The other day I was hard at work playing games on the computer when suddenly disaster struck: my keyboard died.

A sudden chill swept over me at the realization that I could no longer play games on my computer. I immediately consulted the Bible and found that for some reason they hadn’t included keyboard-resurrection prayers within its hallowed pages. I readily switched religions but found out quickly that Allah, Shiva, and Buddha were no help either. I was about to hit the pet store for animal sacrifices when I finally accepted that I would have to bite the bullet and buy a new keyboard.

I knew that a standard, no-frills keyboard would run me $15-$25. A wireless keyboard and mouse combo would be $50 to $100. I grabbed my wallet and headed to EB Games in Whitby to see what they had in stock.  
    When I arrived I saw some standard keyboard setups with no special features on them. I was all set to buy a basic, boring, vanilla keyboard when I heard the Voice of God telling me to go check the rack one more time (my friend heard the Voice too but claims that it was just the salesperson speaking... shows what he knows). There, on the rack in a little column of angelic sunshine, was the new love of my life... Z-Board.

Take what you think you know about keyboards and throw it out. A Z-Board revolutionizes the way a keyboard is used in the home, whether that use is gaming or normal keyboard functions. The basic idea is this: gamers prefer to be able to hit their button combos as fast as possible. So Z-Board designed a keyboard set-up where the normal WASD movement keys are set on a pad on the left-hand side of the keyboard and are surrounded by programmable hot keys. A smaller version of the QWERTY keyboard occupies the rest of the space. This not only provides a much more ergonomic feel but it allows a gamer to fully customize their gaming experience.  

An even cooler function of the Z-Board is the ability to completely swap out the keyboard layout. The base of the Z-Board is an empty hollow filled with little rubber nubbins to detect the keys being depressed. Z-Board comes with two keyboard layouts: standard and gaming. The standard set is, you guessed it, a standard QWERTY keyboard. The gaming set up was described above and is a vast improvement over the normal setup.
    When you want to switch the layout you simply fold up the current keyset and replace it with your preferred set (takes about 5 seconds). You don’t need to select anything in a menu, Z-Board automatically detects which setup you are using and you can begin using it immediately. So whether you’re typing an essay or hunting down WoW Alliance players, this keyboard has you covered.

For those that want an even more customized experience, you can purchase additional game-specific keysets. I bought a World of Warcraft keyset that includes RAID functions, macros for popular functions, and a tie-in to Bradygames hints online. Other keysets include Neverwinter Nights, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, DOOM 3 and many others.
    The basic Z-Board (which comes with Standard and Gaming keysets) cost me $65. The World of Warcraft keyset was an additional $25. If you play games on the computer including First Person Shooters and Role-Playing Games, then do yourself a favour and pick up a Z-Board ASAP. If your gaming is limited to Minesweeper and Spider Solitaire, then you could probably do without. If you’re still on the fence about picking one up then check out www.zboard.com for the latest info.