geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: jameslr on Sun, 20 July 2014, 23:45:42
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Not very helpful as the translation is terrible, but there are some pictures of a complete teardown that are interesting.
http://www.weistang.com/article-1423-1.html
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So this coming out makes me assume that the keyboard should be release within the week right? Since usually NDA's drop around the same time as release dates.
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Nice find.
Here are the good pics :D
(http://i.imgur.com/IeDYBsl.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gq6vfrc.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gq6vfrc.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/CJ5VGNm.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TOtqPqK.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/bJT82Cr.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/sHzuKk5.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/FKPSNfu.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Lii20VD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gGOvU2h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TzAPThU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TRFC46S.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/9cnoyq3.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/OPFAnkf.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Up7bg4A.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/N8GdFVN.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/A9zDKE0.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/GR6Vg1h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/7Z4XzBw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TmFzjZo.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HCjIVxw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/KS3lPyF.jpg)
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A nice looking keyboard :)
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Much excite. So looking forward to this coming out :)
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This will be my first Topper, always wanted to try one but thought of not using my GMK caps is just too much to bear!
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This will be my first Topper, always wanted to try one but thought of not using my GMK caps is just too much to bear!
This will be my first also.
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Thorpie virgins :p
It will be interesting to compare it to HHKB, although if it is just 45g there won't be that much difference.
Hanging out for a 55g version of it ...
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Is the site down for anyone else? :confused:
Thanks for rehosting the images, Cody.
Seems like the domes aren't divided into pieces -- will there be any problems with 55g modding?
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Is the site down for anyone else? :confused:
Thanks for rehosting the images, Cody.
Seems like the domes aren't divided into pieces -- will there be any problems with 55g modding?
site is up Zeal :p
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Is the site down for anyone else? :confused:
Thanks for rehosting the images, Cody.
Seems like the domes aren't divided into pieces -- will there be any problems with 55g modding?
Up for me!
http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/http://www.weistang.com/
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Cpt. BadAss said that the one that was at KeyCon didn't have that stupid rubber coating on it.
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That's so weird...My ISP is automatically blocking the page. :/ If I check the site on my phone via LTE, it loads no problem, but once I switch to wifi, it doesn't load. :'(
What is this, censorship in Canada?!
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Here's hoping that its cheap enough to consider harvesting the sliders :)
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That's so weird...My ISP is automatically blocking the page. :/ If I check the site on my phone via LTE, it loads no problem, but once I switch to wifi, it doesn't load. :'(
What is this, censorship in Canada?!
You should try using different DNS servers on your computer. Sometimes it works for me.
Google Public DNS IP addresses (IPv4) : 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4
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The video is interesting. Still not a fan of the sound though.
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The video is interesting. Still not a fan of the sound though.
There's a video?
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The video is interesting. Still not a fan of the sound though.
There's a video?
At the very bottom, hosted on YouKu
http://www.weistang.com/article-1423-7.html
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Cpt. BadAss said that the one that was at KeyCon didn't have that stupid rubber coating on it.
Yup, the board I tried at Keycon didn't have that coating.
I think it's interesting that it says Topre right on the PCB. I remember watching a video where it seemed like they were trying to avoid calling it a Topre switch but I guess that was just part of their marketing plan.
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I think it's interesting that it says Topre right on the PCB. I remember watching a video where it seemed like they were trying to avoid calling it a Topre switch but I guess that was just part of their marketing plan.
Exactly. I think that was just CM's way of trying to keep the mystery alive. Calling it something like "Topre" at a conference reduces their marketing hype to the average user that knows nothing about Topre. Plus if they say, "It has awesome electrostatic Topre switches", user proceeds to google topre and finds a host of already produced alternatives only to purchase one of them. This leaves them without a potential sale.
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Up for me!
http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/http://www.weistang.com/
It's not just you! http://www.weistang.com looks down from here.
Thanks for re-hosting! This is very exciting and these are the pictures I've been waiting for! Check out that stab wire design!
Cpt. BadAss said that the one that was at KeyCon didn't have that stupid rubber coating on it.
Yup, the board I tried at Keycon didn't have that coating.
I think it's interesting that it says Topre right on the PCB. I remember watching a video where it seemed like they were trying to avoid calling it a Topre switch but I guess that was just part of their marketing plan.
The one at keycon also didn't have LEDs and this one clearly has places for them on the PCB. It's small details like this that they are probably changing and tweaking and taking into account before release.
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Could someone link the video? I can't get to the website either, but maybe a direct link to the video would work..
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Could someone link the video? I can't get to the website either, but maybe a direct link to the video would work..
Wait 15 seconds if you have adblock...
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzQzNTg5NDg4.html
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Cpt. BadAss said that the one that was at KeyCon didn't have that stupid rubber coating on it.
Yup, the board I tried at Keycon didn't have that coating.
I pray they don't add it to the final version.
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So this coming out makes me assume that the keyboard should be release within the week right? Since usually NDA's drop around the same time as release dates.
The Chinese are not known to play by the rules. :cool:
Cpt. BadAss said that the one that was at KeyCon didn't have that stupid rubber coating on it.
Yup, the board I tried at Keycon didn't have that coating.
I pray they don't add it to the final version.
No matter to me. I have a set of blank Navy Leopold PBT waiting for this.
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I'm not sure if this came across clearly but they mention a price at the end of the review and it's said to be 1399 Yuan which equates to about $225 USD. Doesn't seem right to me.
It seems their production costs were much greater than anticipated so they had to increase their price. Unfortunate, as this will likely lead to me not buying one. I would have happily paid $150-175, but $225 is too much.
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Are the other CM products in China priced different from the American market? In other words, does a QFR in China cost the same as a QFR in the USA? That could be another reason for the different pricing. Perhaps there's cost built in for the exchange rate and shipping.
The CM rep at Keycon was asking for price points people were willing to pay but I didn't get an actual price from him. I really hope people were saying under $200 to him.
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The same review site did a review on the QuickFire Ultimate and they listed the price at 500 Yuan (~$80 USD). That's cheaper than we can get a QF Ultimate for sure ($109 + shipping at Newegg). This doesn't bode well for pricing. I think they're looking at the $250 mark.
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The CM rep at Keycon was asking for price points people were willing to pay but I didn't get an actual price from him. I really hope people were saying under $200 to him.
I said I didn't want to pay more than $160. As much as this is a totally unique board, at this point it's almost a novelty for me. The only benefit is that I can use my keycaps on a topre board - which is awesome - but I'm not willing to pay quite that much for that novelty at this point.
As for calling them 'Topre' switches, I asked the rep at KeyCon about that and he more or less said that they are Topre switches but they aren't calling them Topre for whatever reason due to marketing (not exactly sure of the reasoning though).
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The same review site did a review on the QuickFire Ultimate and they listed the price at 500 Yuan (~$80 USD). That's cheaper than we can get a QF Ultimate for sure ($109 + shipping at Newegg). This doesn't bode well for pricing. I think they're looking at the $250 mark.
That would be really unfortunate. Right now my next purchase is a tie between novatouch and 55g realforce. Cost might be the deciding factor.
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Slightly off-topic but this site also has a review of the GH60. Apparently the guy that created the review is a Geekhacker.
http://www.weistang.com/article-909-1.html
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Slightly off-topic but this site also has a review of the GH60. Apparently the guy that created the review is a Geekhacker.
http://www.weistang.com/article-909-1.html
A fully backlit GH60 at that. Doesn't mean the guy is a geekhacker, there are lots of GH60's as well as redesigned GHPads floating around the world.
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Cant wait to swap out these purple sliders ♡
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Cant wait to swap out these purple sliders ♡
I was considering buying one to harvest the stems for my secondary (pad printed) FC660C, but at an estimated price tag of $225-250, it can't possibly be worth it. Looks like I'll be buying shapeway stems from Matt3o for a much more reasonable cost and just changing the modifiers.
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It's really unfortunate that the alleged unexpected production costs are going to cause this keyboard to spike in price to a point where a lot of people(including myself) would opt out of buying. It might be especially difficult to entice gamers and a broader market share about a relatively unknown switch at that price tag. It will be up against tough competition as well with Corsair's line of RGB keyboard going public pretty soon. I'm hoping that maybe down the line the price will come down a little bit, because I think this keyboard has a ton of potential to be a real winner!
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I was always skeptical about the $150 price tag, seemed way too cheap considering the other Topre options on the market. Which brings me to my next point - considering this is still cheaper than the HHKB, has a more common layout AND mx sliders something tells me they won't have any trouble selling them.
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I was always skeptical about the $150 price tag, seemed way too cheap considering the other Topre options on the market. Which brings me to my next point - considering this is still cheaper than the HHKB, has a more common layout AND mx sliders something tells me they won't have any trouble selling them.
I think you're right. But for me the layout of the HHKB is a huge advantage, so I would need a pretty nice price point to convince me to use this instead. But I do absolutely agree with you for the average user, and the average CM customer. And I suppose this would make a reasonable Realforce replacement, so there's that too.
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I was always skeptical about the $150 price tag, seemed way too cheap considering the other Topre options on the market. Which brings me to my next point - considering this is still cheaper than the HHKB, has a more common layout AND mx sliders something tells me they won't have any trouble selling them.
I think you're right. But for me the layout of the HHKB is a huge advantage, so I would need a pretty nice price point to convince me to use this instead. But I do absolutely agree with you for the average user, and the average CM customer. And I suppose this would make a reasonable Realforce replacement, so there's that too.
The only problem I have with it right now is that the cable placement is much further from the top than the Realforce, making this absolutely useless to me. I'll be swapping the sliders with a RF 55g so that I can still use my digilog case.
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Price, shmice. Businesses gotta make money for taking the risk to create a product. Even if this thing goes for $250, I predict keycap/Topre nerds the world over will scoop this thing up like a bowl of cookie dough ice cream at a baby (fetus?) shower.
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I was always skeptical about the $150 price tag, seemed way too cheap considering the other Topre options on the market. Which brings me to my next point - considering this is still cheaper than the HHKB, has a more common layout AND mx sliders something tells me they won't have any trouble selling them.
I'm not as convinced, honestly. The current >$200 topre boards have a certain air of prestige and quality about them whereas Coolermaster are still perceived by most people to make good products, but not top tier products. People who are interested in 60% boards (FC660C and HHKB) won't see this as a viable alternative, which leaves the 87U as the sole TKL competitor. As it stands now, I can snag a Realforce 87U on NCIX.com for $185 CDN (roughly $172 USD) when I wait for a sale, so I'm not convinced people who are buying topre boards will settle for Coolermaster's product at a significant premium just to be able to put custom keycaps on their boards (which, given the keycap quality on the stock Novatouch means you're already above $300 factoring in a keyset of similar or better quality to the 87U which is stock PBT). While appealing, I'd still rather own the FC660C, HHKB or 87U over the CM Novatouch at a $225 price point.
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Can keyboard fit in Tex TKL case?
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Nice pics!
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Whether the pricing is justified or not is going to depend all on the keycaps they come with.
When people see the RF 87U/HHKB Pro $200+ prices, they scoff at them, without realizing they come with dye-sub PBT caps, which sell for $100 separately for MX switches. That's when you realize nearly half the price going into a RF/HHKB Pro board is for the dye-sub PBTs they come with, and that's when you realize they're not as much of a rip-off as most people say they are (a Filco MX board, plus a set of dye-sub PBTs will cost around $250).
So... will the Novatouch come with dye-sub PBTs? If so, the price is justified (IMO). If they come with the usual OEM ABT caps, however, yea... I'd agree the supposed $200+ price-tag is a rip-off.
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Whether the pricing is justified or not is going to depend all on the keycaps they come with.
When people see the RF 87U/HHKB Pro $200+ prices, they scoff at them, without realizing they come with dye-sub PBT caps, which sell for $100 separately for MX switches. That's when you realize nearly half the price going into a RF/HHKB Pro board is for the dye-sub PBTs they come with, and that's when you realize they're not as much of a rip-off as most people say they are (a Filco MX board, plus a set of dye-sub PBTs will cost around $250).
So... will the Novatouch come with dye-sub PBTs? If so, the price is justified (IMO). If they come with the usual OEM ABT caps, however, yea... I'd agree the supposed $200+ price-tag is a rip-off.
I basically agree. If the stems can be transplanted into an HHKB (or realforce) than that will also be a factor.
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I'm not sure if this came across clearly but they mention a price at the end of the review and it's said to be 1399 Yuan which equates to about $225 USD. Doesn't seem right to me.
It seems their production costs were much greater than anticipated so they had to increase their price. Unfortunate, as this will likely lead to me not buying one. I would have happily paid $150-175, but $225 is too much.
Last I heard from someone I know is that it was supposed to be over $150 and under $200...we'll see where it lands. Hopefully closer to the $150 point, especially with pad printed thin ABS caps.
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That would be really unfortunate. Right now my next purchase is a tie between novatouch and 55g realforce. Cost might be the deciding factor.
I'm in the exact same spot. I'm anxious to try a TKL Topre and I was fairly set on 55g domes. If the Novatouch were $150-ish I would be willing compromise on dome weight, but not when I can get a 55g Realforce for cheaper. $200+ for 45g domes is a no go for me, regardless of key cap compatibility. The only thing I have against the Realforce is the ABS spacebar.
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Most of you predict $150-$250; I will make a bold prediction of closer to $129.99.
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Most of you predict $150-$250; I will make a bold prediction of closer to $129.99.
[attachimg=1]
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Most of you predict $150-$250; I will make a bold prediction of closer to $129.99.
FTFY.
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Most of you predict $150-$250; I will make a bold prediction of closer to $129.99.
Dat inside source yo. :))
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Most of you predict $150-$250; I will make a bold prediction of closer to $129.99.
I can't see this happening. CM's keyboards sell for MSRP of about $80-$130 (QFR on low end, XT and new backlit QFR on high end). $129 would not differentiate the Novatouch from the existing Cherry MX products. It would just confuse consumers, who would see it as "different" but not necessarily better, which I think is what CM is aiming for. Just by looking at their existing price points, I don't think it'll come in at less than $150. Probably even more. $200 might be a bit of a stretch for the general market, but maybe $169 or $179.
How do you figure it's going to be $129?
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I was always skeptical about the $150 price tag, seemed way too cheap considering the other Topre options on the market. Which brings me to my next point - considering this is still cheaper than the HHKB, has a more common layout AND mx sliders something tells me they won't have any trouble selling them.
I'm not as convinced, honestly. The current >$200 topre boards have a certain air of prestige and quality about them whereas Coolermaster are still perceived by most people to make good products, but not top tier products. People who are interested in 60% boards (FC660C and HHKB) won't see this as a viable alternative, which leaves the 87U as the sole TKL competitor. As it stands now, I can snag a Realforce 87U on NCIX.com for $185 CDN (roughly $172 USD) when I wait for a sale, so I'm not convinced people who are buying topre boards will settle for Coolermaster's product at a significant premium just to be able to put custom keycaps on their boards (which, given the keycap quality on the stock Novatouch means you're already above $300 factoring in a keyset of similar or better quality to the 87U which is stock PBT). While appealing, I'd still rather own the FC660C, HHKB or 87U over the CM Novatouch at a $225 price point.
I talked to the CM guy at keycon about this. He says that CM is well aware of their reputation, but wants to start branching out beyond such high-value goods. They want this to be a top-end KB and fight with the best. The thought is to start targeting the high-end / luxury market as well as the "great value" market they have a good hold on now.
If it does come out at $129.99, I'd probably pick one up if I had the cash. Maybe I'll sell something.
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Most of you predict $150-$250; I will make a bold prediction of closer to $129.99.
I can't see this happening. CM's keyboards sell for MSRP of about $80-$130 (QFR on low end, XT and new backlit QFR on high end). $129 would not differentiate the Novatouch from the existing Cherry MX products. It would just confuse consumers, who would see it as "different" but not necessarily better, which I think is what CM is aiming for. Just by looking at their existing price points, I don't think it'll come in at less than $150. Probably even more. $200 might be a bit of a stretch for the general market, but maybe $169 or $179.
How do you figure it's going to be $129?
I mentioned this earlier, and I'm not sure how much of a factor it's going to be, but I wonder if Corsair's new line of RGB keyboards might play into all of this. I know were comparing apples to oranges in terms of switch types, but Corsair has been teasing this stuff for almost a year now, and despite the price tag, will probably be more appealing to gamers at least. I kind of assumed that CM would do all they can to get an edge on them since they both seem to be releasing in a relatively short time span of one another.
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Do we know the price on the Corsair RGB? I haven't paid much attention to it.
Another thought: I would not be surprised to see CM release its own line of keycaps in the near future. The synergy with both its existing MX keyboards and the Novatouch would be significant. Actually, it's hard to imagine them going to all the trouble of designing this new slider and not selling their own caps.
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Corsair K70 RGB : $169.99 MSRP
Corsair K95 RGB : $189.99 MSRP
Source : guru3D (http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/corsair-launches-cherry-mx-rgb-gaming-keyboards.html)
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No one will know until we see this years black Friday ad.
Delayed launch.
My bold and unfounded prediction. :thumb:
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How do you figure it's going to be $129?
Because a single Topre board is going to be a hell of a lot easier to stomach financially/logistically than having to deal with several MX boards each having up to 5 switches. On top of that when it comes to warranty time I'd gamble to say this board will outshine its MX brothers which will further save them money - which should allow them to lower the warranty buffer.
There is no free lunch however - I'm sure a contract is in place that places an expectation on them to make large orders regularly.
Retailers will love this board because it has a single SKU.
On the back end side of things - Topre has successfully exported this tech already - so other than the stabilizers and MX connector there really are no surprises. I'm sure in a lab somewhere in Topre they were working on this stuff long before Carter ever made an announcement so most of the research was already paid off.