Ideazon Merc Stealth Gaming Keyboard

(4.5 star rating) Written by: Justin Whitaker

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Ideazon is no stranger to the world of gaming devices – they have developed a number of products specifically designed to improve the performance of FPS and RTS gamers to give them an edge over the competition. The Ideazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard is the latest incarnation from the revolutionary line of Zboard and Merc gaming keyboards, and today we take a close look at their latest product – does it meet the high expectations set by the successful Zboard and Merc product lines?

Design

Ideazon has built a solid, well constructed keyboard that is very sleek looking with a black matte finish on the exterior. The shape is quite unique with a rounded edge jutting out below the bottom-left hand side of the keyboard to provide support for your wrist. The bottom of the keyboard uses rubber grips that keep the keyboard firmly planted during game play. For added ergonomics, it is tilted exactly 11 degrees to match the natural wrist position. Its solid construction adds a bit more weight to it than a regular keyboard, and is a few inches longer than other standard keyboards - it measures 21 inches long and 7 inches wide.

The left-hand side of the keyboard features a set of gaming keys that are a unique design touch. The keys provide special functions used in gaming – movement, crouch, jump and so on. They are rubberized and use bold, white faced lettering to clearly indicate their function. The center of the keyboard is filled with the regular set of keys used for typing, as well as multimedia keys along the top of the keyboard for Play, Pause, Rewind and so on. Finally, the right side of the keyboard contains the number pad, delete/insert/end/home as well as the arrow keys.

The main attraction and differentiator of the Merc Stealth is the illumination of the keys. Once the PC is turned on and this feature is activated, each and every key on the keyboard lights up with a background glow. Three colors are available to choose from for the color of the illumination – red, blue or purple. Additionally, the level of illumination can be adjusted to one of four brightness levels. The levels allow you to adjust the backlight to be brighter or dimmer depending upon your personal preference.

Features

• Three color illumination in red, blue and purple
• Adjustable level of brightness (Subtle, Ambient, Intense, Off)
• Illuminated characters on every key
• Rubberized movement keys for superior response
• Tilted 11 degrees to match natural wrist position
• 34 gaming keys labeled and positioned for ultimate precision and control
• Simultaneous key stroke response — no need to worry about phantom keys in the heat of the battle
• Programmable with easy-to-use drag-and-drop macro editing
• Over 125 pre-defined key mapping layouts
• Two USB 2.0 ports to plug in mice and other peripherals
• Gold plated audio jacks for headsets and microphones
• Multimedia controls for in and out of game use