I offer a counter argument for the price of this keyboard. The only other keyboard in production, with a numpad you can place on the left, is Asus Claymore 2. Arguably, Asus Claymore 2 has wireless, but you get more customization and functionality with Everest Max. $200 could even be a bargain, compared to top end keyboards from Logitech, Corsair, and Razer. (although, if you ask me, those top end keyboards from Logitech, Corsair, and Razer, are way overpriced anyways) Software that works, as in it's fully functional, and not in alpha or beta, is also a huge selling point compared to other manufacturers of mechanical keyboards.
I'm in the market for a new keyboard as my 2013 Razor model with Cherry blues is starting to fail. Having seen the price tag of $200 I was going "oooh, yes!" as it fits all of my needs and I am a nerd. In the UK, this is £320. That's getting towards the $360 mark. I'm willing to spend on peripherals as the HID is one of the most important aspects of a PC. If you can't use it efficiently, you're handicapped before you started. But £320! My current keyboard was £120 and that was a lot of cash.
That circular “decorative” pattern on the top is unappealing because it’s not a decorative pattern. It’s simply the machining marks left from an end mill bit when making the mold for, or machining each aluminum top, that wasn’t removed before anodizing or painting. It’s a rather cheap way of leaving the surface. It’s also a poor finish from an end mill. It could have been better.
the "badness" of the finish makes it clear it was there intentionally as a stylistic choice.
glad to see keyboards with screens coming back! I held on to my 1st gen G15 for over a decade because there wasn't anything out that could match the functionality
It could go either way. They may just have not wanted to put the money into having a nice finish and thought they could sell it as 'decorative'. Just looking at it, especially at the edges, that's not decorative. That's just an end mill hogging out some metal... But to call it 'decorative'? That's like saying the orange peel on a $99 Maaco paint job is a 'feature'.
This kind of "aesthetic toolmarks" has become a scourge in some industries. Bicycle components, for example, where they seem to use ball endmills for everything even if it increases the machine time because it "looks cool" (hint: it doesn't).
Yes, because you've clearly programmed every one of these components and personally saw them doing all the roughing with a ball... not to mention for deep oblique pockets on a 5 axis like with bike stems that balls are actually faster for roughing too... You also know balls are commonly used for proper finishing on a 5 axis right?
The fact that the keyboard is milled *at all*, vs. cast, stamped, or (worst and most common) injection-molded plastic, is the point. The fact that the finish is left such that you can easily tell it is made of machined metal is similar to exposed carbon fiber vs. painted carbon fiber. It's a flex.
Meh! To those of us with manufacturing g experience there is no excuse for unfinished tool marks. There is tooling that makes finish swirls or circles. There is no reason to leave it this way. I would be embarrassed if someone pointed this out to me from something I did. But I would never allow it.
You realize that injection molds for something like this one piece can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars? If the assumption is that this was CNC/d, then this finish is abominable.
God you mechanical engineers are literally the worst... machinist here, that's quite obviously an intended finishing pass, and if you don't know the visual cues that tell you that from these photos then I highly doubt you have real 'manufacturing experience'. In fact, the idea that you even considered the possibility that this would be a molded part already tells me that. Just because it's not to your taste (or mine) doesn't make it a mistake, however hard you want to believe that you know more than the guy running these in a VMC. Get over yourself.
Please, you guys just do what you’re told to do. Engineers don’t make the final decision either unless the run the company. I have experience because I was a partner in a manufacturing concern, and I’ve designed and built machines and electronic products. I still have wood and metal working shops.
This is a typical machining step that we do inside parts all the time. It’s not meant as a finishing step. These people used it as such. I don’t really mind, and wouldn’t have even bothered to comment, but the article said is was a decorative finish, which it isn’t.
Yes, they are using it that way simply because it’s exposed to the customer. The reason I mentioned molds is simply because, as you didn’t understand, in small runs, which these keyboards could very well be, molds are very expensive—if they had decided to go that way. How many of these will they sell? Hundreds of thousands? No. Tens of thousands, I’d bet not. Thousands possibly. But if it doesn’t prove popular, it could be hundreds. And, more importantly, I was responding to the above post where p,attic and molds was mentioned.
Oh so you’re not even an engineer, got it, didn’t think it was any possible for you to be less intelligent but apparently so… if you think even roughing passes should leave tool marks like this then you know even less about machining than I thought. I’ve done a hundred jobs with a plain class 7 finish for every job with one of these finishes, but it is a specific finishing technique and I can recite the speeds and feeds for it to you from memory, even though it would be completely wasted on you.
You seem to be getting hot and bothered by an honest disagreement. Once you resort to personal insults, you have lost. I like the finish, whether or not it is generally intended as a finish, but I don't think melgross's posts were unreasonable, and certainly not worth this kind of behavior.
Sorry Sivar, but when melgross made a completely unprompted comment falsely (objectively and demonstrably falsely, at that) accusing all of the people behind this product of sloppy workmanship, that is unreasonable and downright insulting. I realize it's not so uncommon for Anandtech commenters to falsely paint themselves as experts, but it doesn't make it any less disgusting whenever it happens.
I actually own this keyboard and can confirm that the milling marks are cosmetic. You can't really see it in the review sample but at the edges of the plate, the circular marks don't overlap in the north-south direction. i.e. The mill was run along the east-west direction, lifted, moved north-south, and then run along the east-west axis again. This wasn't a leftover from the material removal process. As to whether this patterning is appealing or otherwise would be more of a personal preference - personally, I don't mind it.
That is by design, unlike other keyboards that use plastic, you can't just inject mold to make a part, it has to be machined out of one piece. I would venture to guess than a huge chunk of the price is that one piece itself.
Yet another comment of 'Why doesn't this do something that most other products do? comment.
Over the last few years I've seen these stupid, selfish comments pop up a lot more.
Are you really that selfish and stupid?! You have a whole plethora of keyboards that meet your needs. Why suggest messing up this for people who do want that feature?
Why don't high-end mechanical keyboards come with Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint readers?
I haven't been able to find this feature anywhere, so I'm forced to *only* consider keyboards with USB hubs or passthrough so I can plug in a cheap fingerprint reader off Amazon. Most mechanical keyboards don't come with extra USB ports either, although this one happily does, so it's a possible contender.
Why would they? Vest majority of people don't use those at all for personal PCs. In fact most don't even power down or use password when its at home, why would they when you got use accounts if got family.
Its a really weird thing to think they would, it doesn't even fit in a commercial environment. Maybe a school i guess.
I bet most people don't even know wtf windows hello is. I forgot about it untill you mentioned it. lol
My *guess* is that it is not cost-effective to get a new device with a fingerprint reader made as a compound device that would work with MS-Windows, and with signed certificates from Microsoft. Therefore, if one is included, it would have to be an OEM device under a USB hub anyway.
Most high-end mechanical keyboards are made for gaming, and one feature of gaming keyboards that manufacturers compete on is low latency. The existence of a USB hub (internal or with external ports) shared with other devices could mean that the keyboard does not get polled as often, which would add latency.
I've had one of these coming up on three weeks now, and love it. That's after agnosing for the last couple of years on the various Corsair K95/XT/K100 and not finding anything that quite hit the spot.
I'm an engineer by career and have no issues with the machining marks on the keybeds. Yes it *could* have been a little smoother but the CNC tracks are uniform and the finish is consistent. The design is ingenious in a number of areas and the build quality is generally, as E. says in the review, superb.
Where I do have a couple of minor nits is in terms of the number of height raisers supplied (the Mountain accessories are expensive, I've ended up machining some of my own), and the lack of backlighting round the media control keys seems a bit of a skimp. As does the plastic jog wheel (when a machined aluminum one would confer much better feel).
That said, E.'s note about the function of the jog wheel and not being able to lock it to your preferred function. This *has* been addressed and fixed since the review was written, so good news there.
Is it correct to assume that all settings created via their software are stored on the keyboard itself and once set would work fine in Linux? Or is there some way to configure these outside of Windows?
Almost everything is stored on the keyboard - in one of the five presets. If I recall correct (and haven't double-checked) you only need the background service running in order to send the system resource usage data to the media dock display, and probably to enable the automated app launch-based profile switching.
You can manually switch the presets either via the dock or hotkeys so no requirement for the software there once set up.
Not sure whether some of the macros and key mapping functionality would require the software to be installed too.
However as a general point, yes, I was surprised how much worked literally the first time I plugged it in (i.e. prior to Base Camp installation).
Having owned this for a short while, I can confirm that most of the programmed macros are stored into the keyboard modules. The display icons and shortcuts certainly are - you don't need the software (Base camp) to be running to activate the shortcuts. Base camp only needs to be running to view the PC resources on the media dock - but it's a rather scrappy piece of software. Half the time, when selecting to minimize, it doesn't minimize to the tray (the UI just disappears while the program runs in the background). Other times, it does minimize to the tray and closes after a while. Not that it really matters much to me since I only use the media dock to display the date/ time (which doesn't need Base camp to be running). I did raise the feedback to Mountain and whilst they were incredibly prompt and detailed in responding (my email went over at about midnight in the States; they asked for logs and hardware info dump), their only solution was to reinstall Base Camp. That said, I've not tried using the keyboard with Linux/ Unix and can't confirm if the dock will update the date/ time properly on a non-Windows system. Another issue with the keyboard is the power consumption - I have a KVM that can't supply the power required (not a big issue as I have the same problem with my Massdrop CTRL prior to this kb) and have to use a powered hub. Aside to this, the KVM is only USB 2.0 and for whatever reason, the keyboard can't seem to be updated (firmware) or configured (saving programmed settings) when operating through the USB 2.0 connection. This is despite the fact that the MCU is only operating at USB 1.1 Fullspeed (12Mbps) as I verified using USB Device Tree Viewer when troubleshooting this.
Sounds like quite a product for a first attempt. $200 is out of my budget range but not crazy for high-end boards with Cherry switches and good software.
As well as they did out of the gate, and with the report that one software issue observed has already been fixed, I'm sure they'll get the other minor things fixed in the next revision.
Funny you say that. The original G15 is the last 'specialty' keyboard I bought prior to the Everest.
Back when the iCue Nexus was announced I was considering one of those + a K100 as a potential equivalent, but the Nexus, in the flesh, was a bit disappointing for the price (primarily for the very low screen vs bezel ratio). If/when Corsair brought out an improved version of that (or the cost of the current one reduced by a margin), I'd probably stick one on the back of my Everest for the best of all worlds.
Don't forget that there are a variety of other options for small, keyboard-mounted displays, albeit many have a DIY aspect to them. Nextion HMI displays are ideal for this.
Anandtech once again made a very compelling write up why this Mountain Everest keyboard system is top notch and worthy of purchase. As a result I ordered one as I was tired of going thru another Corsair mechanical keyboard. As I type this post I have 3 broken Corsairs all for failed Cherry MX Red switches. Sounds like a simple fix right? .... anyone who has completed a replacement Cherry switch on any of the Corsair keyboards knows it's not a quick repair but involves not only soldering but removal of dozens of tiny phillips head screws. Me, I'm tired of spending hours making this type repair versus a simple Mountain Everest keyboard switch replacement which takes only a few minutes to complete. This alone is worth this purchase.
It's with a heavy heart that I'm back to make a follow-up to previous comments praising the keyboard.
Unfortunately, six weeks of experience has demonstrated that while my opinion of the hardware hasn't changed, it remains a lovely keyboard to work on, my view of the firmware and software has, drastically - for the worse.
After the intial setup I have found a growing number of glitches with the keyboard, the most serious of which is that since a firmware update, the Media Dock refuses to wake up after system standby or hibernation - unless it (or the entire keyboard) is physically disconnected/reconnected every time.
Furthermore, it occasionally goes non-functional when the system is up, too. And when this happens it somehow interferes with communication between the keyboard and its mating software service.
The automatic, app launch profile switching doesn't work consistently, and, most frustratingly, after being advised to re-flash the firmware and then factory reset the keyboard by Mountain TS, re-importing my saved settings didn't re-import custom per-key per-app lighting profiles I'd previously set up.
The macro recording process is exceptionally cumbersome and difficult to edit too.
To be fair, Mountain support have been quick to respond to emails, but beyond asking for (and me providing) a large amount of detailed info and system logs, they haven't yet been able to make any suggestions. Since looking around, I've found a significant number of other users reporting issues too.
I have, ironically, found the keyboard is more reliable and less glitchy with the Base Camp service disabled on the host PC.
Hopefully these problems are related to the firmware and software and can be fixed in short order. If I don't hear anything back from Mountain over the next couple of weeks, it'll be a very reluctant call to the place I bought it to enquire about a refund.
Have you tried using a powered USB 3 hub to connect the keyboard and also using a USB 3 host port? If you haven't, try using a powered USB 3.0 hub and re-flash the keyboard. Also, with regards to the media dock or keypad, do keep these connected to the main kb module before connecting the kb to the hub/ computer. I've found that when using a USB 2.0 host port on my KVM (but keeping the keyboard powered via the hub), configuring the keyboard is extremely slow; and firmware updates are impossible (despite that the keyboard controller only runs at USB 1.1 internally). I've the same experience with Base Camp and Mountain support as well - fast response, generally polite, but basically their only response is equivalent to "Have you tried restarting/ re-installing?".
Hi dreamslacker, thanks for the comment. Unfortunately I think I've got all those bases covered already.
Unfortunately I had the keyboard connected to a powered internal USB3 hub when I first got it. And ironically I think it masked some of the keyboard's problems as the hub powered down when the system went to S3/S4/S5 - and resulted in the Everest cold-booting itself every time the computer resumed.
I've since built up a new Z690 box and the keyboard is now connected directly to the motherboard's USB3.2 rear ports - and so the keyboard receives power all the time.
I'm an embedded developer too so I'm mildly tempted to sniff the connection between the dock/numpad and the keyboard to see how they communicate. I'm presuming it'll either be SPI or UART - do you happen to know anything more on that?
That said, I bought the keyboard to work with, not work *on*, and if it continues to irk me, it'll be going back. Unfortunately.
Hi Short_Circuit, unfortunately, I do not know what kind of protocol is used for the connection between the main module and the media dock. That said, when I did the tear down to pad the keyboard, I did notice that the media dock daugther card uses a 14 pin SMD connection to interface with the main module PCB. Assuming the buttons (5) and encoder are using 7 pins as GPIO, that leaves 2 pins for power/ common GND and 5 pins for other communication. Since I didn't open up the media dock, I couldn't say if they had use a separate MCU with I2C internally to run the OLED or if they had use SPI/ I2C to run the display module directly (since some OLEDs will have their own display IC). Another interesting thing I noted is that when I did the teardown on the numpad to put the poron pads, I did see that the programmable buttons display uses a single large OLED display - they simply refresh the 4 cut-out portions on the display and have to refresh the entire matrix everytime a change is made.
The reason I intially suspected that there is a satellite MCU in the dock is primarily due to the way the keyboard behaves after the MMD fails to 'wake up'. If there was a simple electrical connection between the MMD transport control buttons/rotary encoder and the main Holtek MCU, theoretically the buttons and encoder should still function normally even when the display fails. That isn't what happens.
In my case, when the MMD fails to wake up (or seemingly goes to sleep after the system is up), the buttons and encoder fail to function and remain so until the MMD is removed/reconnected to reboot it. Looking at the logs created by the Boot Camp software reinforces this notion too.
In any case, if as you say there is a 14 pin connection (vs the 20 theoretically available via the USB-C connector), and we were to assume that the main MCU is running everything, that theoretically doesn't leave enough to have the five buttons, the encoder, four status LEDs, power and ground as well as some form of data channel to the dock's display.
Re power draw, I can see why a USB 2.0 hub wouldn't cut it. I've just put a meter on mine and though it's fine with the LEDs off, it will go right up to nudging the USB 3.0/3.1 4.5W limit with the illumination set to full white at maximum brightness.
Incidentally did you actually see enough of the numpad's display to confirm that it is an OLED device? I keep seeing people say that but Mountain don't describe it as an OLED, and from the colour shift across different viewing angles and the black levels, it looks more like an LCD than anything else.
No, I did not see enough of the panel to determine if it's OLED or LCD matrix as the flex cable didn't leave enough slack and I didn't feel comfortable enough to put it through the routed slot on the PCB behind it. It could be an LED backlit LCD display for sure. Dismantling the numpad is somewhat tricky as well since they didn't re-orientate the switches with the stabs. The stabs block the release latches on the switches so you get a bit of a chicken and egg problem. I had to partially release the stabs while picking at the switch latches to get it out.
Must admit I'm really tempted to have a look under the hood to see what's going on under there. But at the same time it's only a keyboard and I'd rather Mountain (or the reseller) sorted it out. Decisions, decisions... :-/
Honestly, if you are looking for a well built keyboard to mainly program layers (change keymaps/ functions) record macros, there are probably better options out there. E.g. Keychron Q1 which has QMK compatibility - a separate numpad could be used as required.
Well, another, hopefully final, follow up to this for anyone who's interested.
Credit where it's due, Mountain Support stuck with me - and, while it took a while, eventually accepted that the main keyboard was faulty - and replaced it. So I'm back to a keyboard that does everything it should all the tim.
Still a couple of areas for improvement in the Base Camp software, but hardware-wise, I'm now unreservedly happy with how this keyboard performs and working well with it.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
54 Comments
Back to Article
meacupla - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
I offer a counter argument for the price of this keyboard.The only other keyboard in production, with a numpad you can place on the left, is Asus Claymore 2. Arguably, Asus Claymore 2 has wireless, but you get more customization and functionality with Everest Max.
$200 could even be a bargain, compared to top end keyboards from Logitech, Corsair, and Razer.
(although, if you ask me, those top end keyboards from Logitech, Corsair, and Razer, are way overpriced anyways)
Software that works, as in it's fully functional, and not in alpha or beta, is also a huge selling point compared to other manufacturers of mechanical keyboards.
philehidiot - Friday, November 19, 2021 - link
I'm in the market for a new keyboard as my 2013 Razor model with Cherry blues is starting to fail. Having seen the price tag of $200 I was going "oooh, yes!" as it fits all of my needs and I am a nerd. In the UK, this is £320. That's getting towards the $360 mark. I'm willing to spend on peripherals as the HID is one of the most important aspects of a PC. If you can't use it efficiently, you're handicapped before you started. But £320! My current keyboard was £120 and that was a lot of cash.cjb110 - Friday, November 26, 2021 - link
Can recommend the Corsair mechanicals, my K98 has been serving me really well.melgross - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
That circular “decorative” pattern on the top is unappealing because it’s not a decorative pattern. It’s simply the machining marks left from an end mill bit when making the mold for, or machining each aluminum top, that wasn’t removed before anodizing or painting. It’s a rather cheap way of leaving the surface. It’s also a poor finish from an end mill. It could have been better.drexnx - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
the "badness" of the finish makes it clear it was there intentionally as a stylistic choice.glad to see keyboards with screens coming back! I held on to my 1st gen G15 for over a decade because there wasn't anything out that could match the functionality
Integr8d - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
It could go either way. They may just have not wanted to put the money into having a nice finish and thought they could sell it as 'decorative'. Just looking at it, especially at the edges, that's not decorative. That's just an end mill hogging out some metal... But to call it 'decorative'? That's like saying the orange peel on a $99 Maaco paint job is a 'feature'.twtech - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
It's a high-end piece. It wouldn't have cost much more to sand and/or sandblast the top prior to anodizing if they were so inclined.boozed - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
This kind of "aesthetic toolmarks" has become a scourge in some industries. Bicycle components, for example, where they seem to use ball endmills for everything even if it increases the machine time because it "looks cool" (hint: it doesn't).ceeb285 - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
Yes, because you've clearly programmed every one of these components and personally saw them doing all the roughing with a ball... not to mention for deep oblique pockets on a 5 axis like with bike stems that balls are actually faster for roughing too... You also know balls are commonly used for proper finishing on a 5 axis right?twtech - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
I agree - I think they were asking, "How can we make it clear this is machined aluminum?""How about we leave the cutter marks - that should do it."
Sivar - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
The fact that the keyboard is milled *at all*, vs. cast, stamped, or (worst and most common) injection-molded plastic, is the point.The fact that the finish is left such that you can easily tell it is made of machined metal is similar to exposed carbon fiber vs. painted carbon fiber. It's a flex.
melgross - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
Meh! To those of us with manufacturing g experience there is no excuse for unfinished tool marks. There is tooling that makes finish swirls or circles. There is no reason to leave it this way. I would be embarrassed if someone pointed this out to me from something I did. But I would never allow it.You realize that injection molds for something like this one piece can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars? If the assumption is that this was CNC/d, then this finish is abominable.
ceeb285 - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
God you mechanical engineers are literally the worst... machinist here, that's quite obviously an intended finishing pass, and if you don't know the visual cues that tell you that from these photos then I highly doubt you have real 'manufacturing experience'. In fact, the idea that you even considered the possibility that this would be a molded part already tells me that. Just because it's not to your taste (or mine) doesn't make it a mistake, however hard you want to believe that you know more than the guy running these in a VMC. Get over yourself.melgross - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
Please, you guys just do what you’re told to do. Engineers don’t make the final decision either unless the run the company. I have experience because I was a partner in a manufacturing concern, and I’ve designed and built machines and electronic products. I still have wood and metal working shops.This is a typical machining step that we do inside parts all the time. It’s not meant as a finishing step. These people used it as such. I don’t really mind, and wouldn’t have even bothered to comment, but the article said is was a decorative finish, which it isn’t.
Yes, they are using it that way simply because it’s exposed to the customer. The reason I mentioned molds is simply because, as you didn’t understand, in small runs, which these keyboards could very well be, molds are very expensive—if they had decided to go that way. How many of these will they sell? Hundreds of thousands? No. Tens of thousands, I’d bet not. Thousands possibly. But if it doesn’t prove popular, it could be hundreds. And, more importantly, I was responding to the above post where p,attic and molds was mentioned.
ceeb285 - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
Oh so you’re not even an engineer, got it, didn’t think it was any possible for you to be less intelligent but apparently so… if you think even roughing passes should leave tool marks like this then you know even less about machining than I thought. I’ve done a hundred jobs with a plain class 7 finish for every job with one of these finishes, but it is a specific finishing technique and I can recite the speeds and feeds for it to you from memory, even though it would be completely wasted on you.Sivar - Friday, November 19, 2021 - link
You seem to be getting hot and bothered by an honest disagreement. Once you resort to personal insults, you have lost.I like the finish, whether or not it is generally intended as a finish, but I don't think melgross's posts were unreasonable, and certainly not worth this kind of behavior.
ceeb285 - Monday, November 22, 2021 - link
Sorry Sivar, but when melgross made a completely unprompted comment falsely (objectively and demonstrably falsely, at that) accusing all of the people behind this product of sloppy workmanship, that is unreasonable and downright insulting. I realize it's not so uncommon for Anandtech commenters to falsely paint themselves as experts, but it doesn't make it any less disgusting whenever it happens.Oxford Guy - Monday, November 22, 2021 - link
‘Sorry … but’dreamslacker - Sunday, January 16, 2022 - link
I actually own this keyboard and can confirm that the milling marks are cosmetic. You can't really see it in the review sample but at the edges of the plate, the circular marks don't overlap in the north-south direction.i.e. The mill was run along the east-west direction, lifted, moved north-south, and then run along the east-west axis again. This wasn't a leftover from the material removal process.
As to whether this patterning is appealing or otherwise would be more of a personal preference - personally, I don't mind it.
Sleepingforest - Saturday, November 20, 2021 - link
https://keycult.com/products/no-2-65This is what it looks like when the milling marks are left in an appealing way instead of a cost-savings way.
imaheadcase - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
That is by design, unlike other keyboards that use plastic, you can't just inject mold to make a part, it has to be machined out of one piece. I would venture to guess than a huge chunk of the price is that one piece itself.Lord of the Bored - Saturday, November 20, 2021 - link
Personally. I think it is ugly as hell.I'm pretty sure there's a few choices in between "injection-molded plastic" and "monoblock machining", though.
omf - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
I'd love to see a version of this where the tenkey and media controls are all built in and not detachable so as to slim the whole thing down.bldr - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
Like every other mech keyboard with those features currently does? You missed the whole point.Tams80 - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
Yet another comment of 'Why doesn't this do something that most other products do? comment.Over the last few years I've seen these stupid, selfish comments pop up a lot more.
Are you really that selfish and stupid?! You have a whole plethora of keyboards that meet your needs. Why suggest messing up this for people who do want that feature?
meacupla - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
So, basically you want a SteelSeries Apex 7, or Logitech lightspeed G915/G815schizoide - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
Why don't high-end mechanical keyboards come with Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint readers?I haven't been able to find this feature anywhere, so I'm forced to *only* consider keyboards with USB hubs or passthrough so I can plug in a cheap fingerprint reader off Amazon. Most mechanical keyboards don't come with extra USB ports either, although this one happily does, so it's a possible contender.
Sivar - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
This is a good question. Most customers of these types of keyboards use Windows.Mountain? Logitech? Are you listening?
melgross - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
Well, for this price, they should throw a few of these plastic key tops that we Mac users haveimaheadcase - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
Why would they? Vest majority of people don't use those at all for personal PCs. In fact most don't even power down or use password when its at home, why would they when you got use accounts if got family.Its a really weird thing to think they would, it doesn't even fit in a commercial environment. Maybe a school i guess.
I bet most people don't even know wtf windows hello is. I forgot about it untill you mentioned it. lol
Threska - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
I use a Yubikey in a pass-through port. Log out and take it with me when I'm away. Come back, stick it in, press button. One needs both to log in.Findecanor - Friday, November 19, 2021 - link
My *guess* is that it is not cost-effective to get a new device with a fingerprint reader made as a compound device that would work with MS-Windows, and with signed certificates from Microsoft.Therefore, if one is included, it would have to be an OEM device under a USB hub anyway.
Most high-end mechanical keyboards are made for gaming, and one feature of gaming keyboards that manufacturers compete on is low latency. The existence of a USB hub (internal or with external ports) shared with other devices could mean that the keyboard does not get polled as often, which would add latency.
satai - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
I would really love to buy a split keyboard with such a styling and build quality.Short_Circuit - Wednesday, November 17, 2021 - link
I've had one of these coming up on three weeks now, and love it. That's after agnosing for the last couple of years on the various Corsair K95/XT/K100 and not finding anything that quite hit the spot.I'm an engineer by career and have no issues with the machining marks on the keybeds. Yes it *could* have been a little smoother but the CNC tracks are uniform and the finish is consistent. The design is ingenious in a number of areas and the build quality is generally, as E. says in the review, superb.
Where I do have a couple of minor nits is in terms of the number of height raisers supplied (the Mountain accessories are expensive, I've ended up machining some of my own), and the lack of backlighting round the media control keys seems a bit of a skimp. As does the plastic jog wheel (when a machined aluminum one would confer much better feel).
That said, E.'s note about the function of the jog wheel and not being able to lock it to your preferred function. This *has* been addressed and fixed since the review was written, so good news there.
imaheadcase - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
That Media Dock is worth it alone, to many keyboards skimp out on it, or make in gimmick (looking at you Logitech).PeachNCream - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
Meh, Amazon Basics keyboards enter letters into the computer the same way and cost quite a bit less.meacupla - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
cool story broBob Todd - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
Is it correct to assume that all settings created via their software are stored on the keyboard itself and once set would work fine in Linux? Or is there some way to configure these outside of Windows?Short_Circuit - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
Almost everything is stored on the keyboard - in one of the five presets. If I recall correct (and haven't double-checked) you only need the background service running in order to send the system resource usage data to the media dock display, and probably to enable the automated app launch-based profile switching.You can manually switch the presets either via the dock or hotkeys so no requirement for the software there once set up.
Not sure whether some of the macros and key mapping functionality would require the software to be installed too.
However as a general point, yes, I was surprised how much worked literally the first time I plugged it in (i.e. prior to Base Camp installation).
dreamslacker - Sunday, January 16, 2022 - link
Having owned this for a short while, I can confirm that most of the programmed macros are stored into the keyboard modules. The display icons and shortcuts certainly are - you don't need the software (Base camp) to be running to activate the shortcuts.Base camp only needs to be running to view the PC resources on the media dock - but it's a rather scrappy piece of software.
Half the time, when selecting to minimize, it doesn't minimize to the tray (the UI just disappears while the program runs in the background). Other times, it does minimize to the tray and closes after a while. Not that it really matters much to me since I only use the media dock to display the date/ time (which doesn't need Base camp to be running). I did raise the feedback to Mountain and whilst they were incredibly prompt and detailed in responding (my email went over at about midnight in the States; they asked for logs and hardware info dump), their only solution was to reinstall Base Camp.
That said, I've not tried using the keyboard with Linux/ Unix and can't confirm if the dock will update the date/ time properly on a non-Windows system.
Another issue with the keyboard is the power consumption - I have a KVM that can't supply the power required (not a big issue as I have the same problem with my Massdrop CTRL prior to this kb) and have to use a powered hub.
Aside to this, the KVM is only USB 2.0 and for whatever reason, the keyboard can't seem to be updated (firmware) or configured (saving programmed settings) when operating through the USB 2.0 connection. This is despite the fact that the MCU is only operating at USB 1.1 Fullspeed (12Mbps) as I verified using USB Device Tree Viewer when troubleshooting this.
COtech - Friday, November 19, 2021 - link
Sounds like quite a product for a first attempt. $200 is out of my budget range but not crazy for high-end boards with Cherry switches and good software.As well as they did out of the gate, and with the report that one software issue observed has already been fixed, I'm sure they'll get the other minor things fixed in the next revision.
COtech - Friday, November 19, 2021 - link
They are asking $70 for the media dock alone so it makes sense to get the Max package straight off rather than start with the core and build.zlandar - Friday, November 19, 2021 - link
Wish someone would make a real successor to the Logitech G15. I like having the lcd display with Sirreal applet running.Short_Circuit - Friday, November 19, 2021 - link
Funny you say that. The original G15 is the last 'specialty' keyboard I bought prior to the Everest.Back when the iCue Nexus was announced I was considering one of those + a K100 as a potential equivalent, but the Nexus, in the flesh, was a bit disappointing for the price (primarily for the very low screen vs bezel ratio). If/when Corsair brought out an improved version of that (or the cost of the current one reduced by a margin), I'd probably stick one on the back of my Everest for the best of all worlds.
Don't forget that there are a variety of other options for small, keyboard-mounted displays, albeit many have a DIY aspect to them. Nextion HMI displays are ideal for this.
[email protected] - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - link
Anandtech once again made a very compelling write up why this Mountain Everest keyboard system is top notch and worthy of purchase. As a result I ordered one as I was tired of going thru another Corsair mechanical keyboard. As I type this post I have 3 broken Corsairs all for failed Cherry MX Red switches. Sounds like a simple fix right? .... anyone who has completed a replacement Cherry switch on any of the Corsair keyboards knows it's not a quick repair but involves not only soldering but removal of dozens of tiny phillips head screws. Me, I'm tired of spending hours making this type repair versus a simple Mountain Everest keyboard switch replacement which takes only a few minutes to complete. This alone is worth this purchase.Short_Circuit - Monday, January 17, 2022 - link
It's with a heavy heart that I'm back to make a follow-up to previous comments praising the keyboard.Unfortunately, six weeks of experience has demonstrated that while my opinion of the hardware hasn't changed, it remains a lovely keyboard to work on, my view of the firmware and software has, drastically - for the worse.
After the intial setup I have found a growing number of glitches with the keyboard, the most serious of which is that since a firmware update, the Media Dock refuses to wake up after system standby or hibernation - unless it (or the entire keyboard) is physically disconnected/reconnected every time.
Furthermore, it occasionally goes non-functional when the system is up, too. And when this happens it somehow interferes with communication between the keyboard and its mating software service.
The automatic, app launch profile switching doesn't work consistently, and, most frustratingly, after being advised to re-flash the firmware and then factory reset the keyboard by Mountain TS, re-importing my saved settings didn't re-import custom per-key per-app lighting profiles I'd previously set up.
The macro recording process is exceptionally cumbersome and difficult to edit too.
To be fair, Mountain support have been quick to respond to emails, but beyond asking for (and me providing) a large amount of detailed info and system logs, they haven't yet been able to make any suggestions. Since looking around, I've found a significant number of other users reporting issues too.
I have, ironically, found the keyboard is more reliable and less glitchy with the Base Camp service disabled on the host PC.
Hopefully these problems are related to the firmware and software and can be fixed in short order. If I don't hear anything back from Mountain over the next couple of weeks, it'll be a very reluctant call to the place I bought it to enquire about a refund.
dreamslacker - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - link
Have you tried using a powered USB 3 hub to connect the keyboard and also using a USB 3 host port? If you haven't, try using a powered USB 3.0 hub and re-flash the keyboard.Also, with regards to the media dock or keypad, do keep these connected to the main kb module before connecting the kb to the hub/ computer.
I've found that when using a USB 2.0 host port on my KVM (but keeping the keyboard powered via the hub), configuring the keyboard is extremely slow; and firmware updates are impossible (despite that the keyboard controller only runs at USB 1.1 internally).
I've the same experience with Base Camp and Mountain support as well - fast response, generally polite, but basically their only response is equivalent to "Have you tried restarting/ re-installing?".
Short_Circuit - Friday, January 21, 2022 - link
Hi dreamslacker, thanks for the comment. Unfortunately I think I've got all those bases covered already.Unfortunately I had the keyboard connected to a powered internal USB3 hub when I first got it. And ironically I think it masked some of the keyboard's problems as the hub powered down when the system went to S3/S4/S5 - and resulted in the Everest cold-booting itself every time the computer resumed.
I've since built up a new Z690 box and the keyboard is now connected directly to the motherboard's USB3.2 rear ports - and so the keyboard receives power all the time.
I'm an embedded developer too so I'm mildly tempted to sniff the connection between the dock/numpad and the keyboard to see how they communicate. I'm presuming it'll either be SPI or UART - do you happen to know anything more on that?
That said, I bought the keyboard to work with, not work *on*, and if it continues to irk me, it'll be going back. Unfortunately.
dreamslacker - Friday, January 21, 2022 - link
Hi Short_Circuit, unfortunately, I do not know what kind of protocol is used for the connection between the main module and the media dock.That said, when I did the tear down to pad the keyboard, I did notice that the media dock daugther card uses a 14 pin SMD connection to interface with the main module PCB.
Assuming the buttons (5) and encoder are using 7 pins as GPIO, that leaves 2 pins for power/ common GND and 5 pins for other communication. Since I didn't open up the media dock, I couldn't say if they had use a separate MCU with I2C internally to run the OLED or if they had use SPI/ I2C to run the display module directly (since some OLEDs will have their own display IC).
Another interesting thing I noted is that when I did the teardown on the numpad to put the poron pads, I did see that the programmable buttons display uses a single large OLED display - they simply refresh the 4 cut-out portions on the display and have to refresh the entire matrix everytime a change is made.
Short_Circuit - Saturday, January 22, 2022 - link
Thanks.The reason I intially suspected that there is a satellite MCU in the dock is primarily due to the way the keyboard behaves after the MMD fails to 'wake up'. If there was a simple electrical connection between the MMD transport control buttons/rotary encoder and the main Holtek MCU, theoretically the buttons and encoder should still function normally even when the display fails. That isn't what happens.
In my case, when the MMD fails to wake up (or seemingly goes to sleep after the system is up), the buttons and encoder fail to function and remain so until the MMD is removed/reconnected to reboot it. Looking at the logs created by the Boot Camp software reinforces this notion too.
In any case, if as you say there is a 14 pin connection (vs the 20 theoretically available via the USB-C connector), and we were to assume that the main MCU is running everything, that theoretically doesn't leave enough to have the five buttons, the encoder, four status LEDs, power and ground as well as some form of data channel to the dock's display.
Re power draw, I can see why a USB 2.0 hub wouldn't cut it. I've just put a meter on mine and though it's fine with the LEDs off, it will go right up to nudging the USB 3.0/3.1 4.5W limit with the illumination set to full white at maximum brightness.
Incidentally did you actually see enough of the numpad's display to confirm that it is an OLED device? I keep seeing people say that but Mountain don't describe it as an OLED, and from the colour shift across different viewing angles and the black levels, it looks more like an LCD than anything else.
dreamslacker - Monday, January 24, 2022 - link
No, I did not see enough of the panel to determine if it's OLED or LCD matrix as the flex cable didn't leave enough slack and I didn't feel comfortable enough to put it through the routed slot on the PCB behind it.It could be an LED backlit LCD display for sure. Dismantling the numpad is somewhat tricky as well since they didn't re-orientate the switches with the stabs. The stabs block the release latches on the switches so you get a bit of a chicken and egg problem. I had to partially release the stabs while picking at the switch latches to get it out.
Short_Circuit - Monday, January 24, 2022 - link
Thanks again.Must admit I'm really tempted to have a look under the hood to see what's going on under there. But at the same time it's only a keyboard and I'd rather Mountain (or the reseller) sorted it out. Decisions, decisions... :-/
dreamslacker - Wednesday, January 26, 2022 - link
Honestly, if you are looking for a well built keyboard to mainly program layers (change keymaps/ functions) record macros, there are probably better options out there.E.g. Keychron Q1 which has QMK compatibility - a separate numpad could be used as required.
Short_Circuit - Thursday, March 24, 2022 - link
Well, another, hopefully final, follow up to this for anyone who's interested.Credit where it's due, Mountain Support stuck with me - and, while it took a while, eventually accepted that the main keyboard was faulty - and replaced it. So I'm back to a keyboard that does everything it should all the tim.
Still a couple of areas for improvement in the Base Camp software, but hardware-wise, I'm now unreservedly happy with how this keyboard performs and working well with it.