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Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

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Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#331

Post by bjoli »

bastijn wrote: post #308

There are many people in this thread recommending cherry mx red/brown/blue. There are also as many stating mechanical keyboards are not for them, often referring to same switches. Those that would like to explore a bit more, in the custom keyboard world the aforementioned switches are mostly considered starters. More popular, people use switches like Gateron Black Ink V2, Alpacas, Tangerines for linear. U4T, Zealios,…

I have been through the whole mechanical keyboard phase and concluded that there are two keyboards I will never give up. Matias quiet click (mini) and my old trusty dome with slider of some brand I dont know (although googling around I suspect it is BTC).

The matias has the nice tactility of a snappy rubber dome with the benefit of not having to bottom out. I DO bottom out, but I am such a light typer that I sometimes miss keystrokes on other keyboards.

The BTC (??) is sort of a poor man's topre. I like it a lot more than my friends realforce which hardly seems to have any tactility.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#332

Post by bjoli »

germinalphrase wrote: post #26

Can anyone recommend an entry level mechanical keyboard specifically for extended typing (as opposed to gaming)? Or, at least, specific features/qualities to seek out.

Matias makes keyboards for typists. I love my matias quiet click, but some people have reported reliability issues (chattering) with the switches in keyboards other than matias' own.

If you want tactile switches they are a great option. Cherry MX browns are linear compared to a snappy rubber dome.

For linear switches I would say maybe the varmilo EC ones? Almost all contactless switches are extremely smooth. The varmilo keyboards are no-nonsense keybaords with good build quality.

For clicky I would say Matias yet again. They are extremely tactile. I haven't seen any reliability issues reported with them, even in non-matias keyboards.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#333

Post by bastijn »

SECProto wrote: post #312
bastijn wrote: post #308

There are many people in this thread recommending cherry mx red/brown/blue. There are also as many stating mechanical keyboards are not for them, often referring to same switches. Those that would like to explore a bit more, in the custom keyboard world the aforementioned switches are mostly considered starters. More popular, people use switches like Gateron Black Ink V2, Alpacas, Tangerines for linear. U4T, Zealios,…

> Not saying it will be for you, but discarding mechanical keyboards on base of what the pre-built market offers is not the best measure of things. What about buying a single $25 off-brand keyboard with off-brand cherry MX keys and liking it well enough that I can't justify even considering a new keyboard with different switches that I might like more?

If you like it and are not curious to learn if there is anything else out there, stick with it. Your wallet will thank you :).

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#334

Post by fomine3 »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #327
fomine3 wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Libertouch was also a luxury high quality rubber dome keyboard like Realforce, but it's not known outside Japan. It uses simple electrical contact switch rather than capacitive, but feeling/mechanism are similar to Realforce. It also support changing weight by replacing rubber. US ANSI layout is also available. Libertouch is the best feeling switch I've ever used including Realforce/HHKB. I love this but its full lay…

Are any of these still available for purchase? I saw a JP model but like they were discontinued

It's gone so only available on Japanese second hand markets like Yahoo Auction and Mercari. You need to use proxy service to import. Some are brand new.

https://buyee.jp/mercari/search?keyword=%E3%83%AA%E3%83%99%E... https://buyee.jp/mercari/search?keyword=libertouch&category_... https://buyee.jp/item/search/query/libertouch?translationTyp... https://buyee.jp/rakuma/search?keyword=libertouch

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#335

Post by k_sze »

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’ve tried a couple of mechanical keyboards at this point and I still don’t understand why people rave about Cherry MX blue switches. I have two of the exact same model of keyboard, one with Cherry MX blue and one with Cherry MX silent red. I much prefer the silent red for pretty much all situations. I suspect I might also like/tolerate the Cherry MX silver switches for their relative silence (still not as silent as the silent red though) and really short actuation distance.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#336

Post by bastijn »

bjoli wrote: post #331
bastijn wrote: post #308

There are many people in this thread recommending cherry mx red/brown/blue. There are also as many stating mechanical keyboards are not for them, often referring to same switches. Those that would like to explore a bit more, in the custom keyboard world the aforementioned switches are mostly considered starters. More popular, people use switches like Gateron Black Ink V2, Alpacas, Tangerines for linear. U4T, Zealios,…

I have been through the whole mechanical keyboard phase and concluded that there are two keyboards I will never give up. Matias quiet click (mini) and my old trusty dome with slider of some brand I dont know (although googling around I suspect it is BTC). The matias has the nice tactility of a snappy rubber dome with the benefit of not having to bottom out. I DO bottom out, but I am such a light typer that I sometime…

Silent switches saw quite an uptake since past two years or so. Never had matias quiet click myself but based on YouTube vids I'd say you can go a whole lot quieter without losing tactility these days. I run an office setup with U4S these days, these are good to go out of the box if you don't like to mod them. They are so silent your coworkers keyboards will sound loud in comparison. Their tactility is still awesome. If you go less tactile you'd have zilents v2 which require some lubing to remove annoying spring pings but after are a good option. Silent alpacas are like a whisper when you prefer linear.

With brands like keychron and ducky now providing hotswap options on Q1 or Ducky 3 entering custom builds became a lot easier as these provide big runs which allow you to buy from a shop rather than joining limited group buys with nowadays 6-12 months lead times (and selling out in minutes or taking raffles). It isn't the quality of say Monokei, TGR or Keycult but that is expected for the budget range they play.

Having gone beyond entry market years back I'd say it today still brings me the most joy of any hardware upgrades I make to my computer setup. Walking up to my desk seeing a full custom is something I like.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#337

Post by diffeomorphism »

petepete wrote: post #68
fdgsdfogijq wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HHKB is amazing for vim programming.

I wish it was easier to buy keyboards with a correctly-positioned control key.

Why bother? It is one checkbox in the settings and then every keyboard has caps as control.

If you customize lots of things and carry your keyboard to many different computers, I guess doing it in hardware is marginally "better" than just using software, but ctrlcaps is common enough that the software is just there by default.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#338

Post by drakonka »

k_sze wrote: post #335
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…

I’ve tried a couple of mechanical keyboards at this point and I still don’t understand why people rave about Cherry MX blue switches. I have two of the exact same model of keyboard, one with Cherry MX blue and one with Cherry MX silent red. I much prefer the silent red for pretty much all situations. I suspect I might also like/tolerate the Cherry MX silver switches for their relative silence (still not as silent as…

For me, the Blues just feel perfectly snappy and quick. I really like the Red switches as well and if I was using a keyboard in an office environment, I'd probably go for Reds as the Blues have an audible click. But in the privacy of my home with no one else around, I find the typing experience to just be really fun and snappy on Blue switches. Your fingers can easily race over the keyboard (assuming you're not bottoming them out!)

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#339

Post by hyperstar »

vehemenz wrote: post #216

Topre switches are great! But can someone explain the draw of HHKBs? Aside from nerd street cred, that is. A lot of programmers swear by them, but I don't understand why. Let's talk about the layout. As a Vim user, I need my CapsLock->Esc. Fine, so I'll remap Ctrl—but inexplicably, there are huge gaps where the regular Ctrl keys would be. There are no arrow keys or nav cluster, which means you need to use layers or k…

Before I got my Happy Hacking I had both control and escape on caps lock, but with HH, I have no problem using the default escape, which is closer there than on regular keyboards.

Re: Why Are Topre Keyboards So Expensive?

#340

Post by bouke »

InternetPerson wrote: post #67

For me, one nice thing about working from home all the time now is that I don't have to listen to everyone's annoyingly loud mechanical keyboards. I kinda hope this fad dies before I have to work in an office again...

Well or those pesky butterfly keyboards on previous MacBook Pro models. Those are also very loud!
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