[Keyboard] Steel Series - Merc Stealth

[Wolf Shaman]

review Date; 16AUG13

Product name: Merc Stealth

Product Manufacturer: Steel Series

Product Website: http://steelseries.com/us/products/keyboards/steelseries-merc-stealth

Retail: ~90 USD (Currently listed on sale for ~50USD)

 

Time Used: ~5+ years.

 

 

The primary reason I bought this keyboard was the gamepad built into it. Second reason was because it was backlit. 

 

I've been using this keyboard for ages and It's one of the best investments I've made in Gaming hardware outside of my main rig itself. the gamepad is set at an angle where your hand naturally rests, and it has buttons layed out in a pattern that everything is in easy reach. I dont get much strain from this due to it's gamepad angle offset. Buttons are nicely aranged and I rarely have a missed key hit, and the stacked number keys is nice as I do not have to move my hand away from my movement keys to hit one of of the numbers above 6.

 

The Num Pad is probably the most difficult to get used to as the numpad also doubles as your Home, pgup pgdn ins and all those other keys. Your arrow keys are likewise mashed in there as well. You toggle between these two modes with the numlock key. Probably not too much of an issue for most instances, for programs that use those extra keys along side num keys, or you just happen to 10key your numbers, you can sometimes forget to switch modes. 10 key also takes a slight adjustment as the positioning of the keys is different.

 

The reason for mashing all that stuff together is to keep this thing from taking up even more space on your desk than it currently does. This thing is massive. Aprox 21" wide (53cm), but well worth it imo. 

 

The Keyboard does come with Software to do auto-profile switching, setting up macros, and all that other fun stuff, I choose not to use it. It's kinda clunky, and at times does not work too well. For most cases, simply using stock configuration and rebinding keys through the game interface works best.

 

Example GW2 Layout someone posted online:

 

 

 

For those where were from SL, I had a profile setup so that I could zoom my cam in before Right click Zoom was available on any viewers, as well as HUD/Weapon Gestures loaded where I wanted them on my keybinds. This really helped me manage the million different commands we had for all our stuff.

 

All and all I'd reccomend it to anyone who is considering some form of game keypad system.

 

 

Pros:

Comfortable and functional keypad for extended gaming

Completely programmable

glowy

 

Cons:

Larger than other keyboards

Combined numpad setup

Software not the best.