How does the build quality of the hhkb compare to the poker? I remember the caps on my poker would have a lot of wiggle room and seemed to protrude a bit too much.
Barring the difference in cherry vs topre switches, the build quality of an HHKB is generally just more solid. My HHKB is heavier even after adding a ton of dampening to my Poker board. It's more solid. The feet on the Poker are slightly better with gripping. Keys hardly wiggle on the HHKB. And when you yank all the keys off, you just have this simple slate that makes it easy to clean around the board, no exposed stabilizers or internals. Most people don't give topre switches a real chance.
When it comes to the switches, the big problem is people go into topre boards expecting to be blown away. They get so hyped up about the price, that when they finally attain one, they expect topre switches to be twice as good (considering the price) as cherry ones. And really it's not like that. Don't kid yourself, its a rubber dome board with a spring underneath. After two years on my HHKB's, it still feels just like new. And that feeling is a slightly tactile rubber dome keyboard. I think when people use cherrys and alps for so long, and then switch over to topre switches, its a letdown. It's like they're going backwards in mechanical keyboards, because it feels just like their rubber dome board they ditched long ago. But unlike your typical rubber dome, topres won't change in feel, have slightly more travel, and honestly that collapsing rubber "thock" is really gratifying, because of how crisp it is.
I guess it's all personal preference, but my HHKB is one of my best made boards, because of all the consideration put into "I might yank all the keys off, how easy is this to clean?" or the additional ports on the back for usb devices, or DIP switches, etc etc.
