Next keyboard: Realforce 104u 55g or HHKB 2?

[Rafen]

I was wondering for those of you who own these boards which in your opinion is better? I am leaning toward the Realforce and I might even get the tenkeyless version but I'm not quite sure yet. I won't be transporting this anywhere so size doesn't matter. I am mainly focusing on feel, sound, and build quality. So let me know what you guys think. Thanks ahead of time.

[thegunner100]

Feel, sound, build quality, the realforce wins easily. The only reason to get a HHKB is for the size and the layout.

[feng]

I like the feeling  typing on HHKB over Realforce. HHKB feels a bit stronger.

[Rafen]

Not really sure which one I want to get. I just want to make a good decision before I spend that kind of money on a keyboard.

[sth]

if you get one, you will probably want to get the other fwiw i have not used a hhkb but i love my realforce 45g uniform. so much so that other than fancy keycaps there is really nothing that makes me want to keep any of my cherry boards.

[Rafen]

I will probably only get one of these boards  .....for now. I just need a board that's going to be quieter than the boards I have now for work.

edit: I might have to get one of these for home also since my computer is in my bedroom. The Mrs. keeps giving me dirty looks when I'm up late typing at night. 

[thebeargentile]

Feel, sound, build quality, the realforce wins easily. The only reason to get a HHKB is for the size and the layout.

I agree.  I recently traded my 87u for a HHKB, and immediately noticed the difference between the two. While the HHKB is still wonderful to type on, if I had to pick one board to show off the strengths of topers, it would  be the Realforce.  Having said that, I immediately fell in love with the HHKB's size and layout. If portability isn't an issue for you, though, and you want the most satisfying Toler experience, my vote would be for the Realforce.

[thegunner100]

I will probably only get one of these boards  .....for now. I just need a board that's going to be quieter than the boards I have now for work.

edit: I might have to get one of these for home also since my computer is in my bedroom. The Mrs. keeps giving me dirty looks when I'm up late typing at night. 

You sure it's because of your typing? xD

[Rafen]

You sure it's because of your typing? xD

You might be on to something here!  But I still would like to get one of these boards.

[thegunner100]

Btw Rafen, do you have a heatware acc? I'd like to exchange feedback with you!

[Rafen]

Btw Rafen, do you have a heatware acc? I'd like to exchange feedback with you!

No I don't, not even sure what that is? 

[thegunner100]

It's a popular feedback website for many forums, including geekhack now. You could click the little flame icon under our avatars to go to our feedback page.

[kaporkle]

I really wanted a HHKB for the longest time. Saved every picture I could find, looked at videos on youtube etc. That was a couple of years ago. Time passed, I moved on to other interests and forgot about this whole fancy keyboard business. Last month I decided it was time to retire the mushy old membrane kb I was using and began looking at some options. I had come across a lot topics discussing mechanical keyboards, with Cherry MX switches specifically. I read up on them and decided that either browns or blues would be the most to my liking. I went into Best Buy and fiddled with a Razer for a bit. I liked the blues quite a bit but the position of the tactile bump, sort of in the middle of the stroke, surprised me. So that left me with a bit of doubt regarding the Cherry switches. The idea of getting a HHKB started creeping into my head again. Topre switches, might be cool...

I took a hard look at wether I wanted to spend $300 on a HHKB. The size of it was really appealing. What I dislike the most about fullsize boards is how far to the right my mouse needs to be. I do use the numpad but I was willing to give that up in order to be more comfortable at my desk. Next up, would the layout of the HHKB work for me? This is where I ran into a snag. For the work I do, the layout would probably slow me down. I started looking at the Realforce keyboards, which previously had been nothing but a small blip on my radar and dismissed for being plain-looking or somesuch. The more I looked into them the more I was intrigued. The tenkeyless model seemed like a perfect fit. Small size (albeit not as small as HHKB), good build quality, and good feel (hopefully). I pulled the trigger on the variable-weight Silent version.

Long story short, I love this thing and if I were to get another kb it would probably be a Realforce again. The Silent version is very quiet btw if that's one of your considerations.
Cheers.

[Rafen]

Congratulations on your first post! I think that I might end up getting the Realforce just because I am kinda worried about the layout also. The way the keys are moved around will probably mess me up more than anything. I might even get the tenkeyless version of this board because I like the smaller boards but when I'm at work and at home coding I need a number pad because there are a lot of numbers used in the programs I write.

[doomedbunnies]

The way the keys are moved around will probably mess me up more than anything.

For what it's worth, when I switched to the HHKB about two months ago, the placement of backspace was trivial to adapt to;  took less than ten minutes for it to feel totally natural (for me, it actually triggers a reaction of "Why don't all keyboards place the backspace key there?  It's so much better!", the same as putting Control where the Caps Lock key usually is. 

The really problematic keys for me were (and still are) '-' and '+'.  I still often have trouble finding them today.  Which is weird, because physically they're in the same spot on the keyboard as on more standard layouts.  But for some reason, I have trouble hitting the correct one when I'm touch-typing quickly on the HHKB, maybe due to having two full-sized keys to their right, rather than a single 1.5x key.

After adapting to the HHKB, when I need to type on a keyboard with a more conventional layout (say, on a co-worker's computer) the '\' and 'Backspace' keys are the keys I have trouble with.  Not at all unusual for me to discover that I've accidentally inserted a string of \ characters where I meant to be backspacing.  I find I just have to be extra-mindful, since those characters are now in my muscle memory from the HHKB layout.

The HHKB also kind of reset my expectations for keyboards;  my trusty old Filco tenkeyless (which I've used for years) looks huge, inelegant and, frankly, a little absurd to me now.  It now spends most of its time hiding behind my monitor, and only gets pulled out and dusted off if I don't have the HHKB with me, which is becoming increasingly rare.  Might be worth sticking with full-sized or tenkeyless keyboards if you don't want your brain to rebel against them.

[Rafen]

I am still thinking about what board to get. Another thing I noticed is that the switches are 30 million and I could buy a couple mx boards that have 50 million. I don't really want to spend the money if they aren't going to last a long time.

[sth]

i really wouldn't let that number sway you...

[Rafen]

I think I might sleep on it then pull the trigger tomorrow once I get off of work.