HHKB Lite 2 Questions

[cheebz]

Hi guys I'm new here so don't troll me too hard

I've spent a few days browsing this forum looking for some opinions on the HHKB Lite 2.  Basically the consensus seems to be that it is an absolute piece of ****.  

Here's the bottom line.
I'm a programmer and I do alot of typing (touch-typist), but I never really have had what most of you would consider a quality keyboard.  I'm currently using one of those new scissor-switch aluminum apple wired keyboards (without numpad).  This thing feels like a godsend compared to what I was previously used to using (logitech $10 - $30 keyboards).

My question is despite the bad reviews this thing has garnered, is it better than what I'm using now or what I'm used to?  Will I notice a significant difference (that justifies spending the money) in typing comfort?

HHKB Pro 2 is absolutely out of the question.  I realize that it is a quality keyboard but I'm also a college student and well there's your answer.

Also I should note I use gnu+linux and I'm pretty fond of vim/emacs (layout on hhkb is great, even though it's possible to remap any keyboard the same way ) so that is the main reason why i'm looking at this keyboard.

[Rajagra]

:welcome: It isn't really *that* bad. You get tactile feedback from the rubber domes collapsing, and the keys register reliably on mine. I can make them fail by pressing them slowly until the dome just about collapses, but that doesn't happen during real typing. (Yet?)

My biggest complaint would be the changes to the layout. The extra arrow keys detract from the clever way you can do navigation from the home position. They make you lazy and reach for the extra keys instead of learning the layout properly. It has 2 Fn keys, but they aren't placed symmetrically. That really bugs me for some reason. (Mind you, the Pro version does the same if you configure it to have 2 Fn keys.)

It's a good, genuinely compact keyboard - one of the few that aren't spoiled by cramming in as many physical keys as humanly possible.

Whether you'd prefer it to the scissor switches, only you can say. There isn't much in it, and it's a personal choice.

[PRISONER 24601]

You can find a brown cherry keyboard for around $50. I think they're amazing switches, and they seem to be a runner-up among some of the Topre fans around here. They're tactile, non-clicky switches with a light touch (45cn @ actuation? or start?). I think they're a godsend. I can type for hours upon hours without getting tired, and the sound/feel is quite soothing.

[ch_123]

Yeah, a Filco Tenkeyless with Browns is about half the price of a HHKB but gives you a comparable feel to the Topre switches in the Pro model.

Obviously the layout is more conventional, but you can mod your keymap quite easily inside Linux.

[dusanx]

I've spent a few days browsing this forum looking for some opinions on the HHKB Lite 2.  Basically the consensus seems to be that it is an absolute piece of ****.

I am using one right now. Rubber domes are bad but they are probably best rubber domes I have. I have two model Ms too so I know what good keys look like.

Proper layout or not, I do need real cursor keys when I don't use vim, vimperator or uzbl. Fn+cursor keys also do PgUp, PgDown, Home and End functions and that is something that I like a lot.

Layout is fantastic, I have given up from using proper M because of its size, even if that means that I must use rubber domes.

Main reason why I hesitate to buy pro is lack of cursor keys. Realforce is too big so I can't use it.

Again, HHKB lite rubber domes are not IBM BS but they are not that bad at all.

[chimera15]

Hi guys I'm new here so don't troll me too hard

I've spent a few days browsing this forum looking for some opinions on the HHKB Lite 2.  Basically the consensus seems to be that it is an absolute piece of ****.  

Here's the bottom line.
I'm a programmer and I do alot of typing (touch-typist), but I never really have had what most of you would consider a quality keyboard.  I'm currently using one of those new scissor-switch aluminum apple wired keyboards (without numpad).  This thing feels like a godsend compared to what I was previously used to using (logitech $10 - $30 keyboards).

My question is despite the bad reviews this thing has garnered, is it better than what I'm using now or what I'm used to?  Will I notice a significant difference (that justifies spending the money) in typing comfort?

HHKB Pro 2 is absolutely out of the question.  I realize that it is a quality keyboard but I'm also a college student and well there's your answer.

Also I should note I use gnu+linux and I'm pretty fond of vim/emacs (layout on hhkb is great, even though it's possible to remap any keyboard the same way ) so that is the main reason why i'm looking at this keyboard.

I used hhk2 lite's and lite 2's almost exclusively until I found siig minitouch's, and figured out how to mod my own minis, and even converted a hhk2 lite into a mechanical.

The main problem with them imo is that they wear really quickly.  The main one I used for about a year, the caps wobble like they're about fall off.  They have about a 30-40 degree wobble on them, which is really annoying.  The lack of function,keys and a fn controlled number pad can also be pretty annoying.

Since I'm used to clicky alps now, going back to them, the keys, even on a new one feel really sloppy, and bogged down relatively.

Oh the backspace/delete situation with them is pretty screwed up too.

[cheebz]

thanks for the replies guys i appreciate it

still deciding though..

i saw a post in another thread that mentioned how it sucks that all you can test out at american retailers are cheap rubber domes and a few scissor switch keyboards.  i'd really like to know what a cherrry blue switch feels like

[ch_123]

It's hard to describe them in terms of rubber dome keyboards as they are so different. One thing you should bare in mind is that they consistently come either first or second (usually quite close to buckling springs) in some polls we've had about everyone's favorite switch. Unless noise is an issue, you can't really go wrong with them.