it's not often I get to check out something as entirely unique as the data
mancer Aviator keyboard that I have in front of me today and that's really
saying something since in my position I get access to all kinds of really cool
stuff this is
different The Cooler Master Nova touch tkl is powered by toer hybrid capacitive
switches for the ultimate typing experience and is now available for a
reduced price click my face to learn
more let's start with an overview of who exactly data mancer is since you've
probably never heard of them data mancer is a bit of a rag tag group of keyboard
Artisans many of which are students some of which were prodigies of the late
Richard doc Nagi who was the original founder of the company and was
responsible for most of the designs so the way it works is rather than Mass
producing keyboards and putting them in boxes and then selling them through your
local store like a normal company data Mater treats each keyboard more like an
art piece commission that they then build to order according to the user
specifications now for me that was a bit tricky since I basically said my
favorite key switches are Cherry MX Browns but other than that I'd like you
to surprise me so they played it safe and went with their simple yet
classically styled Aviator which I guess we'll take a tour of now the unboxing
experience was pretty exciting it's hard for me to get amped up about some new
Gadget these days sometimes but I was genuinely dying to open this puppy up
and play with it it comes carefully wrapped in bubble wrap with a
nondescript brown box around it no accessories or documentation whatsoever
but then again if you expected that and thought you were getting a multilingual
instruction manual from a company with two full-time people then a get real and
B what on Earth do you need an instruction manual for just plug the
nice Supple paracord style sleeved USB thing into the other USB thing and it's
Off to the Races frankly though the coolest thing about opening The Aviator
for the first time was something I wasn't expecting the smell it doesn't
smell like new toy you know that plastic smell or even new PCB it smells like
wood and metal working and soldering it smells like someone made it for you and
it amazed me what a different smell made to my perception of the product not like
I didn't know that someone makes it for you I mean according to data mancer
every single keyboard project is chosen by an individual Artisan who then you is
usually the only person working on it as it's hand assembled over a period of
about 24 hours after which time it is
inspected by the team before it is deemed worthy of being sent out to a
client so what is it exactly that my artism worked on then well we'll start
with the housing the bottom is made of a burnt finish wood that when reinforced
by the internal PCB and brushed aluminum frame around it provides a stable back
plate surface with no perceivable flex as I was typing on the keyboard on the
sides we get a better look at the aformentioned brushed aluminum frame
that uses a thick curved aluminum plate on each side with holes that looked kind
of drilled out to allow modular assembly to other components to achieve this
unique utilitarian look then near the back of the keyboard there are two
triangular pieces in a similar style
that act as the feet for the keyboard I actually kind of hoped that folding them
down would allow me to flatten out the keyboard on the desk surface a little
bit but The Aviator is intended to be used with the feet in one position only
so let's talk about using it then each key cap is hand assembled from four
pieces the stem that installs on a standard Cherry MX key switch the
lettering that appears to be simply printed on an inkjet printer the concave
plastic lens that sits over top of that to protect it and finally the metal ring
around the outside edge to create a very
unique look and feel for starters it really is more like using a typewriter
to to to click away on the this style of keycap is much less tolerant of M
Strokes than a square one and this is particularly true in the case of keys
that would normally be larger with stabilizers or other components that
might look unsightly on a design such as this like the shift and the enter Keys
something that stood out to me though is how smooth they felt under my fingers
the seene between the lens and the metal ring is almost impossible to feel unless
you really go looking for it and the rounded feeling to them means that you
never touch a sharp corner while you're typing on the keyboard anywhere under
the keys is a leather covered back plate a fun little factoid by the way is that
data mancer uses either Tandy Leather or pieces from antique furniture that
combined with the metal frame gives it an incredibly handmade look and feel
that even wood wouldn't have achieved quite as well the Crown Jewel or jewels
of The Aviator is the fender jewels that handle number lock scroll lock and caps
lock indication in the top right corner all right so I said a lot of good stuff
about The Aviator let's get to the rougher stuff shall we this is a very
very expensive keyboard I mean there are lots of expensive keyboards but unlike
many of the others uh a data mancer cannot sell itself for any practical
reason the typing experience while unique is not as comfortable as a
mass-produced keyboard with a wrist rest adjustable angles larger Keys um and the
internals are decidedly unremarkable with no fancy macro functionality and
not even n key rollover to boast about it appears to be six Keys plus modifiers
for my testing but I also believe that
those comments would mean very little to the kind of customer who's interested in
buying one of these it's not a practical purchase and nobody ever tried to claim
it was this is a luxury item for people who are willing to buy it simply as a
showpiece or for the unique experience and from the very moment I unboxed it to
the time I'm standing here telling you about it now using it has been a unique
experience I have to give them that so guys thanks for watching like this video
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