One of the fastest growing verticals in the PC market is the peripherals market. There are so many different companies that are pushing out keyboards, mice, headphones and more to the masses. While this growth is a good thing, it also tends to saturate the market with products that are so similar the only thing that makes them different is the name and the price. This has made manufacturers move to new types of features and also to try and squeeze every last drop of performance they can out of their offerings and at the best price (one that is good for consumers and still make them money). Today we are looking at a gaming keyboard that has some very interesting features, the Tesoro Tizona. This keyboard offers Brown Mechanical switches and also a detachable number pad. So let’s dive in and see where this keyboard falls.
Value -Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item. The Tizona G2N compact keyboard will set you back around $89.99. This is around the same price you can find other unlit mechanical switch based, compact keyboards. You can also find some fully backlit keyboards with mechanical switches for this price as well. This is where the lack of back lighting will probably hurt the Tizona on the market. We were not able to find the cost of the optional number pad anywhere on the net in our region (North America) at the time of this writing. This means that the total cost of the Tizona could be quite a bit more than some products from the competition when you add everything up.
Conclusion -The Tesoro Tizona is an interesting product with a nice twist to it. If you are the type of person that wants both the space savings of a compact keyboard and the option to have a 10-Key number pad then this is a product that will surely interest you. The dual modes of operation (PC and Game) offer flexibility when it comes to the quick leys. However, many people might be more interested in being able to program these keys with their own functions or macros so their appeal might be limited. The options for different mechanical switches is a plus, but the lack of back lighting offsets that. Over all we are not sure what market the Tizona is really aimed at considering its price and the mixed messages that the features offer. Over all we can say that it performed very well even if the type of switch that we received (brown) is not our personal favorite. Again the Tizona is priced in line with other mechanical keyboards on the market both lit and unlit which could hurt it in the long run.
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