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Author Topic: My new Realforce 87u (silent)  (Read 16978 times)

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Offline pat

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« on: Wed, 02 November 2011, 23:10:04 »
I just got my 3rd Realforce today from elitekeyboards.com.  I have two 86U, variable weight, keyboards already (one black, one white), but I wanted the 87U for the caps lock light...weird huh?

Also ordered some colored keycaps, to mix it up...





Little bit closer look at the keycaps, nice :)



Used them all up, to get my money's worth haha



I was using the white 86U on my linux desktop at work, so I swapped that with this new one and am now at home with the white 86U from work.  The silent feels very similar, but much more quiet... the extra silence is the key release sound, not the down.  It might be mental, but this extra silence makes the silent 87U feel even more solid to type on than the regular 86U's.  An even improved topre "thonk" perhaps?  

BTW, my reason for liking the variable weight realforce, I like the 35g key for my left pinky finger... I broke my left hand a couple years ago, had some retarded surgery, and now that pinky is weak.  Otherwise I'm not aware of the difference in key weight while typing, for either hand.

Before I got this I had my Filco MX red keyboard on my mac mini and my black 86U on my home linux desktop.  I switched between those often and went through phases on which I liked typing on more.  Right now I'm definitely in a topre phase, all 3 of my desktops (1 work; 2 home) are realforce now, and I'm loving them.  I'm a unix admin and type all day long, so that's why my new favorite is at work now, I miss it and look forward to tomorrow morning so I can type on it again.
« Last Edit: Thu, 03 November 2011, 00:36:46 by pat »
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Offline Pretendo

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 00:16:27 »
That thing looks pretty sweet, man!  Gotta try me them topres someday.
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Offline jpm804

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 02:04:08 »
Thanks for the review... nice to hear some opinions of the silent versus non silenced... also love the black and yellow keycaps combo. :thumb:

also can you feel the difference between the 86U with the 30g pinkies and 87U with the 35g pinkies..?
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Offline litster

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 03:15:14 »
Thanks for the review silent.  Good description on the up stroke.  And yellow keycaps on black is Da Bomb!
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Offline insilica

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 03:51:00 »
Good stuff! I'm so jealous! One of these days I'm just going to pull the trigger on one of those!
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Offline pat

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 08:30:55 »
Thanks guys.. as far as 30g vs 35g, I don't think I can tell the difference.  When I compare pressing one of the 45g, and especially the 55g esc key with my pinky, then its obvious it takes more force, but I think 30g and 35g are both light.  I've never had a problem with accidentally pushing the aaaaa or ;;;;;, that others have experienced.  My preference is lighter, linear keys like this, and even the red cherry.  My fingers would get tired with an all 55g realforce.
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Offline popol

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 08:36:39 »
:painkiller: no big ass enter key :(
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Offline biochem

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 08:40:13 »
OP: I also found the lack of a Caps Lock light on the 86U to be annoying. That was one of the reasons I sold mine.
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Offline insilica

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 09:18:14 »
Quote from: biochem;444847
OP: I also found the lack of a Caps Lock light on the 86U to be annoying. That was one of the reasons I sold mine.

oh man oh man - caps lock is disabled on my machine (at least remapped to ctrl) ! who uses caps lock, we need a poll!
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Offline itlnstln

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 09:19:30 »
I use Caps Lock all the time.  I think we have had several polls on this in the past.
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Offline insilica

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 09:22:37 »
Quote from: itlnstln;444857
I use Caps Lock all the time.  I think we have had several polls on this in the past.

really? I mean sure I've had the odd occasion where I've needed caps-lock (i.e a very long shout!) but I usually type out in small case and use vim or something ... (built in macros)
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Offline pat

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #11 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 09:45:25 »
I use caps lock off/on throughout the day editing various config/xml files for applications I support.  Sometime's i'm toggling back and forth in vi and lose track, its annoying what can happen when caps lock is inadvertently still active while editing.
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Offline biochem

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #12 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 10:20:33 »
I use caps lock when entering and editing DNA sequences.
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Offline Kisakuku

  • Posts: 349
My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #13 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 10:52:42 »
Quote from: biochem;444880
I use caps lock when entering and editing DNA sequences.


All my SNPs are lowercase.
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Offline biochem

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #14 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 12:35:08 »
Quote from: Kisakuku;444893
All my SNPs are lowercase.


I can't get accustomed to lowercase sequences. They don't look "right".
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Offline itlnstln

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #15 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 12:45:28 »
Quote from: insilica;444859
really? I mean sure I've had the odd occasion where I've needed caps-lock (i.e a very long shout!) but I usually type out in small case and use vim or something ... (built in macros)

I'm an old-school SQL coder.  Lowercase just doesn't look right.
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Offline keyboardlover

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #16 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 12:46:38 »
Management Studio 2008 formats my SQL for me =)
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Offline itlnstln

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #17 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 12:55:19 »
I use Toad for Data Analysts (we use Teradata) and it does the same thing, but turning on Caps Lock saves some highlighting and mouse clicks.
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Offline Kisakuku

  • Posts: 349
My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #18 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 12:56:56 »
Quote from: biochem;444969
I can't get accustomed to lowercase sequences. They don't look "right".


My aminoacyl tRNA synthetases exclusively recognize tRNA's with lowercase anticodon-binding domains. They look "right" to them.
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Offline dorkvader

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #19 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 20:44:38 »
I dunno: I use all my capital letters with shift, unless I'm typing one-handed, and sometime even then.

Also: Darn DNA people. always with the crazy words.

Us materials/nanoscale engineers need to jump through hoops to make your DNA-machines work.
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Offline Feferi

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #20 on: Thu, 03 November 2011, 21:08:34 »
I got the yellow keys for my black RF too! Can't wait till they get here.
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Offline treigle

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #21 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 14:06:46 »
Pat, you should sell your annoying, non-capslock light having 86U white to me! :)
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Offline pat

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #22 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 15:00:58 »
Quote from: treigle;446795
Pat, you should sell your annoying, non-capslock light having 86U white to me! :)

I wasn't thinking about selling it, but I'm open to offers I suppose.  It'd come in original packaging with red esc & purple wasd too.
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Offline Lmnr

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #23 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 15:54:01 »
Lol dang.. nice looking Topre I'm looking for one myself but I don't think this ones in my price limit I'm guessing 300+?
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Peripherals:
Realforce 87uw with grey caps,Ducky YOTR Blues,Realforce 104ug Hipro,Zowie Am FG,WMO 1.1a,Sidewinder X3

Offline Lmnr

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #24 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 15:55:28 »
Lol dang.. nice looking Topre I'm looking for one myself but I don't think this ones in my price limit I'm guessing 300+ for the 87 silenced version plus the keycaps?
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Peripherals:
Realforce 87uw with grey caps,Ducky YOTR Blues,Realforce 104ug Hipro,Zowie Am FG,WMO 1.1a,Sidewinder X3

Offline pat

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #25 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 16:04:34 »
Quote from: Lmnr;446846
Lol dang.. nice looking Topre I'm looking for one myself but I don't think this ones in my price limit I'm guessing 300+ for the 87 silenced version plus the keycaps?

That board is $365, the keycaps are $110, shipping & tax put it over $500... I try not to dwell on that hehe.
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Offline Lmnr

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #26 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 16:06:50 »
Guess there are those who are dedicated and there's those who are DEDICATED.
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Peripherals:
Realforce 87uw with grey caps,Ducky YOTR Blues,Realforce 104ug Hipro,Zowie Am FG,WMO 1.1a,Sidewinder X3

fossala

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #27 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 16:36:49 »
Quote from: Lmnr;446852
Guess there are those who are dedicated and there's those who are DEDICATED.
Maybe just dedicated with more money.
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Offline Lmnr

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #28 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 16:48:16 »
exactly, a 87ub and a 86ub has a price difference of like 150$ just for being quieter and 1 key more. Oh and the light on the caps lock
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Peripherals:
Realforce 87uw with grey caps,Ducky YOTR Blues,Realforce 104ug Hipro,Zowie Am FG,WMO 1.1a,Sidewinder X3

Offline pat

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #29 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 16:54:14 »
The keyboard is a tool to do my job, so its important to me.  Add to that, I'm sensitive to feel, texture & sounds and have a tendency to go looking for perfection and this is what happens.
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Offline Lmnr

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #30 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 17:03:04 »
OH don't worry I feel the same way its just the difference of the 86 and 87 can't really affect me since I've never tried topre switches but yea 87 is the better one.
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Peripherals:
Realforce 87uw with grey caps,Ducky YOTR Blues,Realforce 104ug Hipro,Zowie Am FG,WMO 1.1a,Sidewinder X3

Offline Jim66

  • Posts: 101
My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #31 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 17:08:58 »
My first 86U arrived in the post the other day. I'm in love with variable weighted Topre.
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Offline Lmnr

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #32 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 17:14:52 »
Quote from: ripster;446898
87U is for the leet.

Welcome to the club!
(Attachment Link) 31105[/ATTACH]
What happened to Topre being #5? lol.
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Peripherals:
Realforce 87uw with grey caps,Ducky YOTR Blues,Realforce 104ug Hipro,Zowie Am FG,WMO 1.1a,Sidewinder X3

Offline Lmnr

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #33 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 17:26:33 »
Lol ok so are the ones before #5 also leet or even LEET-ER?
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Peripherals:
Realforce 87uw with grey caps,Ducky YOTR Blues,Realforce 104ug Hipro,Zowie Am FG,WMO 1.1a,Sidewinder X3

Offline litster

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  • rare caps?! THAT'S A SMILIN
My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #34 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 17:28:55 »
Dude, your sig is super thick!
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Offline Lmnr

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My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #35 on: Sun, 06 November 2011, 17:34:40 »
Lol.
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Peripherals:
Realforce 87uw with grey caps,Ducky YOTR Blues,Realforce 104ug Hipro,Zowie Am FG,WMO 1.1a,Sidewinder X3

Offline Mazora

  • Posts: 252
My new Realforce 87u (silent)
« Reply #36 on: Mon, 14 November 2011, 16:30:56 »
This autohotkey script allows me to enable Numlock and use the virtual numpad but with the convenience of the Left Windows key:

Quote
LWin::
SetNumlockState, on
return

LWin up::
SetNumlockState, off
return


While Left Windows key is down, you can use the numpad, once you release the key, numlock will turn off and you can continu typing (using alpha keys).

This is very usefull for me since i need to type these everyday:

135087ZX2
546582PA3
887797CCC

etc etc...
« Last Edit: Mon, 14 November 2011, 16:34:20 by Mazora »
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