New Cherry Browns board or new RealForce 104 Silent?

[xtrafrood]

Thank you all for all this, again.

So, I ordered the Topre (RF?) 104U Silenced from Massdrop, in black on black. I figure it's the only way I'll really know if it is good enough for me to read the legends or not. If not, well, yes, I'll sell it and get one with actual contrast to the legends, which I'm sure is what I'll end up doing.

In that regard, well, I'll see how I like the variable weighting of the Massdrop 104U I ordered, at which time I can get an RF 104U Silenced in white from EK when they're back in stock in hopefully a few weeks (black on white and gray keycaps), or the Ducky Topre 104 Silenced 45g from MK (I spoke to them and they said when these few they have in stock are gone, they probably won't get any more, which isn't great for my game plan since I want to get three of the same once I choose what I really like, and I'm not a huge fan of the colors on that board anyway).

Or, is there a place where I can order PBT RF 104 keycaps with double-shot or dye-sub (I'm not clear on which term applies) quality of lettering that gives me other choices, like ideally white on black that's a pretty normal font? I guess that's not a fair question, though, because what I'm learning is that double-shot or dye-sub (which is it?) on PBT just doesn't allow white on black. So, what is my choice, then? Black on white keys, to end up looking like the Ducky 45g? I have read that black on gray is not so easy to read, either. That's if I can even find any such keycaps in the first place, that are the same quality as what would come with an RF board. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks again!

I know there are a few users on taobao.com offering multiple flavors of the ducky keycap RF boards. Might be a tad more expensive though
Magic duck ducky Realforce 104UB-DK45S Silent Global Limited Edition 45g / 30g I guess ymmv with translation

[1391406]

A comment on the Massdrop site says their RF 104U Silenced has "6KRO, not 20KRO." Is the one from EK 20KRO? Is there any chance there's anything different about the board from Massdrop vs the RF 104U Silenced from EK?

The EK 104U is 6KRO, as well. It's the same board.

By the way, the Massdrop version includes extra spacebars made of PBT, in four colors. That seems nice at first, except the colors are not my choice and, more importantly, I read that the reason RF ships them with ABS spacebars is that PBT is prone to shrinkage, which of course is more problematic with the long spacebar. So, how cool is it, really, to be putting a PBT spacebar on it?

Most (90%) of the shrinkage occurs during the time the PBT spacebar is cooling in the mold. The remaining shrinkage occurs during the next 30 days, but most of it happens within the first few hours after ejection from the mold.

[keyjay]

Thanks. (Not that I expect to need more than 6KRO. I just wanted to be sure the Massdrop keyboard is identical, though now that I've learned they expect to ship the drop I already joined last week in a month, I'm not thrilled.)

So, what's the deal with these RF 104U Silent variable keyboards being so difficult to purchase? There has to be a way to find them available in Asia if one is willing to pay a little more and cover the shipping. Any suggestions?

[xtrafrood]

Thanks. (Not that I expect to need more than 6KRO. I just wanted to be sure the Massdrop keyboard is identical, though now that I've learned they expect to ship the drop I already joined last week in a month, I'm not thrilled.)

So, what's the deal with these RF 104U Silent variable keyboards being so difficult to purchase? There has to be a way to find them available in Asia if one is willing to pay a little more and cover the shipping. Any suggestions?

Imso offers an affordable proxy service to buy from taobao. I use Chrome with Google translate extension to browse the site ymmv
http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=65

Alternatively you might find it for sale in GH. I'm guessing you haven't seen a silent variable weight RF - you registered in 2009?! 

[1391406]

Thanks. (Not that I expect to need more than 6KRO. I just wanted to be sure the Massdrop keyboard is identical, though now that I've learned they expect to ship the drop I already joined last week in a month, I'm not thrilled.)

When I ordered mine from Massdrop I thought it was going to take a month as well, but after the drop ended it was shipped within a week or two. I'm not saying that'll happen in your case, but it's possible.

So, what's the deal with these RF 104U Silent variable keyboards being so difficult to purchase? There has to be a way to find them available in Asia if one is willing to pay a little more and cover the shipping. Any suggestions?

There just aren't many sources that order them from Asia, and the one that does (EK) runs out of stock fairly quickly. Taobao.com sells them. Though I've never ordered from them directly, there are people who have and claim it's not as difficult as it might seem. As csmertx mentioned, there are proxy services that can order them for you for a small fee.

[keyjay]

Find one on GH? That's interesting. I didn't know they even existed. In my talks with Brian at EK in the past, I kept asking for one (at the time I was looking for a 45g version), and I thought they just weren't being made yet.

So, maybe GH or else other channels through Asia. That's encouraging. At least now I know that if I fall in love with it, I can get two more for my other desks without having to wait months for EK or Massdrop to be offering them (and then having to grab it before it's gone into thin air again).

Then again, I'm the kind of guy who will try to get someone on the phone in Asia as close to the source as possible, and make a friend who becomes an ally and helps me get it taken care of. I'm usually pretty successful. Any suggestions where to go for attempting that? To be closest to the source or sources?

Thanks again!!!