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Should I buy a HHKB

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:07
by DerpyDash_xAD
So my dilemma is that they are expensive, I've never tried topre and I generally use linears, I'm not a huge fan of blues/browns. That said, I'm looking for a new keyboard, my pure pro is a little boring. :lol: I am now riding my bike to work, which will save me £80+ each month compared to the bus. I can just about afford it. But I'm split as hell. Cuz it's a hell of a lot of cash to spend on a goddamn gamble, I'm looking at being 250£ deep on a gamble :shock: :? Idk, maybe I'll just drink more of my martini and do it on impulse

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:16
by wobbled
Since topre really can't be compared to any Cherry MX switches I can't really tell you what it will feel like in comparison to. I'd recommend picking up a cheap BTC keyboard e.g. BTC 5100C. If you're fond of the rubber domes in those, you'll like topre even more. Or you could just order one on Amazon and if you dislike it you can then return it.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:29
by MrDuul
HHKB from amazon prime you can return if you don't like it.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:32
by DerpyDash_xAD
MrDuul wrote: HHKB from amazon prime you can return if you don't like it.
not on amazon prime in uk, I bought one from a jp seller on amazon uk

now to down my drink before i realize what i';ve done

that said, i bought a leiter of vodka already so i've got the alcohol to last amonth lmao :lol:

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:35
by wobbled
DerpyDash_xAD wrote:
MrDuul wrote: HHKB from amazon prime you can return if you don't like it.
not on amazon prime in uk, I bought one from a jp seller on amazon uk

now to down my drink before i realize what i';ve done

that said, i bought a leiter of vodka already so i've got the alcohol to last amonth lmao :lol:
Congrats on the purchase, I'm typing on mine right now :) Just don't look at your current bank account balance and you'll be fine and dandy. Since we're talking about alcohol though, pick up some 1738 remy martin! Love that stuff.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:40
by DerpyDash_xAD
banks gonna get another hit when I have to pay import taxes on it, antoher £40 on top :'( that said, i've also got new nibs for my wacom coming tomorrow, which will be nice. why i cant get a damn hhkb on prime.... :'( lmao

as I understand it, that stuffs really nice brandy? I generally drink whatever's cheap unless it's vodka, I can cope with cheap vermouth/whisky/gin etc but cheap vodka terrifies me. Russian standard is the cheapest i'll drink. I like a finer whisky, but i haven't got the cash and i'm perfectly happy to drink cheap stuff lmao

:D

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:41
by MrDuul
DerpyDash_xAD wrote: banks gonna get another hit when I have to pay import taxes on it, antoher £40 on top :'( that said, i've also got new nibs for my wacom coming tomorrow, which will be nice. why i cant get a damn hhkb on prime.... :'( lmao

as I understand it, that stuffs really nice brandy? I generally drink whatever's cheap unless it's vodka, I can cope with cheap vermouth/whisky/gin etc but cheap vodka terrifies me. Russian standard is the cheapest i'll drink. I like a finer whisky, but i haven't got the cash and i'm perfectly happy to drink cheap stuff lmao

:D
What vodka? Grey goose?

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:44
by DerpyDash_xAD
right now i'm on russian standard as i'm not in great deals of wealth this month, that said i favour a potato vodka, luskovana is a great one

i plan on trying a well-liked rye vodka next time i have moeny, i've mostly been sticking to mixed grain/wheat/potato

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:45
by wobbled
The import charges are the worst, especially when you order from the US to the UK and they deliver it and for a week or two you think you're safe, then you get that god awful letter from Fedex or Parcelforce saying you owe them like £80 :(

But yeh it's a cognac, so just a variety of brandy. Very nice stuff though! I'd still take some of those vintage dom perignons over any other drink though.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:48
by DerpyDash_xAD
I'm not huge on the champers personally, I don't mind the stuff but I can't imagine paying that much for anything of that ilk... that said, i've never had a particularly expensive/nice brand of chapagne either. so maybe it's just limited experience. one thing i raellly can't get a taste for is red wine, it's just too dry. I enjoy the flavour but the texture kills it for me..

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:50
by wobbled
DerpyDash_xAD wrote: I'm not huge on the champers personally, I don't mind the stuff but I can't imagine paying that much for anything of that ilk... that said, i've never had a particularly expensive/nice brand of chapagne either. so maybe it's just limited experience. one thing i raellly can't get a taste for is red wine, it's just too dry. I enjoy the flavour but the texture kills it for me..
Drinking red wine honestly makes me feel like my throat is being ripped apart, absolutely vile stuff. White wine feels a bit thinner and lighter so I'll happily drink that. Definitely try and get a nice aged champagne for christmas, it's the most pleasant way of getting pissed!

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:53
by DerpyDash_xAD
wobbled wrote:
DerpyDash_xAD wrote: I'm not huge on the champers personally, I don't mind the stuff but I can't imagine paying that much for anything of that ilk... that said, i've never had a particularly expensive/nice brand of chapagne either. so maybe it's just limited experience. one thing i raellly can't get a taste for is red wine, it's just too dry. I enjoy the flavour but the texture kills it for me..
Drinking red wine honestly makes me feel like my throat is being ripped apart, absolutely vile stuff. White wine feels a bit thinner and lighter so I'll happily drink that. Definitely try and get a nice aged champagne for christmas, it's the most pleasant way of getting pissed!
yeah, that's exactly what i think of red wine. if not for that feeling i'd lvoe the stuff. but i can't understna people who chug a red and then say vodka is undrinkable bhahahahahha :lol: :D

i may go split on a nice chapgne for xmas with my dad, i think he'd like that, got any buying advice?

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:56
by DerpyDash_xAD
@wobbled, how does matias stack up to topre? i've tried the matias quiet pro, and i stoppe using it because the wobble on the caps was 2stronk for me. i prefer a likttle stability.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 21:59
by wobbled
DerpyDash_xAD wrote:
wobbled wrote:
DerpyDash_xAD wrote: I'm not huge on the champers personally, I don't mind the stuff but I can't imagine paying that much for anything of that ilk... that said, i've never had a particularly expensive/nice brand of chapagne either. so maybe it's just limited experience. one thing i raellly can't get a taste for is red wine, it's just too dry. I enjoy the flavour but the texture kills it for me..
Drinking red wine honestly makes me feel like my throat is being ripped apart, absolutely vile stuff. White wine feels a bit thinner and lighter so I'll happily drink that. Definitely try and get a nice aged champagne for christmas, it's the most pleasant way of getting pissed!
yeah, that's exactly what i think of red wine. if not for that feeling i'd lvoe the stuff. but i can't understna people who chug a red and then say vodka is undrinkable bhahahahahha :lol: :D

i may go split on a nice chapgne for xmas with my dad, i think he'd like that, got any buying advice?
My favourite drink of all time is a 2006 dom perignon, but a Louis Roederer Cristal Brut 2006 isn't far behind and as a slightly cheaper option you can't go wrong with Moet Imperial brut. Have fun getting wasted on overpriced alcohol mate, it's good fun until you wake up poor :)

I've never tried Matias, I've only ever heard bad things about them though. A friend of mine bought a tactile pro and it came with a broken key, creaky case and wobbly keys that move around far too much on the slider. I'd stick with Alps.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:02
by DerpyDash_xAD
lmao ye, i think matias has pretty crap build quality but my thought was that the key feel of the alps switch might be similar. i think I'll go for the moet because I'm a cheap bastard lmao

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:06
by wobbled
I think I recall chyrosran22 (thomas) being fond of matias for their key feel but yeh the build quality really seems to let them down, sort of similar to Unicomp I suppose. The switch feel is there, quality control just doesn't exist. And moet is still extremely nice!

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:09
by DerpyDash_xAD
my dad really enjoyed it actually, it was a great upgrade from the cheapo keyb he was using. myself i couldn't get used to it. and he liked it's compactness. it's not a bad keyb. just has the issue of falling apart a touch lmao. I think for matias the creaky case is a feature.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:16
by wobbled
Honestly my dad has never even turned on a computer before so kudos to your dad for having good taste in boards, even if matias are supershit for their QC. How much did you pay for the hhkb pro 2 btw? You missed an excellent deal on one for £130 on ebay (black model) I would've bought it had I not been so poor at the time thanks to having to fix my car.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:18
by czarek
Yes, not a question.

And keep it because even if you eventually sell it you will want it again :) Keep it and use it whenever you can. If you can use it daily, do it, otherwise just use it on occasion when you do Vim/Tmux or use macOS as it's very nice on HHKB.

I'm on my second HHKB right now and it's not my daily driver any more. Used to be when I used OS X as my primary OS (believe it or not I used it primarily for 11 years), then I kept it as a main keyboard when I was still mostly doing Unix devel in Vim/Tmux, but nowadays while it's totally useless in Windows and Visual Studio (with Vim plugin offcourse, but still), I prefer more conventional layouts (standard fullsize ANSI actually). I still keep it though. Getting one in Europe takes a lot of effort, measured in time and money. You have to pay a lot for keyboard, shipping, import duties, and wait for weeks for it to be delivered, so just get it, and keep it :)

Oh and also, whatever people around here say, they don't last forever. My first one was very worn when I sold it. Some keys like left CMD, FN, J, K, and E were so worn they were almost linear, very light and a bit mushy, a bit like pinky (35G) keys on variable weighted Topre board. Not that important to know before you buy it, but definitely worth to keep in mind.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:21
by Menuhin
MrDuul wrote: HHKB from amazon prime you can return if you don't like it.
It is generally how things work in the US - I like it but it is sometimes badly exploited.

One can buy virtually anything, e.g. a power drill set, an electric saw, etc. Then use them to renovate one's house, within 3 months or 90 days, one finds they don't like the products, they just can return them, as long as they have kept them in good shape.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:26
by DerpyDash_xAD
wobbled wrote: Honestly my dad has never even turned on a computer before so kudos to your dad for having good taste in boards, even if matias are supershit for their QC. How much did you pay for the hhkb pro 2 btw? You missed an excellent deal on one for £130 on ebay (black model) I would've bought it had I not been so poor at the time thanks to having to fix my car.
190 w/o tax.. it hurts but it's a new one, and i've heard great things. also martinis.

Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:28
by DerpyDash_xAD
czarek wrote: Yes, not a question.

And keep it because even if you eventually sell it you will want it again :) Keep it and use it whenever you can. If you can use it daily, do it, otherwise just use it on occasion when you do Vim/Tmux or use macOS as it's very nice on HHKB.

I'm on my second HHKB right now and it's not my daily driver any more. Used to be when I used OS X as my primary OS (believe it or not I used it primarily for 11 years), then I kept it as a main keyboard when I was still mostly doing Unix devel in Vim/Tmux, but nowadays while it's totally useless in Windows and Visual Studio (with Vim plugin offcourse, but still), I prefer more conventional layouts (standard fullsize ANSI actually). I still keep it though. Getting one in Europe takes a lot of effort, measured in time and money. You have to pay a lot for keyboard, shipping, import duties, and wait for weeks for it to be delivered, so just get it, and keep it :)

Oh and also, whatever people around here say, they don't last forever. My first one was very worn when I sold it. Some keys like left CMD, FN, J, K, and E were so worn they were almost linear, very light and a bit mushy, a bit like pinky (35G) keys on variable weighted Topre board. Not that important to know before you buy it, but definitely worth to keep in mind.
I love my small boards, my daily driver is a pure pro. I'm not too worried about life span, at the end of the day, that just means an excuse to buy another :lol:

Posted: 01 Jul 2017, 14:51
by DerpyDash_xAD
alright, it's on its way, some time between now and the 3rd august it will appear on my doorstep (metaphorically) and i will be hit with a huge bill (goddamn import taxes)

with this whole brexit lark, the uk should start a free trade deal with japan. HHKBs and Mazda mx5s for cheap! :D both right hand drive countries you know, we are basically the same already. :lol:

Posted: 01 Jul 2017, 14:55
by wobbled
DerpyDash_xAD wrote: alright, it's on its way, some time between now and the 3rd august it will appear on my doorstep (metaphorically) and i will be hit with a huge bill (goddamn import taxes)

with this whole brexit lark, the uk should start a free trade deal with japan. HHKBs and Mazda mx5s for cheap! :D both right hand drive countries you know, we are basically the same already. :lol:
Oh my god that would literally be perfect, cheap topres and mazdas. What more could you possibly want in life?

Posted: 01 Jul 2017, 19:29
by DerpyDash_xAD
wobbled wrote:
DerpyDash_xAD wrote: alright, it's on its way, some time between now and the 3rd august it will appear on my doorstep (metaphorically) and i will be hit with a huge bill (goddamn import taxes)

with this whole brexit lark, the uk should start a free trade deal with japan. HHKBs and Mazda mx5s for cheap! :D both right hand drive countries you know, we are basically the same already. :lol:
Oh my god that would literally be perfect, cheap topres and mazdas. What more could you possibly want in life?
who needs an economy if you got topre? :lol: :lol:

Posted: 01 Jul 2017, 20:10
by Honthro
Serious question - why HHKB and not a Leopold 660c?

Posted: 01 Jul 2017, 20:16
by seebart
Honthro wrote: Serious question - why HHKB and not a Leopold 660c?
1A+ ;)

wiki/Leopold_FC660C

Posted: 01 Jul 2017, 20:49
by TuxKey
@Honthro i was going to recommend the same thing.
i got the FC660C last year and have no regrets i prefer the backplate and sinds a couple of weeks it got ever better 8-)
Hassu the Keyboard liberator made a replacement controller for the FC660C and i got one. So now it's fully TMK programmable. (i think it's called TMK, i''m new to keyboard programming)..

Only problem is that when i'm using my FC660M with mx-clears yep that one isn't programmable and once you go fully programmable you won't like going back.. Really a shame that Hasu is not planning to make one for the FC660M..
He would be helping a lot of people and opening up that market for sure...

@DerpyDash_xAD i know he made one for the HHKB so you could get one for that and make it even better.

Posted: 01 Jul 2017, 21:01
by Laser
TuxKey wrote: Only problem is that when i'm using my FC660M with mx-clears yep that one isn't programmable and once you go fully programmable you won't like going back.. Really a shame that Hasu is not planning to make one for the FC660M..
He would be helping a lot of people and opening up that market for sure...
I think he *can't* - if I'm not mistaken, there is no separate PCB to replace.

Posted: 01 Jul 2017, 21:06
by DerpyDash_xAD
I used to have f660M but I wasn't a huge fan of the layout. I disliked the buttons on the top right. I really love my pure pro and as I understand it that has a pretty similar layout to the hhkb.