The Realforce 104 Euro Tour

[002]

Hi All,

I originally made a post about an idea I had where I would send a Topre Realforce around the world, starting with Europe for the sake of the majority of DT members

Before I do, I plan to collect some measurements on the activation forces for each key as they are out of the box. I plan to do this with an Imada force gauge which is currently on its way to me (ETA: next week). After I have these readings, I will send the keyboard to the first person who puts their hand up in this thread.

Before putting your hand up to try the keyboard out, I would like to lay down a few "rules"

1. As of this post, you must be a deskthority member (in Europe) with over 10 posts.

2. Each person may try the keyboard for 1 week before passing it on to the next person (this may change depending on the interest generated).

3. I am not familiar with postage services in Europe, but if your postage company allows it, please use a postage method with tracking. Even if it's the cheapest method possible, I would prefer that the keyboard can be tracked because the idea is that the keyboard will eventually make it's way back to me so I can measure the switch force again. If you cannot post with tracking, I would prefer that you do not apply.

4. I would prefer that you only apply if you plan to use the keyboard heavily. I am testing whether or not Topre switches change after extended use so I would appreciate that you use the keyboard as often as you can. If you try it for a day and don't like it one bit, please forward it on as soon as you can.

5. If you already have tried a Topre keyboard, please don't apply.

6. Post your opinions


Here it is - a brand new white variable force 104:




Interested [Order subject to change depending on countries involved]:
1. dirge [UK]
2. dfxdx [UK]
3. rhizo [UK]
4. hamza_tm [UK]
5. hoggy [Isle of Man]
6. silv [Germany]
7. typhson [Germany]
8. RC-1140 [Germany]
9. DeathAdder [Germany]
10. Ascaii [Germany]
11. zeeko [Germany]
12. cinch [Austria]
13. igro [Sweden]
14. gorkypl [Poland]
15. komar007 [Poland]
16. domin8r [The Netherlands]
17. Kurrk [The Netherlands]
18. Mrinterface [The Netherlands]
END

Away: kint [Germany]

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[002]

The initial post over there will be expensive but it will be over there for a while so it's no big deal

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[002]

I got a bargain on the board in the first place so it's not so bad.
Thanks for your compliment though

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[dirge]

I'd love to try the board, been very close to buying one for a while now.

[002]

Cool - dirge is first!

[off]

60 x 2 = 120 AUD for shipping plus you are lending the board. IMO That is very kind

I second that.
Might I point out that some sort of insurance on the members' parts might be in order? Seeing how even switch-try bags seem to have dissappeared (iirc), a board of this magnitude ought to have some sort of 'protection' in the form of not just tracking but actually something like everyone who wants in on this chipping in, or even 'buying' the board upon sending or receiving it.. Could use some thought, and the ideal solution hasn't really come forward yet, but now is as good as time as any.
The problem is ofcourse in the 'blame' part, is the one that sent it responsible, or the one that supposedly received it. You can easily send an empty box with tracking, or with two 1kg bricks inside; and when the next receives it claim it was the postal service. Just devilsadvocating once again, I do have faith in this community and people in general, but everyone has bad-apple-moments; let's make it somehow unfeasible to 'have a bad-apple-moment'.

[Mrinterface]

Postal insurance just covers loss of the item through postal channels( this happened to my first keychain last year. Sadly it was sent without tracking ....) , NOT the steal( this happened to my first switch try board. This can't be insured via the mail : I'm contemplating nailing the guy to some virtual wall but who knows : maybe he died and that's the reason why he doesn't answer any of my mails )

Everybody who participates should vow to collectively compensate for the loss of the item if the chain gets broken by a 'bad apple', so the generous provider of the item gets reimbursed and can link up the chain again with another similar item. This spreads the risk over all participants, so the more participants the lower the risk for everybody involved.

That's how I am going to do it for my items. Like I stated before, this process still needs to prove itself though.

[hoggy]

Can you add me to the list, please?

[rodtang]

Saw the thing in 3 pieces, it'll be easier on shipping.

[RC-1140]

If this really is going to happen, then I would absolutely love to participate. Always wanted to try a topre, but will never afford it in the next few years. But shipping wouldn't be a problem.

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[RC-1140]

well, but it isn't as high, as the price of buying a Topre Board, just to try the switches. According to the online shipping calculator of DHL shipping outside the EU, but inside Europe would cost around 28€, which would be very acceptable.

[dfxdx]

I would love to give it a try - please add me to the list.
As an aside, many thanks for offering and it is great to know that there are still some altruistic people around. I also think you are crazy. As Mrinteface said, this will get stolen somewhere down the line or broken etc.
I am quite happy to make a financial contribution but it will be difficult building a fair system. ie, if there are 10 people in the list and it get 'lost' in the middle, the last people will have to contribute when they have not even seen the board.

[002]

Thanks for your comments. Maybe I am a little crazy sending this board around but I will give this one shot anyway.
If it stings me like everyone is suggesting will happen then it's just my bad luck and it will be lesson learned. Given I got this board for so cheap, and given that I already have a boatload of Topre keyboards, I made the decision to share it with the community.

Even after I have paid the 60-odd dollars to get it over to Europe, I am still up 100 bucks compared to the price of a new one. Without having met any of the people who have registered their interest so far, I don't think any of you are shonksters out to rip me off so let's see how it goes and if it gets lost then I am prepared for the "I told you so's"

[wupi]

Crazy idea, i hope the topre gets not "lost".

[silv]

I would like to participate, too. I'm from Germany btw.

[typhson]

Hey 002,

I'am also intressted in participating at the Topre Tour.

But I have two questions:
First, do ‘hard use’ include some gaming sessions? Second, what is about other layouts like Dvorak or Neo?
I ask, because it strains the keyboard differently than normal typing in Qwertz.

Location: Germany too.


I don't know how to write it, but i am proud(?) that i may be a member in these forum, because somthing like this is possible here :thumbs

[Acanthophis]

Yay! 1 week free typing (and first time testing) Topre switches. That's awesome!
I enlist! Location is also good old Germany.

well, but it isn't as high, as the price of buying a Topre Board, just to try the switches. According to the online shipping calculator of DHL shipping outside the EU, but inside Europe would cost around 28€, which would be very acceptable.

I paid €15 to ship a Filco 105 to Italy with insurance and tracking, so it's totally ok, imo.

[RC-1140]

I propose to sort the participants by their countries. I don't think it's such a great idea to ship such an expensive and big item from the Isle of Man to Germany, back to UK, and then back to Germany. If this is the only time this would happen, I would voluntarily step back one position, so we can avoid unnecessary international shipping and customs.

And I just wanted to add, that I would probably use the keyboard in Neo Layout, if that matters, so the usage will be more focused on the home row. Maybe this would even be helpful, so we can maintain a consistent aging of the switches. (Though I doubt, that one single week even of real heavy usage would make any difference)

[Mrinterface]

@002 you should reshuffle the list before you send this one out, so the least amount of border-crossings are being made ( so it's not FIFO ). Especially for an expensive to ship item like this.

[002]

Yup we can sort out the list prior to sending that's a good idea. Whichever country is cheapest for me to send the board to initially will probably be the first , then we can go from there.

@typhson: Yes, feel free to use it for gaming .

Other layouts are also fine but I assume that this obviously means no re-arranging of keycaps or otherwise modifying the board in any way hardware wise.

[RC-1140]

Other layouts are also fine but I assume that this obviously means no re-arranging of keycaps or otherwise modifying the board in any way hardware wise.

I don't know much about Topre, but I assume that the Keycaps are sculpted as well, so rearranging the keycaps would be stupid anyway. I'm used to typing Neo on QWERTZ boards, just have to see, how the ANSI Layout performs, but as my G84-4100 is somewhat ANSI as well, I don't think it's too hard to get used to it.

I'm so excited about this one! I'm pretty sure, all of the people who have registered an interest in this yet will treat this expensive board careful.

[Acanthophis]

So only German and UK members so far?

Also, question about the keyboard: It says variable. I know there are Topres with 45g, 55g etc., but what exactly is variable?
Yeah yeah, I know what the word variable means, but how does this look in actuation force? Are there different values for alphanumeric, modifiers, F-row or does it follow a random pattern?

[RC-1140]

Variable means afaik, that you have different weights for different fingers. The switches you press with your pinkies are lighter, than the switches you press with your index fingers. An interesting design, which I always have wanted to try, so I'm really happy that this is a variable board. But because of this these Boards are only good for people who touchtype.

A pattern can be seen at the bottom of this picture:

[Acanthophis]

Sound, interesting.
I touch type (have blanks on my daily keyboard), so I am looking even more forward to test this out.

[002]

This is the more accurate diagram representing the variable force:

[Acanthophis]

Any status updates?
Did your measurement thingy arrive?