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TVS GOLD Keyboard Review
Review
I recently purchased the TVS Gold keyboard seeing the fact that so many people swore by it, but considering that I could not find a very good review, I decided to write one myself.
The TVS-e Gold is a mechanical keyboard i.e. one that uses physical switches to take input not layers of plastic used in membrane based keyboards. It uses the Cherry MX Blue switches (credits geekhack forum) so it feels clicky as well as bumpy while typing, making typing quicker. It is advertised to have a lifetime of over 50 million keystrokes (which many users claim is true since it continues to work even after a decade of use), wear resistant key tops (again seems to be true) and sculpted keycaps (which iT certainly has). Also, It is a lot bigger than the usually membrane based keyboards and my K+M pullout has trouble accommodating it with my Razer Goliathus(small) mouse pad.
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/attachments/reviews/8894d1360480348-tvs-e-gold-keyboard-tvs-gold.jpg
Construction and Feel
The first thing you notice when you see it is its bulky, its heavier than membrane keyboards (not very heavy though) and feels totally solid. Thoughtfully, the entire keyboard is slightly raised above the surface you put it on, removing dirty surfaces as a problem. They keyboards back half is also slightly higher than the lower one to make typing easier. Another good thing about the construction is the backstands, they're solid and provide a nice amount of height to the back of the keyboard.
The first thing you notice about the keys is that they're all slightly tilted towards the centre row. This applies to all the rows except for the one with the function keys and the one with the `(tilde), numerical, Insert, Home, Pageup, Num Lock, /, *, - keys. This also speeds up typing since when your fingers move from the centre row to the others, they are usually travelling in the angle of the tilt, thereby lowering the resistance and making the typing feel more natural.
One major gripe I had was that the key letters were not lasered to the surface. You can almost certainly feel them whenever you put a finger on a key. Moreover, some keys such as the windows keys and some letter keys have the print placed towards the top, not the centre, making the keys (especially the windows ones) look slightly ugly.
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/attachments/reviews/8895d1360480370-tvs-e-gold-keyboard-windows-key-tvs.jpg
Typing
Typing speeded up immediately for me when I started using the TVS over my current membrane based keyboard. The sound gives you a confirmation click about when the key has been pressed, although most of the times you will automatically press the keys all the way. After getting used to the keyboard, most likely you'll stop pushing it all the way and stop whenever you hear the click. While I do not have any concrete numbers, I can definitely say that my typing has speeded up by at least 25%. The sculpted keycaps seemed to fit fingers well and the keys seemed to travel faster than membrane based ones (they probably do). Some people have complained that the keys provide a bit too much resistance when not pressing them directly in the centre but I disagree. The only key I felt had a bit too much resistance was the spacebar and the resistance felt the same from all angles. The backspace key is only single key sized unlike many other keyboards where it occupies two key spaces. While not that much of a problem, some people used to the two key sized one might take time to adjust. I for one, did not take any time adjusting at all.
Gaming
Being an avid gamer I was prepared to be underwhelmed by its gaming performance. I played different games such as Battlefield 3, Age of Empires III and Metro 2033 on it. The key travel is not as much of a problem as most people would claim it to be. I've used the Razer Arctosa in the past and while the key travel is definitely a lot more, it doesn't really seem to negatively affect gaming. The only key with which the key travel was a problem was the spacebar, still not too much of a problem though since it was only used for jumping in both Battlefield and Metro.Moreover on the PS/2 version if it is plugged into a PS/2 port (not a converter), since its a mechanical keyboard, there is no problem of ghosting (only a limited number of keys can be pressed at the same time), meaning you can easily execute combos is FIFA and PES without trouble. (This is not applicable when it is plugged into a USB port or on the USB version of the keyboard.) The keyboard is not N-Key rollover compliant (meaning only a limited no. of keys can be pressed at once). It poses no problems for most games such as Battlefield 3 but MAY pose problems for certain games like FIFA and PES. This issue is not worse than any run of the mill membrane keyboard without special anti-ghosting.
The biggest problem surprisingly was the same as with the Razer Arctosa, albeit worse. It was easy to forget where the WSAD keys were if your fingers did not rest on them and it was just as well possible to press the RFDG keys. I never faced this problem with my membrane based Rs 500 Logitech Keyboard. Moreover due to its huge size, it feels strange keeping both the hands further apart than with a regular smaller keyboard (this may not be immediately noticeable except for extended gaming periods but will some take time to get used to).
Special note: If you use the arrow keys while gaming, you're in for a tough time. The upper ends of the left and right arrow keys are a bit too depressed, almost touching the surface of the keyboard.
Extra Features
This is where the keyboard scores a 0. It does well what its meant to do but not much else. It lacks any sort of extra features and doesn't even have a set of volume control keys. Multimedia keys are easily available on every Rs400 keyboard in the market.
Conclusion
It is great for typing and is totally VFM since the next mechanical keyboard I found, Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Pro costs Rs 5500, over 3 time the TVS-e Gold. Its great for typing, OK for gaming and conspicuously lacks multimedia keys. If you want to use it for anything other than typing, you better stay away.
Price:
USB Version : Rs 1800
PS/2 Version : Rs 1500
USB to PS/2 converter : Rs 50 (= Rs 250 savings)
(This review was typed on my TVS-e Gold.)
This is my first review
Please give suggestions and corrections.
UPDATE : Seems that with use the resistance of the spacebar lessens. It's much less stiff after a few weeks of regular use.
Review
I recently purchased the TVS Gold keyboard seeing the fact that so many people swore by it, but considering that I could not find a very good review, I decided to write one myself.
The TVS-e Gold is a mechanical keyboard i.e. one that uses physical switches to take input not layers of plastic used in membrane based keyboards. It uses the Cherry MX Blue switches (credits geekhack forum) so it feels clicky as well as bumpy while typing, making typing quicker. It is advertised to have a lifetime of over 50 million keystrokes (which many users claim is true since it continues to work even after a decade of use), wear resistant key tops (again seems to be true) and sculpted keycaps (which iT certainly has). Also, It is a lot bigger than the usually membrane based keyboards and my K+M pullout has trouble accommodating it with my Razer Goliathus(small) mouse pad.
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/attachments/reviews/8894d1360480348-tvs-e-gold-keyboard-tvs-gold.jpg
Construction and Feel
The first thing you notice when you see it is its bulky, its heavier than membrane keyboards (not very heavy though) and feels totally solid. Thoughtfully, the entire keyboard is slightly raised above the surface you put it on, removing dirty surfaces as a problem. They keyboards back half is also slightly higher than the lower one to make typing easier. Another good thing about the construction is the backstands, they're solid and provide a nice amount of height to the back of the keyboard.
The first thing you notice about the keys is that they're all slightly tilted towards the centre row. This applies to all the rows except for the one with the function keys and the one with the `(tilde), numerical, Insert, Home, Pageup, Num Lock, /, *, - keys. This also speeds up typing since when your fingers move from the centre row to the others, they are usually travelling in the angle of the tilt, thereby lowering the resistance and making the typing feel more natural.
One major gripe I had was that the key letters were not lasered to the surface. You can almost certainly feel them whenever you put a finger on a key. Moreover, some keys such as the windows keys and some letter keys have the print placed towards the top, not the centre, making the keys (especially the windows ones) look slightly ugly.
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/attachments/reviews/8895d1360480370-tvs-e-gold-keyboard-windows-key-tvs.jpg
Typing
Typing speeded up immediately for me when I started using the TVS over my current membrane based keyboard. The sound gives you a confirmation click about when the key has been pressed, although most of the times you will automatically press the keys all the way. After getting used to the keyboard, most likely you'll stop pushing it all the way and stop whenever you hear the click. While I do not have any concrete numbers, I can definitely say that my typing has speeded up by at least 25%. The sculpted keycaps seemed to fit fingers well and the keys seemed to travel faster than membrane based ones (they probably do). Some people have complained that the keys provide a bit too much resistance when not pressing them directly in the centre but I disagree. The only key I felt had a bit too much resistance was the spacebar and the resistance felt the same from all angles. The backspace key is only single key sized unlike many other keyboards where it occupies two key spaces. While not that much of a problem, some people used to the two key sized one might take time to adjust. I for one, did not take any time adjusting at all.
Gaming
Being an avid gamer I was prepared to be underwhelmed by its gaming performance. I played different games such as Battlefield 3, Age of Empires III and Metro 2033 on it. The key travel is not as much of a problem as most people would claim it to be. I've used the Razer Arctosa in the past and while the key travel is definitely a lot more, it doesn't really seem to negatively affect gaming. The only key with which the key travel was a problem was the spacebar, still not too much of a problem though since it was only used for jumping in both Battlefield and Metro.
The biggest problem surprisingly was the same as with the Razer Arctosa, albeit worse. It was easy to forget where the WSAD keys were if your fingers did not rest on them and it was just as well possible to press the RFDG keys. I never faced this problem with my membrane based Rs 500 Logitech Keyboard. Moreover due to its huge size, it feels strange keeping both the hands further apart than with a regular smaller keyboard (this may not be immediately noticeable except for extended gaming periods but will some take time to get used to).
Special note: If you use the arrow keys while gaming, you're in for a tough time. The upper ends of the left and right arrow keys are a bit too depressed, almost touching the surface of the keyboard.
Extra Features
This is where the keyboard scores a 0. It does well what its meant to do but not much else. It lacks any sort of extra features and doesn't even have a set of volume control keys. Multimedia keys are easily available on every Rs400 keyboard in the market.
Conclusion
It is great for typing and is totally VFM since the next mechanical keyboard I found, Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Pro costs Rs 5500, over 3 time the TVS-e Gold. Its great for typing, OK for gaming and conspicuously lacks multimedia keys. If you want to use it for anything other than typing, you better stay away.
Price:
USB Version : Rs 1800
PS/2 Version : Rs 1500
USB to PS/2 converter : Rs 50 (= Rs 250 savings)
(This review was typed on my TVS-e Gold.)
This is my first review
Please give suggestions and corrections.
UPDATE : Seems that with use the resistance of the spacebar lessens. It's much less stiff after a few weeks of regular use.
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