Type Heaven -- PBT-ing and *Japanizing*

zts · 06 Apr 2015, 17:47

Replaced the stock (ABS) keycaps with a combo of color-matched Topre JIS and ANSI keycaps (but not to interfere with ANSI layout). Interestingly, keycaps made for Japanese market have slightly sharper and slightly less bold lettering.

- Upside -- Type Heaven gets a full Realforce feel
- Downside -- unless you are a Topre enthusiast and somehow managed to stock some Topre keycaps, the cost of the new keycaps + the cost of the board will in most cases either exceed or equal the cost of buying a new Realforce TKL

: TH_1combo.jpeg (262.35 KiB) Viewed 4052 times

: TH_2combo.jpeg (351.7 KiB) Viewed 4052 times

: TH_2bcombo.jpeg (202.53 KiB) Viewed 4052 times

: TH_3combo.jpeg (388.85 KiB) Viewed 4052 times

Redmaus · 06 Apr 2015, 18:08

Ooh, looks nice. Not into topre, but type heaven seems like a good brand to go with if you want topre.

scottc · 06 Apr 2015, 18:15

Interesting. Is there any reason you went down the Type Heaven route? Did you expect to want to buy after-market Realforce keycaps?

zts · 06 Apr 2015, 18:34

scottc wrote: ↑Interesting. Is there any reason you went down the Type Heaven route? Did you expect to want to buy after-market Realforce keycaps?

It's just another Topre to have in my collection (tho, I'm not a collector per se)

My Topres:

- Realforce 87UW55 (daily driver; excellent all over)
- Realforce 87UD55 10th (same as above; anniversary colors)
- Realforce 104UK-HiPro YK11K0 (outstanding; wish for a TKL version)
- Realforce 104UG-HiPro YK2100 (outstanding; wish for a TKL version)
- Type Heaven (Type Heaven + Topre PBTs = Realforce ... or very close to it)
- Leopold FC660C (White; Leopold will never make a better product than this; outstanding)
- Leopold FC660C (Grey; same as above)
- HHKB Pro 2 Type-S (excellent all over; best PBTs ever)
- CM NovaTouch (... almost there ... maybe in the next version)
- one more coming in

scottc · 06 Apr 2015, 18:38

Wow! Okay, so you must fall in the "Topre enthusiast [who] somehow managed to stock some Topre keycaps" category.

zts · 06 Apr 2015, 18:49

^ ... I guess so

the one thing I'm looking forward in the next year or so is possibly a wireless Topre board. There is definitively a way to do it. Maybe the first one will be Leopold FC660C wireless version because there is an exact MX board that's wireless from their Chinese factory ... will wait and see.

eldorange · 06 Apr 2015, 19:10

Is Leopold International a Chinese or Korean company? I lived in Seoul as a student and know a bit of Korean language...

Leopold FC660C is made in China, while FC660M (CherryMx) is Made in Korea (pcgear website)...

I checked http://www.leopold.co.kr/ and location is Kyonggi Province, Goyang City, Ilsan-dong...

Muirium · 06 Apr 2015, 19:17

I've been whining about the need for Bluetooth Topres for a couple of years now. People worry about battery life, especially when they see converted boards. Yet capsense isn't much more power hungry than a switch matrix (they can both be done very efficiently if desired). What sucks juice so bad is running a USB controller and then bitbanging its output to convert to Bluetooth. A fully integrated controller, like Topre could make for themselves, should do the job nicely.

The tiny controller they put on the NovaTouch shows they're up to something. (Is the Type Heaven's similar?) My fingers are still crossed for Bluetooth. And a TKL HiPro. And a pony.

@eldorange: OEMing in China is quite common (to put it mildly). Topre makes the Type Heaven in China, too; but Topre is Japanese. Same story for Leopold and Korea. High end models are the ones that usually stay in production at home.

zts · 06 Apr 2015, 19:18

eldorange wrote: ↑Is Leopold International a Chinese or Korean company? I lived in Seoul as a student and know a bit of Korean language...

Leopold FC660C is made in China, while FC660M (CherryMx) is Made in Korea (pcgear website)...

I checked http://www.leopold.co.kr/ and location is Kyonggi Province, Goyang City, Ilsag-dong...

I'm pretty sure that Leopold is a Korean company (as you said), but it seems that they either own or outsource some of their work to Varmilo company in China. It also seems that Varmilo has some rights to produce its own line of products that are right now identical or very similar to Leopold -- check this wireless MX board that is basically Leopold FC660M under the name of Varmilo VB660M: http://imgur.com/a/2RmSt

That is what makes me think that Leopold FC660C may be the first to adopt wireless option.

eldorange · 06 Apr 2015, 19:27

So it turns out Leopold FC660C is the first wireless topre in the market soon?...good news...

Varmilo VB660M Wireless looks indeed Leopold...

zts · 06 Apr 2015, 19:44

eldorange wrote: ↑So it turns out Leopold FC660C is the first wireless topre in the market soon?...good news...

Varmilo VB660M Wireless looks indeed Leopold...

Yes it does. The Fn layer (as pictured on the keycaps) is also identical to Leopold FC660M/C, including the Fn+Q.

seebart · 06 Apr 2015, 20:00

I generally like white caps on black case, look's real good on your Type Heaven! Nice.

zts · 07 Apr 2015, 01:32

^ Thanks seebart! Yes, I agree, white caps on black case always looks good to me. They are a bit harder to keep them clean, but I think it's worth the effort.

eldorange · 07 Apr 2015, 10:30

May I know besides the height, what is the difference between the Realforce Hi Pro keycaps and Realforce nomal/the usual keycaps? Is there a difference in the typing feel/experience?

Those Hi Pro keycaps are the nicest in current production...

Fortunately there's no Realforce Hi Pro TKL yet...more time for SAVE and Buy....

002 · 07 Apr 2015, 10:34

The tops on the HiPro caps are spherical, and normal Realforce caps are cylindrical. I guess that the HiPro caps also curve in further toward the user, making a more concave sculpture which might be desired by some. I think (not sure) that surface area on the top is less on the HiPro caps though.

zts · 07 Apr 2015, 17:22

eldorange wrote: ↑May I know besides the height, what is the difference between the Realforce Hi Pro keycaps and Realforce nomal/the usual keycaps? Is there a difference in the typing feel/experience?

Those Hi Pro keycaps are the nicest in current production...

Fortunately there's no Realforce Hi Pro TKL yet...more time for SAVE and Buy....

Yeah, keycaps are quite different as is the feel (maybe even more Topre feel than anything else) -- here are a few pics:

hipro and standard RF cap:

: caps_comp2.jpeg (206.6 KiB) Viewed 3843 times

notice the much more pronounced *cup* on the top of the caps:

: hipro_1.jpeg (353.3 KiB) Viewed 3842 times

deskthority

Type Heaven -- PBT-ing and Japanizing