14 DAY TRIAL // The names of gods, heroes and relics are among the things most often used by IT companies when launching high-end products of any sort, because they are a type of superlative all on their own. Tesoro has just provided the latest example of this.
Behold, the Tesoro Tizona mechanical keyboard with optional mechanical numpad. The numpad can be attached or detached at will.
Many keyboards have numpads by default, but few people actually use those numpads, so Tesoro has decided to make them a removable item. Or, rather, has decided to make the numpad an optionally attachable product.
Tesoro gave its latest inventions the name Tizona, after the famous magical sword said to have been wielded by El Cid when fighting the Moors in Spain.
The keyboard and numpad are built out of metal plates and ABS plastic for the key caps. The letters are custom-cut by means of laser.
That means that if you have a key layout that isn't the same as US or EU English, you can have the keys reflect that (Z instead of Y, for example).
The Tizona keyboard has various features, like anti-slip rubber feet, 1,000 Hzultra-polling rate, three thumb macro keys, multimedia key capabilities in the Function keys (F1 to F12), switchable 6-NKey to Full-NKey rollover function (the system won't choke if you press multiple buttons at once), and a G Mode (disables the Windows key).
The peripheral can work off the energy from a USB connection or a DC-IN Jack for additional power. Finally, it has 50 million strokes lifespan (per key) and supports Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 operating systems.
The Tizona numpad has mechanical key switches (black, brown, red or blue), a detachable 1.8 meter braided cable, anti-slip rubber feet, and the same 6-NKey / Full-NKey rollover switchable function as the keyboard itself, plus similar 1000Hz ultra-polling rate.
All in all, even though the Tizona keyboard doesn't look all that sleep or graceful (that ridge at the top is really peculiar), it does stand out from the crowd thanks to the numpad. One has to wonder why Tesoro didn't use the same mechanical switches on it.
Curiously, you're supposed to be able to connect the numpad to the left of the keyboard if you wish, not just the right. It “automatically [makes] it macro-keyboard for gamers.” You can even attach more than one numpad actually (one on the left and one on the right) or use them independently.
Tesoro Tizona will start shipping this month around the world, though European countries might only get it in May. The price is of $89 / €79 for the keyboard and $35 / €27 for the mechanical numpad.
