Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

switchandclick.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 413 posts

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#121

Post by Agingcoder »

nicopappl wrote: post #49

I have the privilege of owning a Happy Hacking 2, it has topre keys. I used it for about a year. And I hated it! It's insanely noisy, to the point of distraction. It's so damn loud. But the dealbreaker for me is how heavy and deep the keys are. It's just too much energy and travel time for efficient typing IMO. After long sessions my fingertips felt sore from the blunt damage of pushing down the keys. But I'll recogn…

The mx board 3 is a remarkably good keyboard - I think I had bought it because it was fairly flat and thin, unlike most mech keyboards, and ended up enjoying it a lot more than expected.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#122

Post by fooker »

jeffbee wrote: post #100
wyager wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For 90% of companies, increasing software engineer productivity by just a few dozen bps is worth thousands of dollars a year. On top of a $4k laptop, $2k screens, etc. a $400 keyboard is totally reasonable. If your company won't let you get stuff like this they're probably being irrationally stingy.

I've been in this business a long time and the idea that we are limited by the typing speed of the programmer is just about the biggest crock I've heard so far. Thinking of the concrete details from Google's 2016 paper where they reported a gross commit rate of 1000 lines of code per engineer per week, inclusive of large-scale automatic refactoring and configuration changes that were 75% of the volume. That leaves yo…

> Programmers are limited by cognition

Expensive gadgets make programmers happy...

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#123

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

Lhiw wrote: post #97
csdvrx wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree so much!! I've tried my best to like mechanical keyboards... but no, I hate them. The noise is distracting, they require too much strength on every key, and they are big and expansive! I thought I might have the wrong keytypes, so I even purchased key testers: the red keys are less noisy, but that doesn't solve the other problems. So I just can't find a reason to like them. My favorite keyboard is the Thinkpa…

Silent reds are what I use after a long time on clears and browns. Can't go back, reds are good for gaming but also far less effort for typing. Never found the tactile bump to be all that useful.

Same boat here. I'm eyeball some silent reds right now so if you could share what you got if you've had it for a while I'm all ears. Ideally I'd like to own a mechanical keyboard that just isn't going to have a key die on me.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#124

Post by bob1029 »

I absolutely love the Realforce R2. It did take me a while to adjust after slamming the shit out of my fingers on cherry mx blue switches for years... I find I have zero discomfort in my hands after a long day of work now.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#125

Post by PragmaticPulp »

nicopappl wrote: post #49

I have the privilege of owning a Happy Hacking 2, it has topre keys. I used it for about a year. And I hated it! It's insanely noisy, to the point of distraction. It's so damn loud. But the dealbreaker for me is how heavy and deep the keys are. It's just too much energy and travel time for efficient typing IMO. After long sessions my fingertips felt sore from the blunt damage of pushing down the keys. But I'll recogn…

I worked at a company that gave people generous leeway to purchase computer gear they wanted.

We already had good computers and monitors, so fancy mechanical keyboards were the #1 purchase for most people. The mechanical keyboard fans nerded out over different switches and other hardware, spending countless hours doing research and trying out different types of keys.

And then slowly nearly everyone went back to regular old keyboards. There were a few die-hards who stuck to the mechanical keyboards, but most people eventually realized that the mechanical keyboard experience didn't really live up to the mechanical keyboard hype.

Some people love them, but the narrative that mechanical keyboards are objectively superior has gotten out of hand in recent years. In my experience, the average programmer doesn't really enjoy heavy mechanical keyboards over the long run.

(And before I get buried in comments that we weren't using the "right" switches or keys or whatever, trust me when I say that the office went through a lot of different variations and there was a lot of trading around)

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#127

Post by Lio »

csdvrx wrote: post #77
nicopappl wrote: post #49

I have the privilege of owning a Happy Hacking 2, it has topre keys. I used it for about a year. And I hated it! It's insanely noisy, to the point of distraction. It's so damn loud. But the dealbreaker for me is how heavy and deep the keys are. It's just too much energy and travel time for efficient typing IMO. After long sessions my fingertips felt sore from the blunt damage of pushing down the keys. But I'll recogn…

I agree so much!! I've tried my best to like mechanical keyboards... but no, I hate them. The noise is distracting, they require too much strength on every key, and they are big and expansive! I thought I might have the wrong keytypes, so I even purchased key testers: the red keys are less noisy, but that doesn't solve the other problems. So I just can't find a reason to like them. My favorite keyboard is the Thinkpa…

I have an IBM model M and a Pkr3 with Cherry MX Browns sitting on the shelf.

What I’ve discovered over time is that I’m some kind of peasant when it comes to typing.

What I really like are thin, low travel laptop keyboards and trackpads instead of mice.

Small, symmetrical with everything centred below an external monitor.

I love the idea of mechanical keyboards but the reality is that actuation force and the key travel just make me wrists hurt after a while.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#128

Post by nix23 »

whalesalad wrote: post #99

I had a really fancy Topre keyboard. Had the fancy key caps, the acrylic dust cover, the whole nine yards. It made typing an absolute nightmare. I don't know why people want massive keys with massive amounts of travel. The slim Apple Magic keyboard (w/o numpad) is the best keyboard I have ever used.

>I don't know why people want massive keys with massive amounts of travel.

I always think the same when buying condoms...humans probably.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#129

Post by csdvrx »

clon wrote: post #102
csdvrx wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree so much!! I've tried my best to like mechanical keyboards... but no, I hate them. The noise is distracting, they require too much strength on every key, and they are big and expansive! I thought I might have the wrong keytypes, so I even purchased key testers: the red keys are less noisy, but that doesn't solve the other problems. So I just can't find a reason to like them. My favorite keyboard is the Thinkpa…

Exactly the same sentiment. My yearlong experiment to try to love mechanical keyboards left me with a thousand euro hole in my wallet and physical problems spanning from fingers to upper body musculature. I loved the tactile feel, but hated what they did to my body. I think mechanical keyboards are just too high, with excessive travel. You sort of have to keep your hands floating in the air, which transfers stress to…

> One day I got tired and bought a 10 euro keyboard from the grocery shop. Noname, slimline, rubber domes. What a relief that was.

Actually, I had the same thing happen to me during my mechanical keyboard experiment when I had to use some old keyboard found in the basement on a raspberrypi.

It felt SO GOOD, SO COMFORTABLE, that I said "screw that experiment, I'll accept that I'm an uncultured swine who likes membrane keyboards!"

I decided to stop trying to fit my tastes to what's popular, and instead added that quirk to my list of differences with normal geeks (who hate many of the things I like, such as Windows...)

Then I bought myself a Thinkpad SK-88xx membrane keyboard new in a box at a price that'd make even mechanical keyboard snobs cry, and I've been happy ever since with regular Thinkpad membrane keyboards :)

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#130

Post by godot »

clon wrote: post #102
csdvrx wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree so much!! I've tried my best to like mechanical keyboards... but no, I hate them. The noise is distracting, they require too much strength on every key, and they are big and expansive! I thought I might have the wrong keytypes, so I even purchased key testers: the red keys are less noisy, but that doesn't solve the other problems. So I just can't find a reason to like them. My favorite keyboard is the Thinkpa…

Exactly the same sentiment. My yearlong experiment to try to love mechanical keyboards left me with a thousand euro hole in my wallet and physical problems spanning from fingers to upper body musculature. I loved the tactile feel, but hated what they did to my body. I think mechanical keyboards are just too high, with excessive travel. You sort of have to keep your hands floating in the air, which transfers stress to…

To you and the parent poster and the grandparent poster, I wonder if you've ever tried a mechanical keyboard with low profile keys and keycaps?

I enjoy mechanical keyboards myself, and even so, I found myself liking the low profile ones a lot better. Like you said, I love the tactile feel, and I also find regular sized mechanical keyboards too high.

I currently use two: The Keychron K1 "Ultra thin" for work and the HAVIT Low Profile one. Both are a joy to type with. They are as thin as any rubber dome keyboards and provide a better type feel.

Post reply on HN