My first trip to a keyboard store (Leopold)

[Tivor]

Little bit about myself first, I've never typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  Actually, scratch that.  I've never knowingly typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  I'm sure I typed on mechanical keyboards when I was a lil' kid back in 80s or 90s, but until very recently, I never really cared what switches my keyboards were running on.  Then recently I caught the mechanical keyboard bug, been reading up on the subject like crazy, stumbled upon this forum, and here I am.

Anyway, I'm visiting Korea right now, and I found out that one of the oft-mentioned mechanical keyboard brand Leopold is actually Korean.  So I thought, "maybe they have an offline store where I can actually try out different switches, instead of only reading about it."  And lucky me, they do have an offline store.  So off I went.

The store was pretty small, but they had various keyboards on display, and they openly invited me to try them out.

And here is an impression of various keyboard switches from a practical mechanical keyboard virgin. 


MX Brown - From reading about various Cherry switches, this one was what I thought would suit me best.  But honestly I was underwhelmed.  To my untrained fingers, it did not feel significantly better than el cheapo keyboards.  But more importantly, it wasn't as silent as I hoped it would be.

MX Blue - From reading about various Cherry switches, I thought I was going to hate this one.  Boy, was I wrong.  The clickity clacks were as loud as promised, but they were oh so satisfying!!   It was like an aural cue that told me, "yeeeeessssssss now I'm finally TYPING!!!!!!!  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"  )  Maybe I'll learn to hate the sound later, but for now, I love it.

MX Red - Now I know why this switch seems to be so popular.  It is so smooooooooooth!!  This is another one that didn't seem so appealing on paper, but now I love it.

MX Black - Too heavy.  I understand it's supposed to take the same amount of force as Blue, but maybe due to the absence of aural/tactile feedback, it felt much heavier.  Did not like it at all.

Topre "silent" (Realforce 87U "Silent") - OH. MY. GOD.     This is butter.  This is silk.  This is... I don't know what to say.  It's..., it's amazing.  Smooth and quiet, it was perfect.  THIS is what I had hoped MX Brown would feel like.

But boy, is it expensive.  While other Cherry-based keyboards were priced around $100 - 150, this baby was about $330!  But the crazy thing was, I thought it was worth that money.  That's how much I loved it.     Of course, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of dough on impulse, so it's going on my "must-have" wishlist.

They also had Realforce 104U with non-silent Topre switches (which was a bit cheaper than the 87U at roughly $300).  It felt marginally heavier, and was marginally louder.  Had I tried that one first, I'm sure I would have fallen in love with it, but I tried the Silent model first, so this one lost a lot of its luster in comparison.

Leopold FC660C - I understand it's supposed to have the same type of switches as Realforce, but it didn't feel quite as satisfying as Realforce to me.  Maybe it felt slightly heavier?  I'm not really sure, but I prefered RF 104U to FC660C.  In all honesty, nothing felt very satisfying or noteworthy after those silent Topre keys, so I wasn't paying as close attention.   


So yeah, that's the impression of various switches by a mechanical keyboard virgin.  And now that I've had a taste, I really want one for real now.   

[tp4tissue]

Little bit about myself first, I've never typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  Actually, scratch that.  I've never knowingly typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  I'm sure I typed on mechanical keyboards when I was a lil' kid back in 80s or 90s, but until very recently, I never really cared what switches my keyboards were running on.  Then recently I caught the mechanical keyboard bug, been reading up on the subject like crazy, stumbled upon this forum, and here I am.

Anyway, I'm visiting Korea right now, and I found out that one of the oft-mentioned mechanical keyboard brand Leopold is actually Korean.  So I thought, "maybe they have an offline store where I can actually try out different switches, instead of only reading about it."  And lucky me, they do have an offline store.  So off I went.

The store was pretty small, but they had various keyboards on display, and they openly invited me to try them out.

And here is an impression of various keyboard switches from a practical mechanical keyboard virgin. 


MX Brown - From reading about various Cherry switches, this one was what I thought would suit me best.  But honestly I was underwhelmed.  To my untrained fingers, it did not feel significantly better than el cheapo keyboards.  But more importantly, it wasn't as silent as I hoped it would be.

MX Blue - From reading about various Cherry switches, I thought I was going to hate this one.  Boy, was I wrong.  The clickity clacks were as loud as promised, but they were oh so satisfying!!   It was like an aural cue that told me, "yeeeeessssssss now I'm finally TYPING!!!!!!!  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"  )  Maybe I'll learn to hate the sound later, but for now, I love it.

MX Red - Now I know why this switch seems to be so popular.  It is so smooooooooooth!!  This is another one that didn't seem so appealing on paper, but now I love it.

MX Black - Too heavy.  I understand it's supposed to take the same amount of force as Blue, but maybe due to the absence of aural/tactile feedback, it felt much heavier.  Did not like it at all.

Topre "silent" (Realforce 87U "Silent") - OH. MY. GOD.     This is butter.  This is silk.  This is... I don't know what to say.  It's..., it's amazing.  Smooth and quiet, it was perfect.  THIS is what I had hoped MX Brown would feel like.

But boy, is it expensive.  While other Cherry-based keyboards were priced around $100 - 150, this baby was about $330!  But the crazy thing was, I thought it was worth that money.  That's how much I loved it.     Of course, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of dough on impulse, so it's going on my "must-have" wishlist.

They also had Realforce 104U with non-silent Topre switches (which was a bit cheaper than the 87U at roughly $300).  It felt marginally heavier, and was marginally louder.  Had I tried that one first, I'm sure I would have fallen in love with it, but I tried the Silent model first, so this one lost a lot of its luster in comparison.

Leopold FC660C - I understand it's supposed to have the same type of switches as Realforce, but it didn't feel quite as satisfying as Realforce to me.  Maybe it felt slightly heavier?  I'm not really sure, but I prefered RF 104U to FC660C.  In all honesty, nothing felt very satisfying or noteworthy after those silent Topre keys, so I wasn't paying as close attention.   


So yeah, that's the impression of various switches by a mechanical keyboard virgin.  And now that I've had a taste, I really want one for real now.   

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

[GeeGee]

Little bit about myself first, I've never typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  Actually, scratch that.  I've never knowingly typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  I'm sure I typed on mechanical keyboards when I was a lil' kid back in 80s or 90s, but until very recently, I never really cared what switches my keyboards were running on.  Then recently I caught the mechanical keyboard bug, been reading up on the subject like crazy, stumbled upon this forum, and here I am.

Anyway, I'm visiting Korea right now, and I found out that one of the oft-mentioned mechanical keyboard brand Leopold is actually Korean.  So I thought, "maybe they have an offline store where I can actually try out different switches, instead of only reading about it."  And lucky me, they do have an offline store.  So off I went.

The store was pretty small, but they had various keyboards on display, and they openly invited me to try them out.

And here is an impression of various keyboard switches from a practical mechanical keyboard virgin. 


MX Brown - From reading about various Cherry switches, this one was what I thought would suit me best.  But honestly I was underwhelmed.  To my untrained fingers, it did not feel significantly better than el cheapo keyboards.  But more importantly, it wasn't as silent as I hoped it would be.

MX Blue - From reading about various Cherry switches, I thought I was going to hate this one.  Boy, was I wrong.  The clickity clacks were as loud as promised, but they were oh so satisfying!!   It was like an aural cue that told me, "yeeeeessssssss now I'm finally TYPING!!!!!!!  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"  )  Maybe I'll learn to hate the sound later, but for now, I love it.

MX Red - Now I know why this switch seems to be so popular.  It is so smooooooooooth!!  This is another one that didn't seem so appealing on paper, but now I love it.

MX Black - Too heavy.  I understand it's supposed to take the same amount of force as Blue, but maybe due to the absence of aural/tactile feedback, it felt much heavier.  Did not like it at all.

Topre "silent" (Realforce 87U "Silent") - OH. MY. GOD.     This is butter.  This is silk.  This is... I don't know what to say.  It's..., it's amazing.  Smooth and quiet, it was perfect.  THIS is what I had hoped MX Brown would feel like.

But boy, is it expensive.  While other Cherry-based keyboards were priced around $100 - 150, this baby was about $330!  But the crazy thing was, I thought it was worth that money.  That's how much I loved it.     Of course, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of dough on impulse, so it's going on my "must-have" wishlist.

They also had Realforce 104U with non-silent Topre switches (which was a bit cheaper than the 87U at roughly $300).  It felt marginally heavier, and was marginally louder.  Had I tried that one first, I'm sure I would have fallen in love with it, but I tried the Silent model first, so this one lost a lot of its luster in comparison.

Leopold FC660C - I understand it's supposed to have the same type of switches as Realforce, but it didn't feel quite as satisfying as Realforce to me.  Maybe it felt slightly heavier?  I'm not really sure, but I prefered RF 104U to FC660C.  In all honesty, nothing felt very satisfying or noteworthy after those silent Topre keys, so I wasn't paying as close attention.   


So yeah, that's the impression of various switches by a mechanical keyboard virgin.  And now that I've had a taste, I really want one for real now.   

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

Show Image

Can I get an amen?

[Tivor]

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

Show Image

Haha, that's a whole 'nother world for me to discover later.  :D

[GeeGee]

On a serious note,
Did you get any board?

[Obakemono]

Well, he was just talking about the feeling of the different switches 

Anyway, i think that the pain thing is up to each person, i mean, i study (computer science) and work (sysadmin) on a keyboard, also play some video games (i was more of a hardcore player when i was younger) and the only time i have had any pain was the time i was hooked to Lineage II (say 10 or more hours a day) and it was in the shoulder due to extensively mouse usage (i wish i had a TKL then).

[Tivor]

On a serious note,
Did you get any board?

No, because I can't afford to buy the Realforce right now (I'm going back to States soon, and I have lots of expenses lined up upon returning), and all other Cherry-based keyboards just felt unsatisfactory in comparison. 

Besides, the store's prices weren't particularly cheaper than US online prices.  I can wait until I return to the States before making my first mechanical keyboard purchase.  Maybe something Cherry-based, or maybe I'll be patient and save up for a Realforce. 

[Obakemono]

On a serious note,
Did you get any board?

No, because I can't afford to buy the Realforce right now (I'm going back to States soon, and I have lots of expenses lined up upon returning), and all other Cherry-based keyboards just felt unsatisfactory in comparison. 

Besides, the store's prices weren't particularly cheaper than US online prices.  I can wait until I return to the States before making my first mechanical keyboard purchase.  Maybe something Cherry-based, or maybe I'll be patient and save up for a Realforce. 

You can check the HHKB Pro 2 too, it uses Topre switches too and you can get one not very expensive from amazon japan + proxy.

[GeeGee]

On a serious note,
Did you get any board?

No, because I can't afford to buy the Realforce right now (I'm going back to States soon, and I have lots of expenses lined up upon returning), and all other Cherry-based keyboards just felt unsatisfactory in comparison. 

Besides, the store's prices weren't particularly cheaper than US online prices.  I can wait until I return to the States before making my first mechanical keyboard purchase.  Maybe something Cherry-based, or maybe I'll be patient and save up for a Realforce. 

I'm just asking since Leopold is impossible to get outside Korea(at least the 700R), so it would be an opportunity to get one.

[eth0s]

Little bit about myself first, I've never typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  Actually, scratch that.  I've never knowingly typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  I'm sure I typed on mechanical keyboards when I was a lil' kid back in 80s or 90s, but until very recently, I never really cared what switches my keyboards were running on.  Then recently I caught the mechanical keyboard bug, been reading up on the subject like crazy, stumbled upon this forum, and here I am.

Anyway, I'm visiting Korea right now, and I found out that one of the oft-mentioned mechanical keyboard brand Leopold is actually Korean.  So I thought, "maybe they have an offline store where I can actually try out different switches, instead of only reading about it."  And lucky me, they do have an offline store.  So off I went.

The store was pretty small, but they had various keyboards on display, and they openly invited me to try them out.

And here is an impression of various keyboard switches from a practical mechanical keyboard virgin. 


MX Brown - From reading about various Cherry switches, this one was what I thought would suit me best.  But honestly I was underwhelmed.  To my untrained fingers, it did not feel significantly better than el cheapo keyboards.  But more importantly, it wasn't as silent as I hoped it would be.

MX Blue - From reading about various Cherry switches, I thought I was going to hate this one.  Boy, was I wrong.  The clickity clacks were as loud as promised, but they were oh so satisfying!!   It was like an aural cue that told me, "yeeeeessssssss now I'm finally TYPING!!!!!!!  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"  )  Maybe I'll learn to hate the sound later, but for now, I love it.

MX Red - Now I know why this switch seems to be so popular.  It is so smooooooooooth!!  This is another one that didn't seem so appealing on paper, but now I love it.

MX Black - Too heavy.  I understand it's supposed to take the same amount of force as Blue, but maybe due to the absence of aural/tactile feedback, it felt much heavier.  Did not like it at all.

Topre "silent" (Realforce 87U "Silent") - OH. MY. GOD.     This is butter.  This is silk.  This is... I don't know what to say.  It's..., it's amazing.  Smooth and quiet, it was perfect.  THIS is what I had hoped MX Brown would feel like.

But boy, is it expensive.  While other Cherry-based keyboards were priced around $100 - 150, this baby was about $330!  But the crazy thing was, I thought it was worth that money.  That's how much I loved it.     Of course, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of dough on impulse, so it's going on my "must-have" wishlist.

They also had Realforce 104U with non-silent Topre switches (which was a bit cheaper than the 87U at roughly $300).  It felt marginally heavier, and was marginally louder.  Had I tried that one first, I'm sure I would have fallen in love with it, but I tried the Silent model first, so this one lost a lot of its luster in comparison.

Leopold FC660C - I understand it's supposed to have the same type of switches as Realforce, but it didn't feel quite as satisfying as Realforce to me.  Maybe it felt slightly heavier?  I'm not really sure, but I prefered RF 104U to FC660C.  In all honesty, nothing felt very satisfying or noteworthy after those silent Topre keys, so I wasn't paying as close attention.   


So yeah, that's the impression of various switches by a mechanical keyboard virgin.  And now that I've had a taste, I really want one for real now.   

Holy Crap!  You have got to be the luckiest noob who ever lived.  You went from keyboard 0 to keyboard 100 in one afternoon.  You tried every MX switch, and you discovered that the Topre RealForce silent variable keyboard is the best!  I'm kind of awestruck actually.  You discovered on your own, without the need for a spiritual guide or guru, the enlightenment of oneness with cup rubber (and silent no less!).  You did however make one giant noob mistake, and that was not buying a keyboard!  So listen up noob, next time you find something you really like next time, buy it!  You can of course, still get a RealForce variable silent online, but you will have to pay shipping cost now, and you'll have to face the interminable waiting.  I guess you deserve it though, as a kind of punishment. 

Anyway, good job on learning about keyboards, but bad job on not buying one.  Also very bad job on not taking photo's of that Leopold store!  There are people like me that would pay money just to see inside that store, and you got to go inside the temple, and lay your grubby hands on the precious keyboards.  You lucky b@stard.

[snoopy]

save your money for a realforce or hhkb

[Danule]

Little bit about myself first, I've never typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  Actually, scratch that.  I've never knowingly typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  I'm sure I typed on mechanical keyboards when I was a lil' kid back in 80s or 90s, but until very recently, I never really cared what switches my keyboards were running on.  Then recently I caught the mechanical keyboard bug, been reading up on the subject like crazy, stumbled upon this forum, and here I am.

Anyway, I'm visiting Korea right now, and I found out that one of the oft-mentioned mechanical keyboard brand Leopold is actually Korean.  So I thought, "maybe they have an offline store where I can actually try out different switches, instead of only reading about it."  And lucky me, they do have an offline store.  So off I went.

The store was pretty small, but they had various keyboards on display, and they openly invited me to try them out.

And here is an impression of various keyboard switches from a practical mechanical keyboard virgin. 


MX Brown - From reading about various Cherry switches, this one was what I thought would suit me best.  But honestly I was underwhelmed.  To my untrained fingers, it did not feel significantly better than el cheapo keyboards.  But more importantly, it wasn't as silent as I hoped it would be.

MX Blue - From reading about various Cherry switches, I thought I was going to hate this one.  Boy, was I wrong.  The clickity clacks were as loud as promised, but they were oh so satisfying!!   It was like an aural cue that told me, "yeeeeessssssss now I'm finally TYPING!!!!!!!  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"  )  Maybe I'll learn to hate the sound later, but for now, I love it.

MX Red - Now I know why this switch seems to be so popular.  It is so smooooooooooth!!  This is another one that didn't seem so appealing on paper, but now I love it.

MX Black - Too heavy.  I understand it's supposed to take the same amount of force as Blue, but maybe due to the absence of aural/tactile feedback, it felt much heavier.  Did not like it at all.

Topre "silent" (Realforce 87U "Silent") - OH. MY. GOD.     This is butter.  This is silk.  This is... I don't know what to say.  It's..., it's amazing.  Smooth and quiet, it was perfect.  THIS is what I had hoped MX Brown would feel like.

But boy, is it expensive.  While other Cherry-based keyboards were priced around $100 - 150, this baby was about $330!  But the crazy thing was, I thought it was worth that money.  That's how much I loved it.     Of course, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of dough on impulse, so it's going on my "must-have" wishlist.

They also had Realforce 104U with non-silent Topre switches (which was a bit cheaper than the 87U at roughly $300).  It felt marginally heavier, and was marginally louder.  Had I tried that one first, I'm sure I would have fallen in love with it, but I tried the Silent model first, so this one lost a lot of its luster in comparison.

Leopold FC660C - I understand it's supposed to have the same type of switches as Realforce, but it didn't feel quite as satisfying as Realforce to me.  Maybe it felt slightly heavier?  I'm not really sure, but I prefered RF 104U to FC660C.  In all honesty, nothing felt very satisfying or noteworthy after those silent Topre keys, so I wasn't paying as close attention.   


So yeah, that's the impression of various switches by a mechanical keyboard virgin.  And now that I've had a taste, I really want one for real now.   

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

Show Image

funny you say that, I've been using a normal keyboard for 25 years and I havent had any issues at all :)

[mauri]

Little bit about myself first, I've never typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  Actually, scratch that.  I've never knowingly typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  I'm sure I typed on mechanical keyboards when I was a lil' kid back in 80s or 90s, but until very recently, I never really cared what switches my keyboards were running on.  Then recently I caught the mechanical keyboard bug, been reading up on the subject like crazy, stumbled upon this forum, and here I am.

Anyway, I'm visiting Korea right now, and I found out that one of the oft-mentioned mechanical keyboard brand Leopold is actually Korean.  So I thought, "maybe they have an offline store where I can actually try out different switches, instead of only reading about it."  And lucky me, they do have an offline store.  So off I went.

The store was pretty small, but they had various keyboards on display, and they openly invited me to try them out.

And here is an impression of various keyboard switches from a practical mechanical keyboard virgin. 


MX Brown - From reading about various Cherry switches, this one was what I thought would suit me best.  But honestly I was underwhelmed.  To my untrained fingers, it did not feel significantly better than el cheapo keyboards.  But more importantly, it wasn't as silent as I hoped it would be.

MX Blue - From reading about various Cherry switches, I thought I was going to hate this one.  Boy, was I wrong.  The clickity clacks were as loud as promised, but they were oh so satisfying!!   It was like an aural cue that told me, "yeeeeessssssss now I'm finally TYPING!!!!!!!  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"  )  Maybe I'll learn to hate the sound later, but for now, I love it.

MX Red - Now I know why this switch seems to be so popular.  It is so smooooooooooth!!  This is another one that didn't seem so appealing on paper, but now I love it.

MX Black - Too heavy.  I understand it's supposed to take the same amount of force as Blue, but maybe due to the absence of aural/tactile feedback, it felt much heavier.  Did not like it at all.

Topre "silent" (Realforce 87U "Silent") - OH. MY. GOD.     This is butter.  This is silk.  This is... I don't know what to say.  It's..., it's amazing.  Smooth and quiet, it was perfect.  THIS is what I had hoped MX Brown would feel like.

But boy, is it expensive.  While other Cherry-based keyboards were priced around $100 - 150, this baby was about $330!  But the crazy thing was, I thought it was worth that money.  That's how much I loved it.     Of course, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of dough on impulse, so it's going on my "must-have" wishlist.

They also had Realforce 104U with non-silent Topre switches (which was a bit cheaper than the 87U at roughly $300).  It felt marginally heavier, and was marginally louder.  Had I tried that one first, I'm sure I would have fallen in love with it, but I tried the Silent model first, so this one lost a lot of its luster in comparison.

Leopold FC660C - I understand it's supposed to have the same type of switches as Realforce, but it didn't feel quite as satisfying as Realforce to me.  Maybe it felt slightly heavier?  I'm not really sure, but I prefered RF 104U to FC660C.  In all honesty, nothing felt very satisfying or noteworthy after those silent Topre keys, so I wasn't paying as close attention.   


So yeah, that's the impression of various switches by a mechanical keyboard virgin.  And now that I've had a taste, I really want one for real now.   

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

Show Image

funny you say that, I've been using a normal keyboard for 25 years and I havent had any issues at all :)

You've never had an ergodox, you've lived in the dark all your life and never seen how good things could be

[Danule]

Little bit about myself first, I've never typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  Actually, scratch that.  I've never knowingly typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  I'm sure I typed on mechanical keyboards when I was a lil' kid back in 80s or 90s, but until very recently, I never really cared what switches my keyboards were running on.  Then recently I caught the mechanical keyboard bug, been reading up on the subject like crazy, stumbled upon this forum, and here I am.

Anyway, I'm visiting Korea right now, and I found out that one of the oft-mentioned mechanical keyboard brand Leopold is actually Korean.  So I thought, "maybe they have an offline store where I can actually try out different switches, instead of only reading about it."  And lucky me, they do have an offline store.  So off I went.

The store was pretty small, but they had various keyboards on display, and they openly invited me to try them out.

And here is an impression of various keyboard switches from a practical mechanical keyboard virgin. 


MX Brown - From reading about various Cherry switches, this one was what I thought would suit me best.  But honestly I was underwhelmed.  To my untrained fingers, it did not feel significantly better than el cheapo keyboards.  But more importantly, it wasn't as silent as I hoped it would be.

MX Blue - From reading about various Cherry switches, I thought I was going to hate this one.  Boy, was I wrong.  The clickity clacks were as loud as promised, but they were oh so satisfying!!   It was like an aural cue that told me, "yeeeeessssssss now I'm finally TYPING!!!!!!!  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"  )  Maybe I'll learn to hate the sound later, but for now, I love it.

MX Red - Now I know why this switch seems to be so popular.  It is so smooooooooooth!!  This is another one that didn't seem so appealing on paper, but now I love it.

MX Black - Too heavy.  I understand it's supposed to take the same amount of force as Blue, but maybe due to the absence of aural/tactile feedback, it felt much heavier.  Did not like it at all.

Topre "silent" (Realforce 87U "Silent") - OH. MY. GOD.     This is butter.  This is silk.  This is... I don't know what to say.  It's..., it's amazing.  Smooth and quiet, it was perfect.  THIS is what I had hoped MX Brown would feel like.

But boy, is it expensive.  While other Cherry-based keyboards were priced around $100 - 150, this baby was about $330!  But the crazy thing was, I thought it was worth that money.  That's how much I loved it.     Of course, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of dough on impulse, so it's going on my "must-have" wishlist.

They also had Realforce 104U with non-silent Topre switches (which was a bit cheaper than the 87U at roughly $300).  It felt marginally heavier, and was marginally louder.  Had I tried that one first, I'm sure I would have fallen in love with it, but I tried the Silent model first, so this one lost a lot of its luster in comparison.

Leopold FC660C - I understand it's supposed to have the same type of switches as Realforce, but it didn't feel quite as satisfying as Realforce to me.  Maybe it felt slightly heavier?  I'm not really sure, but I prefered RF 104U to FC660C.  In all honesty, nothing felt very satisfying or noteworthy after those silent Topre keys, so I wasn't paying as close attention.   


So yeah, that's the impression of various switches by a mechanical keyboard virgin.  And now that I've had a taste, I really want one for real now.   

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

Show Image

funny you say that, I've been using a normal keyboard for 25 years and I havent had any issues at all :)

You've never had an ergodox, you've lived in the dark all your life and never seen how good things could be

I live a very sad life.

[0100010]

Holy Crap!  You have got to be the luckiest noob who ever lived.  You went from keyboard 0 to keyboard 100 in one afternoon.  You tried every MX switch, and you discovered that the Topre RealForce silent variable keyboard is the best!  I'm kind of awestruck actually.  You discovered on your own, without the need for a spiritual guide or guru, the enlightenment of oneness with cup rubber (and silent no less!).  You did however make one giant noob mistake, and that was not buying a keyboard!  So listen up noob, next time you find something you really like next time, buy it!  You can of course, still get a RealForce variable silent online, but you will have to pay shipping cost now, and you'll have to face the interminable waiting.  I guess you deserve it though, as a kind of punishment. 

Anyway, good job on learning about keyboards, but bad job on not buying one.  Also very bad job on not taking photo's of that Leopold store!  There are people like me that would pay money just to see inside that store, and you got to go inside the temple, and lay your grubby hands on the precious keyboards.  You lucky b@stard.

Meh - maybe 0 to 90.  Needs to try a real switch - buckling spring!

[Grim Fandango]

If you are looking for something silent and smooth as silk then browns will not be your thing. It is subjective, but also take into consideration that what things feel like when just trying it for a second is still different from continuously typing on it. I thought I would love reds after trying them for a short period of time. When I got my board with reds, I found that I would always bottom out of every keystroke and have way more accidental keypresses. Before that I made a similar mistake with blacks. I really like the way they felt, and it was only after I had my own keyboard that I used for long sessions that I found out that they are almost painfully heavy to me.

In the end I settled for browns and love them , though I would want to try Topre. At some point I guess you have to be happy with what you have, I have other expensive hobbies to pay for.

[divito]

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

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funny you say that, I've been using a normal keyboard for 25 years and I havent had any issues at all :)

I have to agree with this sentiment. Plus, not that I'm supremely educated on the matter, but ErgoDox is somewhat ugly/unwieldy outside of a few pictures I've seen, and the aspect of reprogramming my brain on a new and "lazier" layout doesn't inspire much. It'd be like wanting to switch to Dvorak or Colemak just to be different.

On note of the OP, I'm pretty jealous that you were able to go out and try everything at once like this. I await a time when the switch tester can grace Canada and let me try it.

[tp4tissue]

Little bit about myself first, I've never typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  Actually, scratch that.  I've never knowingly typed on a mechanical keyboard before.  I'm sure I typed on mechanical keyboards when I was a lil' kid back in 80s or 90s, but until very recently, I never really cared what switches my keyboards were running on.  Then recently I caught the mechanical keyboard bug, been reading up on the subject like crazy, stumbled upon this forum, and here I am.

Anyway, I'm visiting Korea right now, and I found out that one of the oft-mentioned mechanical keyboard brand Leopold is actually Korean.  So I thought, "maybe they have an offline store where I can actually try out different switches, instead of only reading about it."  And lucky me, they do have an offline store.  So off I went.

The store was pretty small, but they had various keyboards on display, and they openly invited me to try them out.

And here is an impression of various keyboard switches from a practical mechanical keyboard virgin. 


MX Brown - From reading about various Cherry switches, this one was what I thought would suit me best.  But honestly I was underwhelmed.  To my untrained fingers, it did not feel significantly better than el cheapo keyboards.  But more importantly, it wasn't as silent as I hoped it would be.

MX Blue - From reading about various Cherry switches, I thought I was going to hate this one.  Boy, was I wrong.  The clickity clacks were as loud as promised, but they were oh so satisfying!!   It was like an aural cue that told me, "yeeeeessssssss now I'm finally TYPING!!!!!!!  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!"  )  Maybe I'll learn to hate the sound later, but for now, I love it.

MX Red - Now I know why this switch seems to be so popular.  It is so smooooooooooth!!  This is another one that didn't seem so appealing on paper, but now I love it.

MX Black - Too heavy.  I understand it's supposed to take the same amount of force as Blue, but maybe due to the absence of aural/tactile feedback, it felt much heavier.  Did not like it at all.

Topre "silent" (Realforce 87U "Silent") - OH. MY. GOD.     This is butter.  This is silk.  This is... I don't know what to say.  It's..., it's amazing.  Smooth and quiet, it was perfect.  THIS is what I had hoped MX Brown would feel like.

But boy, is it expensive.  While other Cherry-based keyboards were priced around $100 - 150, this baby was about $330!  But the crazy thing was, I thought it was worth that money.  That's how much I loved it.     Of course, I couldn't afford to spend that kind of dough on impulse, so it's going on my "must-have" wishlist.

They also had Realforce 104U with non-silent Topre switches (which was a bit cheaper than the 87U at roughly $300).  It felt marginally heavier, and was marginally louder.  Had I tried that one first, I'm sure I would have fallen in love with it, but I tried the Silent model first, so this one lost a lot of its luster in comparison.

Leopold FC660C - I understand it's supposed to have the same type of switches as Realforce, but it didn't feel quite as satisfying as Realforce to me.  Maybe it felt slightly heavier?  I'm not really sure, but I prefered RF 104U to FC660C.  In all honesty, nothing felt very satisfying or noteworthy after those silent Topre keys, so I wasn't paying as close attention.   


So yeah, that's the impression of various switches by a mechanical keyboard virgin.  And now that I've had a taste, I really want one for real now.   

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

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funny you say that, I've been using a normal keyboard for 25 years and I havent had any issues at all :)

You've never had an ergodox, you've lived in the dark all your life and never seen how good things could be

I live a very sad life.

Indeed ...

[tp4tissue]

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

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funny you say that, I've been using a normal keyboard for 25 years and I havent had any issues at all :)

I have to agree with this sentiment. Plus, not that I'm supremely educated on the matter, but ErgoDox is somewhat ugly/unwieldy outside of a few pictures I've seen, and the aspect of reprogramming my brain on a new and "lazier" layout doesn't inspire much. It'd be like wanting to switch to Dvorak or Colemak just to be different.

On note of the OP, I'm pretty jealous that you were able to go out and try everything at once like this. I await a time when the switch tester can grace Canada and let me try it.
[/quote]

You guys clearly need more typing in your diet..

[eth0s]

you'll forget all about what the switches feel like when your shoulder and wrists are hurting from the anti-ergonomic layout of the typical staggered qwerty keyboard.


ERGODOX...

Show Image

funny you say that, I've been using a normal keyboard for 25 years and I havent had any issues at all :)

I have to agree with this sentiment. Plus, not that I'm supremely educated on the matter, but ErgoDox is somewhat ugly/unwieldy outside of a few pictures I've seen, and the aspect of reprogramming my brain on a new and "lazier" layout doesn't inspire much. It'd be like wanting to switch to Dvorak or Colemak just to be different.

On note of the OP, I'm pretty jealous that you were able to go out and try everything at once like this. I await a time when the switch tester can grace Canada and let me try it.
[/quote]

Holy Crap!  You have got to be the luckiest noob who ever lived.  You went from keyboard 0 to keyboard 100 in one afternoon.  You tried every MX switch, and you discovered that the Topre RealForce silent variable keyboard is the best!  I'm kind of awestruck actually.  You discovered on your own, without the need for a spiritual guide or guru, the enlightenment of oneness with cup rubber (and silent no less!).  You did however make one giant noob mistake, and that was not buying a keyboard!  So listen up noob, next time you find something you really like next time, buy it!  You can of course, still get a RealForce variable silent online, but you will have to pay shipping cost now, and you'll have to face the interminable waiting.  I guess you deserve it though, as a kind of punishment. 

Anyway, good job on learning about keyboards, but bad job on not buying one.  Also very bad job on not taking photo's of that Leopold store!  There are people like me that would pay money just to see inside that store, and you got to go inside the temple, and lay your grubby hands on the precious keyboards.  You lucky b@stard.

Meh - maybe 0 to 90.  Needs to try a real switch - buckling spring!

+1.  The ergodox is a cool-looking design, but it's flat, so as an ergonomic keyboard it really isn't.  It only splits into two flat pieces.  And it requires the use of some kind of MX switch. IMO, it is good, but not great. 

LOL.  Yeah, I think you're right on the 0 to 90.  I tend to assume everybody has a general background in buckling spring.  But these young kids today have no idea what that is. 

[Lastpilot]

Aw, no pictures? Great story though thanks for sharing!

[divito]

You guys clearly need more typing in your diet..

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Wouldn't be opposed to trying one, as that would be ignorant (perhaps one day, I'll have the opportunity through GH). Just that I've had no issues in my current pursuits, with hours of daily typing for 20+ years; and put simply, the idea of the ErgoDox and mental assessment of it leave me thinking of it as not a comfortable experience for me.

[Tivor]

Anyway, good job on learning about keyboards, but bad job on not buying one.  Also very bad job on not taking photo's of that Leopold store!  There are people like me that would pay money just to see inside that store, and you got to go inside the temple, and lay your grubby hands on the precious keyboards.  You lucky b@stard.

Aw, no pictures? Great story though thanks for sharing!

Ah, sorry about not taking photos.  It never occurred to me.   To be honest, it really wasn't that photogenic of a place. 

Also, I originally thought it was a Leopold store, but it was really an authorized reseller type store.  Here's their website, along with pics of the store.  http://leaderskey.com/map.php

Anyway, I'm debating with myself whether to go back and pick up a keyboard before leaving for the States.  I have to be rather budget-conscious for the next couple of months, and I'm not in any particular rush to need a keyboard now, so it might be prudent to be patient......... but at the same time, it does seem a unique opportunity to try and choose a board instead of purchasing blind online.  Hmmmmmmm, dilemma, dilemma.

[mapple]

330$ for Realforce 87U "Silent" did sound bit high, check this out. this way u can get the one which u really appricated.

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,rftenkeyless&pid=rf_se170s

[divito]

Anyway, I'm debating with myself whether to go back and pick up a keyboard before leaving for the States.  I have to be rather budget-conscious for the next couple of months, and I'm not in any particular rush to need a keyboard now, so it might be prudent to be patient......... but at the same time, it does seem a unique opportunity to try and choose a board instead of purchasing blind online.  Hmmmmmmm, dilemma, dilemma.

Well, given the circumstances, you could buy one and should money be extremely tight after returning to the US, I'm sure throwing up a thread on here could have you reimbursed pretty fast depending on what you choose.

[Krigo]

Wish you'd have taken pictures 

[jameslr]

My first mechanical board was a QFR with MX Blues, and I still love the feel and sound of them. I ended up selling it for a Filco TKL with MX Browns. I like them, but have since bought a Topre Realforce 87U 55g and it is my daily driver now. It is wonderful to type on. I liked the Topre switches so much I bought an HHKB Pro 2 as my secondary keyboard. I recommend buying a used one in good condition here on the forums. Some people buy them because of the hype, and decide they're not their thing and get rid of them on the cheap side. It's a perfect place to pick up an awesome board for way less than retail.

[Tivor]

330$ for Realforce 87U "Silent" did sound bit high, check this out. this way u can get the one which u really appricated.

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,rftenkeyless&pid=rf_se170s

Thanks for the heads-up!  I had checked that site before, but I could've sworn they were out of stock there.  I guess they re-stocked?  Or maybe I'm just blind.   

As it stands right now, the only reasons for me to go back to that store and grab a keyboard before leaving for States are these: 1. to get a Realforce 106U silent Topre keyboard (as far as I can tell, there is no full-sized Realforce keyboards with silent switches anywhere else online), or 2. to get Leopold FC700R (which I understand is very hard to get in the States, which adds to the whole "get it now!" mentality, and it does look to be a very cool keyboard even though it's not full-sized like I want).  And among those two, FC700R -- roughly $115 -- is the only one that I can realistically afford right now.  I'm still deciding whether to go for it, or to just be patient and get something in the States.

[Folio]

330$ for Realforce 87U "Silent" did sound bit high, check this out. this way u can get the one which u really appricated.

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,rftenkeyless&pid=rf_se170s

Thanks for the heads-up!  I had checked that site before, but I could've sworn they were out of stock there.  I guess they re-stocked?  Or maybe I'm just blind.   

As it stands right now, the only reasons for me to go back to that store and grab a keyboard before leaving for States are these: 1. to get a Realforce 106U silent Topre keyboard (as far as I can tell, there is no full-sized Realforce keyboards with silent switches anywhere else online), or 2. to get Leopold FC700R (which I understand is very hard to get in the States, which adds to the whole "get it now!" mentality, and it does look to be a very cool keyboard even though it's not full-sized like I want).  And among those two, FC700R -- roughly $115 -- is the only one that I can realistically afford right now.  I'm still deciding whether to go for it, or to just be patient and get something in the States.

You sound like you just want to use a very nice keyboard, so just get the Topre one you can afford/want. If there's no point to you getting the FC700R, then don't, unless you like it or are gonna sell it here for a higher price or just want it for the sake of having a rare keyboard.

I say definitely get that Topre cuz you know you want it. I currently use Topre right now and I don't feel like using anything else even though I have other switches which I've enjoyed in the past.