HHKB Professional BT (Bluetooth)

[Muirium]

What the fuck is Imgur doing with that awful full screen animation?

Also: Ducky's stuff is nice and all, but in a thread about HHKBs? It's not even a 60%…

[matt3o]

It's not even a 60%…

neither the HHKB

also... are you arguing about off topic?! really?! reeeeally!?

[seebart]

Ducky Air Bluetooth 65%

I like the sound of that for some reason. Not that I would buy it.

[t!ng]

I don't think my post was that much offtopic. The Ducky Air is a bluetooth small form factor keyboard and manages to hide the battery cartridge in a better way than the HHKB BT. This I wanted to point out.

[Muirium]

For anyone late showing up:

This, I like this.

I was just pissed off at the big dumb overlay that struck when I opened your original Imgur link on my phone. Had hoped to see a nice HHKB mod underneath, but nope. So I opened up a vent!

You're certainly right that anyone and everyone can do a better job with Bluetooth than Topre did. The HHKB BT is such a pig's ear… ack!

[Stabilized]

That Ducky air is the first Ducky keyboard that has actually interested me. Depending on price and availability in the EU with ANSI layout I think I will definitely try one out.

[KRKS]

Yet another "lel gotta have 6.25 amirite so let's make left alt smaller", 0/10.

[Muirium]

But you do gotta have it. On MX, you're really fucked if your board demands a 6.0 spacebar.

[_PixelNinja]

But you do gotta have it. On MX, you're really fucked if your board demands a 6.0 spacebar.

What this man says.

[cookie]

What a pitty but nice that you've shared pictures of the internals! I'd love to see a picture of the BT under the dome though. Could you take one for me?

NO. I wouldn't like to do that. It would need disassembling the board and unscrewing 20 mount points. I assure you, domes are the same. Circles on the PCB are slightly smaller so they're completely covered by the domes.

I'd actually like to know if they've changed under the dome

But Okay, I know how annoying it can be to re-assamble an HHKB

[Elrick]

You're certainly right that anyone and everyone can do a better job with Bluetooth than Topre did. The HHKB BT is such a pig's ear… ack!

Maybe the pertinent question here that hasn't been asked yet, is the HHKB an Awful Design to begin with?

Now quickly leaving this area before the HHKB fiends, start attacking .

[Muirium]

Answer: no.

What a vicious mauling…

[cookie]

To the pitchforks!

[matt3o]

At FPU they've been incredibly lazy when it came to design the new case and many design choices have been probably done to avoid too much re-tooling. They missed a great opportunity and don't expect any update for another 5 years... but honestly I find the bulky industrial design not enough for not buying it if I ever was into buying a BT HHKB.

[cookie]

Did they really avoided re-tooling? If you look closely at the housing it isn't just a HHKB Pro2 with a battery stoop.
It actually has different edges.

I think they just screwed up the whole design, also I am asking myself if they are aware that there is a huge marked among us keyboard enthusiasts? They've clearly bypassed our actual needs and the current trend

[_PixelNinja]

I think they just screwed up the whole design, also I am asking myself if they are aware that there is a huge marked among us keyboard enthusiasts? They've clearly bypassed our actual needs and the current trend

Is it really a huge market though? In the grand scheme of things we are a niche, most probably even a niche inside of a niche. And for what it's worth, they did say back in the day that they were not interested in the European market (this was reported by Brian from the KeyboardCo when he was trying to import HHKBs into Europe).

[adhoc]

I'm still not liking the design and think it could be done much better, but have you seen some user made photos? Looks like PFU's PR department didn't do a great job at taking photos of HHKB BT.

Here are some picture from geekhack, user mteinum;
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mortentei ... otostream/

[cookie]

I think they just screwed up the whole design, also I am asking myself if they are aware that there is a huge marked among us keyboard enthusiasts? They've clearly bypassed our actual needs and the current trend

Is it really a huge market though? In the grand scheme of things we are a niche, most probably even a niche inside of a niche. And for what it's worth, they did say back in the day that they were not interested in the European market (this was reported by Brian from the KeyboardCo when he was trying to import HHKBs into Europe).

Well considering all the Poker madness and that there is already the 3rd revision of the poker available in a short period, I'd say that the market is absolutely relevant. If it weren't so there wouldn't be so much keycaps, after market cases, backplates and whatnot. PFU is missing a massive business opportunity right there.

[adhoc]

They don't really care for us man...this can be seen in video games as well as fountain pens - two hobbies next to mechanical keyboards for me. They make some of the best products in all 3 of these hobbies and in all three we're always an after thought.

It's changing for better lately, but yeah.

[cookie]

The fact they don't care doesn't change the fact that they should

[Findecanor]

The Ducky Air BT looks very interesting. But I wonder about battery life, because it has backlight. Ducky's booth chick at Computex walked around with it with the backlight on.
I applaud the choice of AAA batteries - chargers are common, and if you forget to bring it on a trip you could find alkaline batteries everywhere. If it had had a permanent rechargeable Li-something battery - then that battery would have been the weakest link in the keyboard. Because Li-ion batteries degrade over time even if you don't use them, you would have had to recharge the keyboard more and more often as time goes by -- becoming gradually more and more inconvenient to use, the problems creeping up on you without you really noticing it.

BTW, Some people like the battery bulge. (although laptop, not a keyboard ).

[Muirium]

Some people are wrong, then.

[cookie]

I keep my keyboard with me all the time and I have a wire for that purpose. If you could charge the batteries through a Micro USB cable or Type-C I'd be totally fine with it. I'd be also fine replacing the power-pack after couple of years.

The giant packer on the HHKB is ugly and unpractical, because it unnecessarily increases the profile.

You must be joking comparing the Lenovo review with the HHKB's dildo. This guy talks like he could fight a friggin bear of with that thing!

[Stabilized]

BTW, Some people like the battery bulge. (although laptop, not a keyboard ).

They should have marketed the bulge as a convenient carrying handle on the HHKB! Just need to put some finger contours on it and it would be great. Actually, maybe they should just add a lunchbox handle to the thing, that would definitely improve it on all counts

[Muirium]

Needs cup holder.

[webwit]

What about some rearview mirrors?

[Muirium]

What's the in-keyboard entertainment system like?

[_PixelNinja]

Well considering all the Poker madness and that there is already the 3rd revision of the poker available in a short period, I'd say that the market is absolutely relevant. If it weren't so there wouldn't be so much keycaps, after market cases, backplates and whatnot. PFU is missing a massive business opportunity right there.

The 60% keyboard market is still a niche. Even gaming brands who have good consumer visibility in this market are reluctant to put out such keyboards (I've been on CMs back with this for a while). I'm sure the third party hardware and modifications you speak of are at least in part what drives the sales of the Poker, of which customization has always been part of the picture if I recall correctly; the HHKB does not benefit from that. Lastly, keep in mind you are comparing a ~€140 Cherry MX — an established and known switch — keyboard with a €200+ obscure Japanese switch based keyboard with a 'weird layout'. So I'm not sure the comparison is a fair one.

Don't get me wrong though. Compact keyboards are my favorite form factor and I would really like to see Topre more readily available over here in the EU.

[Muirium]

Europe is the most nitchiest niche of all. We're a total afterthought, because so few of us are into this stuff anyway.

You're right about 60s. They really raise eyebrows. The Poker can seem mainstream to us, but we're a keyboard forum! In truth, it's pretty damn niche in its own right.

[_PixelNinja]

In that regard (us being an afterthought), it does not help that to conform to a wider public, the brands/manufacturers would have to cater to the diverse layouts present in Europe, driving costs up in what would already be a risky endeavor.