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HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

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Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#31

Post by wodenokoto »

OT: What’s a great keyboard for people who don’t like mechanical keyboards?

I took the plunge when I switched to a job where we worked on windows instead of macOS and got a keyChron as my daily driver instead of a Magic Keyboard.

I had good memories of clicking away on an old IBM as a kid in the 90s so I thought I’d enjoy a “real” keyboard.

I don’t dislike my low profile keyChron. But even after a year and a half it still feels tall and I mistype a lot. I don’t think a Mac keyboard works well on windows so I also don’t want to connect my Magic Keyboard to my work PC.

Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#32

Post by layer8 »

TheRoque wrote: post #6

Sorry for being such a newbie, but I never understood why HHKB was popular, and where it got its fame. I saw my roomate already having it 10 years ago, I find cool the minimalist aspect, but why such keyboard with basic design made it so far ? Also, on a personal note, having a 65% keyboard now for 3 years, I'll go back to a 75% keyboard. I think functions keys and arrows are used way too frequently to spend your tim…

I got the original HHKB when it came out in 1996. The layout makes sense on Unix where function keys are not used much and you can use hjkl in Vim and in readline vi mode. The compact layout saves desk space and allows you to easily take the keyboard with you everywhere.

The HHKB was inspired by the original Macintosh keyboard which doesn't have arrow keys at all (not even via a Fn key): https://deskthority.net/wiki/Apple_M0110

But I agree with your point about shortcuts, and I later switched to full-size ergonomic keyboards due to RSI and for Windows use, and now despise keys being relegated to Fn combinations.

Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#33

Post by 8draco8 »

wodenokoto wrote: post #31

OT: What’s a great keyboard for people who don’t like mechanical keyboards? I took the plunge when I switched to a job where we worked on windows instead of macOS and got a keyChron as my daily driver instead of a Magic Keyboard. I had good memories of clicking away on an old IBM as a kid in the 90s so I thought I’d enjoy a “real” keyboard. I don’t dislike my low profile keyChron. But even after a year and a half it…

Logitech makes excellent, "mac style" keyboards for Windows. Checkout Logitech MX Keys. It should fit your needs if you liked Apple Magic Keyboard

Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#34

Post by skowalak »

dannyobrien wrote: post #4

I'm a happy owner of a Tex Shinobi and Tex Shura. It's pretty hard to get a good trackpoint experience and Tex have done a good job getting right over the years (including producing a Lenovo-branded mechanical keyboard). They're a small shop based in Taiwan. Shura is $169. https://tex.com.tw/collections/keyboard

I used the Tex keycaps for a keyboard I built about three years ago. After three years of daily usage I have noticed a lot of wear on the keycaps. Some letters are barely visible, and some of the caps have gotten really shiny, i.e. they have lost their surface structure.

Have you noticed something similar? Other than that they feel really nice and I like them a lot.

Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#35

Post by ivanjermakov »

eviks wrote: post #21

TrackPoint is cool, but happiness can only be reached on a proper ergo split keyboard without a huge space

Yep. I think QMK's mouse support[1] is sufficient for those who need it.

But personally I use mouse _really_ rarely because of my keyboard centric workflow (DWM, Neovim & Vimium).

[1]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_mouse_keys

Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#36

Post by comboy »

bauerd wrote: post #3

Too bad they shifted away from Topre switches

It's weird. That seemed to have been their selling point. Plus black? I don't know about others, but my all my black keyboards acquired some gray parts pretty quick (tiny ones, I like my keyboard clean, but that's precisely why it hurts the aesthetics).

Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#38

Post by pikseladam »

I've been using hhkb pro 2 for 5 years and I haven't found a better solution. This is one of the best purchases for me. I can say that it is a device that I am emotionally attached to. However, if I want to buy it with mouse features, I can buy Text Shinobi. The design and quality seem to be better and I have never needed bluetooth.

Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#39

Post by eurekin »

gregwebs wrote: post #29

I have always been a fan of the trackpoint. The Ultimate Hacking Keyboard is a split keyboard with trackpoint, trackball, and touchpad modules (choose one). https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/shop I am excited for the upcoming release of the dygma raise 2 because it has integrated 60 degree tenting in addition to being split. It has a module system as well which will hopefully offer trackpoint. https://dygma.com/pag…

On paper; it checks all the important marks: split, mechanical, has a trackpoint. I wish Keychron added similar (they have great mac/windows switching support; as well as some minor adjustments for some keys)

Re: HHKB Studio: The New Happy Hacking Keyboard with TrackPoint

#40

Post by eviks »

ivanjermakov wrote: post #35
eviks wrote: post #21

TrackPoint is cool, but happiness can only be reached on a proper ergo split keyboard without a huge space

Yep. I think QMK's mouse support[1] is sufficient for those who need it. But personally I use mouse _really_ rarely because of my keyboard centric workflow (DWM, Neovim & Vimium). [1]: https://docs.qmk.fm/#/feature_mouse_keys

Track point offers the unbeatable awesomeness of "analogue" reaction

- the harder you push, the faster the mouse goes.

- 360 (or whatever the effective number of directions you can push with a finger) is also much richer than 4

You can't replicate it with binary down/up buttons, so QMK-like support isn't a good replacement.

(at least for the first one you could have a newer generation of keyboards that have "analogue" buttons the track more than 2 positions)

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