Noppoo tease a very familiar capacitive switch design

[matt3o]

wow, even the legeds are a rip-off... interesting choice of costar stabilizers (novatouch is a bit smarter in that regard).

on the other hand I see no electronics on the PCB, interesting...

[Muirium]

Stay classy, Noppoo.

I like that they've chosen 35g silenced Topre as their first target. Not the one many of us may have guessed! And, like the NovaTouch, this board has much less footprint waste around the edges. I really hope Topre will respond with a nice tight redesign of the Realforce, preferably with Bluetooth etc.…



As for copying the trade dress, well, insert Apple and Samsung comparisons here. Cloning is the most irritating form of flattery. Actually, the bare brown cardboard and black ink look of Topre's packaging does remind me of 1980s-1990s Apple.



Naturally, the build quality and feel of this Noppoo will be what really matters. Oh, and price, for slider harvesters!

[matt3o]

on the other hand I see no electronics on the PCB, interesting...

plot twist: no electronics on the pcb means that we could theoretically make a custom...

[Muirium]

I was thinking "replacement controller" but what are you saying: chop the PCB down to a compact size and hook things up manually?

[matt3o]

or print your own pcb. if it's just a matter of connecting +3v/+5v... but probably the electronics are simply on the other side.

[Muirium]

Right! One of these boards would be quite a build-your-own-custom-"Topre" kit.

[002]

wow, even the legeds are a rip-off...

I especially love that they even copied the mistakes! (e.g. Backspace is surely the way it is because of the JIS tiny backspace and Topre haven't always corrected it for their US/EU boards)

[bazh]

I love how they copy everything even the legend on the keycaps

Btw, the keycaps look really nice, I like it.

[Grond]

Are those actually dye-subs?
Anyway if the keyboard costed one third of a Realforce and was half as good, it may still be a interesting deal!

[bazh]

look like lasered to me

[JBert]

Aren't the bottom modifiers different?
I thought Topre used 1u or 1,5u, these ones seem to be 1,25u.

[Muirium]

An improvement! And one shared by the similarly MX compatible CM NovaTouch:



But this one is Topre approved.

[cookie]

On one hand I like the fact that Topre gets a competitor, on the other I find it highly displeased that they are copying everything They have just stolen everything from Topre, except of the PBC. Maybe they came up with an own one because the original is to complicated?

If the price is good, I will salvage this board to get sliders and domes for my HHKB pro1.

[002]

Look what I got today
First impressions are that it's a pretty decent effort. Quoted as being uniform 35g and I'd say that's pretty close as it does feel somewhere in-between my 30g and 45g Topre boards. Can definitely feel some more friction on the sliders compared to the Realforce but nothing that some lube couldn't address. The keycaps, while pretty thick, look and feel cheap. There's something rattling around inside the case so will be interesting to see if that's a clip that has snapped off or a screw that has come loose.

Ill do some side-by-side photos comparing it with a Topre switch, as well as some pics for the wiki over the weekend.

Noppre.jpg (103.55 KiB) Viewed 8195 times

[cookie]

How you get your hands on this keyboard? And how expensive was it?

[Muirium]

Looking forward to the [review]. The sound will be particularly interesting. And what it's like when you put on better caps.

[cookie]

you have one too?

[002]

This board is actually not in my possession any more. I took some pics for the wiki though:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Noppoo_capacitive

[Grond]

So no review?

[002]

Haha...OK here's a quick one, and bear with me as I've had a few beers.
The board sucks. The caps are rubbish, the case is flimsy, they have literally put a rectangular peg through a round hole with the LEDs. I actually had to de-solder them just to get the board apart.

It feels *OK*. Sliders were a bit scratchy, but overall not too bad. It's advertised as 35g but feels a bit heavier than that -- I'd guess around 40-45g mark. The modifiers all sat higher than the alphas. The thing that was rattling inside was just a loose screw. The plastic used for the switch housing feels much thinner than Topre. The springs are almost identical to Topre. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The ?silicone? dome sheet is actually not as bad as I expected it to be but doesn't snap as crisply as Topre...Not much else to say really other than the fact that this is an "engineering sample" so I'm not sure if they had plans to change/address any of these problems before release.

[Muirium]

Ah, still isn't out yet, understood!

No Cookie, I don't have one. Although if I did I could test whether Topre authorised MX and unauthorised clones are in fact explosive when brought in contact.

[cookie]

The only interesting thing about that board would have been the sliders and spare parts

[shamanas]

Haha I was actually just about to PM 002 pretty much asking how he got it too, just checked the thread before sending it on the off chance someone had posted today

002, if they released it at about 65USD (as mentioned by a couple of Chinese reviewers) do you think it would be worth the price?

[002]

65 USD is a pretty good price for this board, I think. Like I said, I haven't seen the final version yet so they may have polished some of the issues. Even if the board is still mediocre compared to Topre, it'll be a whole lot cheaper and you'd be able to use the sliders (but not stabilisers!) in a RealRealforce
If you want true MX compatibility on your Realforce/HHKB you'd have to go for the Novatouch though which is surely going to be a lot more expensive (and better quality) than the 65 dollar Noppoo.

[shamanas]

So word on the street says that this will be released around Autumn

(http://www.pcwaishe.cn/forum.php?mod=vi ... pid6662647)

Edit: Yes I know how vague this is

[tinnie]

Hey OO2, do you still have the board?

[Hypersphere]

Ah, still isn't out yet, understood!

No Cookie, I don't have one. Although if I did I could test whether Topre authorised MX and unauthorised clones are in fact explosive when brought in contact.

Like a matter-antimatter reaction, some form of annihilation is called for when dealing with shameless knock-offs. I'll never understand the lack of ethics on the part of those who produce unauthorized clones. How could anyone take pride in letting others go to all the trouble and expense to develop genuinely new products and simply sit back and copy what others have done? I suppose they cover their shame with all the money they rake in.

[cookie]

The only reason I'd go for this are the stems, and I absolutely don't feel guilty about that tbh.
If the industry don't react to special demands I am not afraight to buy a fake one, get the parts I need and toss the rest of it.
Or somehow find a way to buy only the stems for a lower price.

This is utterly stupid, I know... but it's how it is. At least I have 2 original Topre keyboards so at least I don't harm the company who invented it. If I could, I'd buy those stems from CM or Topre directly.

[Halvar]

Is there a confirmation yet that the stems will be interchangeable?

[Muirium]

And the stabs?