Datamancer Aviator Keyboard - A Truly Unique Typing Experience
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,292 words · ~6 min read
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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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