CM Storm Novatouch

[YuukiHaruto]

It's not true rubber anyway. It's just a rubber coating which IMO actually lasts longer than I would admit, rubber. I don't see why it gets so much hate.

I'm not a fan of it because I don't want a grease trap:

Show Image

And as you mentioned in your previous post if the material wears down over time then going with a plastic case seems like a better decision.

Do you know you can clean it off with light alcohol and a microfiber cloth? :) Light like 10% not 95% or even 99%
Did I say anything about wearing down over time?  :confused:

Huh?

I have to admit, you're pretty good at avoiding any explanation of why do your keyboard cases get shiny. gratz

What? My palms touch them everyday and this is a tropical country.

I see, but then I suspect your typing technique is to blame, not the keyboard. ~_^

my palm is usually on the table for a non-wristed case but the areas where the palm is joined to ma fingers touch the keyboard. My fingers aren't 10000cm long  :confused:

That's exactly what I mean. If you eventually get some sort of RSI around your wrists, don't be surprised.

I don't have a choice. Fingers are shorter than americans, duh. they are at a comfortable angle though.  :thumb:

[Matt3o]

It's not true rubber anyway. It's just a rubber coating which IMO actually lasts longer

this is a pretty misinformed statement.

[YuukiHaruto]

It's not true rubber anyway. It's just a rubber coating which IMO actually lasts longer

this is a pretty misinformed statement.

I've worked on more "rubberized" product designs than you would imagine 

[Matt3o]

any substance that is applied over another is inevitably less durable than the pure material (this is true for paint, lasered legends, plating, coating, ... even though some are more durable than others).

[Dyslexic]

It's not true rubber anyway. It's just a rubber coating which IMO actually lasts longer than I would admit, rubber. I don't see why it gets so much hate.

I'm not a fan of it because I don't want a grease trap:

Show Image

And as you mentioned in your previous post if the material wears down over time then going with a plastic case seems like a better decision.

Do you know you can clean it off with light alcohol and a microfiber cloth? :) Light like 10% not 95% or even 99%
Did I say anything about wearing down over time?  :confused:

Yes, the case is cleanable. Why make the keyboard with a material that requires regular maintenance though? I've had my Leopold FC660C since early Feb and it looks like the day it came out of the box with no maintenance other than blowing out the debris from the plate. I had to wipe my QFR down weekly with a damp cloth to keep it looking decent. It's not the end of the world, but when designing a high end product, why go with a demonstrably inferior finish?

[davkol]

Huh?

I have to admit, you're pretty good at avoiding any explanation of why do your keyboard cases get shiny. gratz

What? My palms touch them everyday and this is a tropical country.

I see, but then I suspect your typing technique is to blame, not the keyboard. ~_^

my palm is usually on the table for a non-wristed case but the areas where the palm is joined to ma fingers touch the keyboard. My fingers aren't 10000cm long 

That's exactly what I mean. If you eventually get some sort of RSI around your wrists, don't be surprised.

I don't have a choice. Fingers are shorter than americans, duh. they are at a comfortable angle though. 

Proper typing posture is supposed to look more or less like this and hands ought to float above the keyboard.

(I have rather short fingers too.)

[ynrozturk]

I'm still just going to saw the case off. No need for it.

[YuukiHaruto]

Huh?

I have to admit, you're pretty good at avoiding any explanation of why do your keyboard cases get shiny. gratz

What? My palms touch them everyday and this is a tropical country.

I see, but then I suspect your typing technique is to blame, not the keyboard. ~_^

my palm is usually on the table for a non-wristed case but the areas where the palm is joined to ma fingers touch the keyboard. My fingers aren't 10000cm long 

That's exactly what I mean. If you eventually get some sort of RSI around your wrists, don't be surprised.

I don't have a choice. Fingers are shorter than americans, duh. they are at a comfortable angle though. 

Proper typing posture is supposed to look more or less like this and hands ought to float above the keyboard.

(I have rather short fingers too.)

But the novatouch is low enough. And also, if i were to adapt that kind of position I won't be able to reach the number segments which i use all the time.

[minho]

Huh?

I have to admit, you're pretty good at avoiding any explanation of why do your keyboard cases get shiny. gratz

What? My palms touch them everyday and this is a tropical country.

I see, but then I suspect your typing technique is to blame, not the keyboard. ~_^

my palm is usually on the table for a non-wristed case but the areas where the palm is joined to ma fingers touch the keyboard. My fingers aren't 10000cm long 

That's exactly what I mean. If you eventually get some sort of RSI around your wrists, don't be surprised.

I don't have a choice. Fingers are shorter than americans, duh. they are at a comfortable angle though. 

Proper typing posture is supposed to look more or less like this and hands ought to float above the keyboard.

(I have rather short fingers too.)

See how the keyboard is angled down? Why do keyboards have feet on the top rather than the bottom of the keyboard then to help facilitate this?

[Dyslexic]

Let's be honest here, how many of us actually have the recommended posture or even an ergo chair when using these keyboards? Those ideal ergonomic charts always make me laugh because having worked in a cube farm for years I don't think I've ever seen someone adhering to the optimal ergonomic standards. Fact is, the finish on a keyboard should not be justified by "if you type like this it won't get gross" when there's a finish that will look good no matter what your preferred usage. Why you feel compelled to defend this cheap-ass rubber coating is truly beyond me. I had 2 QFRs and both came out of the box with blemishes on the rubber coating around the corners/curves of the case, I just chose to ignore it because it's not an RMA-worthy issue in my mind.

[davkol]

See how the keyboard is angled down? Why do keyboards have feet on the top rather than the bottom of the keyboard then to help facilitate this?

Because of people who cannot type and have to look at lettering all the time. And manufacturers put it there, because everyone else is already doing it. Pretty much like staggered QWERTY.

[minho]

See how the keyboard is angled down? Why do keyboards have feet on the top rather than the bottom of the keyboard then to help facilitate this?

Because of people who cannot type and have to look at lettering all the time. And manufacturers put it there, because everyone else is already doing it. Pretty much like staggered QWERTY.

And my poor wrists suffer when I use other people's keyboards as a result.

I guess that makes sense though 

[oryan_dunn]

So, are you saying that you should have the keyboard flat or angled for good typing posture?  I feel like I have relatively good typing posture and I always (well almost always) have the keyboard angled.  My hands don't touch the case of the keyboard, only the palms touch my wrist rest and my right thumb will rest on the case below the spacebar at times.

[rowdy]

WTF do you do with them? I can't recall the last time I touched my keyboard's case, except putting it in a bag/box when travelling.

I rest my fingers above the function keys so I can F7 and F8 to step through a app in the IDE, and also above the arrow keys when navigating source code.  Also sometimes around the Esc key when waiting for a process to reach a stage where I was to stop it.

[tbc]

^
i also rest my fingers above the cursor keys when i'm just 'idling'.  it's REALLY unpleasant tapping on plastic because it has 0 'give' compared to rubber coatings

EDIT:

we might as well just get to the point and admit this is all personal preference.  i'm pretty sure someone has already said this.

some people prefer samsung plastic, some people prefer iphone glass, etc.  let's try fixing that issue before tackling this much more picky one?  phone case materials are 100000000000x more important than keyboard case materials.

i'm ALWAYS going to support more options(it's why i can't be bothered to use chrome or osx).  if you like plain plastic, there are dozens of skus for you.  if you like rubber....there's probably only one or two dozen for you.

[Heezy]

I usually rest my fingers on the wasd or some other keys and wrist on the table, is that wrong posture? It just feels good to me and I've been doing that since I started playing games. I don't look at keyboard when I type as well. Bad habit maybe?

[Pacifist]

This+OG cherry dyesub=possible end game

[avtar]

I usually rest my fingers on the wasd or some other keys and wrist on the table, is that wrong posture? It just feels good to me and I've been doing that since I started playing games. I don't look at keyboard when I type as well. Bad habit maybe?

If it feels good and your body is not complaining in any way then it's the right posture, for you

[Heezy]

My back does hurt every now and then, but that's another story.  never the wrist! Used to play competitively for 8-10 hours a day, and never had any problem with my wrist or fingers, maybe my mouse hand, but not my keyboard hand.

I usually rest my fingers on the wasd or some other keys and wrist on the table, is that wrong posture? It just feels good to me and I've been doing that since I started playing games. I don't look at keyboard when I type as well. Bad habit maybe?

If it feels good and your body is not complaining in any way then it's the right posture, for you

[YuukiHaruto]

I only get wrist pain when handwritting. The desk is where I belong to, then. I'm glad the nova touch for someone like me, heavenly free that doesn't wear you down like a blue does for me and it's well, customizable duh.

[Heezy]

I only get wrist pain when handwritting. The desk is where I belong to, then. I'm glad the nova touch for someone like me, heavenly free that doesn't wear you down like a blue does for me and it's well, customizable duh.

I didn't catch it anywhere in the thread, but how much was the board?

[YuukiHaruto]

I only get wrist pain when handwritting. The desk is where I belong to, then. I'm glad the nova touch for someone like me, heavenly free that doesn't wear you down like a blue does for me and it's well, customizable duh.

I didn't catch it anywhere in the thread, but how much was the board?

Less than 200.

[colomb]

For those still waiting on this, I pinged Cooler Master on twitter and this is the response I got "Still in the works, should be ready by the end of this month. We waited to make sure all the product scheduling was on track."

[norbauer]

For those still waiting on this, I pinged Cooler Master on twitter and this is the response I got "Still in the works, should be ready by the end of this month. We waited to make sure all the product scheduling was on track."

Cool. Hopefully somebody will post in this thread once it's available somewhere. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these to plunder it for parts.

[intelli78]

Cool. Hopefully somebody will post in this thread once it's available somewhere. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these to plunder it for parts.

None of the reviews so far have actually confirmed that the sliders will work with other Topre boards, as far as I know.

[RabRhee]

Cool. Hopefully somebody will post in this thread once it's available somewhere. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these to plunder it for parts.

None of the reviews so far have actually confirmed that the sliders will work with other Topre boards, as far as I know.

I suspect this information will be available a few nanoseconds after the first one is sold to someone here. Personally I am wondering if I could plunder parts for keychains while still keeping enough of it working. I shall have to make a list of keys I can do without...

[SpAmRaY]

Cool. Hopefully somebody will post in this thread once it's available somewhere. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these to plunder it for parts.

None of the reviews so far have actually confirmed that the sliders will work with other Topre boards, as far as I know.

I suspect this information will be available a few nanoseconds after the first one is sold to someone here. Personally I am wondering if I could plunder parts for keychains while still keeping enough of it working. I shall have to make a list of keys I can do without...

I would think for keychains  you'd be better off with a cheap type heaven and 3d printed mx stems.

[minho]

For those still waiting on this, I pinged Cooler Master on twitter and this is the response I got "Still in the works, should be ready by the end of this month. We waited to make sure all the product scheduling was on track."

End of the month? That's about a week... 

[Wildcard]

For those still waiting on this, I pinged Cooler Master on twitter and this is the response I got "Still in the works, should be ready by the end of this month. We waited to make sure all the product scheduling was on track."

Cool. Hopefully somebody will post in this thread once it's available somewhere. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these to plunder it for parts.

I'm looking forward to the plunger/stems being available separate from the board.

[RabRhee]

Cool. Hopefully somebody will post in this thread once it's available somewhere. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these to plunder it for parts.

None of the reviews so far have actually confirmed that the sliders will work with other Topre boards, as far as I know.

I suspect this information will be available a few nanoseconds after the first one is sold to someone here. Personally I am wondering if I could plunder parts for keychains while still keeping enough of it working. I shall have to make a list of keys I can do without...

I would think for keychains  you'd be better off with a cheap type heaven and 3d printed mx stems.

For 100 keychains, maybe. I just wanted maybe 2 or 3, and a Novatouch

[sacratoy]

It's interesting, the LinusTechTips video is still set for private for this keyboard.

I did get to see it, seems he wasn't too taken by it, not sure if that's the reason.

[CommonCurt]

It's interesting, the LinusTechTips video is still set for private for this keyboard.

I did get to see it, seems he wasn't too taken by it, not sure if that's the reason.

What did he claim he didn't like about it?

[dante]

He cried and pulled a Nancy Kerrigan about the Micro USB "Whyyyyyyy"

[norbauer]

For those still waiting on this, I pinged Cooler Master on twitter and this is the response I got "Still in the works, should be ready by the end of this month. We waited to make sure all the product scheduling was on track."

Cool. Hopefully somebody will post in this thread once it's available somewhere. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these to plunder it for parts.

I'm looking forward to the plunger/stems being available separate from the board.

My hope is actually that I can remove the PCB, plate, etc., swap out the domes with 30g ones, and put all of that in my RealForce aluminum case (from KBDMod). A lot would have to fall in line for that to work out, but it's not so implausible.

[bueller]

It's interesting, the LinusTechTips video is still set for private for this keyboard.

I did get to see it, seems he wasn't too taken by it, not sure if that's the reason.

What did he claim he didn't like about it?

I don't recall him complaining about too much other than the USB. Board looked and sounded pretty good from what I could tell.

[FrostyToast]

It's interesting, the LinusTechTips video is still set for private for this keyboard.

I did get to see it, seems he wasn't too taken by it, not sure if that's the reason.

What did he claim he didn't like about it?

I don't recall him complaining about too much other than the USB. Board looked and sounded pretty good from what I could tell.

The PCB was also branded with the Topre logo which is a good sign. I though for a second that since they kept referring to them as "Japanese hybrid switches" that they may have been using clones, but these are legit topres. I have never owned a topre, but it shouldn't feel any different than any other of the same weight.

[bueller]

It's interesting, the LinusTechTips video is still set for private for this keyboard.

I did get to see it, seems he wasn't too taken by it, not sure if that's the reason.

What did he claim he didn't like about it?

I don't recall him complaining about too much other than the USB. Board looked and sounded pretty good from what I could tell.

The PCB was also branded with the Topre logo which is a good sign. I though for a second that since they kept referring to them as "Japanese hybrid switches" that they may have been using clones, but these are legit topres. I have never owned a topre, but it shouldn't feel any different than any other of the same weight.

I was glad to see that too, don't know why they won't use the proper branding in conversation.

[Sniping]

They avoid using the word "Topre" because of legality issues in some countries, not because they're using a Topre clone.

[bueller]

They avoid using the word "Topre" because of legality issues in some countries, not because they're using a Topre clone.

Why would there be issues with legalities if they're legit Topre's?

[CommonCurt]

Like others have mentioned before.  I always thought the reason they never call them topre is because of marketing.

They want to make it sound like they are the only place to get this "new" switch.

[exitfire401]

Like others have mentioned before.  I always thought the reason they never call them topre is because of marketing.

They want to make it sound like they are the only place to get this "new" switch.

To be fair, going along with this logic, it's the first Topre board where I've seen all of the domes on a single sheet.

[Sniping]

They avoid using the word "Topre" because of legality issues in some countries, not because they're using a Topre clone.

Why would there be issues with legalities if they're legit Topre's?

I can't give you the same explanation that I got from the CM Storm rep at Keycon, but that's what I was told.

[davkol]

I can't think of any explanation other than trademarks, but IANAL.

[jameslr]

Likely their omission of stating that the switches are Topre would be to keep customers. Once the customer realizes the switch type isn't anything exclusive to Cooler Master and that they have options, they'll just google for other Topre boards and buy one of those. After all, the switch type is one of the main selling points of the board. Maybe 1 in 10 consumers would be interested in the MX keycap compatibility at best (outside of the keyboard enthusiast communities).

After all, why would the consumer wait for a product that is already available if the alternatives will meet their needs?

[johndavis33]

Likely their omission of stating that the switches are Topre would be to keep customers. Once the customer realizes the switch type isn't anything exclusive to Cooler Master and that they have options, they'll just google for other Topre boards and buy one of those. After all, the switch type is one of the main selling points of the board. Maybe 1 in 10 consumers would be interested in the MX keycap compatibility at best (outside of the keyboard enthusiast communities).

After all, why would the consumer wait for a product that is already available if the alternatives will meet their needs?

Price, probably. Normal CM consumers are looking for keyboards in the 50-150 range. The only other topre offering in that area is the type heaven, which is full sized. And, to a CM customer, it isn't a "gaming keyboard", which means nothing. If someone's willing to go for other options in the topre feild, they're probably enthusiasts. And if they're enthusiasts, then they'll like the novatouch's sliders.

[CommonCurt]

Production Pictures

http://imgur.com/a/n7nER

[feizor]

Production Pictures

http://imgur.com/a/n7nER

Do they come with O-rings pre-fitted?

[SSIPAK]

Production Pictures

http://imgur.com/a/n7nER

maybe its finally happening?

[Sniping]

Production Pictures

http://imgur.com/a/n7nER

Do they come with O-rings pre-fitted?

no

[rowdy]

Production Pictures

http://imgur.com/a/n7nER

WHich means that the design has been finalised, and production is underway!

Shipping would follow, then ... announcements!