HHKB Professional BT (Bluetooth)

002 · 12 Apr 2016, 07:37

Looks like PFU finally decided to release a Bluetooth version of the HHKB:
http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/hhkeyboard/b ... ium=sns_fb

3 models so far:

PD-KB600B (English layout // with legends)
PD-KB600BN (English layout // without legends)
PD-KB620B (Japanese layout)

You can buy them on Amazon Japan for 29,700 yen:
http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/direct/shop/hhkb/btpre.html

matt3o · 12 Apr 2016, 07:50

OMG OMG OMG we are all gonna die!

002 · 12 Apr 2016, 08:06

matt3o wrote: OMG OMG OMG we are all gonna die!

Man honestly I think it's a little bit ugly with the giant rail at the back but a supposed 3 month battery life will surely appeal to those who favour function over form.

Khers · 12 Apr 2016, 08:10

3 months! Not bad!

Looks a bit shit though, with the protrusion...

matt3o · 12 Apr 2016, 09:11

they clearly wanted to reuse the case mold they already have... that is probably easiest/cheapest solution to carry the batteries without having to reinvent a new case design. Understandable but a bit lame considering the premium price.

After two HHKB I honestly came to the conclusion that they are not worth what they are charging them, but I'm very glad that they came out with a BT version.

Belfong · 12 Apr 2016, 09:16

Matias keyboard has that protruding thing too. Maybe it's a trend?

timmo · 12 Apr 2016, 09:42

I figured that this had to be in the pipeline after they released that bluetooth tablet stand as a stopgap.

Belfong wrote: Matias keyboard has that protruding thing too. Maybe it's a trend?

I always assumed that their design was based on the original ADB keyboard: wiki/Apple_Desktop_Bus_Keyboard

cookie · 12 Apr 2016, 10:13

Holy moly!!!!

But I have to admit that it is way to ugly for my taste... This strange battery penis is ruining it for me

I'd rather have a glued in power pack instead of this, hasu has already proven that you have enough space inside the case!

For those who are interested, here the link: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=12047.0

But I do give them credits for having a HHKB with BT.

amospalla · 12 Apr 2016, 11:22

I think that batteries decission is the best they could have done.

I can't stand products with integrated, hard to replace batteries. I always decide for the product which uses the most standard ones, easy to replace.

I would go for one of those if my setup did not include a Hasu's usb-usb converter and a kvm.

photekq · 12 Apr 2016, 11:27

3 months battery life you say? With those little AA-sized batteries?

How come they're able to get 90-180x the battery life of a HHKB modded with hasu's?

cookie · 12 Apr 2016, 11:35

I'd rather have a better looking (small profile) keyboard, with harder to replace battery than that

Personally I've never had issues with modern batteries and I open up and clean my keyboards on a regular basis, so I see no problems with having power-packs inside and charging them over the usb cable. If you run out of batteries, you still have the USB as fallback.

Also I do not understand why they are adding bluetooth and increasing the overall size of the keyboard?
That decision is contradictory in my opinion, you wan't a keyboard to be as compact as possible if you are going to carry it around, don't you?

In the end, I think I'd go with Hasus BT mod instead of that (I am not that fond of black HHKBs

)

matt3o wrote: After two HHKB I honestly came to the conclusion that they are not worth what they are charging them, but I'm very glad that they came out with a BT version.

How dare you?

What you do you exactly mean? I think the price is... well okay I guess for a "Made in Japan" product. But I'd like to hear your thoughts.

_PixelNinja · 12 Apr 2016, 12:52

matt3o wrote: they clearly wanted to reuse the case mold they already have... that is probably easiest/cheapest solution to carry the batteries without having to reinvent a new case design. Understandable but a bit lame considering the premium price.

After two HHKB I honestly came to the conclusion that they are not worth what they are charging them, but I'm very glad that they came out with a BT version.

Same feelings here for both the looks of this BT SKU, which in my opinion breaks the elegance of the original design, and HHKBs in general. I absolutely love mine, but I don't think it lives up to its price either.

shreebles · 12 Apr 2016, 13:40

I agree, though I never had a HHKB myself. But I wanted to try Topre and got a Novatouch for 90€. That's a steal. Even at 150, it's ok and competitively priced. You have to dampen it yourself, of course. I like it better than 002's Realforce from the tour.

The price of Realforce and HHKB is a whole different league. If you have 200€ and a soldering iron you can get a nice 60% custom that is 100% programmable and can be made to fit your own preferred design and layout.
Charging that much for being a 60% Topre Keyboard is only possible because there are no alternatives. The HHKB needs fewer domes than a Realforce and has a plastic plate. It should be cheaper.
I can see a HHKB-s in my keyboard rotation in the future, but definitely not for the retail price, and not without a controller mod.

Now if CM came out with a 60% Novatouch...

_PixelNinja · 12 Apr 2016, 14:31

shreebles wrote: It should be cheaper.

Well, if you ever travel to Japan they can be found for €170-180 if you know where to look

shreebles wrote: Now if CM came out with a 60% Novatouch...

I've been bothering them with that for a while. Sadly, as far as I can tell, it ain't going to happen. From what CM has hinted to me, the Novatouch in itself is not a critical success with the general public ("That price and there ain't no numpad?!"; "What? No backlighting?"; "Where dem macros be?") which has made them rethink where the Novatouch will go from here.

cookie · 12 Apr 2016, 14:54

shreebles wrote: Now if CM came out with a 60% Novatouch...

Even if they'd do that, I highly doubt that they would add a HHKB style FN key and layout.
I think it would be basically a Topre-Poker (Toker?!?) Which would be a smart move for people who'd like to change caps.

For a 60% Novatouch with MX compatibility and metal Backplate for under 150 bugs... That would be a reason for me to deal with a crappy Poker layout

This keyboard would definitely kill my wallet... Massive Caps compatibility paired with glorious cup rubber, True masterrace!

_PixelNinja wrote: I've been bothering them with that for a while. Sadly, as far as I can tell, it ain't going to happen. From what CM has hinted to me, the Novatouch in itself is not a critical success with the general public ("That price and there ain't no numpad?!"; "What? No backlighting?"; "Where dem macros be?") which has made them rethink where the Novatouch will go from here.

Kids will grow up one day... Until then we won't have a 60% Nova and Razer will still be around!

matt3o · 12 Apr 2016, 15:32

cookie wrote: What you do you exactly mean? I think the price is... well okay I guess for a "Made in Japan" product. But I'd like to hear your thoughts.

even if I liked the layout, I don't feel it is worth the premium value they are asking (even for a made in Japan product). I'm clearly a minority considering that the HHKB is on the market since many years now and never was lowered in price.

cookie · 12 Apr 2016, 15:55

Well if I put my Pro1 from 2005 in perspective they were before their time back in the days.
60%, Topre switches, Awesome PBT caps, solid case and nice layout... Everything put together in Japan!
Still one of the greatest "Out of the Box" keyboards I've ever seen.

But things have clearly changed lately and they haven't stepped up their game, people wan't CnC milled cases, metal backplates, custom keycaps and fully programmable pcbs.

If cherry wouldn't be so damn scratchy, I'd finished the FaceU project I've bought from you a year ago or so.

Spikebolt · 12 Apr 2016, 19:06

240 euros before shipping and import taxes. For the non silent version. Damn

The three month battery is impressive for a keyboard, especially if you compare it to Hasu's controller battery. Probably not a fair comparison but still.

Not going to get it, though, black version only and a bit too steep for my taste but I'm glad PFU is finally throwing something new to the market. Now if they could just start extending their reach to Europe... That'd be great.

zslane · 12 Apr 2016, 20:45

I've been bothering them with that for a while. Sadly, as far as I can tell, it ain't going to happen. From what CM has hinted to me, the Novatouch in itself is not a critical success with the general public ("That price and there ain't no numpad?!"; "What? No backlighting?"; "Where dem macros be?") which has made them rethink where the Novatouch will go from here.

I came to this same conclusion merely on the basis of CM's complete silence on the matter of new Novatouch layouts. No hint of 60% or 100% (the only two layouts I care about). Just a line of TKLs that they have been harvesting for stems to sell off separately. Not good news for those of us hoping for other layouts.

Muirium · 12 Apr 2016, 20:49

BTHHKB??? Way hay!

Eeeew…

They literally pit a hump on the back for AA batteries of all obsolescences? Montechristo! Put a slim rechargable battery in there for goodness sake. It wouldn't even need a gross, shitty, Matias-looking lump. Urgh!

t!ng · 12 Apr 2016, 22:41

Ugly as fuck

TuxKey · 12 Apr 2016, 22:46

cookie wrote: Holy moly!!!!

But I have to admit that it is way to ugly for my taste... This strange battery penis is ruining it for me
I'd rather have a glued in power pack instead of this, hasu has already proven that you have enough space inside the case!

For those who are interested, here the link: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=12047.0

But I do give them credits for having a HHKB with BT.

100% agree the build in DIY looks way better..Just find a way to fasten the Bluetooth Controller perhaps double sided tape..
i havent read the complete post on geekhack..

TuxKey · 12 Apr 2016, 22:48

t!ng wrote: Ugly as fuck

hahha looks like i'm not the only one that thinks this is ugly as hell..
But still kudos for trying

TuxKey · 12 Apr 2016, 22:53

Thanks for the news 002

Need to bookmark this one..the other RealForce news while ago was also awesome to read..

Belfong · 13 Apr 2016, 03:18

zslane wrote:
I've been bothering them with that for a while. Sadly, as far as I can tell, it ain't going to happen. From what CM has hinted to me, the Novatouch in itself is not a critical success with the general public ("That price and there ain't no numpad?!"; "What? No backlighting?"; "Where dem macros be?") which has made them rethink where the Novatouch will go from here.
I came to this same conclusion merely on the basis of CM's complete silence on the matter of new Novatouch layouts. No hint of 60% or 100% (the only two layouts I care about). Just a line of TKLs that they have been harvesting for stems to sell off separately. Not good news for those of us hoping for other layouts.

If they are planning to discontinued the Novatouch, then it's better for many of us to start hunting for one, just for the stems. Damnit... Where can I get a used Novatouch?

matt3o · 13 Apr 2016, 07:43

honestly... I find the design vaguely retro, almost amateurish... you know it looks like they dutch taped the battery pack to the back of the keyboard... and I'm a bit ashamed to say that I kinda like it

Redmaus · 13 Apr 2016, 07:58

I'll hop on the train and also say the back part looks really unappealing compared to the regular HHKB. They should have enough space inside for a rechargeable battery right? I wonder why they didn't just go that route.

KRKS · 13 Apr 2016, 08:20

Am I the only one indifferent about that bump? Sure, it looks more professional without it, but I don't mind this ADB-like look either.

002 · 13 Apr 2016, 10:47

What I don't like about the look is that the battery compartment is rounded which is kinda at odds with the rest of the style of the HHKB which is blocky with sharp angles. I think they could've done it with a bit more grace. It kinda looks cheap and nasty. It's not like they haven't had a shitload of time to think about it, too -- the HHKB Pro 2 was released 10 years ago.

cookie · 13 Apr 2016, 11:39

I've recently restored my pro1 and I fixed some broken plastic parts. They could've easily redesign the foldout feet (or get rid of them) on the bottom to create more space for an internal power pack.

I am as impressed with the battery-life as shocked about the battery placement. They must have focused completely on the battery-life and did the case in a rush! A wise choice according to the circumstances, I'd rather have a HHKB with a battery Penis than a battery life of 20h or so.

I doubt it will be a great success here but they are aiming for the asian market I guess.