Noppoo tease a very familiar capacitive switch design

[Muirium]

Now you get it. HiPro caps work fine on standard Realforces etc. But HiPro keyboards are the fussy ones, once stripped of their precious sphericals, they won't accept standard Topre caps.

[Hypersphere]

Thanks, Mu, for the clarification. We need a HiPro keycap tour. Easier than sending around an entire keyboard.

[Muirium]

But a HiPro is useless and doomed without its caps. This is why we need someone besides Topre to make them, so we can buy! Matteo's on it, of course. As are my Beamspring caps.

[Hypersphere]

And there's that pesky Left Control switch on the RF87U that would not be able to accept a Control cap from a standard HiPro set. So here again, we need a new source for these caps.

[zslane]

I find it amusing that they provide a keypuller in the box. What keycaps do they imagine I'm going to replace these with?

Well, they expect you, being a keyboard enthusiast, to love and care for your keyboard for years to come, and take it apart periodically, to wash the keycaps and dust under the switches every once in a while.

Wow, it's like I've become a BMW owner. I have new responsibilities I never really thought of much before.

[zslane]

Where did you purchase this? Widebasket on eBay perchance?

Yes.

[Hypersphere]

@zslane: Thanks. Widebasket is an excellent vendor. I have purchased several sets of keycaps from him, and I have been favorably impressed with how soon the products arrive from Korea and how well packaged they are. His prices are a bit steep, but it is more convenient than otherwise setting up for purchases from S. Korea or Japan.

[zslane]

Everything went quite smoothly indeed. It took less time to receive it (once payment was made) than it did to get widebasket's attention and set up the transaction in the first place.

But I am very familiar with the unusual shopping experience of purchasing from Japan and S. Korea. A couple of years ago I went on an intense Go and Shogi binge, and the good stuff only comes from those two countries.

[_PixelNinja]

Go and Shogi ? Zslane you are a man of taste !

[zslane]

Any chance of a sound sample?

The only video-capture device I have is my iPad Air, so this demo may not satisfy, but here it is anyway.

[Muirium]

As much as I like a bit of Offtopicthority, this would make a lot more sense on your other thread, specifically for the HiPro. It'll be a bugger to find if I need it in future.

See, real Offtopicthority isn't even about keyboards…

[zslane]

I see that Royal Kludge is also putting out keyboards with these switches. Are they sourcing the same switches as Noppoo?

Even though they are described as rubber domes with conical springs, the Noppoo switches don't feel like Topres to me. Their 45g (+/- 5g) switch feels like a (hypothetical) 35g MX Brown switch. But quieter. And less tactile. They produce almost no bottoming-out nor up-stroke clack. About the only sound they make is the soft sound of slider friction. Think shup shup shup rather than thock thock thock.

I imagine the Royal K. will be the same?

[002]

Nice way of describing the underwhelming Noppoo capacitive switch. And yeah, the RK is very likely produced by Noppoo. It was briefly discussed here.

Wiki page on the RC930-87 here.

[Muirium]

Hmm… less tactile than MX brown? That takes some doing!

Good description, though. I can picture that one. Definitely not the dome for me. I actually have a thing for 30g Topres. Well worth checking out… if you can find the buggers in uniform weight. Very speed friendly.

[zslane]

How would 30g feel with SA caps mounted to them though?

I am crossing my fingers that by the time I have my Round 5a keycaps, CM will have a full-sized NovaTouch, in both black and white, and I won't have to compromise on anything.

[Muirium]

Black and white… which one would you get?

30g Topre feels great to me with standard Realforce caps. My 45g Realforce feels great to me with any decent caps, to be honest, but SA definitely makes it lighter. Granite's an amazing set on it. A good bit heavier, and so much thock.

[zslane]

Which one? Why both, of course.

Silly wabbit.

[Muirium]

Uh, I know a rea$on all right. The NovaTouch priced quite reasonably, at least. But I'll have to assume you're not joining in on Ellipse's Kishsaver project. That's the one where I can afford neither option but know I neeeeeed them both. Sigh.

[zslane]

You are correct re: me not joining the Kishsaver project.

[Muirium]

Hell of a board.
Hell of an expensive board.
Damn it.

[bitslasher]

I just discovered widebasket myself on eBay last week...hunting for a source of the 104UK..thought I'd discovered a secret...then I find this thread...

His auction had expired but I contacted him and he was able to acquire more to sale. I think when he reopened the auction, he sold 2 boards. He is very nice and turnaround was really fast. USPS is telling me it is supposed to arrive today (Houston, US), and it shipped from S. Korea on the 13th (4 days ago). Really fast!

I've used Model M's and Model F's for the last 20 years. Typing this message on an '85 industrial 1388032...interesting to see how I feel about a Topre. Read forever about them. Decided to sacrifice my wallet and go for it and get my dream board. As expensive as these are, I'm not going to buy more!

[Muirium]

Guess he's out now, or I need a better link. Here's all his Topre goodies that I can see:

http://stores.ebay.com/widebasket?_dmd=2&_nkw=topre

Man, those prices, yikes!

Anywho, if you did indeed just buy yourself one of these, consider me jealous! And I'm typing on one of these, so know where you're coming from too. Topre's nothing at all like buckling spring. But just as great in its own quite different way. You'll see. Neither of them is for everyone. But more than just a few of us around here enjoy them both!

[zslane]

widebasket doesn't seem to post 104UKs for auction very often. But you can send him a message and request one.

[Muirium]

What kind of price? I can't even see that when they aren't there…

(Girds financial loins)

[zslane]

$339 is the norm right now, I believe.

[Muirium]

An Ellipse Kishsaver? Noted!

[bitslasher]

Okay so it arrived today. S. Korea to Houston, TX in 4 days. I'm a bit surprised! Typing on it now. Reminder that I've been pretty much a Model M user for the past 20 years, when not using an M, I've used an F-122. Never owned a Cherry board, I have a few Apple AEK and AEKII. I liked those boards a lot.

First impressions:
1. Board is very heavy and solid. Obviously a well made board.
2. This may sound counter-intuitive, but this thing makes my fingers tired typing on it! The muscles on the tops of my fingers are feeling the burn! These keys have a very very long travel distance. Feels much farther than my Model M. My fingers feel like they're on an exercise bike! I'm not sure if it's high profile keys that have me needing to hold my hand higher above the keyboard than I'm used to maybe? Now I'm curious if the normal profile keys are better? And now it begins...lol
3. The key caps are really nice, although I'm not so sure how really practical the cupped key caps are. They may be part of the extra labor I'm feeling as I type on the board. A combination of having to raise fingers out of the cups, above the keys, move to adjacent keys, then back down into adjacent cup, combined with long travel and low actuation point = lots of finger movement. I think flatter key caps would be more ergonomic?

I'm reserving final judgement. I'm still getting used to it. Just thought I'd share my initial impressions as I practice typing with it. It is much quieter than a stock Model M, that's for sure. My co-workers will probably appreciate it very much!

[courtesi]

I posted this in another thread but I thought I'd put it here as well:
http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/has ... 12442.html

It looks like a rebranded Noppoo w/ dampened 55g domes.

It's up on ebay right now; but it's a tad expensive knowing what these usually go for on Massdrop.

The only other option for a fullsize 55g dome mechanical is the Royal Kludge which hasn't been back for a while.