When comparing Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Touch vs MechanicalEagle Z77, the Slant community recommends Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Touch for most people. In the question“What are the best computer keyboards under $100?” Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Touch is ranked 2nd while MechanicalEagle Z77 is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Touch is:
The Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Touch uses Cherry stabilizers on all of its keys.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Cherry stabilizers
The Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Touch uses Cherry stabilizers on all of its keys.
Pro Grainy keycaps
This Leopold keyboard ships with PBT (short for "polybutylene terephthalate") keycaps which have a grainy texture that some might prefer as it helps prevent fingers from slipping. They are also known to withstand wear well.
Pro High quality components for a low price
The practical design of this keyboard is typical of high-end mechanical keyboards, only differing in the details. The matte black chassis has rounded corners and a simple design. This keyboard uses Cherry MX switches, common among keyboards that cost significantly more than the Leopold.
Pro Removable USB cable
While this might not seem like a big deal, having to replace your beloved keyboard because the cable has been broken through frequent wrapping can be frustrating.
Pro Coloured lighting (not RGB)
This keyboard offers colourful lighting, and a number of lighting modes from reactive (which lights up the buttons you press) to pinwheel or linear movement. You can also program which keys you want to light up, and create your own custom lighting mode.
Pro Real mechanical switches provide comfortable typing
While the keyswitches aren't the popular Cherry MX switches, they are still mechanical switches: more specifically Outemu blue switches. These switches are made in China, and work similarly to the Cherry MX blue switches. They offer a tactile bump and a click at the activation point (about half way down) which is not only satisfying to hear and feel, but also provides more accurate and comfortable typing.
Cons
Con No backlighting makes night-time use harder
Backlighting is common among high-end keyboards, but the Leopold doesn't have this feature. While most users looking for a mechanical keyboard will be able to type without looking at the keys, sometimes the special characters can still be hit or miss. In the dark, it might take a few tries before getting the intended special character.
Con Easily bends
This keyboard easily suffers from a bit of flexing, something other keyboards in this price range don't suffer from.
Con No extra features (such as macros or USB passthrough)
This is an affordable board, therefore it lacks some of the more premium features found on more expensive boards. It doesn't have any macro capabilities which can be useful for heavy users (macros are recorded key sequences which can be activated with a single button press - these can be used in games to automate some tasks, or in other programs to get repetitive tasks done quicker). There's also no USB passthrough option. Some keyboards let you plug your mouse or a USB key right into the keyboard, which helps keep cables looking tidier, while being more accessible.
Con Uses knockoff mechanical switches
This keyboard uses the Outemu blue switches which are clones of the massively popular Cherry MX blue switches. There isn't much information available on these Outemu switches, but they are made in China and likely aren't help up to the same standard that the German made Cherry switches are.
Con Per-row lighting only (not RGB)
Each key only has a single LED beneath it, and can only illuminate a single colour. When all lit up, it looks colourful however the QWERTYUIOP (top row) keys will always be green, and the ZXCVBNM (bottom row) keys will always be purple.