Pros: Comfortable; powerful macro scripting; profile management; skins; recording on the fly; comes with labels, no batteries required.
Cons: Lack of control in skin view, expensive.
Verdicts: Well worth the price, the DX1 truely is a revolutionary input device that will transform your workflow and take gaming to the next level.
Keyboards have evolved over the past few years. Between multimedia controls, wireless capabilities and backlighting, keyboards are much more pleasant to work with than they used to be. However, they all face a common drawback. They are all uncomfortable for anything task-oriented that's not typing. Whether you use the QWERTY or Dvorak layout, the staggered array doesn't conform to the size and tendencies of your hand, and the shortcuts used in applications never stay to one side of the keyboard.
For gamers, the problem is more significant because you must be able to quickly respond to changes in the environment during the entire duration of your game play. While advances like switching from the arrow keys to the WASD layout have helped tremendously (I still don't know how I managed to play Duke Nukem back in the day), many gamers are still unsatisfied with the WASD layout. Factor in the increasing complexity of games like Battlefield 2 that require even more keys for communication, and it's no wonder that companies like Belkin and Ideazon are making a killing on their WASD alternatives. Unfortunately these also have their share of problems, with both a lack of keys and the fact that they're still not comfortable.
Thankfully, a group of lads in Mountain View, CA share these pains and actually had the guts to do something about it. (Actually, they share more than just that).
Enter the Ergodex Corporation and their DX1 Input System. The DX1 targets both gamers and task-oriented professionals as the alternative input device that alleviates many woes associated with the standard keyboard, by allowing users to position keys anywhere on the surface to contour to the shape of their hands. With so many other adjustable products we take for granted like the adjustable chair and the DPI switching mice from Razer and Logitech, it's amazing that no one has thought of such a simple idea any sooner. Yet for such a simple product, a lot of thought has been put into creating the DX1 to deliver the ultimate input experience. Go ahead and coin that phrase, no one's claimed it yet.
The Goods The DX1 consists of three main parts - the main pad, a removable Plexiglas tray, and the keys. The ocean-blue pad is about 11" wide by 9.25" tall, accomodating the largest of hands with room to stretch. At the same time this is a relatively large chunk of desk real-estate, so depending on your setup you may benefit from buying a good wireless or mini keyboard for when you have to type. On the topside are two colored LED status indicators, two buttons for recording macros and launching the management software, and several slots for attaching the Plexiglas tray. At the bottom of the pad is a 1.75" tall wrist wrest that while slightly shorter than average, works quite well to stay comfortable during extended usage. The left side of the rest has the Ergodex logo silk-screened on, giving it a sharp professional look. On a side note, the center of the wrist wrest would get slightly warm by itself when plugged in. I'm not a doctor, so I can't say whether or not this is a good thing.
The Plexiglas tray detaches from the top of the pad, allowing you to place custom skins and artwork underneath it to help quickly arrange keys or simply customize the look of the DX1. Alternatively, you may order more than one tray to create hot-swappable keysets for different applications with totally different layouts. The keys, labeled 1 through 25 on the edges, attach to the tray with a strong adhesive that is resistant to sliding and popping off. Indeed, this was the case as the keys not only stayed in place during an intense 16-hour LanManiac session, but they also withstood the torture of my cluttered trunk on the way home. Thankfully, the keys do come off after you first apply them with a simple twist of the key. And should the adhesive get dirty like when I ran a key across the dust-ridden insides of my computer case, a simple swab of a damp wash cloth restores the full adhesiveness of the keys.
The keys themselves are also an incredible feat of technology. Using inductive coupling as their power source (w00t no batteries!), they depress into themselves to generate a 13.56MHz wireless signal that the pad then picks up and then uses to play the associated macro. The keys are actually quite quiet, much more so than the usual keyboards from Microsoft and Logitech. Because of this they require little effort to hit, however they feel slightly less tactile than a normal keyboard would. To some like my colleague, the softer feel of the DX1 is preferred, while others such as myself may prefer the loud clacking generated from an old IBM keyboard. Either way, they still work great. For the more complex games such as MMORPGs and complex applications like SolidWorks, having only 25 keys may pose as a limitation. Ergodex offers keys 26-50 from their website for those who actually need them, but it will set you back $50. As a FPS gamer, the 25-key limit hasn't caused any problems for me yet, although as usual your mileage may vary.
To help make the transition to the DX1, Ergodex has also included two sheets of stickers for labeling the keys. One sheet is pre-printed with letters, numbers, and other text clippings like HELP and CTRL. There are several icons for gamers including a headset icon for chat and even a crowbar for you Half-Life junkies out there, as well as icons representing Transform and other task-oriented functions for applications like Photoshop. There's also a sheet of blank labels in case there's no icon that matches your needs.
Key Management Installed along with the driver is the Ergodex Manager application. This handy utility can be called up quickly through a shortcut, the system tray, or the top button on your DX1, so take your pick. When launched, a splash screen will appear with a key spinning in midair as the program loads, quite clever actually.
The Ergodex Manager relies heavily on profiles to assign macros to keys. By default, there is the global profile which applies to every application you have installed, as well as user-created profiles for individual applications. These profiles are loaded automatically as the front application changes, requiring zero user interaction to change the active profile set. Macros defined in the Global profile are useful for common tasks like launching a program or changing the volume in any application, although should a complex profile require several keys, one may override the global key for that specific profile.
The main screen of the Ergodex Manager is very intuitive to navigate through. Here you can select which profile you would like to edit, and create custom macros for individual keys. Pressing a key will highlight the key onscreen, allowing one to quickly assign macros without looking for the number on the side of the key saving time. Ergodex has created several profile templates with predefined macros you can assign to keys, ranging from games Jedi Knight II and Counter Strike to casual and professional applications like Mozilla Firefox and Visual C++ 6.0. To assign a predefined macro, it's as simple as dragging and dropping the macro onto the selected key.
Alternatively, you may double-click the key to set up your own macro for either to replicate either single or multiple keystrokes, as well as insert a block of text or launch a program or URL in your favorite browser. Multi-key macros may be either instantaneous or timed, which is handy for games where for example you would need to wait for the weapon to be pulled from your inventory before proceeding to fire the weapon. What's more, multi-key macros can also record mouse clicks which are useful for gaming, although due to differences between each application mouse movement can not be recorded. To add even more power to your fingertips, a second macro may be specified to execute as soon as the key is released.
Confused enough yet? What if I told you that it's possible to record macros without even looking at the Ergodex Manager? It's possible, and incredibly easy too. By pressing the REC button on the DX1 pad, a metronome will sound through the computer's speakers and the red LED will flash, indicating that the pad is now in timed record mode. This will create the profile for that application automatically, along with any macros designated by inputting a series of keystrokes on the normal keyboard followed by the corresponding DX1 key. When finished recording macros, hitting the REC button once more will stop recording and make those newly recorded macros available for use. In practice, I found that my timed macro in Unreal Tournament were a little loose and not fast enough. No matter, once recorded I was able to tighten the timings of the individual steps in the macro to create the perfect flak cannon suprise! Instantaneous macros can also be recorded by holding the REC button until the metronome sounds faster. Thanks to the record button, I was able to define all my keys for Battlefield 2 within a minute
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One of the cool features Ergodex implemented into their Management software was the Skin View. As CTO Scott Rix puts it, the skin view originally started out as a very simple utility that kept growing. It allows you to create skins to place underneath the tray, either for something pleasant to look at or as a guide to placing your keys. While indeed useful, the utility has a few shortcomings that Scott assured me are being looked at. Presently it is not possible to select multiple keys at once, nor is it possible to rotate the outline of a key without moving your hand to the arrow keys as there are no bounding boxes. Also, the profile label pictured in the bottom left of the skin is not optional, and the only way to remove it is to copy the skin into a graphics editor and cut it out. Despite all of these shortcomings, the skin utility is very powerful, able to embed the skin into a profile for exporting. There is also a grid view, which makes placing the keys on the screen for the first time much easier.
Real World Usage, Conclusion
I've spent weeks using the DX1 including two LAN parties, and already I have come to depend on the DX1 for both gaming and work. After struggling for 30 minutes trying to get used to the new positioning of my keys, it's second nature to me and I can play competetively. For the first time in games, I'm able to reach all 10 weapon keys without stretching, improving my reaction time and keeping my focus on the screen. In games like Battlefield 2, my thumb now logically controls all my height modifiers, and I can actually open my parachute in time before I leave a small crater in the ground below. Because I choose to use the same key layout for all my games, I don't have to worry about learning different hand positions. My reload key will always be my reload key, and I can set it in 5 seconds if it's not.
Outside of games, the DX1 has enabled me to regain all of the shortcut keys that I lost when I made the transition from Mac to PC. Rather than tediously right click through a whole bunch of menus or use the 7-key shortcuts that aren't standardized throughout all applications, the profiles allow me to perform complex tasks with a single key. I'm able to navigate quickly navigate in Explorer, descending through directories, closing windows, creating new folders, change view modes, and skip through a random MP3 all with one hand.
Most importantly, my wrists don't get fatigued as quickly as they do using a normal keyboard. Rather than my wrists starting to ache a quarter of the way through a 16-hour LanManiac session, I'm able to game longer and more furiously than ever. With such a boost in efficiency and comfort, the $150 price-tag can be overlooked without hesitation. The DX1 is a must-have.
- Scott Clark, Consumer Technology Editor
Where to buy Ergodex DX1 Input System?
User Review(s)
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. DX1 Input System Specs
Installed along with the driver is the Ergodex Manager application. This handy utility can be called up quickly through a shortcut, the system tray, or the top button on your DX1, so take your pick. When launched, a splash screen will appear with a key spinning in midair as the program loads, quite clever actually.
