Mountain’s Everest modular keyboard is up for pre-order

You've been adrift for days, rowing through seas of mechanical key switches, looking for the keyboard with the right layout and feel. This one has a TKL layout, but no media buttons. This one has media buttons, but I'm a lefty and want my numpad on the other side. Here comes Mountain's Everest keyboard, a plank that promises "I can do that." At least, it can if you're willing to shell out the money. The Mountain Everest modular keyboard is up for pre-order through Kickstarter today and has already passed its initial goal.

Mountain touts the Everest as being able to fit the needs of just about any non-ergonomic keyboard request. The "Core" model is a tenkeyless keyboard with hot-swappable Cherry MX switches. Red, blue, brown, silver, and silent red switches will be available. The plank that holds these keys features an ABS plastic base and an aluminum faceplate. It offers RGB LED lighting, of course, and connects to your PC via a two-meter USB cable.

If you go for the "Max" version, you can add a media dock and a numpad to the board. You can mount the numpad on to either side of the keyboard with a retractable plug. In addition to the numpad, the panel includes four full-color "display keys" that you can set up with different icons. The media dock features a standard layout of media buttons and a "display dial." The display dial offers similar customization. The dial offers volume, computer information, actions-per-minute displays among others on its color LCD screen; it can attach on either corner of the Everest keyboard.

You can remap both the display keys and the media dock keys to do things like launch applications, offer new keybindings, or perform macros. Here's Mountain on what it offers: "You will be able to remap all keys on the Everest keyboard, including the numpad Display Keys and the Media Dock. Yes, any key bind or macro you want can even be expanded to the Media Dock, including the dial turning left and right with custom key mapping. A key combination from either the keyboard or the mouse (including scrolling) can be bound to the dial, further enhancing the customizability aspect of the Everest's Media Dock."

To make sure you're typing in comfort, you can also add on a magnetic palmrest and magnetic riser feet. The Core comes with four risers, while the Max comes with 8.

Mountain is offering a variety of different packages and pricing levels. A truly barebones plank is available. This doesn't even include key switches or keycaps. From there, Mountain offers variants that have the core coupled with a palmrest, a media dock, or a numpad, or the Max version which includes all the attachable and detachable bells and whistles. Pricing via Kickstarter starts around $111 and goes up from there; expect higher prices when the board hits retail.

The post Mountain's Everest modular keyboard is up for pre-order appeared first on The Tech Report.