Hello Geekhack,
New member here. Got into mechanical keyboards about a year ago. It started with a DAS Professional 4 with Cherry MX blue switches. Awesome keyboard, but after not too long I noticed my keycaps were starting to get shiny. This is how I found out about ABS vs PBT and it led me deeper into the realm of mechanical keyboards. After doing some more research, I was determined to get my hands on a PBT doubleshot set.
Living in Europe it wasn't too easy to find a set like that and avoid high shipping. Eventually, I set my eyes on a Tai Hao PBT doubleshot set which I had found on Ebay. Nice looking set of keys for a low price. On my quest for a durable set of keycaps I discovered Massdrop as well, but at the time nothing of interest was for sale. I signed up anyway. Perhaps in the future I would find something worth my money.
In the meantime, I had learned to touch type fairly well and I felt confident enough to try out a blank set of keycaps to further improve my touch typing abilities. My subscription to Massdrop proved to be worth it, because a drop appeared for a Ducky set. Blank, thick PBT in cream cheese and green. I joined the group buy without hesitation.
Like most drops, it took a while before the box arrived at my doorstep, but it was well worth the wait. This set felt better than the Tai Hao set, probably because Tai Hao makes thinner PBT caps. I think it also looked a little bit better. The clean look of blank keycaps stands out more compared to printed caps. Initially, I had some trouble with typing on blank keys, especially the number row, but after sufficient practice this disappeared.
Because Cherry MX switches allow for a better typing experience than standard rubber dome boards, it felt as if I would never be able to return to a cheap rubber dome keyboard. So, every time I was forced to type on a cheap keyboard, for example at the office or university, I was slightly annoyed at the mushy and inconsistent feel. This started a new quest. Finding a 60%, portable keyboard that would allow me to have a high quality typing experience wherever I went. After research, I had narrowed it down to the Vortex Pok3r and the more expensive HHKB Pro 2. For those of you who haven't seen my signature yet, that's where you'll find my decision. (I took the template from
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=19113.0 and edited the bottom two rows, top bezel and colored the ESC and CTRL, so that it represents my board more accurately. Thanks sealcouch.)
I once read somewhere that you might as well buy the HHKB Pro 2 right at the start, because you'll end up wanting one anyway and he was right, at least in my case. I was drawn to the minimalistic look and the very pleasant 'thock' Topre boards are known for. Of course I didn't know what it felt like, but I was willing to take the plunge. Once again, Ebay was my best bet, because I found a Japanese shop there that shipped for free. I would only have to pay import duties that way.
And I was not disappointed. Topre feels and sounds great. So great that it became my new daily driver and my year old DAS Professional 4 is now with a family member. The layout on the HHKB took some getting used to, but I actually like it now. I barely have to move my hands away from the home row, which is great for long typing sessions. I spiced it up a little with the blue ESC and the red CTRL keyset and a Pexon cable.
When comparing Topre sounds, I came across a video of a dental band modded HHKB and I found the sound even more pleasant than the stock one. I decided I wanted this too, so I ended up buying some dental bands and modding my HHKB a few months after purchase. While it's true that it sounds even better now and is much more quiet, I'm not sure about the reduced keytravel. It feels a little off.
However, I'm not going to remove the mod, because I set my eyes on a new daily driver: Realforce 87U 55G. It returned on Massdrop with 4 PBT spacebars a few days ago. I read a lot of good things about 55G Topre; "King switch", "Thock heaven", etc. Because I'm more familiar with Topre now, I felt confident enough to join the group buy and I told myself that this is the last keyboard I'll buy for a while.
And that is where I stand today. I plan on using the 87U 55G as my daily driver at home and I will use my HHKB for when I'm at the office, university or wherever I might find myself needing a keyboard for a longer period of time.
I now realize that this intro turned into a longer piece of text than I had originally planned, but I'm hoping that some of you have taken the time to read everything up to this point. Looking forward to my time in this community.
Jeftha
My HHKB Pro 2:
