Roccat Valo - First impressions + Problems (yes, thats right)

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Recently got myself a Roccat Valo to go with my Kone and Taito mousepad.

First impressions were good. The packaging was very smart and i couldnt fault it at all. Looked like a premium product, not just a keyboard thrown in a cardboard box. It looked like someone had spent some time on making it look nice.

Opened it up, pulled the keyboard out, and i must say, its fairly big. Bigger than i was expecting. It looked slightly less impressive than it did in the pictures i had seen on the Roccat website, but it looks awesome none the less. Included was a key remover (works remarkably well!) gaming microphone, audio/mic extension cables and all the paperwork, including drivers on CD. You also get 3 bags of M keys (macro keys), each bag a different color. red, light blue and dark blue. These keys can replace the standard black M keys to make them stand out more, so you remember which key does what.

So, i plugged it all in (it needs 2 usb ports if you want to use the usb on the side of the keyboard) and installed the drivers. The first thing i noticed was that the typing angle was far to shallow, even with the feet unfolded. Maybe its just my particular setup, but my old Dell multimedia keyboard was a much higher angle and i preffered that. I have got used to the keyboard and i still dont like the angle, so i have now put 2 CD cases under each foot to raise it up a bit more.

After the drivers had installed, i noticed that the backlit keyboard wasnt as bright as i expected, even on the brightest setting, but im used to it now and its ok i suppose...

I couldnt get the mic to work (and i still havnt got it to work) Its plugged into my Creative Fatal1ty X-fi Titanium soundcard, and it just wont work no matter what i try. I was disappointed by the macro keys not being able to specifically open a program (for example "C->Program files->Mozilla Firefox->firefox.exe") I know there is a pre-set option for a macro key to open the default internet browser, but that was just an example of what i presumed you would be able to do.

I am so-far not impressed with the amount of things you can display on the screen. Im sure i read that there was going to be software to display game info and allsorts. So far, its pretty much Time+Date, cpu usage, ram usage and macro status. How exciting...

My biggest current problem with the keyboard is that EVERY single time i turn my computer on, and try and type, it comes out like this;

Helo,tis is metypng my norl speedo he Roct Valo kebard.

If i unplug the keyboard, and re-plug it into different (or the same) usb ports, it works perfectly until i turn my computer off and on again. If this happened once a month or something, i wouldnt be too bothered, but everyday gets very very tiresome, especially when it takes about 45 seconds before the keyboard is ready to type after its re-plugged in. Its meant to be a premium gaming keyboard?

On a plus note, the drivers are almost identical the the Roccat Kone drivers. Very easy to use, and a fair few options (mainly macro based)

To sum up, im not 100% happy with my purchase and as it stands, it wasnt worth the money. If the missing keystroke problem is fixed in an update and some more support is added for the LCD then i will be happy with it.



Anyone else got any first impressions of the Valo?
 
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I was disappointed by the macro keys not being able to specifically open a program (for example "C->Program files->Mozilla Firefox->firefox.exe") I know there is a pre-set option for a macro key to open the default internet browser, but that was just an example of what i presumed you would be able to do.
Reason for that is it uses hardware to emulate key presses/sequencies, not some resource hogging background software.
Just open properties of program shortcut and bind some key to that (resulting ctrl+alt+"some key" combination) and then program that combination to macro button you want.
 
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Reason for that is it uses hardware to emulate key presses/sequencies, not some resource hogging background software.
Just open properties of program shortcut and bind some key to that (resulting ctrl+alt+"some key" combination) and then program that combination to macro button you want.


aaaah i see! Thanks!



Fix my missing keystrokes problem please! :rolleyes: haha
 
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Fix my missing keystrokes problem please! :rolleyes: haha
Might be bug in firmware.
Have you programmed some profile into keyboard?
If so it might help to send that profile to their support as problem is repeatable in your case. (that should help tracking down where problem is)
 
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Totally agree.

I bought one of these and it arrived yesterday;

Bigger than expected
LCD keys not bright enough
Misses a keystroke more or less every other word I type
Angle is very very shallow. I don't want to have to prop up a £100 keyboard wt CD cases.
Awkward layout meaning I always put my hands in the wrong place (excusable)
No fast forward/backwards media keys
LCD info is extremely limited
Whenever you have the key backlight on, the keybaord makes an irritating whining noise. Silent if the lights are off but otherwise its a quiet irritation. I know this isn't necessary as my Saitek 2 was brighter and made no noise.

Typing this post it's missed 17 keys i've pressed. Going to see what I can do about sending it back or ebaying it. Massively unimpressed considering it basically cost £100.
 
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Totally agree.

I bought one of these and it arrived yesterday;

Bigger than expected
LCD keys not bright enough
Misses a keystroke more or less every other word I type
Angle is very very shallow. I don't want to have to prop up a £100 keyboard wt CD cases.
Awkward layout meaning I always put my hands in the wrong place (excusable)
No fast forward/backwards media keys
LCD info is extremely limited
Whenever you have the key backlight on, the keybaord makes an irritating whining noise. Silent if the lights are off but otherwise its a quiet irritation. I know this isn't necessary as my Saitek 2 was brighter and made no noise.

Typing this post it's missed 17 keys i've pressed. Going to see what I can do about sending it back or ebaying it. Massively unimpressed considering it basically cost £100.

daaamn :(

Do Roccat not think to test their products?

Its been in development for 2 years and it goes out with errors as HUGE as this. They need to either hire a testing team... or sack the current one.

Ive e-mailed Roccat my problems and expresed my disappointment. I'l post up what they reply when it comes through!
 
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OCUK are refunding me for it, big up to them :) Going to do the same as you and email Roccat. And I've just ordered a Razer Lycosa!
 
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Other than the fact that I don't have a useless LCD screen, my £8 trust wireless deskset (including mouse!) doesn't have any of these problems.

Just goes to show that you don't always get what you pay for. :)
 
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OCUK are refunding me for it, big up to them :) Going to do the same as you and email Roccat. And I've just ordered a Razer Lycosa!

Without wishing to sound like I'm dissing OcUK how is it at all a big up for them? You recieved a faulty product that is not fit for purpose, any retailer would have to refund you when asked, etailers even more so due to distance selling regulations.
 
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Because most of the things I listed are purely subjective and not physically faulty. You can't say that the angle of a keyboard and the LCD backlights are faulty, they're just not what I wanted.

The only real grounds for faultyness is the keystrokes being missed, but that's such a huge one that it makes it unusuable for me. I kinda feel like its something so major that it must be some kind of feature that I'm not using right.

I get your point, I'm just glad they're taking it back.
 
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Got the new Custom PC today, and they slate this board on it's build quality. Doesn't sound like they actually used it on a PC TBH, but they say the keys are cheap, plastic and wobbly (and refer to them as 'sticky' after), and typing on it is like typing through a layer of mud.

It's such a shame after all this time, that the thing has such big problems. I was so ready to dump my Lycosa too, but I'd need to try it first before I bought the Valo, thanks to these opinions.
 
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Received an e-mail back about the missing keystrokes;

Hello,

Thanks for choosing ROCCAT.
That sounds like a hardware defect. You can exchange the product at the dealer
you bought it from.

Feel free to write to me again, if anything is unclear or if you need further
assistance.

Viele Grüße / Kind regards,
Tibor Fischer
Community Manager

Looks like my 4th Roccat based RMA :eek:
 
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Got the new Custom PC today, and they slate this board on it's build quality. Doesn't sound like they actually used it on a PC TBH, but they say the keys are cheap, plastic and wobbly (and refer to them as 'sticky' after), and typing on it is like typing through a layer of mud.

It's such a shame after all this time, that the thing has such big problems. I was so ready to dump my Lycosa too, but I'd need to try it first before I bought the Valo, thanks to these opinions.

Just read that too, they really didn't like it did they. Its a fair point though, if they charge 2x the price of the g15, offer very few extras and much worse build quality they aren't going to have many happy customers.
 
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haven't read mine yet, I tend to trust there reviews as much as most. I like the look of this keyboard but was put off the by the price tag and was waiting for someone to clear there stock on a special. Not sure I'm interested now. At this price you'd hope they get it right. I'm not just talking about the faults, the entire package seems flawed considering the price...
 
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Got my copy of Custom PC today too! If only it'd been a few days earlier eh? Oh well. I know I can trust Razer, always liked their stuff and I've wanted a "flat key" keyboard ever since my Apple aluminium one :)
 
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i had the roccat kone mouse i had 4 changed under warranty for same problem...needed a keyboard so decided on the sidewinder x6 and bought the x8 mouse they are by far better than the roccat .....
 
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Spoke to the retailer i got the keyboard from, and they got one out of a box to test and the same thing happened to that one. They said its not worth me RMA'ing it if they are all going to do the same thing, so they are getting in touch with Roccat to find out whats going on, and what they are going to do about it.
 
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