What makes you love and/or hate topre keyswitches.

[fossala]

I have my happy hacking pro 2 coming tomorrow and everybody said that I should give myself a week with topre switches before I make a decision as there is an break-in period with them.
What make you guys love and/or hate topre switches.

[Reptile]

I never had to have this "break in" period. Biggest thing coming from cherry switches was the elimination of some of the things I didn't like with cherry mx boards. The thing I love the most is the feel obviously. Not as much key wobble and no stabilizers to deal with!

Only hate I would have is the availability of replacement caps :-)

[fossala]

No stabalizers? How do the space keys work then?

[chel-]

There's nothing I really dislike about them. What I love is the sound and the feeling...

[hcry4]

I think for the HHKB, it's the layout you need to get used to more so than the switches. However, I guess for prolonged periods of use, topre gave me an overall more comfortable and less fatiguing experience. I think it's the layout that won me over more than the "good feeling of oneness with cup rubber."

[Jim66]

I love the solidness 'thocky' feeling that you get from typing; you can't really explain it, which is I guess they call it "good feeling of oneness with cup rubber."

EDIT: The above is useless and non-descriptive. For me, it's just a smoother experience, more solid typing experience. When you press the key, there doesn't seem to be as much key chatter, and you don't get that 'gritty' feeling that you can sometimes get from Cherry switches. When you bottom out, you get that nice thud.

[patrickgeekhack]

What we like or do not like is very subjective. Each person is different. You should spend some time with your keyboard, and learn to know it before making forming an opinion that's for sure. This applies to any keyboard switch.

I like mine, and the more I used it, the more I like it. Still, there were times when I was also frustrating. When I needed to find some inspiration for some essays, the Topre was not a good friend. This was, and still is, when I need a clicky keyboard.

[hcry4]

Don't be this guy.

[laffindude]

Like: Smooth action, quiet.
Dislike: a bit mushy and vague.
: Feels like a rubber dome.
Not buying one until 30g uniform silent edition in 87key.

[pitashen]

i dun hate it. its just not worth the premium plus keycap choices are limited

[fossala]

How close are they in feel to RD?

[patrickgeekhack]

What's RD?

[limmy]

Likes:
I like the PBT key caps. They don't wear as fast as ABS caps and key top feels soft to touch.
I own Poker and HHKB, both PBT caps, but I prefer caps on HHKB because of the feel. It is made from same material but key tops are different. PBT caps from KBC is more shinier and slightly more slippery. Also, the prints on Topre caps don't wear or stain because they are dye subs.

Dislike:
Actuation force for Topre changes over time. The keys tend to get heavier over time. I have been using HHKB for 5 years now and I recently bought a like new HHKB. Comparing the two, the keys from the like-new board is much lighter.

The rubber got harder and the sliders don't slide as smoothly. (I opened the board and did the ripster nickel measurement on the rubber cups. Also, I shake the upper housing with the keys and the sliders of the old one don't move as smoothly.)

The spec sheets say Cherrys are more durable (50mil vs 30mil), but since I have not used Cherry switches long enough I don't know whether key feel changes over time for Cherry switches.

[bienc]

What's RD?

Rubber Dome.

[Gawkbasher]

I work from home and between work and gaming, I have to type for basically 16+ hours a day.  Topre uniform weight (45g but I might get a 55g too) really was the only the only sane choice here.  Only Cherry Reds or Blues are even a remote consideration for an alternative here.

I fell in love with typing on my 87U 45g from day one but many years ago I'd tried an HHKB and really didn't like it, which is really strange.  This is the most consistent keyboard I have ever typed on.  I think what most people hate about them is the price.  I grew up with buckling spring keyboards and then basically slummed it in scissor-switch land for a while until I got this (I can't use cheap rubber keyboards).  The scissor switches weren't exactly bad either just very inconsistent feel.

Edit:  I should mention.  The keycaps themselves feel better than anything else I've ever used.  Even other PBT keycaps.

[reaper]

I personally like that "thock" sound it makes when you type and as for dislike, the price. =d

[patrickgeekhack]

Dislike:
Actuation force for Topre changes over time. The keys tend to get heavier over time. I have been using HHKB for 5 years now and I recently bought a like new HHKB. Comparing the two, the keys from the like-new board is much lighter.

The rubber got harder and the sliders don't slide as smoothly. (I opened the board and did the ripster nickel measurement on the rubber cups. Also, I shake the upper housing with the keys and the sliders of the old one don't move as smoothly.)

I kind of perceived a difference in actuation force too. My Topre is about 3 years old now. This was one thing I was worried about when I was deciding whether to buy one or not. Regardless of how good the Topre is, it is still a keyboard with rubber domes, which are made of rubber, and which tend to harden with time. So far, it has not been too bad.

[lootbag]

I personally like that "thock" sound it makes when you type and as for dislike, the price. =d

+1
Thock is the best!

[emptythecache]

Don't be this guy.

I immediately scrolled down to make sure that wasn't written by litster, who i just bought an rf87u from.

[Jim66]

+1 for the PBT caps.

[itlnstln]

I like the buttery, smoothness of the Realforce, but I don't care for the lack of springiness.  They feel good for awhile, but I get fatigued after long periods of use.  I get more "energy return" from Cherrys, thus less fatigue.

[itlnstln]

RD?

Rubber Dome.

[fossala]

Cannot wait for tomorrow, I haven't been this excited in ages.

[keyboardlover]

I love how quiet they are. You can type on them without making any noise.

Main thing I don't like is how the actuation is so much higher before bottoming out than on cherry switches. Accidental actuation is therefore prone to happening.

[keyboardlover]

Sure it's true. You can tell easily by plugging in both keyboards and testing them.

[Gawkbasher]

Main thing I don't like is how the actuation is so much higher before bottoming out than on cherry switches. Accidental actuation is therefore prone to happening.

With which type of Topre?  I've never had this happen on my uniform weight board.

[keyboardlover]

Compare it with a cherry board and then report back. The actuation happens higher on the topre before bottoming out.

[limmy]

The test results in the wiki must have been done with new Topres. My old HHKB takes 60 to 65g to actuate if I am remembering my test results correctly. I have Filco numpad, it is much lighter. I verified with your method.

Edit: I thought actuation was actuation force.

Technically not true.  Please read the wikis for details.

[Gawkbasher]

Shouldn't the amount of activation force required matter more than the travel distance to activation?  I'm not prone to be accidentally hitting keys anyway so it's hard to objectively test between the two without talking about universally-measurable things like force.

[itlnstln]

I love how quiet they are. You can type on them without making any noise.

Main thing I don't like is how the actuation is so much higher before bottoming out than on cherry switches. Accidental actuation is therefore prone to happening.

Technically not true.  Please read the wikis for details.

They might both be true.  IIRC, the actuation point for both switches is roughly halfway down.  The Cherry throw is a little longer, so even though the actuation point is relatively the same, the actual travel is a little shorter on the Topre.

Time for measurements!

[Gawkbasher]

They might both be true.  IIRC, the actuation point for both switches is roughly halfway down.  The Cherry throw is a little longer, so even though the actuation point is relatively the same, the actual travel is a little shorter on the Topre.

Time for measurements!

This makes slightly more sense to me.

[Gawkbasher]

Hence how I said slightly.  I have that wiki burned into my brain since before I bought the thing -- it was highly influential in my purchase decision.

[itlnstln]

Damn, I was thinking ALPS with the ~3.5mm travel.  Nevermind.  Topres and Cherrys activate at the same time (except for Cherry blues).

[oneproduct]

Love the variable weighting, it makes so much more sense than uniform. Dislike the kind of rubbery feel, Cherries seem more crisp. Also like the linear action reds provide, though I like both reds and browns.

[Jim66]

I guess a bad point would be that the delightful "thock" almost encourages you to bottom out!

[fstop]

I hate that I don't have one yet... does anyone know why when I email leopold.jp I immediately get a fail to send error?

[Surly73]

LOVE:
- PBT caps
- absolutely no key binding on off-axis strikes
- smooth
- quiet
- thock
- black-on-grey looks cool
- lively pop of 55g switches when "testing"
- oneness with cup rubber
- narrower key-top profile compared to average - less key and more gap changes feel (I don't think it's all in my head)

HATES:
- black-on-grey is almost impossible to read
- ABS spacebar
- price of keyboard (corollary: "You spent WHAT on a keyboard?")
- price of keycaps
- no PBT spacebar replacement available
- no cheap ABS spacebar sold separately to at least swap 'em out when they get shiny
- how everyone keeps saying "cloud of boobs"

NEUTRAL:
- 55g just wasn't fast for me in real world typing.  Trying variable soon.
- I vaguely recall the space bar starting to hurt the edge of my thumb...

[woody]

I love how quiet they are. You can type on them without making any noise.

HHKB is rather noisy.

[fossala]

Thought I would add my initial thought on topre, will update in a week or so as well. I first found them a bit underwhelming but warmed up to them fairly quickly. I love the bouncy feel to them, they are very fun to type on. It is also nice to be able to type on a quality board without waking up my neighbors. I think it is probably my second best switch, but my first is BS that I cannot type on for very long because it hurts may hands.
As for it being on a hhkb, I love the layout. Surprised how quickly I remembered it (I have blank keys).

[HaiiYaa]

So far after owning a topre 45g 88UB for 1 day

Likes: Everything

Hates: Hate is a strong word but I don't like the spacebar material. I also wish I had a dip switch instead of "key collars" to disable keys

[Larry Dallas]

Accidental actuation is therefore prone to happening.

I've never even once had a premature actuation problem on my hhkb, though they say it happens to all guys. For some reason I get accidental keypresses on my cherry brown board. Red, blue, black and Topre don't give my that problem.

[RiGS]

Main thing I don't like is how the actuation is so much higher before bottoming out than on cherry switches. Accidental actuation is therefore prone to happening.

This is the main thing I like about them, however I don't like how the domes collapse after the actuation without providing any resistance. That's the reason it's hard to avoid bottoming out. I also think the thock sound makes it a bit louder than the cherry blacks.