Topre switch / Cherry MX compatible

[Grendel]

i'm curious are these a limited run or will SP continuously make them??

My guess would be "limited":

Last year we at SP jumped the gun in producing an order for which we never received payment. As a result we are left with a large quantity of DSA Dolch keycap sets that we want to make available.

Ordered one too, as a placeholder for the Granite set

[whitecitadel]

Where did the ISO enter come from on that DSA Dolch, or is it a bitsa as I see a + next to left shift (well FN) where you would usually get \|

[Muirium]

Bitsa dis, bitsa dat. DSA Dolch did have a daughter GB for ISO and a few other specialties that had to fail along with it, alas. So we've got what we've got. Fortunately, my 60% is covered pretty nicely thanks to HHKB style short Shift, but ISO boards involve mashups.

I suggested Matteo photograph Dolch and Granite together when his samples arrive. Fingers crossed the monochromes go together nicely!

[hsu]

This sucks - I was one of the ones that bought this from Druger...

[Muirium]

You have my sympathy. And, having paid SP for them myself, I have your caps…

This is one of the weird advantages to 7bit's convoluted GBs. Not only is he top notch, but the money remains with his collectors until it's factory time. There's less of a centralised point of failure.

His recent apparent absence had me trying to figure out if we could run Round 5 for ourselves without him. I think it would have been very difficult, but still possible, as his collectors have the money and presumably 7bot's PMs from everyone could be recovered by an admin.

[phetto]

Awesome news!

[Monkay]

So at you guys testing the Novatouch: You already told us that you provided some feedback to Coolermaster, like the rubberized case that should be changed, or the missing thock-sound that should be added, or your taste in fonts.

So far I would be interested how Coolermaster reacted to these points and if they said that they actually will/could change some of these things or that they just "noted" it down for future projects.

I am asking because I am not sure if it is possible to change the complete design of a keyboard 2-4 months before its launch just to add some thock-sound or a nicer case.

Maybe you even heard of (or seen?) another prototype?

[Muirium]

I haven't seen anything new yet, but CM knows I'm up for writing a big review of the final version so we'll see how it goes

My understanding is that the thock issue has been given real work. And the caps were changed after I saw them. Only the rubberised case I haven't heard about. For what it's worth, mine is holding up pretty nicely after several months daily use.

[Monkay]

Yep I am also not too scared of a rubberized case. But I was interested if CoolerMaster will change anything at all (also I needed to catch up on news ).

Hopefully you are right with the thock-sound. I would love that.

[matt3o]

they said they are well aware of the problems and working on fixing them

[avtar]

Only the rubberised case I haven't heard about. For what it's worth, mine is holding up pretty nicely after several months daily use.

Any idea if existing aluminum cases can be used without issues? Also is it plate mounted?

[matt3o]

no and yes

[welsinki]

Is there any way I can get my hands on a Novatouch sold from anywhere in Europe right now?

[rindorbrot]

It is not released yet. So no, buying it is not possible anywhere at the moment.

[luckynet2]

and so the waiting continues...

[Muirium]

The key to waiting is to be so busy waiting on several things that the time passes sooner. And then, when things start getting active again, you can wake up like a crotchety old man all confused by the neat new stuff. This is especially useful if you already are a crotchety old man who actually is confused, of course…

[Elrick]

This is especially useful if you already are a crotchety old man who actually is confused, of course…

Too right you young whipper snapper. You waste your life away on these new-fangled calculators and for what? You end up nuttier than squirrel sh#t.

When I was your age we didn't even know what a light switch was, or even know which way to read an encyclopedia. The best way to know anything in life is to just praise that Hammer Swingin' Jesus!

[luckynet2]

i think CM needs to explain themselves for teasing us then delaying the launch !!!

[Monkay]

As long as they are doing it to make the Novatouch more perfect it is perfectly fine.

[Bramster]

i think CM needs to explain themselves for teasing us then delaying the launch !!!

Soon my friend, sooooooon

As long as they are doing it to make the Novatouch more perfect it is perfectly fine.

Yes totally correct, we want the product not to be so so on launch but good! I totally agree with your point

[Muirium]

Every whine has its time. Same for keyboards too! This one's breaking new ground, so it's extra important to do it right.

[Monkay]

Yep. Most people (including me) are hyped, I mean really really hyped, for the novatouch. So we have pretty high expectations and so far we only know high quality topre boards such as the HHKB, Realforce and so on. Coolermaster will have to compete with these products and with our expectations so they should make sure to get a near to perfect release product.

A nice case, a good typing feel, a nice sound etc. etc.

[Bramster]

Working on it hard !!!

(A nice sample is shown this week @ Computex btw ..)

[Muirium]

Good to hear it!

[pyrelink]

Only the rubberised case I haven't heard about. For what it's worth, mine is holding up pretty nicely after several months daily use.

Any idea if existing aluminum cases can be used without issues? Also is it plate mounted?

no and yes

To clarify, is that a yes or a no to the Novatouch working with QFR/TKL based cases?

If I can put one of my painted cases on top, it just makes the keyboard THAT much more attractive.

Also I originally thought the keycap font was Futura, but someone on Reddit, mentioned it looked more like Spartan Classified. Was there any clarification on that?

[Muirium]

First I've ever heard of it!

“Although it is claimed to have been derived from several similar European typefaces, the differences between it and Futura are so slight that for most practical purposes they are almost interchangeable.” — Mac McGrew in American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century

http://stewf.tumblr.com/post/5552988807 ... can-futura

Reading that article, I don't think there's enough kinds of character on the NovaTouch's keys to be able to tell. But as most characters in Spartan Classified aren't available in digital form, I'd hazard a guess what looks like Futura is Futura in this case!

[Trev]

Spartan Classified is available in digital form. The original Spartan font (Futura's competitor back in the day) is not. There's a ton of Future variants and re-cuts/re-releases too. Futura has also been used for some famous semi-custom corporate typefaces, notably Swatch Group and Omega watches "Swatch Corporate Typeface", which is 95% Futura.

There's similar geo-sans fonts like Twentieth Century, Century Gothic, Avant Garde Gothic, Avenir, etc

Haven't looked closely at the actual CM font yet, I'll let you know if I can figure it out.

Edit: Anyone have a photo of the most recent Novatouch and close-ups of the keys? Photos I've seen so far look like Spartan Classified.

[Monkay]

Ripster just recieved his Novatouch for testing. This were the mos recent pictures I saw: http://imgur.com/a/PHiwy

[Grond]

New legends look ok to me, except a couple of inconsistencies:
- Capslk (!);
- Most modifiers legends are aligned on the left, while backspace and enter are centered and right shift is... what the hell is that?
- Most modifiers are text, but backspace and enter are graphic. Come on, if it has to be text, let it be text all the way!



I hope Ripster won't hack my account for posting his pic here.

[Monkay]

Now that you said it it cannot been unseen by me
Everything should be aligned to the left and I think that text + graphic would be nice, just as on the Ducky sets.