HHKB pro 2 from a UK IT support POV

[thefebruaryman]

Hello Geek Hack. This is my first review and yes I know that the HHKP pro 2 has been reviewed many times before so I won't repeat some of the information that others have done.

Before I begin I best tell you a few things about myself and what I do and what keyboards I have had experience with.
Firstly my job is a jack of all trades in the computer world. I spend a lot of my time working with data. From the basics of a spreadsheet to SQL databases and even some arcane visual fox. I have to write a lot of emails and a lot of programmes. When it comes to the OS's I work in I use a mixture of linux (many flavours) and windows (xp to 7) and have to spend many hours working in terminals interfacing with servers and programmes.
I have used a number of mechanical keyboards and out of the mx switch types I most like the blues. I have used almost every type of mx switch with exception to the greens and blacks. Also I have tried most sized keyboards ie 60%, TKL, and 100%.
My main layout type is UK ISO though have had some experience with ANSI.
I am left handed and my favourite colour is green

Why buy a HHKB?

I bought the keyboard for 3 main reasons.
1. I had never used topre switches before and wanted to try them.
2. I was finding pain in my right wrist from long periods of typing.
3. It looks awesome!

Were these good reason?

Switches:

The topre switches are like butter compared to mx. They have a nice solid feel and little to no wobble. I can type as precisely as I can on mx blues yet it feels better when I do. An added bonus is that I bottom out on the keys less than with any other keyboard. They are quite switches compared with most mx and have a good sound I would like to try the s-type but the extra money was too much for the board and I also like the way the standard one sounds.

Typing strains:

Having found pains and strains in my right wrist I came to the conclusion that this was all down to keyboard placement on my desk. I am sure that anyone reading this knows that G and H keys should be directly in front of you so that your left and right hands are symmetrical to one another. However this means that a keyboard which is either TKL or 100% is not aliened straight with your computer screen and that there is a lot of desk room used up on the right. This causes one of two things. The keyboard slowly gets edged to the left so that you don't have to reach so far for the mouse and so that some false visual balance is reached between the screen, yourself and the board. Or you right hand is constantly being moved or bent to the right to reach navigation keys, the mouse  or the numpad.
Having moved on the the HHKB pro 2 this is no longer an issue. I have the board lined up perfectly with the screen and myself and have felt no strains or pains in my wrist since.

Does it look AWESOME?

Hell yes it does. This is one pretty little thing. I bought the white blank cap version and it looks great!


Layout

So I have to talk about the layout a bit. As I have already mentioned I use the UK ISO which for the most part I really like. However moving to the HHKB layout I had no real issues. The control really is in a much better place and I had previously set this as the location on my other boards months ago so there was no break in time. The cursor keys are also easy to use and found that it only took me about an hour to get use to them. I am still finding the home and end keys a bit of a niggle but think putting in some coloured caps for the cursor key might help with quick visual location of the others.
The enter and backspace (once switch changes have been made) is also much easier to use than on other keyboards.
And of course the enter key is in a great location that is easy to get to, this helps work in VIM and many other applications.
My only grip with the layout and with general US layout is the placement of the back slash and pipe key. On a UK ISO this is located on the right hand side of the left shift key. Meaning that the shift key is smaller but god dam does it make getting to the key easy and fast. Also a slightly short shift key makes no difference to use of a board. If/when the HHKB pro 3 is put in to development I will petition to have this implemented.
My final note of the layout would have to be the pound sign. This is normally part of the UK ISO and is found above the 3 key. However since starting using the keyboard I have not had any need to type a £ in.

Pros:

Small and neat ie portable
Great typing experience
Reduces typing strain
Looks amazing
Probably the best layout on any board

Cons

As mentioned the backslash key
Not programmable
No rubber grips on the bottom, this makes the keyboard a little slippy on the desk but doesn't cause much of an issue at all.
The usb hub part of the board could do with much improvement.
Find it difficult of get clack for topre. Well at least in my experience as I never been lucky enough to win either a clack factory, kult or bro sale


What I would like

I really love how this board looks. It almost has a 70's/80's future tech feel to it. Like something you would see in buck rogers. However I would like a slightly better build quality (aluminium case) . I would like rubber grips on the base. I would like some lights to indicate caps lock and other things. Better usb hub.
I would like the keyboard to be programmable with option to use a sd card to save macros, data, layouts etc.
I think that some coloured replacement caps and key puller included in the box would have been a nice touch.

Conclusion:

Having used a HHKB pro 2 and having got use to it I now have to buy a second. I need one for home! In turn I need to get rid of my other boards and clacks as they will have no more use to me. If I were still to play computer games I would probably keep a mx baord around as DOTA or a fps needs fast access to the function keys.
If you are thinking of buying an HHKB pro 2 and have the money then do it. I had a few doubts before I used one and they are now all gone. This is by far the best board I have used to date.
If you live in the UK I would recommend smartimports as they helped me with the import tax and delivery was fast!


After note

There are bound to be things that I will need to add to this review that I will think of just after posting it. So if you have any questions just post and I will try my best to answer.