Has anyone tried or seen these keyboards?
I rather like the look of them and realise if I get one it is destined to become a first class dust collector after the initial thrill.
http://www.zboard.com/us/products/products_zboardsystem.htm
http://www.zboard.com/enlarge/zoom.php?title=Battlefield%202&image=BF2.jpg&country=us&board=true
I initially was quite interested by the prospect of the zboard, but i was sceptical of the fact that you had to buy overlays for games. i think i want to see one in the flesh before i consider it any further (pcw don't seem to do them either which doesnt help on that front!)
I still really like my nostromo n50 speedpad, but i'm still keen to explore the possibility that there's something better to use. In the mean time, i'm half tempted by one of these puppies (http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/eclipse.htm) to sit beside the n50. (gameplay have the release date as the 5th Aug for the eclipse)
<edit> i obviously got the wrong end of the stick with the overlays thing.. it seems you get a 'standard' layout and a 'gaming' layout in the box, and you can buy extra specialised layouts as and when you have the inclination/funds </edit>
hexus.net seem to have put together quite an informative review (http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD03NjQmdXJsX3BhZ2U9MQ==) of the zboard. I have to say the review leaves me looking firmly in the direction of the eclipse :)
Or wait a bit for this beauty: http://padlarv.nl/mirror/tweakers/optimuskeyboard/
shame it's just a design concept at the moment, but it could just be the future of keyboards :)
I've seen the ZBoard in my local HMV, it looks like a reasonable keyboard and its flimsy or anything. As I understand it it comes with a standard keyboard and one thats set up for fps. Personally I'm not that interested, I prefer split keyboards.
*|fury| hands Undergrid a hacksaw
although gameplay have the saitek eclipse's release date as the 5th of aug, amazon.co.uk had it as the 29th July, plus it's a fiver cheaper!
It arrived this morning - can't wait to give it a razz :)
Couple of things to note after getting my eclipse keyboard home last night
- Does not like KVM switches (have now found this issue is well documented if you know where to look)
- Does not like lots of keys down together (have read about this but not experienced it due to me having a nostromo n50 for fps stuff)
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All in all, a nice looking and nice feeling keyboard, let down by a couple of flaws that would seem inexcusable considering the competition. Apparantly these issues are common amongst all Saitek keyboards too :roll: