Realforce R3

[phinix]

I know these have been out for a while, but where the hell can we buy them in Europe?

[Tribal]

I keep being tempted by the ones on eBay. The black, silenced, hybrid one seems like a potential endgame keyboard for me…although I assume that the day after I order one that Leopold will release a wireless update to the FC660C.

[wobbled]

They haven’t been released to europe yet, you need to use buyee or sendico to import one

[Riverman]

I bought a white silenced 45g one recently off a local guy. I think he bought it off of eBay. It's definitely a great keyboard. My only concerns are that mine had a couple of keys that pinged noticeably, so I took the whole thing apart and reseated the domes and springs. I've owned quite a few other Topre keyboards and had never experienced that. I hope their quality control isn't slipping.
Reseating everything seemed to improve it, though. I'm also concerned that the white case is going to yellow over time since it's ABS. I really like the black Mac version with the black case and gunmetal top. Too bad the PC version is all boring black.

[Elrick]

The black, silenced, hybrid one seems like a potential endgame keyboard for me…

Spoken like a true youngster. For all of them, I'ts always the "Endgame" scenario for them.

Truly sheltered lives you lead because I have personally never come across any "Endgame" product, made by any humans on this planet.

[Muirium]

“Endgame” is the carrot.
FOMO is the stick.

[JCMax]

Today's endgame will be yet another dull item on yesteryear's checklist. When you hit it, don't be surprised when that suddenly changes to not-anymore because now you've got a whole new obsession to quest for! It never ends!!!

I thought Model M would be mine...then Model F...then HHKB...then Realforce...
Who knows what the next one will be when I am on my deathbed!

On the subject of the R3, I wish they would hurry up and release it!!! How long has it been since the first Japanese release? A year already? I am dying to know how it compares to the R1/R2.

[Riverman]

On the subject of the R3, I wish they would hurry up and release it!!! How long has it been since the first Japanese release? A year already? I am dying to know how it compares to the R1/R2.

The R3 types no differently than the others. Mine feels exactly like my R2 PFU Limited Edition, but they're both 45g silenced keyboards, so I didn't expect much. The differences that are noticeable, and I think make the R3 worth it are that they fixed the odd spacing on the legends on num lock, print screen, scroll lock, page up, and page down; the indicator LEDs are visible and aren't hidden between two rows of keys, it's less angular and styled more like the R1, and it has Bluetooth, although I've yet to try that out. I also like that it comes in white, but matching white mice aren't as common as they should be.

[wobbled]

Although it’s a small improvement, and something someone could do themselves in an hour or so, the R3s now have better quality lube on the 2u keys and spacebar getting rid of the rattle which was more prominent in R1 and still there in R2.
This is realforces answer to Ricoh’s equally well made and tuned Hybrid and Hybrid Type S
Having a proper lube job done from factory is also pleb friendly as they now don’t have to open their boards - one of my snows is still sealed which is very much not like me

[Muirium]

Bluetooth gets my attention. I do most of my typing via Bluetooth HHKB, kicked back from the desk, so it certainly appeals to me, even in TKL. So long as I don’t actually see a picture of the R3, it sounds pretty good.

[Riverman]

the R3s now have better quality lube on the 2u keys and spacebar getting rid of the rattle which was more prominent in R1 and still there in R2.

My R3, an R3HB21, had no lube on anything but the space bar. I still had to take it apart to lube the other stabilized keys. Backspace, in particular, was pretty noisy.

[wobbled]

the R3s now have better quality lube on the 2u keys and spacebar getting rid of the rattle which was more prominent in R1 and still there in R2.

My R3, an R3HB21, had no lube on anything but the space bar. I still had to take it apart to lube the other stabilized keys. Backspace, in particular, was pretty noisy.

Odd, I was under the impression from others I've seen that lube is now standard on all 2U

[Julle]

Does the R3 series have support for any kind of remapping? I'm mostly interested in reprogramming or swapping control and caps lock.

[Riverman]

Yes, you can remap any key. The R3 software is surprisingly great, much better than what they had for the R2. The keyboard also has two layers for programming keys, which is what the big round button in the upper right-hand corner is for. When you press it, the A or B button lights up to indicate which layer you're on. I know Topre included alternate Caps Lock and Ctrl keycaps on the R2 models, but I can't remember if my R3 came with them or not, and the box is in storage.

[dabeshu]

I received a r3 a day or two ago and it didn't come with a swappable keycap. I may just swap from 87u.