NovaTouch TKL Community Tour

[Bramster]

Added! (Dont look at the order of the list yet, im just collecting now, will change once complete the list of countries for the most ideal way of shipping)

And, seems the EU list already reached the minimum of 10, so this one is confirmed to kick off! ! Can we do the same for the North American one ?

[Mal-2]

Can we do the same for the North American one ?

Hopefully yes. At least the logistics are easier, as there is no significant cost difference to shipping across one state or across twenty, but for speed reasons it's probably still best to roughly solve the Traveling Salesman Problem. (Shorter jumps go faster, even if they cost the same.)

[Redmaus]

Maybe you should change title to North America and EU so more people will reply in thread

[Bramster]

Good one, done !

[Spikebolt]

I'd like to try an ISO one to compare it against my realforce. I'm in Portugal, I could split shipping costs with sphinx

[Redmaus]

We need more north american users in here!

[sphinx]

I'd like to try an ISO one to compare it against my realforce. I'm in Portugal, I could split shipping costs with sphinx

i agree..

can spikebolt be next in line to me? we live in the same city and we can exchange the package in person

[sphinx]

I'd like to try an ISO one to compare it against my realforce. I'm in Portugal, I could split shipping costs with sphinx

i agree..

can spikebolt be next in line to me? we live in the same city and we can exchange the package in person

or move me before him so it doesnt affect everyone else in between

[Bramster]

Yea totally Sphinx! I am for now just collecting the list and will make the list according to the most logic shipping/countries when the deadline is passed! So for sure you 2 will be next to eachother!

[Bramster]

Look what I just prepared from our warehouse, ready to be send to the first person on the list on June 1st

Spoiler:

[sphinx]

that's a pretty box

[wlhlm]

Look what I just prepared from our warehouse, ready to be send to the first person on the list on June 1st

Spoiler:

Looks good

Though I think the list needs some sorting.

[Redmaus]

And I think we need some more north american users..

[Muirium]

I'm always amused by how much more popular DT is in Europe. The forum was founded here, and it's no surprise many of the earliest members were European, but the pattern remains after all these years.

Yet so many of the keyboards we're trying to snag are still over in America!

[Mal-2]

Look what I just prepared from our warehouse, ready to be send to the first person on the list on June 1st

Spoiler:

Assuming the North American tour ever gets under way, be aware that my comparison/review will not be to a mechanical keyboard like most of the users here, but to another "premium rubber dome" keyboard, albeit a membrane one. I have a feeling I'll find Topre to be "light", as I have measured the activation force on my daily driver to be around 60g, but that's not necessarily a bad thing if it still has a distinct "snap" to it.

[Bramster]

Hi everyone,

I have updated the EU list as that one is complete and I will be contacting the first person on the list after typing this post to send out the NovaTouch TKL today. I tried to make the list as best as possible looking at locations and please find it in the innitial post and also in below!

1. wlhm (Germany)
2. jou (Germany)
3. Eszett (Germany)
4. Nuum (Germany)
5. Madhias (Austria)
6. Hal (Austria)
7. IanM (UK)
8. RoastPotatoes (UK)
9. Andrewjoy, (UK)
10. shpinx (Portugal)
11. Spikebolt (Portugal)
12. acolombo (Italy)
13. chzel (Greece)

I look forward to reading your thoughts after you have had it a week and of course all the glamour photos

[chzel]

Arghhh...Last again!
Just kidding! I know that this is the most logic routing!
In fact, I may have the chance to test it against the Realforce from 002's tour, which should be in my hands by then!
What you are doing is great, thanks!

[Bramster]

Arghhh...Last again!
Just kidding! I know that this is the most logic routing!
In fact, I may have the chance to test it against the Realforce from 002's tour, which should be in my hands by then!
What you are doing is great, thanks!

Im so sorry man! I tried to put you up higher since you were a fast reply that you were intersted but indeed the shipping wouldnt have made much sense!

Thanks for understanding and appriciating the Tour tho!

And hope you have em at the same time for a nice comparison !!

[Spikebolt]

The keyboard rolling will be ANSI, ISO or both?

[Bramster]

The keyboard rolling will be ANSI, ISO or both?

The sent out keyboard is in ANSI because far most prefered the ANSI version

[Spikebolt]

I asked because I don't have any good caps for the ANSI layout. Fortunately I'm almost last so the Triumph Adler set will probably arrive by then.

[wlhlm]

Day 1 - First impressions
A huge package from Coolermaster arrived today


Inside I found a beautifully boxed keyboard. Magnet lid, super thick foam - You know you'll get a premium product, at least it lines up with the price...



Impressions
First of all I have to admit, that even though I'm currently in both the Novatouch tour and the Realforce tour, I found a good deal on a Realforce TKL (87UB) in the meantime and couldn't resist. That means, I can compare the Realforce with the Novatouch, which are both 45g BTW.


Let's get started...

The thing I noticed when taking the board out of the packaging is its general sturdiness similar to the Realforce. It is a bit lighter though (920g vs 1108g). The case looks very sleek with only a CM Storm logo on the back. The case luckily has none of the rubberized coating like on Quickfire Rapid keyboards. Phew... But it still feels like there's some kind of coating.

In general I prefer the Realforce case over the Novatouch's, because of the former's rounded corners and flatter design with a nice rough surface and beautiful Realforce logo on the front.

For connecting to a computer you have a detachable USB cable. A plus compared to the fixed cable of the Realforce. Makes carrying the board around definitely easier. Important to note is that it's actually a Micro-USB connector, which is a new for me since all the other boards I have with non-fixed cables feature Mini-USB, which I prefer handling-wise. This basically means I don't have a custom-made cable on hand that'll fit my keycaps, but I can get over that . Also, the cable itself is of decent quality with a relatively soft sleeve (miles ahead of the stock Quickfire Rapid cable with its hard sleeve).

What baffles me though is the decision to use an angled connector on the cable. No matter where I want to route it, I have a weird loop on the desk. I think most people will have their cable go straight to the back of their desk - Why not make a straight connector?

(Cables: Novatouch on the left, Quickfire Rapid on the right)

Moving on... Connecting the keyboard to the computer. Works without problems, no additional software needed. Nice!

Now I'm beginning to bring myself into a comfortable typing position with the Novatouch. Pulling out the little feet and getting excited about them being rubberized , but then noticing that it doesn't help and actually makes the keyboard more slippy than before.

Before typing my first words on the keyboard I let my eyes glance over the installed keycaps and I notice that they're more an alibi, really, even disregarding that these are thin ABS caps and just looking at the legends. I'm not a fan of the used typeface. Also, I would've preferred Win keys with letters on them instead of the Windows logo, since most of the other modifiers are written out as well (Tab, Shift, CapsLock, Ctrl). I also notice other inconsistencies like Print Screen or Scroll Lock being left aligned, but Page Up being centered. I also don't know what's going on with the keys on the right side of the Main key cluster (Backspace, Enter, Shift, etc.). Most of the key legends are left aligned except for those. WTF!?


I'm not even trying to compare it to the Realforce keycaps which are on a whole new level to be honest.

You definitely want to put your own caps on this board, which Is one of the major selling points I guess, but I still would've preferred to save a buck on packaging and seeing it put into the keycaps.

Having that out of the way. Let's see what typing on the Novatouch is like. The first thing I notice is, that it's definitely louder than typing on the Realforce. Especially on the upstroke, you have loud clack as the switch snaps back into the resting position. I'll have to see how this changes once I've put some other keycaps on the keyboard.

In terms of feeling it's similar to the Realforce, maybe a slightly harder when bottoming out, more in the direction of Cherry MX, but still easily Topre .

So, enough with that

In the coming days I'll try some other keycaps and maybe find out what to do with the included O-rings
Stay tuned.

[Muirium]

Similar first impressions to mine back when I got my review unit. Nice box, strange cable, meh caps, and a bit louder than a Realforce. I hardly bothered with the stock caps and got straight to my own. Big improvement!

You should probably pull out of the Realforce tour though now you own your own! Or are you that interested in variable weight vs. uniform?

[Redmaus]

Man I need to get some black on black legends...

[Muirium]

Turn off the lights. Same effect.

[wlhlm]

Similar first impressions to mine back when I got my review unit. Nice box, strange cable, meh caps, and a bit louder than a Realforce. I hardly bothered with the stock caps and got straight to my own. Big improvement!

You should probably pull out of the Realforce tour though now you own your own! Or are you that interested in variable weight vs. uniform?

I guess you're right. I didn't leave, because I wanted to try variable weight as you said, but thinking about it now, it's probably not for me, since I hear it can be confusing while gaming for example (and that's definitely a use for my keyboard ).

[wlhlm]

Another thing I've noticed, but forgot to include in my original post is that it doesn't seem to come with any Lock indicator. I'm not a CapsLock user myself, so it's not a big problem, but having a light would be nice nonetheless (since you can control it from the operating system).

[Muirium]

Mwa hah!


http://deskthority.net/review-f45/a-tal ... t8968.html

[wlhlm]

Looks like it even has mounting holes in the PCB! WTF?

[Muirium]

Prototypes had LED lock lights. Final version… just left 'em out. Daft, eh?

I think CM didn't like the transparent legend caps they were using, but We Don't Care About the Stock Caps!