Datamancer Aviator Keyboard - A Truly Unique Typing Experience

it's not often I get to check out something as entirely unique as the data man sir 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 Coolermaster Nova touch tkl is powered by doper 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 mansur is since you've probably never heard of them data answer is a bit of a ragtag 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 mansur treats each keyboard more like an art piece commissioned 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 will 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 our 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 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 metalworking 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 mean according to data man sir every single keyboard project is chosen by an individual it is in who then you is usually the only person working on it as its 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 art isn't 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 backplate surface with no perceivable flex as I was typing on the keyboard on the sides we get a better look at the aforementioned 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 click away on this style of key cap is much less tolerant of miss tropes 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 in the enter Keys something that stood out to me though is how smooth they felt under my fingers the seam 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 backplate a fun little factoid by the way is that data mansur uses either tandy Leather or pieces from antique furniture that combined with the battleframe gives it an incredibly handmade look and feel that even would 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 alright 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 a datum answer cannot sell itself for any practical reason the typing experience while unique is not as comfortable as a mass-produced keyboard with the wrist rest adjustable angles larger keys 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 if you liked it just like it if you thought it sucked leave a comment on our forum linked in the video description if you have feelings that are more complicated than that also linked in the video description we have a merch store where you can buy a cool t-shirt like this one a contribution link where you can give us the contribution if you think what we're doing is important and the link where you can change your Amazon bookmarked one with our affiliate code so we get a small kickback whenever you buy stuff on Amazon that kind of stuff helps us out a lot thanks again for watching and as always don't forget to Like and subscribe and follow and all that good stuff

Channel: Linus Tech Tips

Views: 881,554

Rating: 4.8088193 out of 5

Keywords: datamancer, keyboard, mechanical, review, unboxing, cherry mx, Computer Keyboard (Computer Peripheral Class), peripheral, typing, experience, Computer Hardware (Industry)

Id: LP_ZFBuSo1Y

Length: 6min 56sec (416 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 05 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/smuttenDK]

Am I really the only one who thinks this is butt ugly? The huge "fake saphire" looking indicators, that don't even seem to be on a straight line, and the wrinkled, hopefully actual leather, but might be pleather backing, that has ugly square holes where the keys have to stick up though, topped with the oh so plastic looking round key caps :/

[u/thisguyisadumbass]

He didn't mention the price other than that it was "very, very, expensive." According to their website, the Aviator is $725.

[u/uTukan]

I don't know, I don't like the look of the keyboard, the HUGE numlock, capslock and scroll lock lights would probably make me blind at night. Would love to own one and put it in frame and hang on wall though.

[u/notagagaccount]

He types the spacebar with his pointer finger.

shutters

[u/ac2531]

All I could think about while watching this was the obnoxiously pretentious steampunk group from the fifth (I think?) season of The Guild.

[u/fuckmywetsocks]

An interesting idea, but a little too steampunk/'Jeeves and the World of Tomorrow' for me, especially to drop that kind of cash on. But, as he said, I'm probably not the customer base for it.

Makes me wonder who is, though: who knows enough to buy a keyboard for a desktop (I presume: you could obviously use it with a laptop but would you carry it around?), spend that much (without a chance to really play with its 'unique typing experience' to know they'll like it), and want a mechanical keyboard in the first place, knowing how they differ from standard keyboards... seems a very, very niche product.

Plus, if you're going to go full steampunk, I think it might look quite nice in brass with maroon leather. But Jesus wept, better key caps.