deskthority

@the_marsbar: Thanks for your comments. Yes, although the price might seem rather high, I have to admit that I have spent this much on far inferior keyboards in an effort to make them as HHKB-like as possible. By the time you add a premium metal case, new keycaps (often from 2-3 sets to create the d...

Although my daily driver HHKB Pro 2 that I lubed and silenced is still going strong after 5 years of service, I decided to purchase a new HHKB Pro Hybrid Type-S to see if there have been significant improvements. I opted for the unprinted charcoal model. Listed below are some brief first impressions...

I've been away from DT for quite some time due to work demands.

Looking forward to receiving my new Model F keyboards.

@NiK: I agree. I notice that the Razer Viper is a current favorite of "Rocket Jump Ninja", who reviews gaming mice. I do not game at all, but I have always purchased gaming mice for my work. My own favorite is still the Logitech G403. However, although I seldom need to use a middle-click, this one i...

@keyboard Kultist: Thanks for the question! The Forever Black finish seems to be holding up very well, although I have not been using that keyboard much. I have been quite busy with work, and when I have serious work to do, I usually use my silenced and lubed HHKB Pro 2. In general, both with painti...

@sofbud: I'm not a gamer, but I suppose I might be construed as a "power user". I have a dozen computers running linux, Mac OS, and Windows, and I do research applying computational chemistry and molecular modeling to problems in medicinal chemistry and predictive toxicology. I've always favored mec...

@Ellipse: I've returned after an absence of a few months.

1. Any updates on estimated arrival times for those of us who place orders early in this process?
2. Are the US tariffs on goods from China and the US-China trade wars going to affect prices and/or delivery times?

@Jaki1122: You made a great choice with the Northgate Omnikey 101 with SKCM white Alps switches. This is one of my all-time favorite keyboards. They are very easy to convert to USB. I found a flush-mount micro-USB connector that fits the exisiting PS/2 connector holes perfectly, so that there is no ...

Congratulations on the switch replacement job. It is also nice to see some positive news about Matias switches, which in recent months have accumulated negative reviews, apparently owing to some QC issues at the factory in China. I am typing this on a KBP V60 Type R (completely programmable) with Ma...

It's always gratifying to see a fortuitous repurposing of vintage parts. Nice work.

As of now, the factory has completed assembling 700 keyboards and can assemble about 50 keyboards in one day.  They are continuing to work on ramping up the daily capability to speed up the remaining assembly. We are now looking at completion of mass assembly in July! Ellipse, this is welcome news....

Received mine today. Thanks!

Thanks for the clarification.

@St0ckz: Thanks for the ring IDs. Wow, if I do say so myself, the Keyclack V2 rings appear to be rather crudely cut. Now I don't feel quite so bad about the rather extreme cost differential! On the other hand, if they work well, I suppose they don't need to look pretty. It will be interesting to see...

@vinzbe: I agree about the build quality being about the same in the various versions of RF boards (R1, R2, RF/Topre-branded vs Leopold-branded), and that the R1 is easier to take apart. One thing I much prefer about the R2 is that the lock lights are in the case rather than through windowed keycaps...

vinzbe wrote: ↑

19 Mar 2019, 01:41

Here is a (crappy) shot where you can compare the thickness. I would say they are slightly thinner.

rings.png

What are the rings in the pic?

Sent payment today for 110 switches. Sent separate $3.00 payment for tracked shipping. Looking forward to receiving the NOS SKCM White Alps switches!

I didn't encounter an issue with the noise produced by the space bar with my R2 boards, but there is something I find annoying with it. The space bar is slightly longer than on Realforce R1 or HHKB. So you can't put a custom space bar (the stabilizers won't fit). The spacebar noise was an issue onl...

@fohat: What does "BBC" signify on that PCB? I suppose it is not the "British Broadcasting Corporation".

Please post pics! Thanks!

Lanrefni wrote: ↑

26 Mar 2019, 19:52

My perfect mouse would be the Logitech G502 with the G600's 12 side buttons.

I am in awe of those who can navigate more than two side buttons on a mouse!

"Capitals" rather than "Uppercase"? (or "Upper case") (or "Upper Case") or .... ?

The other problem with Matias spacebars though, is that they don't have the traditional vertical stabilization posts that Alps spacebars do, so there's a horrible side-to-side wobble when using their spacebars. Yes, I have noticed some wobble with Matias spacebars on some keyboards, but most of the...

On my Alps-switch boards, I like to use blank black spacebars and modifiers from Matias and lettered alphas from vintage Alps boards. Thus far, Matias has allowed me to purchase partial sets from them. I prefer them to Signature Plastics, because the profile is usually a better match.

@mcmaxmcmc: I think that Matias prefers to sell full sets of keycaps. However, I have been able to get special orders of various keycaps from them. I have mainly wanted modifiers and spacebars. Go to the Matias site and click on a keycap set. You will see a list of kecaps such as the following: R4: ...

Regarding custom keycaps for Topre-switch keyboards, apart from the knockoffs being sold on KBDfans, I agree with Tias that custom sets are currently quite scarce. I got my custom sets from "Widebasket" on eBay back when they were still being produced by Realforce. Now the supply has apparently drie...

It really doesn't : I want at least 5 buttons (although more would be overkill). I need a small / midsized mouse because I can't change my fingertip grip habit (current mouse is a battered MX400) I insist on it being PS/2 compatible (because -probably bad- reasons). I would like it to look clean, n...

<snip> When I sat in front of a Linux desktop all day winkeyless boards were my favorite. But now that I'm on a Mac for the most part I use all of the modifiers fairly regularly, and end up remapping some keys to make sure I can get all of: Control, Caps Lock (in the lower left corner of the keyboa...

Here are my links to typing sounds on my RF87UB55 before and after silencing:

Before: After: The sounds are from the same typing sequence at the same microphone settings.

@Menhin: I still rate my HHKB Pro 2 as my all-time favorite keyboard. However, perfection gets dull after a while, so I like to mix it up by rotating through a variety of other keyboards (RF87UB45, RF87UB55, HHKB Pro 2 w/55g domes, various Cherry mx and clone boards, IBM Model M, IBM Model M SSK, IB...