Tt eSports Poseidon Z Kailh Switch Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2014-05-07
·
918 words · ~4 min read
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For the ultimate no compromises compact gaming PC, look no further than the
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Obsidian Series 250D from Corsair. Click now to learn more. All right, so the
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last time we talked about Thermaltch's TTE Sports Poseidon line. We were
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marveling at how inexpensive the Poseidon was compared to competing
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backlit mechanical keyboards. Now they're back with the Poseidon Z, a
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keyboard that is functionally pretty much the same thing, but comes in at $10
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cheaper. So, what did they do to reduce the price even further, making it one of
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the least expensive full-size mechanical backlit keyboards on the market? One
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word, kale. No, not cabbage. Key
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switches. Our first Poseidon, this one right here, used Cherry MX blue switches
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manufactured in Germany. Well, our Poseidon Z uses blue switches, whoops,
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that are manufactured in China by a company called Kale that happens to use
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the same color-based naming scheme and also have a very similar internal design
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to their switches because Cher's patent on their switch design has expired. All
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right, so then what is the difference? Well, functionally, not much. The two
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keyboards are basically the same thing. It's got a fairly plain jane design with
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no real alterations to a standard 104 key layout. There's a gaming mode button
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at the top right that disables the Windows key and some media control keys
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that can be accessed with a function modifier that you'll find at the bottom
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right. It also features uh 6 to 8 key N
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key rollover, which I understand what they're saying. It's 6 to 8 key rollover
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depending on which keys you're pressing, but that isn't N key rollover. Hopefully
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they can get that fixed on their site soon and hopefully one of these days I'll get through a review of a
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Thermaltch product without finding errors or typos on their boxer website.
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But anyway, there's cable management down here so the cable can come out the right, the left. They've also got nice
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high quality rubber grips on the bottom, even on the fold out uh elevator piece
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that allows you to incline the keyboard. The whole bottom of it is grippy and
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thumbs up for that. But let's get into
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what is the difference. Why is it cheaper? Well, because manufacturing in
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China is cheaper for all kinds of reasons. Cheaper labor and lower costs
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associated with transporting the switches to the factories where the
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completed keyboards will actually be assembled, just to name a couple. What
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you trade though, in my experience, is looser manufacturing tolerances. I've
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used a couple of Kale Blue switch keyboards so far, and this one is
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noticeably heavier than any Cherry MX Blue or even other Kale Blue keyboard
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that I've used before. closer to Cherry MX greens than to Cherry MX Blues just
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from typing on them. And that's the difference. I mean, look at this. You
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can probably even hear the difference. Cherry MX blue, kale
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blue. Well, trust me, there you can hear the difference even if you can't pick it
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up on the mic. One Cherry MX keyboard to another, there will be variance as well,
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but with a newer, less proven manufacturer, the potential for us to
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discover significant differences from batch to batch is definitely still
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there. Okay, then Lionus, is it okay for Thermaltch to do this? Doesn't it feel
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deceptive? And you know what? No, I don't think so. Honestly, I'm pretty
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okay with the way Thermaltch is doing it. They're not calling the switches
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something that they're not. They're just calling them TTE Sports certified
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mechanical blue switches. All things that they are. And more importantly,
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they're passing at least some of the savings on to the customer in the form
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of a lower price and a longer five-year warranty period. This contrasts with
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Razer's approach where they also discontinued all their Cherry MX based
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keyboards, but then charged exactly the same amount for the newer models with
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Chinese switches. Something that they may feel justified in doing since
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they're now rating their switches at 60 million keystrokes versus 50 million
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keystrokes, but I would have liked to see a token discount or a longer
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warranty to go along with the longer rating on the switches or something at
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least. So, there you have it. This video ended up being more about Kale than
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about the Poseidon Z. But that really is the main story here. Anyway, thank you
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for watching, guys. Like this video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked
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it, share it if you thought it was fantastic and other people need to see
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it and all the good things and all that. Uh, don't forget there is a support link
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in the video description. You can buy t-shirts. You can give us a monthly contribution. You can um I'm sure there
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are other things you can do. Ah, yes, you can change your bookmarks to sites like Amazon to one that includes our
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affiliate code. So, we get a kickback whenever you buy panty hose or whatever
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it is that you need. And I think that pretty much wraps it up. Thank you for
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watching. And as always, don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech Tips for more
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