WEBVTT

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it's not often I get to check out something as entirely unique as the data

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mancer Aviator keyboard that I have in front of me today and that's really

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saying something since in my position I get access to all kinds of really cool

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stuff this is

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different The Cooler Master Nova touch tkl is powered by toer hybrid capacitive

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switches for the ultimate typing experience and is now available for a

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reduced price click my face to learn

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more let's start with an overview of who exactly data mancer is since you've

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probably never heard of them data mancer is a bit of a rag tag group of keyboard

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Artisans many of which are students some of which were prodigies of the late

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Richard doc Nagi who was the original founder of the company and was

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responsible for most of the designs so the way it works is rather than Mass

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producing keyboards and putting them in boxes and then selling them through your

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local store like a normal company data Mater treats each keyboard more like an

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art piece commission that they then build to order according to the user

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specifications now for me that was a bit tricky since I basically said my

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favorite key switches are Cherry MX Browns but other than that I'd like you

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to surprise me so they played it safe and went with their simple yet

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classically styled Aviator which I guess we'll take a tour of now the unboxing

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experience was pretty exciting it's hard for me to get amped up about some new

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Gadget these days sometimes but I was genuinely dying to open this puppy up

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and play with it it comes carefully wrapped in bubble wrap with a

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nondescript brown box around it no accessories or documentation whatsoever

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but then again if you expected that and thought you were getting a multilingual

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instruction manual from a company with two full-time people then a get real and

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B what on Earth do you need an instruction manual for just plug the

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nice Supple paracord style sleeved USB thing into the other USB thing and it's

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Off to the Races frankly though the coolest thing about opening The Aviator

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for the first time was something I wasn't expecting the smell it doesn't

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smell like new toy you know that plastic smell or even new PCB it smells like

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wood and metal working and soldering it smells like someone made it for you and

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it amazed me what a different smell made to my perception of the product not like

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I didn't know that someone makes it for you I mean according to data mancer

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every single keyboard project is chosen by an individual Artisan who then you is

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usually the only person working on it as it's hand assembled over a period of

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about 24 hours after which time it is

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inspected by the team before it is deemed worthy of being sent out to a

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client so what is it exactly that my artism worked on then well we'll start

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with the housing the bottom is made of a burnt finish wood that when reinforced

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by the internal PCB and brushed aluminum frame around it provides a stable back

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plate surface with no perceivable flex as I was typing on the keyboard on the

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sides we get a better look at the aformentioned brushed aluminum frame

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that uses a thick curved aluminum plate on each side with holes that looked kind

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of drilled out to allow modular assembly to other components to achieve this

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unique utilitarian look then near the back of the keyboard there are two

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triangular pieces in a similar style

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that act as the feet for the keyboard I actually kind of hoped that folding them

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down would allow me to flatten out the keyboard on the desk surface a little

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bit but The Aviator is intended to be used with the feet in one position only

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so let's talk about using it then each key cap is hand assembled from four

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pieces the stem that installs on a standard Cherry MX key switch the

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lettering that appears to be simply printed on an inkjet printer the concave

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plastic lens that sits over top of that to protect it and finally the metal ring

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around the outside edge to create a very

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unique look and feel for starters it really is more like using a typewriter

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to to to click away on the this style of keycap is much less tolerant of M

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Strokes than a square one and this is particularly true in the case of keys

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that would normally be larger with stabilizers or other components that

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might look unsightly on a design such as this like the shift and the enter Keys

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something that stood out to me though is how smooth they felt under my fingers

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the seene between the lens and the metal ring is almost impossible to feel unless

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you really go looking for it and the rounded feeling to them means that you

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never touch a sharp corner while you're typing on the keyboard anywhere under

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the keys is a leather covered back plate a fun little factoid by the way is that

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data mancer uses either Tandy Leather or pieces from antique furniture that

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combined with the metal frame gives it an incredibly handmade look and feel

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that even wood wouldn't have achieved quite as well the Crown Jewel or jewels

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of The Aviator is the fender jewels that handle number lock scroll lock and caps

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lock indication in the top right corner all right so I said a lot of good stuff

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about The Aviator let's get to the rougher stuff shall we this is a very

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very expensive keyboard I mean there are lots of expensive keyboards but unlike

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many of the others uh a data mancer cannot sell itself for any practical

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reason the typing experience while unique is not as comfortable as a

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mass-produced keyboard with a wrist rest adjustable angles larger Keys um and the

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internals are decidedly unremarkable with no fancy macro functionality and

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not even n key rollover to boast about it appears to be six Keys plus modifiers

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for my testing but I also believe that

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those comments would mean very little to the kind of customer who's interested in

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buying one of these it's not a practical purchase and nobody ever tried to claim

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it was this is a luxury item for people who are willing to buy it simply as a

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showpiece or for the unique experience and from the very moment I unboxed it to

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the time I'm standing here telling you about it now using it has been a unique

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experience I have to give them that so guys thanks for watching like this video

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