Sony NEWS Keyboards [Topre]

[002]

Got these recently. I'm in the process of cleaning them at the moment but I took some before shots for anyone interested. Any questions or requests, let me know

NWP-411A:










NWP-5461:

[Ascaii]

whoa what a nice find! Where did you get these and how many do you have?

[002]

Unfortunately I only have the two - I found them on Yahoo Auctions Japan.

I've got a more interesting Japan Digital Laboratory [JDL] Topre board on the way too and will post pictures of that when I get the time

[hasu]

Congrats!
Those Sony NEWS and JDL keyboards were also my game.
I put a bid on those boards but missed all them, you seem to been tougher bidder this time:)

[002]

Oh - sorry about that! If it's any consolation, they've gone to a good home
I don't suppose you have any other weird Topre boards in your posession? In particular I'm after a NISSHO KB106DE.

[hasu]

I'm new to keyboard hunting, unfortunately I don't have any rare Topre OEM boards yet.

NISSHO looks like very rare one. I found it only once on auction two month back.
http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d119267044

[daedalus]

Nice find. Interesting layout, sort of like a modernized AT layout...

How do the old Topres feel compared to newer keyboards? Any signs of wear?

[002]

I think given their age, they've held up pretty well.
There was some noticable friction on some of the keys (on both boards) but a tiny amount of Shin-Etsu G40 silicone grease fixed that up. One thing I noticed is that the numpad appears to be variably weight - 123 being light, 456 medium and 789 heavy..I could be just imagining things though and haven't bothered weighing yet.

Here are some pictures of the cleaning (of the 411A):

Numpad first


And the whole board




And now the fun part will be interfacing this:

[sixty]

So the question we have all wondered about:

How do 20 year old worn Topres feel? Do they age well?

[002]

They've lost a bit of the crispness that a modern Topre board has so it does feel more...linear in a sense; some keys were a bit mushy.

Also, some of the switches had some friction burn/scratch lines which you might be able to make out on the image above on the Right Shift key. I'm pretty sure Topre use some sort of lube on the switch plungers in their keyboards and for these two, it had well and truly dried out. I managed to resolve most of the harshness/friction of the switches with some Shin Etsu grease.

I could probably make a small video at some stage which would at least give you all an auditory sense of what they're like.

[hasu]

I got a NWP-5461 finally the other day. I cleaned keycaps and enclosure, then I have tried to connect it to my PC to evaluate on normal usage. And I managed to type this on this NEWS keyboard. (NEWS keyboard converter: http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:25759)

This keyboard seems to be all 45g, not variable weighted, though I'm not sure.
And I felt keys are like linear too. less tactile. But this is not bad for me.

Unfortunately keys are not smooth thoroughly. It is totally not what I expected. Shame
In particular stabilized keys are lame. The way of stabilizer is not same as modern Topre like HHKB or Realforce.

I will put this back on the shelf immediately after I post this.
Cleaning and lub on plunger and housing might cure key smoothness. But I don't feel like investing more time in this.

[002]

Nice work hasu!
HaaTa actually just finished creating a controller for me which works well for both the 411A and 5461.

If I get the chance this weekend I'll check the 411A with your code.

Having used the 5461 myself for a while now I tend to agree with your conclusions on the keyfeel - the spacebar in particular is very resistant and stiff and it really detracts from the board a lot.

The Axess MCR is probably my favourite OEM Topre board so far in terms of crispness and feel.

[javifast]

Awesome keyboard. Congrats.

[RiGS]

It is nice to know Topre lubricates the switch plunger, and that's the reason behind the smooth feel.
Cherry corp should do the same, instead of just just dropping a tiny spot on the metal leaf.