Noppoo tease a very familiar capacitive switch design

User avatar
matt3o
-[°_°]-

29 Apr 2014, 09:22

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...

User avatar
Muirium
µ

29 Apr 2014, 09:37

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.…

Image

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.

Image

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

User avatar
matt3o
-[°_°]-

29 Apr 2014, 09:48

matt3o wrote: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...

User avatar
Muirium
µ

29 Apr 2014, 10:00

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

User avatar
matt3o
-[°_°]-

29 Apr 2014, 10:08

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.
Last edited by matt3o on 29 Apr 2014, 10:29, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Muirium
µ

29 Apr 2014, 10:12

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

User avatar
002
Topre Enthusiast

29 Apr 2014, 10:16

matt3o wrote: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)

User avatar
bazh

29 Apr 2014, 11:12

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

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

User avatar
Grond

29 Apr 2014, 11:45

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!

User avatar
bazh

29 Apr 2014, 12:01

look like lasered to me

JBert

29 Apr 2014, 22:45

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

User avatar
Muirium
µ

29 Apr 2014, 23:04

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

Image

But this one is Topre approved.

User avatar
cookie

15 May 2014, 14:43

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.

User avatar
002
Topre Enthusiast

29 May 2014, 04:46

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
Noppre.jpg (103.55 KiB) Viewed 7425 times

User avatar
cookie

30 Jul 2014, 11:49

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

User avatar
Muirium
µ

30 Jul 2014, 11:54

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

User avatar
cookie

30 Jul 2014, 12:40

you have one too?

User avatar
002
Topre Enthusiast

30 Jul 2014, 13:45

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

User avatar
Grond

30 Jul 2014, 13:49

So no review?

User avatar
002
Topre Enthusiast

30 Jul 2014, 14:00

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.

User avatar
Muirium
µ

30 Jul 2014, 14:14

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.

User avatar
cookie

30 Jul 2014, 15:09

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

shamanas

30 Jul 2014, 21:31

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 :P

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?

User avatar
002
Topre Enthusiast

31 Jul 2014, 00:52

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

01 Aug 2014, 12:18

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 :P

tinnie

28 Aug 2014, 19:46

Hey OO2, do you still have the board?

User avatar
Hypersphere

28 Aug 2014, 20:04

Muirium wrote: 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.

User avatar
cookie

01 Sep 2014, 12:32

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.

User avatar
Halvar

01 Sep 2014, 12:39

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

User avatar
Muirium
µ

01 Sep 2014, 14:21

And the stabs?

Image

Post Reply

Return to “News”