Just got a realforce 88ub the other day.
And indeed they feel very unique.
Its kinda hard to explain, but they are really smooth, not as harsh as any mechanicals.
They have some tactile feedback that is really weird, because while pressing slowly you can hardly feel it, but when typing at normal speed, you can feel it more distinctivly.
Its clearly not comparable to blues, which have a great tactile bump, but its kind of comparable to browns I guess.
If you can afford the high price tag, go for it, if you are hesitating, get one from the classifieds, just as I did.
Realforce boards have a flawless build (I guess, from what I see at least), keycaps are PBT, Dye sub, so they will take really heavy use over an extended period of time to wear off.
The only thing, is that the spacebar is ABS. But because of its texture, it will wear down quite slowly.
So I'm guessing that topre keyboard maintain their value over time. Which might not be the case of cherries, because of the keycap wear that is much more pronounced.
I will keep you guys posted concerning the wear of my keycaps, because i usually shine keycaps in a few months (2/3 months for the best ABS keycaps i've got).
To conclude, topre board are really solid, typing on them is nice, even if i still think that the tactile feedback isnt as good as blues. But that is traded off for far less noise, and a smoother typing experience.
If you believe we are selling you dream, you should probably buy a second hand one to try it, if you can afford the expense. If you are really hesitating, go for something less expensive first, then you might reconsider
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Edit : I really love my cherry MX blues. But they really are quite loud, and because im living in a small flat with my girlfriend, and I often like staying up late in the night to program, the noise was an issue. Even with a door between the computer and her, the high pitched noise could be heard in her room.
So I figured I should try topres. I had tried borwns, but wasnt convinced (the tactile bump really isnt noticeable at average typing speeds), then I got a red board, but that again, even if the experience was really pleasant, it wasnt convincing. So i got a second hand realforce.
You got a smooth key that you dont need to bottom out, a nice *thump* when you bottom out heavily, and some tactile feedback, while inferior to blues, is still noticeable.
Add to that the superior build quality and keycaps (I actually dont give a **** about build quality, i started off whith a razer blackwidow which i still love) and you got yourself a nice board.
I dont plan on getting any new board now, while before having this one, I was planing on getting a BS, o-rings, and lots of other stuff. No im like, **** this, ive got a topre, what else do I need ?
