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

Thank god I didn't order one! Guy said he typed at 100WPM and got errors, I hit nearly 140WPM so I would probably end up smashing it against the wall.

I might settle for a nice £40/50 one instead. But I imagine most of these errors can be fixed by Firmware/Software updates tbh.
 
I must say iv found this thread very interesting.

Was looking into investing in one of these myself but will think twice now, for a gaming keyboard thats £100, im very surprised that theyve not ironed out the issues. Sounds like their testing phase in development needs some improving, i remember the original batch of kones had scroll wheel problems.

Just got to hope my eclipse 2 lasts a bit longer now.
 
Bit of an update;

The retailer i got my keyboard from have contacted Roccat and they have told him to speak to the distributer. They have told us to update the firmware and double check it still has the problems.

Mine does still have the problems after installing the latest firmware about 5 times over the past 2 weeks.

The distributer has now offered for us to return the keyboards, but the retailer said he wants to find out why this is happening before we send them all back kinda thing. I presume he wants Roccat to tell him why this is happening and what are they going to do about it, so we dont just get through a load more brand new broken keyboards...


If anyone else is interested il keep the updates coming!
 
Just got one of these. Not overly impressed. Backlighting levels low, but main issue have is whine when keyboard lights on - couldn't live with it.

Is this whine a fault or does anyone have a silent Valo?
 
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marl said:
Just got one of these. Not overly impressed. Backlighting levels low, but main issue have is whine when keyboard lights on - couldn't live with it.

Is this whine a fault or does anyone have a silent Valo?
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Mine whines too, but i cant hear it unless i move my head about 6 inches from the keyboard so im not bothered about that.

The retailer i got the keyboard from has now told Roccat that the problem is still there, and can it be fixed with a firmware update or not, as my keyboard has the issue, the one the retailer got out out of their stock has the issue, and one at the distributer has the issue.

Just waiting on Roccat now, to see what they have to say about it.
 
Clawz114 said:
Mine whines too, but i cant hear it unless i move my head about 6 inches from the keyboard so im not bothered about that.

The retailer i got the keyboard from has now told Roccat that the problem is still there, and can it be fixed with a firmware update or not, as my keyboard has the issue, the one the retailer got out out of their stock has the issue, and one at the distributer has the issue.

Just waiting on Roccat now, to see what they have to say about it.
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Interesting, my whine may be a little louder as I can hear it from much further away than 6 inches. In any case, given the price of this product I think its unacceptable!
 
Thought I’d share my feelings on the Roccat Valo with you all.

First impressions great packaging, 2nd impressions big keyboard but the keys I wasn’t to sure about. I also thought at first I had been sent 2 bags of light blue keys until I noticed one set was ever so slightly darker….certainly not dark blue.

Lets plug this baby in……why is so dull and what’s that awful whining noise?
So as a few people have said the keys do not light up particularly well and certainly doesn’t seem to be the same ‘roccat blue’ you find on other products. What was worse was the noise which appeared to be coming from the keyboard, after some mucking about I discovered it was key backlighting, turn it off and all is quiet, turn it on and it annoys. Now maybe you’re a kid playing games in your room with the tv blaring, you will then certainly never notice. But I have my pc in the bedroom and if the wife is sleeping or watching tv I have to keep things quiet that’s when you notice how annoying this whine is.
I too have contacted Tibor at Roccat and he replied they know about the fault and they’re looking into it…mmmmmm

LCD screen – doesn’t do much but I wasn’t to bothered.

Keys, the layout IMO is overkill but I suppose some gamers may appreciate this but I agree with custom pc the keys feel cheap and plasticy and not that pleasant to type on. In contrast to what XSreviews states.

Then I had the final nail in the valo coffin. When you plug in the keyboard u have to install the software and after a reboot it states update firmware, at which point it fails and says I should contact Roccat customer care and the keyboard is unusable.
I won’t bore you with all the details but suffice to say I eventually worked out why…………it was conflicting with the Roccat kone. When I unplugged the kone the valo updated firmware and worked but if I plugged the kone back in the valo insisted on running the firmware upgrade again and of course failed.

So from a Roccat fan I would say the following, for a product that has taken so long to come out, that was delayed so they could produce the ultimate gamer keyboard it’s a massive disappointment. It’s looks are average (not as good as online photo’s) to use it feels cheap, it has an annoying whine, it doesn’t light up as well as it should, the software is buggy (states u have an older driver installed even when u have the new version) and of course it conflicted with the roccat kone. Obviously with the last point this won’t be the case for everyone there must be something about my set up which conspired to cause this but it happened anyway.

Seriously if your after one of these keyboards please give it a try before u buy because I found it a massive disappointment.

P.S. There’s a new Roccat keyboard coming out, it’s part of the QRMS or whatever it’s called system so it’s very small and doesn’t seem to have a number pad on it. I can post a link to a pic if anyone is interested.
 
Clawz114 said:
Bit of an update;

The retailer i got my keyboard from have contacted Roccat and they have told him to speak to the distributer. They have told us to update the firmware and double check it still has the problems.

Mine does still have the problems after installing the latest firmware about 5 times over the past 2 weeks.

The distributer has now offered for us to return the keyboards, but the retailer said he wants to find out why this is happening before we send them all back kinda thing. I presume he wants Roccat to tell him why this is happening and what are they going to do about it, so we dont just get through a load more brand new broken keyboards...


If anyone else is interested il keep the updates coming!
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Sounds like the Retailer is dragging you along whilst keeping yer cash mate.
Item is simply not fit for purpose and a return should be arranged as fast as possible longer you have it the harder it will become to return.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Sounds like the Retailer is dragging you along whilst keeping yer cash mate.
Item is simply not fit for purpose and a return should be arranged as fast as possible longer you have it the harder it will become to return.
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It sounds like you don't understand the situation.

I don't want my money back.
I don't want a different keyboard.
I want the keyboard that ive been waiting for, for a year and that cost me £90 to actually work.

Theres no point me even sending it back because i will get a brand new one with the same problems, its a waste of money posting it back atm.

Roccat need to fix these issues, i can't stay loyal for this long, with so many blatent problems glaring me in the face.

Besides, it will not become harder for me to return it regardless of how long i keep it as long as it is in warrenty and i can prove that it was'nt fit for purpose from day 1. I have a saved e-mail converstation with the manager (and owner) of the retailer describing the problems, and then he also confirmed that a brand new one he pulled out of a box has the exact same problems.

***Edit***

By the way, the retailer said that i can return it at any time if i don't want the hassle of waiting to see what Roccat have to say.
 
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I returned this keyboard to the retailler on acccount of the whine - got e-mail to say they have refunded my money.

This is a poor product, way overpriced and will put me off touching anything from Roccat again!
 
Also;

These little icons for the 6 buttons below Printscreen, Scroll lock and Pause break;

valo.jpg


WHY WHY WHY, didnt they include 6 more buttons to replace them so they could actually have a visual meaning? Like so;

valo2y.jpg


My example above being; Open media player, Stop, Mute/unmute, Previous track, Play/Pause, Forward track.

My buttons are assigned to that, and they were by default (or something very similar) so why, if they are defaulted to media keys, did they use stupid little shapes that mean nothing to anyone?

There was other stuff too, but i cant think of it right now. Something to do with the LCD screen i think...
 
well, i m looking for a keyboard to replace my G15 blue which is looking rather old as the paint is coming off and it will not be this, in fact, it might be another logitech
 
Well I fell victim to this keyboard as well. It whines with backlight turned on, the keyboard does NOT work before you enter Windows (so you can't use it when Windows crashes) and I constantly have missing key presses. I got to unplug it every 15 minutes!!! Contacting them gave me a "we're working on a firmware update to fix it" reply which doesn't help. I contacted the store I bought it from and I'm going to get a refund.

The Cone Mouse is very good though - aside from the fact that the middle mouse button is not re-assignable to the button on the left side where I usually put it since the mouse wheel button is awkward to use. Also, it remembers your mouse reassignments so it automatically remembers the settings no matter which PC you install it on. Downside: it won't work without the Roccat drivers.
 
Clawz114 said:
Thanks for sharing.

Maybe they can turn this mess around if they get on with it.
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I somehow doubt it. This problem has been known for over half a year - it should have gotten priority over everything else because it's a major deal breaker for most people. The fact that it hasn't been fixed yet means either
a) they can't fix it
b) it's not a priority

In case of (a) we're screwed, in case of (b) it shows of very poor judgment.
 
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