Woah, that keyboard collection. I just bought a black RealForce 87U 55g in white/grey caps on its way.
You mentioned that if you had to pick one keyboard out of your arsenal, you would pick the RF 87U 45g. Do you prefer the 45g over the 55g because the 45g is in TKL, or is it the feel/sound?
BTW, those two sister boards are beautiful. The white one looks friendly and dependable, while the black one looks mysterious, powerful, yet aloof. I really like how you put the colors together, and it even helps navigate through a blank keyboard. 5 tones - who would've thought of that - brilliant idea. I like them so much I saved the photo. I can see the red plate peeping from underneath the black one. Is it foam I see you have stuffed between the plate and PCB? How much does that help? Are these keycaps in OEM profile (as opposed to cherry)? Where'd you get them?
Forgive the late reply. Both my 45g and 55g Realforce 87U are TKL (the 87U model is 87 keys). I just find that with my hands/fingers/wrists, I fatigue of the 55g more quickly and sometimes it causes me to miss a key since I didn't press hard enough.
Thanks for the kind words! It is indeed foam material inside the casing. I do it to most of my keyboards as I find it cuts down on the hollow sounds that you can get... makes them sound more tight. It makes enough of a difference and is more appreciated if you're already typing with the keyboard on a soft surface (desk mat, towel). You can get rolls of the stuff at the dollar store and try it out and see if you like it.
The keycaps are all Cherry profile. I don't really have a preference for one over the other... Cherry perhaps looks a bit better, IMO, but I was more concerned with the texture, sound, and appearance. I got all my blanks from Massdrop.
Great review, interesting opinion. I've really been on the hunt for an HHKB pro 2 mainly because I like the layout and form factor, as well as it's relatively steep "elevation", for lack of a better term? I'm a bit new to the scene so I don't what to call that part of the design of a keyboard. Either way, this thread has definitely made me look closer into the realforce 87U despite much more preferring the form factor and layout of the Pro 2. Are there any other Topre boards that come close to mimicking the pro2 design at all?
I'm not aware of any other Topre keyboards with the HHKB layout. If you prefer the layout of the HHKB2, I'd recommend just getting that. I actually use my HHKB quite a bit these days... It's an interesting keyboard to use. I wouldn't say it's objectively better... but subjectively... you may like it more.
Of course... you could get one of each and enjoy the best of both worlds.