First Mechanical Keyboard...HHKB Pro 2 with Colemak?!

[Lain]

Hi there guys!

A little about myself to get things started nicely: I'm currently a California community college student hoping to transfer into the Electrical or Computer Engineering program (not quite sure yet) at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I am looking to invest in a keyboard that will last for years and give the user an enjoyable typing experience. I will be using this keyboard for the following:

-Everyday personal/school use
-Blogging
-Programming (All engineering majors must take programming, I have yet to take any programming classes, so this is a big factor. Will I need a number pad?)
-Definitely no gaming
-I am a dedicated Colemak user!
-I need something quiet!

The Realforce 87u (variable) would be a great choice for me since I do use the arrow keys moderately and because of Colemak, the caps lock as a backspace. And since I would not be gaming, the variable weight among the keys sounds like a good choice. Plus, that's the way the keys are weighted on a well-regulated piano (I am a pianist). I also would very much appreciate the ergonomics and the space saved from the absence of a number pad. Later down the line I can buy a dedicated number pad if I really needed it. I doubt it, though.

While the Realforce seems like the obvious choice, I absolutely love the aesthetic of the HHKB Pro 2! I can deal with arrow keys being accessible through the function key, but I am worried about the 'Control' key being where the caps lock is. Is Colemak still a viable option for the HHKB? What can I do? Can I set 'Delete' to function as 'Control' and 'Control' to function as 'Delete'? How? I'm a PC user, it that matters. As far as the key weight being uniform throughout, I definitely do not mind. How would the Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro 2 fare in Programming applications further down the road (school/work)?

As far as build quality goes, I hear nothing but good things about both keyboards, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a whole lot!

--Lain

[Lain]

Hmmm...anybody? :sad:

[oneproduct]

If you absolutely need something silent, a Realforce 87 variable silent would probably be a good choice. Even the non-clicky cherry MX keyboards are relatively noisy in comparison to even the non-silent Realforce 87. The HHKB's silent version costs almost 50% more while the Realforce's silent version only costs about $20 more, so that makes a silent HHKB quite pricey.

For programming you shouldn't need the numpad, but as an engineer perhaps you will need to enter numbers for measurements and calculations a lot? If that is the case, the Realforce has an embedded numpad whereas the HHKB does not.

I'm a Colemak user myself so the caps lock as control on the HHKB is more of a hindrance than a benefit, and I really wish they had left keys in the corners of the keyboard. Assuming that you can remap modifier keys, you can probably use a program like autohockey to change the keys as you wanted but having to do that could possibly be annoying if you have to use different computers on a regular basis (I used various school computers in different computers labs regularly for example).

The Realforce is generally regarded as better built than the HHKB though I can't confirm this first hand. In either case neither of them (nor any mechanical keyboard) is probably that likely to break.

A lot of people here will probably tell you that the function layer on the HHKB is great, but I would tend to disagree because the important function layer things, in particularly the arrows, are all the way off to the right side of the keyboard instead of where your hands rests as they are on the Poker and the Pure, which are two other compact keyboards aiming for the similar kind of design.

[smknjoe]

I never used (and still don't) a numpad for engineering related programming. You'll most likely learn to write applications that assist in stress testing simulated designs. It's still a personal preference. I always think of accountants and book keepers requiring the numpad.

Never used Topre though.