Putting Together an Order at Elite Keyboards… No, Tenso!

[Muirium]

Thanks. I'm not sure quite what to expect either. I definitely went for a wildcard with the Type-S. I've got my reasons, though. (Positive experience with Cookie's damping rings on the NovaTouch, and a fondness for damped Alps switches too.) I made a recording of DanielT's HHKB when I briefly had it here, which I can compare against the Type-S. Not quite as informative as having both keyboards side by side, but I should be able to remember enough to write about it.

@Hypersphere: Funny you should say that you usually know on first touch whether you'll like a board or not. I felt the same way until I unwrapped my NMB RT-102 with clicky space invaders. I liked the look of the board, and I really liked the shape of its caps, but the first impression of its click was poor compared to my IBMs. Only after typing on it for a day or two did I change my mind. I still prefer the various IBM mechanisms over clicky space invaders, but there's something refreshing about that board and I do quite fly on it. If it were TKL I'd have it in heavy rotation as a great all-rounder.

[Hypersphere]

@Mu: Yes, usually I know on first touch if I will like a keyboard but not always. Moreover, although I might take an instant liking to a particular board, after some time and perhaps after trying out other boards, I might change my opinion. There's often something to like in many of the keyboards out there, and sometimes I go back to those in my "unsure" category if only to convince myself all over again that the boards were indeed not my cup of tea -- this has been my experience with all keyboards in the Cherry mx family.

Do you have your Type-S yet? If not, when?

I am typing this on my Type-S to refresh my memory in anticipation of reading your comments on this keyboard.

[Stabilized]

Damn, I haven't been on this forum in a very long time, but I came here at just the wrong time!
I am actually looking to get rid of my HHKB and am around Edinburgh, so we could have done a face to face transaction.

Well, hindsight is a beautiful thing
Glad you like your new board and looking forward to your review!

[Muirium]

It'll be late January by the time I get my paws on it. Sweet anticipation! I got a nice price on the Type-S and accessories (buying them in Japan) so I'm chuffed.

@Stabilized: So what model is yours?

[Stabilized]

I have a white Pro 2 (2012 model, unsilenced), right now I am in two minds whether or not to get rid of it, but seeing as your in Edinburgh it would have made the whole thing a lot easier.

[Hypersphere]

I have a white Pro 2 (2012 model, unsilenced), right now I am in two minds whether or not to get rid of it, but seeing as your in Edinburgh it would have made the whole thing a lot easier.

If you don't mind sharing your reasons, I'm curious why you might want to get rid of your HHKB Pro 2.

[Stabilized]

If you don't mind sharing your reasons, I'm curious why you might want to get rid of your HHKB Pro 2.

I bought it on a whim really, to see what all the fuss was about and I was a little bit underwhelmed really.
It's really small and light, but that is almost a downside in my eyes as it doesn't feel very substantial when you type on it. I bought a FC660C around the same time and I have not stopped using it, I think the inclusion of a metal plate really helps the feel of the topre switches, imo; on the HHKB the switches almost feel squishy due to the light plastic housing.

Alongside this, I didn't love the layout; it takes me way too long to get used to it when I do swap to it and this stops me from ever bothering to use it. I much prefer the conventional control placement and dedicated arrow keys.

Oh yeah, and I currently have too many topre boards (FC660C, Novatouch, and Realforce 87u); I don't have enough time to use all of them, and I feel a slight pressure from the SO

[Muirium]

Well, we'll see. I'm all set for Type-S, at any rate! If I wind up not liking it for whatever reason, I already know how much I like a (borrowed) regular HHKB, so you could be a fallback. But I don't expect this to be the case.

Of all the Topre boards I've tried (Realforce, HHKB and NovaTouch) the HHKB is by far my favourite. Everything you dislike about its layout is precisely what I like about its layout! They're a highly opinionated, no-holds-barred, piece of design. Got to be a love/hate affair. The Leopold, meanwhile, looks awkward to my eyes while I don't doubt it's sweet relief for yours.

[Hypersphere]

@Stabilized: Thanks for sharing your reasons for offloading your HHKB.

To me, the layout of the HHKB is inspired. I was skeptical until actually trying it, but now I use Karabiner software on my Mac to remap all my keyboards to something as close as possible to a Mac/HHKB layout.

However, I share your impression of the hollow plasticky sound and feel of the HHKB Pro 2. I am torn, because I prefer the 60% form factor and layout of my HHKB, but I like the more solid sound and feel of my RF 87ub 55g. Based on these preferences, it seems my perfect keyboard would be a plate-mounted HHKB Pro 2 with 55g Topre switches.

But even if such a keyboard existed, I would need to wait a while and/or get a second job. Regarding your "slight pressure" from the SO, at present my wife has both thumbs on my adrenals and is pressing rather hard!

[Stabilized]

@Muirium:

Cool, thanks for the consideration anyways; really hope you enjoy the type-s, I would love to try one out some day.

I would have to admit that I find the Leopold a bit ugly, especially with the 'lasered' keycaps (the legends on mine are pretty worn already). It is a great workhorse though.

I did actually buy the Novatouch for the express reason of tarting it up, now just need to wait for some dye-sub GMK (or dolch) to crop up on a GB

[Muirium]

Dolch on a NovaTouch, eh?



Mine's DSA profile Dolch replica from SP. Nice caps, but ANSI only.

[Hypersphere]

@Mu: Dolch is lovely, although I prefer symbols rather than text on mods. It is nice to have that option with the Granite set. In a near-perfect world, both sets would be available in a higher sculpted profile such as SA, OEM, or even Cherry profile.

We keyboard enthusiasts don't worry over corporate matters, such as start-ups. We do tart-ups!

[Stabilized]

@Stabilized: Thanks for sharing your reasons for offloading your HHKB.

I have said very similar things about the HHKB, but I use the caps lock key for backspace and it throws me too much having it as control.

Haha You see my SO is not yet wife, so I can get away with it for the second.

@Muirium:

Nice caps, but I am in love with the GMK dolch or beige dye-sub; I did try DSA but I like profile myself.
I did have to buy a set of round 5a in grey and blue after seeing those pictures of your novatouch with round 4 that you used to post all over the place

[Muirium]

Now is but the lull in the storm. Before I get my hands on all four colour ways of Round 5 proper!

[pyrelink]

Just noticed this thread. Excited to see what you think of the board Muirium. I too wound up nabbing myself a HHKB during the EK sale. I had previously tried Topre about a year ago, and felt sort of indifferent towards them. Got the regular one (non silenced) as I love loud keyboards. I didn't like it at first, however after about a week, everything sort of "clicked" and I can't get enough. Switches are wonderful, sound is great, and the layout is incredible.

It does have a few negatives though. Combined with my IBM boards, I am now slowly feeling remorse for all that I have invested in MX caps. This would also be the ultimate keyboard to be Bluetooth/easily iPad compatible, and it's painful to know that both will probably never happen*.

Very similar experience to everyone else who gives the HHKB a fair try, but felt like sharing anyway. Already planning on picking up a white key set and some colorful modifiers (no click clacks for me) soon.

*still holding out an inkling of hope for someone to update that old iOS kernel patch, modifying the power output limitations...

[Muirium]

And it's here!

I just spent the last hour or so poring through a surprisingly large haul brought over by my pack mules folks, fresh from my warehouse facility brother's in America. The HHKB is just a part of it! They surprised me by bringing over one of his bags in addition to theirs, which was chock full of keyboards from Cindy. This is actually my first hands on with any of her stuff! Man, there's a lot. It's going to take me ages just to clean and store them, let alone engage flaunt mode.

Anyway, what about the HHKB? Well, these words are my first go on it. I think I like the gorgeous little bugger just fine! The Type-S damping is profound — more of an improvement over Cookie's damping rings than I expected — and the result is one hell of a quiet keyboard. I've just been on a literal stack of different boards (Model Ms, Fs, Alps and Mitsumi) and my immediate impression is that this one is like the quiet oldschool damped Alps in the SGI board and AEK II. Better than either, though. It's got that Topre swing, but most of my experience with that is with the rattly NovaTouch, and this one is so damned silent in comparison it's not even fair to mention them side by side! They weren't kidding about the silence of this little thing.

I'll write a real review later, once I've got some substantial use under my belt, and shot some good pictures. I haven't even seen this in daylight yet. In electric light, the mods are so pale looking I was practically fooled into thinking it was albino!

I'm glad I got the matching case. It's interminably cute! And the secondary compartment is so roomy I could put my Mac's power brick in there instead, freeing up my main case. Nice one.

[002]

Ahh, the first sentences of this post make much more sense now. Apparently Tapatalk does not do strikethrough.
Good to see it's arrived, and what a convoluted way to get it in the end

Bought by a Scot and sent to an Aussie's pigeon-hole in a warehouse in Japan before being sent to another Scot in America who passed it to your 'rents who flew it back to Scotland!

[scottc]

It's not just Realforces that get to go on world tours!

[Muirium]

Five cities, eleven and a half thousand miles…

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Would have been quicker to go over the north pole. But not cheaper! The American leg was in luggage that was already flying anyway, and, crucially, US customs is actually sane. Judging by Andy's recent experience with his SSK, going direct would have been mighty ugly.

Oh and it did fly with an NIB SSK among other things… a journey like that you don't justify lightly, but heavily with swag!

[Muirium]

@Pyrelink: This is far from my first taste of Topre, of course, so I had a good idea what to expect. And DanielT's HHKB was just the ticket when I briefly tried it. The silencing is the new bit to me and I'm quite impressed! The look of the board in white is just fantastic. I should know: what with all the fantasising for the last couple of years!

For reference, I paid about $250 for my HHKB Type-S on Amazon Japan, and about $40 for shipping with Tenso (which included the carry case and a second set of caps). That was it! The rest of the voyage was sheer opportunism on my part.

If I'd bought it via Elite Keyboards, as I originally planned, the sale price is $323 and then there was 8% tax on that as my proxy address is in California. Add a bit of shipping, and this was by far the cheapest way, and I even got the extras along for the ride. Thank goodness for reasonable customs in America! You guys should be using Tenso too.

[pyrelink]

That is a fantastic price, and one hell of a journey. About how many keyboards did they bring over for you? That NIB SSK alone must have taken up quite a bit of space in a suitcase!

[Muirium]

Yup, it's a big old bag. The kind you invariably get stuck behind in airport waiting lines! Normal people pack wardrobe's worth of clothes they'll never wear on their holiday, but my brother packed me no less than six keyboards and a load of Cindy's bubblewrap instead. I'll fly it back to him when I'm over in the spring. Might even be able to bring that beamspring over inside!

Meanwhile, back in dark and wintry Scotland — so excuse the phone pics — here's my brand new HHKB all wrapped up warm, doing some California dreaming:

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Well, I don't want it to catch cold! The official HHKB carry case is smart wee thing:

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When I opened it up, it was full of Teensies! They'll be heading out over Europe in the week. We usually get hammered for the cost of those over here.

As for the SSK… I like a little space saving.

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This board's another beaut!

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Cindy didn't fail to deliver the goods with these NIB SSKs. Spotless, pristine, new in boxy goodness. This one's a stunner.

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Mine was born just a few days before my 12th birthday, to put it in perspective!