold on, I'll turn up the volume.

[@BAMFSpYdy]

I still use this keyboard and now I can't go back to a regular keyboard for gaming or typing. Once you get used to the layout, IT ROCKS for gaming lol. It came with the regular keyboard layout and to this day I have never used it. I also have layouts for 6 other old games I never use anymore, only because I don't play those games anymore. It used to also be programable but the software won't work in windows 10 or 11. But all the top keys work on mine. Not sure why yours don't. To each his own! P.S. I still gave you a thumbs up!

[@samdeur]

My wife's response on your swearing. "Why don't you swear like him I like it" Almost therapeutic hahahah.... well that says it all.. she is Dutch mind you hahaha but we both understand English like almost every other Dutch folk.. nothing to say about that thing calling itself a keyboard that hasn't been said hahahha

[@noleti]

thomas is dutch as well, no?

[@shiroyatagami4780]

I know too many Dutch people who don't speak a damn word of English. Or they do speak it but with a terrible accent and alot of Dutch mixed in to replace words.

[@dapyzzz4209]

@@offbrandbiscuit no, I'm pretty sure he's Dutch

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

@@offbrandbiscuit He passes for an extremely tall Brit... but he's Dutch.

[@spaceowl9246]

He sounds extremely british.

[@bcoleman532]

I have one of these - you weren't supposed to use this layout for daily use. Mine came with both this abomination and a mostly standard ANSI layout. The exceptions were the undersized ESC/F keys, and the split space. This split space however only existed because you couldn't split the keyset easily and have it fold nicely for storage with a standard spacebar. Mine also had the unfortunate bug where half of it would stop working under certain circumstances. My media keys did work, however I think they required installing the driver software in order to function. I recall it feeling somewhat decent when up against the cheapo dell keyboard that was connected to my parents computer at the time I got it, but I had to go back to it for a period of time after my first mech broke and it made mx browns feel like fucking heaven.

[@redrocker1988]

Here's the thing I bought one of these back in the day, and it was pretty cool for its time, different games had different keysets you could buy that had all of the game keybinds already listed on the keyboard. The keyset shown was one of two keysets that came with the Zboard, there was a default keyset that looks like a regular keyboard, then there was this keyset which was dubbed the FPS keyset. you could remove them and swap in alternate keysets, I actually had some for several games I was playing at the time, World of Warcraft WotLK, Diablo, Starcraft, etc. The drivers for this were pretty sketch at times, you could pretty much remap every key on the keyboard but the drivers would just fail to load sometimes. But for its time it was one of the coolest keyboards on the market, I still have mine to this day.

[@axey7476]

I used to have the Zboard WoW Burning Crusade keyboard back in 07-08 lol. It was actually pretty good as it was just a reg setup but with writing on some keys that told its function.

[@Melmelbaton]

Oh man, I remember those - when I got into WoW in 2006 those things were everywhere in EB Games. It had macros for party chat, raid chat, yelling, city general chats like trade and LFG, target nearest etc etc. I always thought they looked silly even back then lol.. I think they even had them for a bunch of other games like Battlefield

[@noodletornado309]

i had that one too, won it in a EBGames drawing and loved it.

[@axey7476]

Yeah in TBC I was a new player and it was nice bc where the num pad is there was special buttons for like your said party chat, raid chat, yell, target nearest mob, target of target, emotes, inspect player, leave party, etc... And yeah now looking back it would have been better to get like a Logi G15 board like my brother had just learnt all the commands like normal but w/e Side note: I still play WoW but only on Vanilla & TBC private servers on a Logi G710+ :) *Hopefully Activision/Blizz doesnt fuck Classic up too bad* lol

[@ArtemisKitty]

I've actually still got both of those z-board expansions too! THESE were what made it a decent board. The gaming and editing layouts for Photoshop etc. Not that hideous "butterfly" layout where if you didn't HAMMER the keys down they might not count/register the press if you didn't hit it DEAD CENTER and pushing straight down. Not just my personal Z-board unit, either, as I tested this across 3 different ones and it was consistent. Heck, I BOUGHT 2 since my then-GF also played WoW - got us both the TBC ones. It was actually a decent, heavy duty KB we could use while gaming. (And then she stole my gaming PC, laptop, consoles, etc... buuuut that's directly tied to why the relationship didn't last, lol) (edit:spelling)

[@Krystalmyth]

Oh god with that hideous artwork on it too lol

[@flynnswanwick4736]

your voice is the smoothest voice i have ever heard

[@SquishySenpai]

I bought mine somewhere between 2000 and 2001 when I worked at Comp USA. I actually loved the keyboard over all.

[@anidaralopez5676]

I have an old Steelseries Zboard that I absolutely love! I've used my first one for several years, and when it went kaput my husband had one that he had bought that was still in the box....I've been using that one for about 6 or 7 years now. Cannot find one that isn't priced to f*cking heaven by some Ebay seller, and I despise having movement keys on the right hand side when I use a mouse for targeting and firing and my left hand for movement.

[@CryoToast]

Always happy to see a new upload.

[@Coldeneye76]

Best keyboard ever made. I had mine for years. Try playing a first person shooter before knocking its look and set up. 150 games stored in it for key set ups. And the keys do things you just have to turn on the right game . This is a bad review for this keyboard

[@sirderpthefirst9438]

I use this keyboard... but with a normal layout that is the 'non-gaming' variant but i do also possess the gaming variant of the board. suprisingly i have encountered no issues with it and love the two USB slots that it has at the top.

[@mynameisdeez746]

I bought a subwoofer recently and the only time I’ve actually noticed it on, is while watching your videos

[@kravetcnick]

HOLY SHIT! This video just got recommended to me, i am not into keyboards at all, and i dont watch any keyboard videos, so it's really a miracle. I USED TO HAVE ONE OF THESE! When me and my pops went to computer market back in like, 2008, i fell in love with this thing on first glance, and BEGGED him for it (I was in 6th or 7th grade), and he bought it for me. I really loved this thing, though i didn't really typed anything back then, just used it to play STALKER. I remember when my parents wanted to use my pc for something, they always cursed at the thing XD. That was in Moscow btw.

[@Ascendancy-]

You earned a sub! Looking forward to see more strange gaming keyboards!

[@chuckiswin]

I have a world of warcraft vanilla themed z-board I bought off a buddy when I was a kid. That was the start of a very weird keyboard addiction and is the reason i'm watching this video at 4am.

[@pip5528]

I have actually owned a Steelseries Merc Stealth for years, which I think is discontinued now. It has rubber domes and the gaming layout to the left but it still has a full normal 104-key layout in addition, not scattered stupidly.

[@XalphYT]

This is quite possibly the only ortho-split-media-button monstrosity that was ever mass-produced, and for good reason.

[@TH-xo4zx]

4:33 got me laughing for the rest of the video lol did anyone ever tell you sound like a british Postal Dude?

[@Valk69]

That was actually one of my first "gaming" keyboards. I remember buying DOOM 2 or Morrowind or something and the game came with an overlay or one third of the keyboard that ya could replace or some crap. Loved it for about a week then it broke.

[@chriskennedy8525]

I remember this board only because gamestop had the age of empires 3 keyset for this for years on the shelf covered in dust. I think i remember a wow set and sim city 4 set too

[@MrTheil]

I’m just casually scrolling through youtube and suddenly I see the thumbnail. Now my phone is covered in soda from bursting out laughing lmao

[@kizunadragon9]

I had a Zboard back in the day and I loved it! I had the general layout and the EQ2 and WoW keyboard layouts. I cried the day my GF accidently backhanded a bottle of Mt Dew into it and killed it.

[@Orgrimmar93]

I just bought this keyboard after my original purchase from 2010. Looking forward to years of muscle memory to kick back in after so many years!

[@christophermcbride1133]

I have an old Fang Z Board in my drawer. It was definitely the inspiration for this thing. Got it for free when I purchased an old used graphics card from Craigslist.

[@XX-121]

still got mine too! but i don't use it anymore. got a onehanded keyboard with black mechanical switches.

[@MiomuTomoko]

Hey my dad bought me one of these when I did really well in an exam once! I remember trying to figure it out and just giving up a few hours in and keeping it on my desk to make him think I used it

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

Miomu That was nice of you.

[@xDrTomx]

I bought one of these back when they were in Gamestop. It came with two keyboard layouts, the normal layout which was a completely normal keyboard layout and this one. I see you mentioned them at around 7:40 but I thought this review is a little unfair considering it isn't even a complete package. I demand a recount.

[@perah100]

i had the newer version of this keyboard "SteelSeries Merc Stealth Gaming Keyboard" and i loved it. The Logitech G110 i'm forced to use now is not nearly as good, i find i keep misplacing my finger's for the WASD keys when trying to play a game, never had that problem whet the Merc Stealth, only reason i switched is down to that it lost to the wear of time.

[@napomkillz]

Yeah. I rue the day when mine breaks. I Have the original Merc by Zboard too. It has shat the bed though. The S on the game pad broke on the stealth. So I borrowed the S from the old Merc. They are on ebay for 400$ Newegg sold them for 20$ near the end. I should have bought 3.

[@merlin9702]

Easy life hack right here: Use ESDF and you will never ever misplace again.

[@pikaporeon]

The first keyboard I ever spent my own money on. It was still substantially better than the $10 walmart special i was previously using. I think specifically I was hyped about the firmer key press And as mentioned, it came with a standard qwerty layout as well

[@NoEntertainment]

first glance at thumbnail made me think "oh what a cool board" just one glance at the video itself made me IMMEDIATELY revoke that thought

[@xvinn4219]

I found this in my closet when i was a kid, i was wondering what the fuck it was and i didnt even know how to read so i never figured it out

[@Chillalil]

Before even watching the video fully I cannot even understand how you would type on this thing. I imagine the answer is you can't though.

[@Spearra]

It scares me how it hybrids between the default "diagonal" positioning of a "normal keyboard" and two sets of keys that are block shaped like a numpad. It just doesn't look right let alone easy to get a hold of.

[@papilloneffect4015]

This used to be advertised everywhere but no one ever bought them that I knew of. When I got the first "The Burning Crusade" expansion for WoW, it came with adds for this keyboard. There was a special World of Warcraft snap in for it. A lot of companies had them and I actually wanted one back then.

[@Hbomb117]

I actually had one of these back in the day. I had the World Of Warcraft plate and I don't think I ever used it for anything else

[@michelvajda6454]

this thing is totaly cool for me, do not get me wrong it is strange from today keyboards, but I would like to own one.

[@AJZulu]

And I notice that this keyboard you go there is incomplete. The Zboard came out with this gaming layout and an extra normal keyboard layout in the box. Switching them out when needed...

[@Nektopoulo]

LOLz, up until about 2 weeks ago I was using the FPS BF2 keyset, I'm using the standard keyset to transition back to a standard keyboard layout before buying a modern mechanical keyboard. The FPS keyset will be missed but the rubber dome keyboard can not keep up with today's keyboard and add in no WIN10 driver's support the zBoard is now e-waste.

[@Bashe86]

Oh geez, I remember my friend having this one. I didn't even consider on the time how you're supposed to type on it

[@dtester]

Maybe SS did make the first mechanical gaming keyboard but I have no clue on that... but I believe the Logitech G15 ver1 was the first keyboard in general that was actually marketed for gaming and started the trend in 2005. While we are at it, I believe the Razor BoomSlang was the first mouse marketed as a gaming mouse in 1999. This was the first Razor brand from Kärna that went out of business.

[@EllipticGeometry]

“Silent and deadly” would honestly be pretty good marketing for a gaming board. That said, I’m glad I don’t need space to store one of these. Truly something special in multiple ways.

[@isaacwood4071]

You *KNOW* theres gonma be swearing when even chryrosran is warning you!!

[@Liggliluff]

*waning

[@famitory]

all these alternate keyboard layouts and still nobody makes one with a set of extra enter, backspace, and delete keys on the left side next to the standard tab, capslock, ect. to make it easier to do single-handed data entry. the corsair macro buttons come close, but they still have a gap in between rather than actually being next to the left home row close enough to use quickly and comfortably.

[@NeoRazor]

At 4:34 we finally get to hear a tiny glimpse of what his real voice sounds like, when he's not using vocal fry to sound like a super bass.

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

In 2006 I was in HS and had a friend with one of these who actually loved it. He was a recent convert from console gaming who began PC Gaming. I suppose it trains new gamers on the WASD layout. I also remember seeing these often near the counters at CompUSA, Circuit City, and Best Buy.

[@themadoneplays7842]

Thing is I kind of see what steelseries was aiming for, a attraction point to the new PC gamer to use as opposed to a gamepad or traditional keyboard and mouse. Funny thing is i think the concept they have here is actually solid, but the execution is all wrong. Having a modular keyboard, with custom layouts for both typists and gamers is at least on paper a actually brilliant idea. As a long time console gamer I know i can appreciate the creativity, and admittedly this may have been something I might have bought as a bridge between PC gaming and consoles. Though thankfully I waited as the steam controller is a far better idea, sure its not popular either but at least its functional and is kind of like PC gaming training wheels. Sure this means i still use and prefer a gamepad for most of my games but I have gotten used to keyboard and mouse for first person shooters and strategy games at least. Though still not a fan of M&KB on fighting games, action games, platformers, and racing games.

[@stampycatfan01lol]

6:54 there's Lemongrab again!

[@westtell4]

I remember wanting the Everquest themed Zboard back in the day

[@ChiralWolf]

I'd be interested to see some videos on other steelseries boards. Particularly their newest ones with the QX2 switches. I think your opinion on them would be interesting to hear.

[@Jgallstar1]

Man I remember this thing. I still have it! I have the Counterstrike layout for it too! I'm posting this comment immediately so I'm not sure if you get to it, but that swap thing was fun. It honestly worked well enough for CS

[@Saintbow]

Ok, let's be fair, they made a whole board that did not have the the detachable plates with the game pad built into it. They had two of them. One standard and one with light up features. I still have the standard one and I used it from the birth of widows 7 to when I upgrade to win 10. If you see the Z merc board, you will see what I'm talking about. I miss using it. But Win 10 refuses to boot with that key board plugged in

[@denisaljic]

You should get your hands on the Azio Levetron Clicker!

[@JamesSkow]

I can't believe how many people haven't heard of this thing. I still love the evolved version of this - the Merc Stealth. I wish they'd figure out a way to make that mechanical.

[@Ckcdillpickle]

I love the merc, had one since it came out in like 2007, Still do.

[@Clara_Page]

I remember when this thing was new! I wanted one so badly. Its one of the things i promised myself I'd get when i had more money and never did... I'm so glad i missed out on it now.

[@raulsaavedra709]

My mouse is a Steelseries Rival 300, and my mousepad is a very simple and functional Steelseries black mat. I am asking them wtf happened here, how come this thing made it to production. They are both absolutely speechless

[@VivaLaRazsa]

Better don't let them know about the Rival 710. The mad scientists at Steelseries actually put a tiny screen on a mouse. Who convinced them that it would be a useful feature will forever be a mystery to me.

[@Ckcdillpickle]

The Ideazon merc is a much better keyboard. Its got the left portion and a regular keyboard on the right half. the "gaming pad" is 100x more comfortable and efficient than using a regular keyboard for games.

[@davidgill5699]

I have one and still use it. Can agree with most points bar the layout, it comes with a normal keyboard setup and you're able switch it out. The one you're using is the fps layout, I have a world of Warcraft Burning Crusade layout

[@REAPER0D]

FWIW. keyboard was developed for arma. and when you realize that the brackets are for ranging scopes on the fly. it makes sense

[@shinsotf2]

I never thought I'd know someone is feeling pain without any sounds being emitted or visible injuries being dealt Then I saw you typing on that thing

[@Liggliluff]

I know these keyboards are mostly only made to be used with the English layout. However, it's still fun to see how other layouts would work on it. German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish has three extra letters, placed 1 after P and 2 after L. So the ;: and '" keys are made into two letters, but also the [{ key placed so awkwardly. It's so bad I had to edit an image to represent it: i DOT imgur DOT com/7YYH71e.jpg and just look at that Å above I. Horrible. Spanish will still have its Ñ placed after L like it should, and French AZERTY has no issue moving M up to the right of L. So good in them off placing the ;: key there. But most European layouts with extra letters will have several of them be placed on the tiny buttons above IOP'" and layouts relying on the 102 key, like the Hungarian layout, is out of luck.

[@ryanics2291]

I have an old gateway keyboard hub thing. It's my favorite keyboard to use even though it's rubber domed. I think you would like it because for some reason they keyboard doesn't feel like it's a rubber keyboard. And It's enjoyable, not squishy like a normal rubber domed keyboard. But not hard like a mechanical keyboard.

[@rolfathan]

You missed one of the best features of this keyboard. There was a more normal layout attachment that had all the photoshop shortcut keys printed onto the keys. It was a wonderful cheatsheet for people just starting with the program, and I knew two people who got it just for that.

[@imosiris]

Chyrosran is the Gordan Ramsey of keyboard reviews

[@disrxt]

I got one of those boards, it's in my box of old peripherals! And it's from last century if I remember correctly. It came with a QWERTY insert and the gaming specific one you have there. And you are correct, it is rhino poop. I may have to break it out and see if it still works.

[@steventechno]

TLDR Had one of these for years, only used standard layout, was reliable. I used to have one of these. Mine came with this weird layout, and a standard layout. You bet I used the standard one exclusively. I really do miss the dedicated media keys tho. It also had a palm rest too. Had it for nearly 5 years before retiring it. I loved it tho. It was reliable. Its seen Win XP, maybe Ubuntu and maybe a couple other distros like sabayon Linux, and Windows 7 by the end. I got it back when a GameStop employee suckered me into getting one. No one was mad. Good times!

[@bearbait2221]

I have 6000+ hours on Merc stealth keyboard the keys have worn holes in them it works fine but cable is failing from being bent too many times. And they quit making it

[@Neightr0]

A modular keyboard isn't the worst possible idea; it's just that it doesn't work at all when you have non-discrete switches. If they just used mechanical switches, they could have made it so that the layout is flexible. I would actually like to see someone try that idea again and actually make it work.

[@FrederikBoye]

If my memory serves, steelseries did not actually develop the zboard, it was another brand called ideazon or something. I had the original version of it and it was awful. Steelseries then overtook the zboard brand because they saw an opportunity to develop the idea further, but it never went anywhere - with good reason.

[@moonbladem]

This keyboard looks like it was designed by a wild-eyed person with messed up hair who was high on caffeine, speed and paranoia.

[@LTE18]

I remember when this keyboard launched. They released dedicated layouts of each game. WOW battlefield etc...

[@toscatattertail9813]

this keyboard and the one they made after it has been out of production since 2013, i have had 2 Merc Stealth's and combined they lasted me 14 years. I was very sad as each one gradually stopped working, the second one i bought in 2009 and i just replaced it 2 weeks ago because the standard keyboard part began to not work.

[@gigglesseven]

Would you like the standard layout for this board? I have an original ideazon board... Before steel series bought up the company

[@kornaros96]

What about the KB-0168 with pimp my ride paintjob from Alienware?

[@Deepfriedsoldier]

I actually still own this keyboard. I tried to use the gaming layout initially but after about a week I plopped in the basic key layout that came bundled and it was much better. The feel of that keyboard wasnt too bad honestly as far as domed layouts went.

[@hengineer]

I had the fang, which was just that left layout in a standalone form. And I just never got used to it.

[@GrandmasterofWin]

I think the funnies thing here is that this was my first keyboard. I was so proud to have that turd. I am absolutely ashamed now... Although I exclusively used the standard layout.

[@DygmaLab]

They are definitely trying to experiment and see how it will affect users. Turned out their experiment didn't. What I hate about it though is that they try to claim new features just by rewording what already have existed on other models.

[@nukezat]

This is my favorite review by far! The oddity of this keyboard made it seem like you were walking thru hell.

[@Cat31293]

2:03 okay that was so subtle that I burst out laughing. LOL cheers mate!

[@orangeActiondotcom]

I see these in thrift shops all the time and I'm surprised anyone bothers to re-home them.

[@nofaceposeidon]

I got a Merc stealth from my uncle who didn’t have enough room on his desk and I’m very happy with it! I got it 2 years ago from him

[@kursna]

I actually had a friend in elementary who bought this board with a couple faces. He got the guild wars face and I'm pretty sure he still has it in his basement as I saw it there a couple years back

[@zBi0NiC]

can you review one of those budget redragon's mechanical keyboards?