Levetron Mech 5 is a gaming keyboard released by the American company Azio.
They are rather unheard of in Europe and Asia/OC since they do not exist there, but they have started to come more and more.
Info about Levetron Mech 5:
Producer: Azio
Key Swithes: Mechanical (Cherry MX Black)
Weight: 1,4 kg
Price: ~$95
Levetron is not a standard gaming keyboard, and that is both bad and good.
It have most of the standard things we are used to see on a keyboard, but also some new things.
On the upper right corner it got a volume wheel that higher and lower your volume. Behind it there are 2 USB connections for fast connections.
On the left side there is 5 macro buttons that can be customized by using the drivers that comes with the keyboard.
The memory allows for 2 macro banks so that gives you up to 10 macros to record for your gaming etc. It does not have build-in memory so it is limited to 10.
You can also turn of the "Windows key of doom" so you won't get disturbed when gaming.
One bad thing is that you have to use 2 USB connections to make this keyboard to work, and that is so that you will be able to push down more then six keys at the same time. This however does not work on Mech 5 and it starts loosing keys around 4-5 pushed at the same time.
Mech 5 Does not have a NumPad installed on it but it does have a removable NumPad that is included with the keyboard. They have a very interesting way of connecting it by lifting the plastic piece on the side and lock your NumPad into it. You can either have it on the normal side as a NumPad or on the left side to use it as a macro pad.
Another interesting thing with the Mech 5 is the rail on the top of the keyboard, just above the "F1-F12" keys. Here you will be able to put different gadgets for the keyboard.
As of now there is only a 6 button macro pad that you can connect and it is also included with the keyboard.
Sadly the keys for the macro pad is not mechanical but "rubber dome" keys that makes them feel kind of rubbery and not at all like the normal keys.
Mech 5 is using Cherry MX Black switches that is fairly harder to push down compared to the Cherry RED MX switches that is getting popular in the gaming community.
This generally is no problem while gaming but for typing and such it can be heavy after some time.
They have also included a "Spill protection" so if you accidently spill some water on your keended.
MY OPINION
Keyboards are mostly about taste and ergonomics that fits you. I for one love the Cherry RED MX switches and would never use the Cherry MX Black ones.
Most other brands do allow you to choose between different switches, but Mech 5 only comes in Cherry MX Black.
It has a lot of cool and fun gadgets with it but nothing that intrigues me. The macro pad was plastic and the volume wheel is to soft for me.
The "Spill Protection" is a very good idea and it gets a huge plus with me since I lost my G19 due to spilling tea on it. So everything that prevents that is good in my book.
To the Conclusion:
Pros:
• Spill Protection
• Removable NumPad that is flexible
Cons:
• Only Cherry MX Black switches
• No internal memory for macros
• Rubber-Dome buttons on the Macro pad
• "Ghosting" problem
• Expensive for it's quality