The Tesoro Tizona Gaming Keyboard -
For history buffs the name Tizona will have meaning for you. It is the name of a sword that legend says was owned by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid. It roughly translates to burning stick or firebrand. Tesoro has used this name (we would suspect) to indicate that you will have better battle prowess when using this keyboard.

On the surface the Tizona looks like a fairly regular keyboard. You have the normal keys you would expect with only a few of them differing in their labeling. Tesoro also moved some of the indicator LEDs lower on the keyboard (and added a couple). You also get three thumb buttons for quick launch options. These function differently depending on the “mode” you are in. If you are in PC mode then these keys will open your default browser, your default media player and Outlook. In game mode these map to “/”, “*”, and “-“ on the number pad in order from left to right. This allows you to bind them in your favorite games so that they are easier to reach.

As we mentioned before the Tizona comes in a variety of switch types (ours is brown) and also has two USB 2.0 ports, one on each side. For connectivity you get a micro-USB port and a detachable, braided USB cable. The connection polls at 1000Hz for faster command response. To make sure that you have sufficient power to the two USB ports Tesoro has thrown in a USB power adapter. You can plug this into any available USB port on your computer.

The Tizona is a 6 and full NKey rollover style keyboard although this is becoming more and more common with mechanical keyboards.

The rest of the features are pretty normal, padded rubber feet, extra weight to help keep is still, you know the drill.

Of course there is one feature that is a little unusual and that is the optional number pad. This part of the Tizona can plug into either side via the USB 2.0 port and attaches using fairly strong magnets on the side. It also has mechanical switches (ours were brown again) and can run in either 6 or full NKey rollover mode.

Although its primary purpose appears to be as an addition to the Tizona, this number pad could also be attached to any system via a braided detachable USB cable (1000Hz polling rate). It is a pretty slick add on when you think about it and also drops in a little bit more customization for your gaming area.

Both the keyboard and number pad have the same specs for actuation and response. (45g for actuation and 2mm for response) key press length is 4mm to the bottom. These are fairly common specs across most mechanical keyboards.