- The Everest Max keyboard from MOUNTAIN,
the sponsor of this video,
aims to be the ultimate solution
for your typing and macro needs.
It features an all aluminum design, full programmability,
hot-swappable switches, and built-in keys with displays,
kind of like an Elgato Stream Deck
or that famous Optimus concept keyboard from 2005.
Really for gamers though, the more apt comparison
is the classic Microsoft SideWinder X6,
and given that those are still going
for anywhere from 80 to 90 Canadian dollars on eBay,
and that's with worn out membrane keys,
there is clearly still demand
for this type of modular board.
So why don't we take a closer look at it?
(upbeat music)
The Everest Max comes into compartmentalized box
that MOUNTAIN intends for you to reuse
as a useful storage container to help reduce waste.
Inside it, you will find the Everest Core,
and this is the base tenkeyless keyboard
without any of the accessories.
It's built from CNC-milled aluminum
in either gunmetal gray or midnight black,
and has this kind of two-level edge
that combined with the diffused RGB strip down the center
gives it a very distinctive look.
It's got a total of five female USB-C ports on it,
each of which serves a different purpose.
The one embedded in the underside of the board
handles data and power
for both the board and its accessories
with these handy channels that allow you
to cable manage your desk however you see fit.
And the other four are for the modular accessories.
Now, a recurring theme in the reviews on MOUNTAIN's web shop
is that they found an excellent balance
between build quality and heft.
And honestly speaking, I agree.
The magnetic PU leather wrist rest
is lightweight and comfortable,
and there's almost no flex to the board deck itself.
Yet it's not so heavy that it could double as a weapon.
I mean, I think you could conceivably carry the Everest core
around in your backpack at school
without ruining your spine.
The branding is subtle, so just a small logo top center,
and then another logo on the Escape key.
And while the key switches is included with our board
are not my personal favorite, Cherry MX Silent Reds,
you can order it configured
with a variety of other Cherry switches
or opt for the core bare bones
and install whatever you want.
MOUNTAIN includes this handy key cap and key switch puller.
Let's take a look at how it works.
If you wanna pull off a key cap,
you just kind of pop this on and whoop, hello.
There you go. Pull it off a little something like that.
And if you decide, you know what, hey, MX speed,
not really my thing.
You pop this on here. Oi, there's your key switch.
Hot-swappable.
We don't even have to power down, ladies and gentlemen.
Hmm, just make sure I'm putting this on the right way.
Rah and rah.
Cherry MX Browns might be a controversial choice these days,
but whatever, take this, haters.
(crew laughing)
Look, I like what I'm used to, all right?
And since we're up this close, this is a perfect chance
to get a close look at finishing touches
like the individually RGB backlit ABS key caps
and the machining marks on the plate.
Now, many manufacturers would remove these marks
before painting or anodizing,
but personally I absolutely love the look.
It's also a good opportunity to show the care and attention
that goes into each board.
The stabilizers, which are found on larger keys
like Shift and Enter, are hand lubed,
and they have additional foam padding for noise dampening
and the spacebar stabilizer is clipped
to all but eliminate reverb or chatter.
If you've ever performed this modification yourself,
you'll know that it can be time-consuming
and a bit of a pain in the butt.
The board either lies flat on the desk,
or it can be elevated with the included magnetic riser feet,
which brings us perfectly into the juicy stuff.
The detachable numpad clips onto either side
with a type C USB port
and magnetic guides that make it super easy
to both pull off and to install.
One really nice touch is this slider on the underside,
which not only moves the connector from left to right,
but also locks in the center,
if you wanna just chuck it in your bag
and protect the plug while you're transporting it,
or if you wanna use an extension cable
to position the number pad somewhere else on your desk.
On that note,
MOUNTAIN warns against using standard USB-C extension cables
for this kind of functionality
and does not support plugging the number pad
into your computer stand alone.
The good news is that they only charge eight US dollars
for their own compatible USB extension,
so they're not holding you hostage
with an extremely high priced accessory.
And I guess it kind of makes sense
that the interface here would be proprietary
because the hardware to drive the built-in displays
is probably in the core keyboard
rather than in the numpad itself.
So let's take a closer look at those.
MOUNTAIN has developed their own in-house Base Camp software
that handles configuring macros,
RGB lighting, the control dial,
and, of course, built the functionality
and the icons on the display keys.
Every key on the board is reprogrammable.
So if you wanna add specific profiles for different setups,
like maybe a streaming profile that you use with OBS,
including the ability to change scenes, insert transitions,
start or stop streaming, et cetera,
a gaming setup that might have a few macros,
or an office set up
that lets you execute common programs or functions.
That is totally up to you.
Macros are easy to create.
You simply record the key presses involved and that's it.
Or if you need any custom delays,
then you just add them like this.
Now, I'm just going to change the icon on this display key.
One moment.
Change our image to this. Done.
And it should type it, right? Oh, now it does.
Oh, I didn't put enter in. Okay, bad macro.
But the point is, look how quickly I can check out
our new and improved spout lids on our water bottles.
These are just $5
if you've ever bought a water bottle on lttstore.com.
Now, in terms of RGB,
you've got four options for speed and brightness
of the various effects,
as well as changing direction when applicable.
A nice little touch
is that when you physically type on the keyboard,
a key press animation plays on the software as well.
And it supports Razer Chroma RGB.
Up next is the dock.
The media buttons function about like you'd expect,
though, of course, like the rest of the keyboard,
they are fully reprogrammable
if you want them to do something else.
And the dial clicks, can hear that, for each setting change.
and the screen can be used to configure keyboard parameters
like macro profiles and RGB lighting
to show the time or display system information like CPU,
memory, and network usage.
And you can even get it to show APM
if you're a MOBA or osu! nerd.
And yes, you can change the color of the menus
and the screensaver image.
Compared to the display keys,
the display on the dial is noticeably more vibrant
and retains color fidelity much better when viewed off axis.
I would strongly recommend high contrast icons
and backgrounds for the display keys
because they're quite a bit easier to see
from a normal typing position.
Also included on the dock are LED indicators for Caps Lock,
Num Lock, et cetera.
And this is notable because in its Everest Core form,
the keyboard doesn't actually have
this functionality at all.
So as configured with the numpad and the dock,
ours is an Everest Max.
And for you keyboard nerds by the way,
it sounds a little something like this.
(keyboard clicking)
Thank you again, MOUNTAIN, for sponsoring this video
and sending over some of these boards to show to you guys.
They also carry peripherals
and accessories for the Everest series,
like O-rings, lube, cables,
additional riser feet that you can stack up
if you prefer a steeper incline, and stuff like that.
If you guys enjoyed this video,
maybe check out our keyboard key switch comparison,
where we took a whole bunch of different key switches
for a test drive
and decided which ones in a blind test
we actually liked best.