My keyboard search is over.

Muirium · 30 Jul 2014, 00:16

hsu wrote: ↑Why don't you recommend THAT instead? Those caps look BIUUUUTIFUL! (It this the one which will be over 400USD?)

Not quite out yet. And I have yet to try a final release version. Topres are top notch keyboards, so the NovaTouch has a high bar to meet.

I think I heard $150 for the board. And you're looking at about that price again in those particular caps! Highly sought after.

hsu · 30 Jul 2014, 00:20

They are really, really nice. There shall be a rerun and I shall save monies. I only have caps from Round4 now. I like the Filco browns w/ DCS, the Leopold browns (a little bit less) w/ DCS, the Leopold brown w/ SA keycaps even less - they are my best looking though, by far.

Want to try next: DSA caps, Mx Red, Topre. Then I can finally get some programming done!

Muirium · 30 Jul 2014, 01:12

Yeah, work must wait until the right combination of switches and caps, how I know that feeling.

I've used SA on MX red and Topre now quite extensively. Much to like about all of those. And now I have DSA caps at last, too. Different but just as good, I think. A spherical that's more like other caps, less radical than SA. Quite surprised how much I like them actually.

cookie · 30 Jul 2014, 01:39

Hypersphere wrote: ↑The only improvements I might make to HHKB Pro 2 would be to get the Type-S and put 55g domes in it.

If you want 55g-60g domes, I have something for you!

Hypersphere · 30 Jul 2014, 01:42

cookie wrote: ↑
Hypersphere wrote: ↑The only improvements I might make to HHKB Pro 2 would be to get the Type-S and put 55g domes in it.
If you want 55g-60g domes, I have something for you!

Not only 55g, but 60g? Is it a different dome or dome/spring combination, or is this the error inherent in the 55g dome weight?

Muirium · 30 Jul 2014, 01:44

There's an error margin on all the domes. (Whether Topre, PFU, Leopold or CM.) Not broad enough you should be able to feel it, however.

If Cookie's offering what I think he's saying, he'll have a queue at his door!

Hypersphere · 30 Jul 2014, 01:50

Muirium wrote: ↑There's an error margin on all the domes. (Whether Topre, PFU, Leopold or CM.) Not broad enough you should be able to feel it, however.

If Cookie's offering what I think he's saying, he'll have a queue at his door!

Yes, I would have thought the error would be in both directions, e.g., +/- 5g or so, but I suppose it could be skewed in one direction.

PM sent to Cookie to hold my place in the queue! However, if it is anything to do with Topre, I probably can't afford it at the moment.

cookie · 30 Jul 2014, 02:22

The secret is that the domes on my Pro1 are stiffened up over the years. I weighted them they are pretty much 55 to 60g.
If there is someone who is interested in those, I would be willing to swap

The Thock and crisp feel is way nicer on the Pro1 but I like it as light as possible, thats the reason I'd give them away.

hsu · 30 Jul 2014, 13:35

Considering this is a conversation between folks that *really* care about keyboards and input and feeling/"feedback", its a good place to talk about the following.

Do you guys notice any difference between Linux, OSX and WIndows regarding the "pleasure"/snappiness when typing? (Say this very box, using the same browser, on the two different OSes).

I use a MBP at home, and a desktop at work, and can't help to feel that Windows7 is much more snappy/physical, in a very subjective "feels good/lightweight" manner. Maybe its because at work I use a more powerful machine, and a single monitor (it was a video buffering issue) ?

I've heard a podcast about this in the context of iPhone vs Android, and I definitely notice: because iPhone's touch screen have a much lower response time, when you slide a control, it really feels "physical" whereas in Android (I use Android now) this feel is never that good. And those guys from atp.fm podcast mention that Apple cares very much about this.

Muirium · 30 Jul 2014, 14:50

Those guys at ATP (I'm a listener, too) piss all over Android on a regular basis, as do most all Mac / iOS developers! I know where they're coming from, and I think they're right, but objectivity isn't their strong point with so much invested in Apple's ecosystem.

Of course, by that argument: objectivity isn't my strong suit either!

I do have an unusual amount of experience using old Apple gear, though. I'm typing this on an iMac G4 that's going on half the age of this keyboard! Even with hardware that's likely an order of magnitude slower than any Intel Mac, I get instantaneous typing (allowing for how little we humans can see) so long as I use the right software. Safari on this old guy can be a bit laggy, depending on what else its got going on. Xcode was never great. And Microsoft Word was always a nightmare on PowerPC as soon as you were a few pages deep in a document. But BBEdit and TextWrangler are superb on any age of Mac.

I'm well out of date re: Windows. I switched away when I was still running Windows 2000! But I expect the same rules apply there, too. Older versions of Windows (XP etc.) were better matched to the hardware of the time than early OS X (10.0 through 10.5). For what it's worth though, I've only ever seen snappiness on any modern hardware the last 5 years or so, either side of the divide. All that Intel hardware seems to do a damn good job at handling random load.

Hypersphere · 30 Jul 2014, 14:58

@hsu: I use OS X, Linux, and Windows 7 on a regular basis, but the vast majority of my time is spent in OS X. Responsiveness seems about the same for a given application or type of application across the OSs. However, I find that using Linux is more fun than using the other OSs, particularly after switching desktops from KDE to Xfce.

scottc · 30 Jul 2014, 15:00

I agree with Hypersphere on all counts, apart from using OS X. On Linux, I use a keyboard-driven window manager called i3, which is even more fun because I don't need to use my mouse at all.

cookie · 30 Jul 2014, 15:07

@scottc: Thanks for the link to the window manager, I use Xfce on my Computer at work and I am verry happy with it but I have Ubuntu installed on my Notebook at home and I must say that unity drives me nuts!!! I hate almost everything about it.. I will definately try out i3

scottc · 30 Jul 2014, 15:11

You're welcome! I really like i3 on my laptop (with 1280x800 res) because it doesn't take up too much real estate on the small screen. I've used Unity on this laptop before, but it takes up so much space that I can't put two terminals of 80-line code beside eachother at a readable font size. Horrible!

i3 really throws you in the deep end, though - it might take a while to get comfortable with it, but once you do it's incredibly productive!

cookie · 30 Jul 2014, 15:14

I am absolutely willing to learn i3, no doubt about that. I find Unity so extremly terrible that I avoid working on my Notebook

I have tried the awesome window manager but couldn't get used to it.

scottc · 30 Jul 2014, 15:18

i3 is somewhat similar to awesome in that it's a tiling WM, but I like it a lot more. If you want to avoid tiling WMs, maybe you could try openbox or fluxbox if you haven't already.

Aaaaand I think we're off-topic again.

cookie · 30 Jul 2014, 15:40

Jeah I have tried them also! But tbh, i3 looks the best for me so far.
And yes, you are right, we are way off-topic, sorry for that!

Back to Topic now

scottc · 30 Jul 2014, 16:02

Great, good luck with it! Feel free to PM me if you need any hints or tips (so that we don't pollute the thread anymore!)

Muirium · 30 Jul 2014, 16:46

We're several layers deep in off topic now. Wasn't this originally Trev's thread about his HHKB Type S, that he's since replaced with a Realforce!

Anyway, it's much the same story.

scottc · 30 Jul 2014, 16:48

My window manager search is over!

Muirium · 30 Jul 2014, 16:58

Until the next one…

JBert · 30 Jul 2014, 21:58

Heh, I guess I'll be searching a long time for a hybrid between tiling and composing.