I don't claim that certain differences are not there.. but the act of which when people "FOCUS" on them is very much out of the necessity to justify their Luxury-Purchase..
And What I wouldn't want the novices joining GH to fall pray to is this mentality... They're being stifled by this group-think that's centered around spending money rather than IMPROVING KEYBOARDS...
This has been why I've stood so close to the Egdx universe... because it goes above and beyond throwing money at pretty pebbles..
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I'm with tp4issue here. I owned a HHKB and have used it daily at work for 2 weeks. It's a very expensive and luxury brand item and I find myself creating a lot of justification for my purchase but in truth, I love the keyboard but I don't understand what was so great about it. Aside from the sound, it feels a lot like MX Clear and Alps to me and the PBT caps are like my Poker 2 PBT caps in feel.
I can tell my friends that I love this keyboard but I will not be able to really tell them why. To do so would be to create an illusion as though I know exactly what makes this keyboard good, which is not true. The only discerning fact that I can say with conviction is the sound. I still don't get the feel. I would switch to another keyboard in an instance and not miss the HHKB. When I typed at the Matias and Code at home, I don't miss HHKB. Maybe I should use it for a another couple of months to see if it grows on me as some claimed it will be.
If HHKB weren't so expensive, I think all these 'boasts' (as tp4issue put it) would not be so prevalent.
No wonder I have the HHKB Pagan status - ha ha ..
I agree with you, Belfong, although there are some thing's I'd like to clear up. Tp says that the only advantage of topre switches is smoothness when depressed at a severe angle. In his post, he exaggerated the differences in smoothness and sturdiness between topre and mx boards significantly. Even when depressed at shallow angles, mx boards feel slightly scratchier, and more "plasticky," than topre boards. Topre boards, although they wobble a bit, feel much sturdier than mx boards. Although they, too, are made of plastic, something about the rubber dome in the topres give them a feeling of being better supported and set into place.
Topre switches, however, certainly have their downsides. It is nearly impossible to avoid bottoming out, and the need to press each key fully down can slow down typing. However, I do find that I have fewer accidental/mistaken key presses when typing furiously on topres than when typing on MX Blues. There is just something about cherry switches that allow one to type strings of characters at great speed that you simply cannot achieve with topre switches.
Also, in my opinion, topres are terrible for gaming. I much prefer tactile mx switches, where one can really sense exactly where the switch is getting activated, for gaming. In addition to this, knowing that you're wearing out the rubber domes with all the key-mashing is kind of bothersome.
I'm not sure whether I'll eventually switch back to mx. I've been using topre since I bought my FC660C a few weeks ago. While I've certainly enjoyed the board, I've been slightly underwhelmed. The fanboys on here certainly can get you very excited :). That being said, if you're not satisfied with your mx board, topre is definitely an entirely different experience, and is totally worth checking out.