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OCZ - Alchemy Elixir Keyboard Print
Written by Mike Hermon   
Saturday, 20 December 2008
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OCZ - Alchemy Elixir Keyboard
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HPIM0199.jpgOCZ - Alchemy Elixir Keyboard

Are you in the market for a full featured gaming keyboard that wont break the bank? OCZ's new Alchemy line of peripherals may have just what your looking for with the Elixir keyboard.

Manufacturer: OCZ
Price: $29.99
Remember when a keyboard was JUST a keyboard?  They came in one color, had loud “clacky” keys and weighed as much as a cinder block. These days there is a specialty keyboard for just about everything. Are you a gamer?  Then you need a gaming keyboard. Maybe you work in a busy office, well then you better get a keyboard that will help increase your productivity. Want to listen to some music? Well then this multimedia keyboard is the one for you! You want the latest and greatest with all the bells and whistles? Guess what, we have that to.

The down side of all of these “special” keyboards is that they usually come at steeper price. Sure you can find plain Jane cheap keyboards, but in most cases cheap is the key word, cheaply made, cheap materials and cheap performance.  This is where OCZ comes in with it’s Alchemy line, the OCZ Elixir keyboard is a gaming keyboard that’s meant to not break the bank.
 
Although OCZ is most well known for its RAM, they do have a huge line of other products like cooling devices, power supplies etc. The Alchemy line of products is a line of peripherals designed for the gaming market.

Specifications

Lets get some specifications out of the way and get on to the review.

Dimensions: (W)20”x(D)7.87”x(H)1.14”
Weight: 1.85 lbs      
Travel Distance: 3.8 +/- 0.2mm      
Operating Force: 55 +/- 12g      
Connection: USB 2.0      
Membrane Tactile Switches      
Rubberized Coating on all Keys
Features:
10 Blue Macro Keys with 3 User Defined Profiles      
7 Internet Hot Keys      
8 Keys for Media      
Mode Selection: Switch between standard PC Mode or customized gaming mode      
Lifespan: 5 million cycles
System Requirements
Windows® XP (SP2 or later)      
Vista™ (All Editions)      
CD-ROM Drive
Includes:
Elixir Software CD      
Quick-Setup Guide

The Product 

The Elixir keyboard is packaged in a pretty standard “keyboard box” and the keyboard itself is wrapped in plastic, the box gives a nice photo of the keyboard as well as a list of some of the features, but its nothing flashy or outstanding, this in turn helps keep costs down.  Aside from the keyboard you’ll also find a CD with the keyboard software on it, a quick set up poster and a few replacement keys.

 

The replacement keys provided are W A S D the up down left and right arrows as well as shift and the space bar. Anyone that’s an avid gamer will know these are the keys you will wear out first, so it’s nice to have a replacement available. All of the keys have a rubber coating so its not likely you'll ever need the reaplcement keys, but its nice to have them just in case. Just remember, rubber coated keys doesnt mean its ok to spill your fav energy drink on it, or type out an e-mail while in the shower.

The look of the Elixir is very sleek and stylish, the top and sides have a mirror black finish and the wrist rest has a leather look finish to it. One drawback to the mirror finish is fingerprints, you just cant avoid them.The keyboard is slightly larger than a standard keyboard and slightly smaller than the Rev 1 G-15 I have been using.

Unlike most heyboards that have the quick launch buttond along the top, the Elixir has them on the left and right sides. On the left side you will find your internet shortcuts for e-mail, favs, home, back/forward and refresh. There is also a hotkey to switch between PC/Gaming mode.

On the right side you have your multimedia keys for Launch player (you can specify the player in the software, support for windows media player, iTunes and real player is built in but there is also an option for "other" so you can specify your player of choice.) play/Pause, Stop, Next, Previous, Volume up/Down and mute.

In addition to the pre configured quick launch keys you also have 5 macro keys on each side, these keys are labeled L1-L5 for the left side and R1-R5 for the right side. These keys can be programmed to run macros or to launch programs etc. There are only 10 keys, but with the use of a mode toggle key it gives you access to 30 programmable keys.

The bottom of the Elixir is pretty uneventful, as would be expected. There is a cable chanel to routh the usb cable through to help with wire management, a couple of flip up stands that tilts the keyboard slightly, and some non slip feet to keep it in place while you frag.




 
 
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