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Author Topic: CM Novatouch TKL question  (Read 2186 times)

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Offline macguy80

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CM Novatouch TKL question
« on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 02:23:04 »
Why was it discontinued? At the time, I assumed that it was due to poor sales. Today I see that someone has listed one on ebay with an opening bid of $500. I've seen blue Alps boards go for less than that! Are they really that sought after now that they are discontinued, given that MX-mount Topre is no longer as rare as when the Novatouch made its debut?
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Offline Sup

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Re: CM Novatouch TKL question
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 03:37:49 »
Prices are about 200-250 Dollars on Mech market. Also CoolerMaster had a lot of trouble working with Topre from what i read. So yeah i imagine they don't want to do a new version or keep producing them. And they probably saw more revenue from the MX boards since people bought those since they where way cheaper then the Novatouch at MSRP.

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Offline Kelseer

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Re: CM Novatouch TKL question
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 04:22:52 »
Also, Novatouch sliders for Topre are way better than the other derivatives that are on the market today, especially in terms of smoothness. Another reason why its sought after.
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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: CM Novatouch TKL question
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 10:49:55 »
Quote from: Kelseer on Wed, 13 May 2020, 04:22:52
Also, Novatouch sliders for Topre are way better than the other derivatives that are on the market today, especially in terms of smoothness. Another reason why its sought after.

this is anecdotal and subjective, gotta be careful of hype.
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Offline walie

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Re: CM Novatouch TKL question
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 12:22:50 »
Quote from: Kelseer on Wed, 13 May 2020, 04:22:52
Also, Novatouch sliders for Topre are way better than the other derivatives that are on the market today, especially in terms of smoothness. Another reason why its sought after.

Agreed
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Offline macguy80

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Re: CM Novatouch TKL question
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 13:23:34 »
Thanks for all insight. This is definitely one to add to my list...when the price is reasonable. :)

Wish I'd bought one when they were still for sale, instead of assuming Topre couldn't get any better than the RealForce 87U.
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Offline _PixelNinja

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Re: CM Novatouch TKL question
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 14:07:52 »
I was one of the 3 EU beta-testers alongside Matt3o and Murium back in 2014. We were close to Cooler Master during the whole process and my personal contact at CM was always very open with me in regards to info. The TL; DR of why CM did not renew their licence with Topre was because of (a) the poor sales ; (b) the complicated collaboration with Topre.

One interesting thing to note however, is that while the Novatouch experiment was considered a failure, recently CM France made an Instagram post asking what product they should bring back to market. The Novatouch was on that shortlist.
« Last Edit: Wed, 13 May 2020, 14:12:58 by _PixelNinja »
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Offline el_murdoque

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Re: CM Novatouch TKL question
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 15 May 2020, 03:32:55 »
I missed an auction on ebay for a Novatouch wich went a hair over a hundred bucks a couple of weeks back.

That sounded like a reasonable price for a board that is kind-of-but-not-really-Topre.

Discontinued electronic products are always available grossly overpriced by some sellers who seem to hope that you need exactly this piece of kit for your special installation and you need it right now, no matter the cost. I am currently hunting for another Logitech G700s mouse because mine is slowly giving in. I'd like a NOS one or one that's as close to new as possible, but all the NOS models I could find were north of 150 bucks, while used, but servicable models go around 35...
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Offline Kelseer

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Re: CM Novatouch TKL question
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 15 May 2020, 03:56:36 »
Quote from: tp4tissue on Wed, 13 May 2020, 10:49:55
Quote from: Kelseer on Wed, 13 May 2020, 04:22:52
Also, Novatouch sliders for Topre are way better than the other derivatives that are on the market today, especially in terms of smoothness. Another reason why its sought after.

this is anecdotal and subjective, gotta be careful of hype.

Maybe. It's one of those subjective experiences I'd say. I've tried the variants available. NT sliders, KBD fans, Niz, and even Topre's own RGB sliders. NT felt better to me, especially when lubed. (Yes, I did lube the others as well for a like for like comparison). The only short coming would be that NT sliders tend to ride a bit lower than the others, so you run the risk of the keycap hitting the housing on the down stroke.

Also, NT stabilizers are still the best for me. Even the 3D printed ones I tried didn't come close.
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