That is interesting

Looks to be a good deal for a RGB keyboard. Try finding RGB keyboard with replaceable Cherry keycaps and IP32 water resistance for under $50 and it will be a very short list. On top of that it has a 50% off instant rebate so $24.99 which is a steal for anyone who isn't on a budget or has spilled before.
 

if you make a scissor-switch version, i'll buy one .. 

The Z12 is a membrane keyboard so it only has 5 zone RGB lighting. You can control each of the 5 sections of the keyboard as it does not have per key RGB. This would significantly increase the price and we're trying to keep this affordable for those that spent all their money on their graphics card

EVGA, for the love of all things holy please release a TKL or 60% variant of your keyboards.

Are these loud clicking buttons?

 
Just ordered a Z12 for my daughter - the IP32 rating had a lot to do with that.
 

Bought one of these last week for a PC work bench, so I don't have to unplug my other keyboards.
 
The Z12 is much more quiet than the Z20 Linear or Clicky. It pretty much sounds and feels like a soft-touch Dell keyboard, but with a little bit more positive feedback. The keycaps feel pretty good as well. So it's quiet and comfortable for what I am using it for. YMMV.
 
The keyboard has the same wide stands on the underside, which is a nice surprise. And the keyboard as a whole has a nice solid feel to it, similar to my Z20s. And the bright silver EVGA logo wart at the top of the Z20/Z15 is a less obtrusive black on the Z12, which was also a pleasant surprise.
 
Upgraded my software from 1.0.7.0 to 1.0.10.0, which didn't produce any catastrophic results for my Z20, except that the custom color profiles  I'd created no longer functioned (Unleash assigned profiles to a new %appdata% Profile Manager ID folder, rather than reading the existing ones). Fortunately I had backed up the profiles and re-instated them without a problem. Some day I'll get around to writing up the instructions for that, here.
 
The keyboard coloration of the Z12 is not nearly as bright and sharp as the Z20, which is not surprising. The zone coloration is also not precise: it's spread over a broad vertical swath of a portion of the keyboard, bleeding into the surrounding areas.
 
Note that the Z12 does not support individual key coloring, which I knew before I bought it.
 
Finally, setting the color so that EACH vertical zone/column displays a different color seems to be impossible, and I've tried—so far I can only activate a color on ONE zone at a time (leaving the rest of the keyboard dark), OR activate a single color across the entire keyboard.
 
Of course as usual there's no manual for this software, so I'll have to keep plugging away at it. If I'm doing something wrong, please feel free to tell me...

ShadowTigerZCDoes anyone think it's inadvisable to install the software without actually having the keyboard present?  I want to see if the software can do what I need it to do regarding the macro keys before I buy something that may not work for my needs. 

The software relies on detection of a keyboard to provide feature functionality, so I'm guessing you won't get very far with this scenario. The software and lack of documentation are by far the worst part of these otherwise solid keyboards, which doesn't help.
 
What exactly do you need it to do?

ShadowTigerZC
 
It sounds silly, but you'd be surprised what a difference it makes.  For example, many programs pan around by holding down the middle click.  If all I can do is click, I can't really view a 3D modeling creation.

It isn't silly if it's what you need. I'll take a look after work and see what I can tell you for certain, assuming someone else doesn't provide an answer, first.
 
I'll assume you're looking into a Z12 keyboard? Honestly, you might be happier with a Z20 or Z15. With the Z20 or Z15, you can individually color each key on the board, or whole sections, as needed - which might come in handy for what you're doing. Hard for me to say, though. :P

ShadowTigerZCThe needs are few:
1)  5+ Macro keys on the left side of the keyboard.
2)  The ability to program those Macro keys to hold in a button or key rather than just have it press the button once at certain intervals.

 
#2 might work out for you, since you can set macros to Toggle. I can tell you that it works, because I accidentally ran it over my browser tabs and bookmarks bar while the middle mouse button macro was toggled on, and chaos ensued. So if you decide on it, proceed with caution.
 
Making and assigning macros is cumbersome and unintuitive, but once you know the Inscrutable Secrets Not Shared by the Lone Engineer Writing This Software (no manual), it becomes a lot easier.
 
Attached a shot of the macro page for you.

Are there any TKL Keyboards from EVGA with mechanical keys? Maybe even silent ones? That'd be awesome.

Looks pretty good!

tmaeller
Bought one of these last week for a PC work bench, so I don't have to unplug my other keyboards.
 
The Z12 is much more quiet than the Z20 Linear or Clicky. It pretty much sounds and feels like a soft-touch Dell keyboard, but with a little bit more positive feedback. The keycaps feel pretty good as well. So it's quiet and comfortable for what I am using it for. YMMV.
 
The keyboard has the same wide stands on the underside, which is a nice surprise. And the keyboard as a whole has a nice solid feel to it, similar to my Z20s. And the bright silver EVGA logo wart at the top of the Z20/Z15 is a less obtrusive black on the Z12, which was also a pleasant surprise.
 
Upgraded my software from 1.0.7.0 to 1.0.10.0, which didn't produce any catastrophic results for my Z20, except that the custom color profiles  I'd created no longer functioned (Unleash assigned profiles to a new %appdata% Profile Manager ID folder, rather than reading the existing ones). Fortunately I had backed up the profiles and re-instated them without a problem. Some day I'll get around to writing up the instructions for that, here.
 
The keyboard coloration of the Z12 is not nearly as bright and sharp as the Z20, which is not surprising. The zone coloration is also not precise: it's spread over a broad vertical swath of a portion of the keyboard, bleeding into the surrounding areas.
 
Note that the Z12 does not support individual key coloring, which I knew before I bought it.
 
Finally, setting the color so that EACH vertical zone/column displays a different color seems to be impossible, and I've tried—so far I can only activate a color on ONE zone at a time (leaving the rest of the keyboard dark), OR activate a single color across the entire keyboard.
 
Of course as usual there's no manual for this software, so I'll have to keep plugging away at it. If I'm doing something wrong, please feel free to tell me...

I am trying to find a manual to see if there is a way to program the E1-E5 keys with specific text so I can just click the one button and it will generate the assigned text. It looks like you haven't found a manual either! Is this possible, do you know? I'm not having any luck with researching how to do this. First time buying a keyboard like this. Thank you!

barbara8541
I am trying to find a manual to see if there is a way to program the E1-E5 keys with specific text so I can just click the one button and it will generate the assigned text. It looks like you haven't found a manual either! Is this possible, do you know? I'm not having any luck with researching how to do this. First time buying a keyboard like this. Thank you!

Macro keys programming is included with the Unleash RGB software (link), but yeah there doesn't seem to be a manual for it, which is a little frustrating, however this thread may help (link):
https://forums.evga.com/How-to-Set-up-a-Macro-in-Unleash-RGB-m3505700.aspx