Prior to seeing this ebay listing on the Club members' great / interesting finds thread I had no idea 'short throw topre' was even a thing. Massive thanks to 002 for finding the listings and sharing them with the group. Essentially it is a smaller version of topre with laptop height keys.
The feel reminds me of a thinkpad keyboard with a much stiffer actuation force requirement (around 65g) yet still retaining the smoothness of full size topre, though this can only be appreciated when pushing the keys down slowly as they keys tend to 'snap' under your fingers when typing normally.
The keycaps are quite odd. They seem to be dye sub PBT's with incredibly sharp lettering but unlike most PBT caps I have used on topre keyboards the ones on the K1 are very smooth to the touch - almost like the feel of ABS after years of use yet this board is brand new and the smoothness of the caps are definitely not because of any wear. My HHKB keycaps feel like sandpaper in comparison.
The larger keys are all stabilised beneath the keycaps themselves with wire stabilisers however they could benefit with some lube to reduce noise, or perhaps I am just too fussy after using a silenced HHKB.
A few of the keycaps are stepped e.g. tab and shift however neither keys bind when pressed off centre.
The cable it came with is a straight, thick 2m long dual ended ps2 cable which plugs in to the right hand side of the keyboard, overall quality is on par with the grey IBM SDL cables and far superior to any usb cables that ship with keyboards.
The build quality
Apologies for knowing absolutely nothing about plastics but I am going to take a guess and say the case is made out of a solid lump of ABS similar to the HHKB Professional 2. The case does not flex or creak whatsoever when flexed from opposing corners and weighs a hefty amount when taking its size into account - it feels like it weights a little more than the Pro 2 I keep comparing it to. The back of the keyboard contains four rubber grips to stop the board from sliding however has no adjustable feet. The case looks to be held together by a single screw and plastic clips.
Negative aspects
The JIS layout is a real pain in the backside so far, it is the very first time I have attempted to use it and everything feels like it's in the wrong place. I have improved ever so slightly since getting the board thanks to typing this little overview but I am missing the space bar constantly. And where the hell did my backspace go?
The larger stabilized keycaps seem to rattle ever so slightly, something I might be able to fix with some grease should I decide to keep this keyboard around.
The keys smaller than 1u seem to be somehow 'reacting' with the case. - When I push down the bottom of the case and press a small key it sounds normal like the rest, however when actuating the key normally the case seems to amplify the sound.
Positive aspects
Functionality of a ten keyless keyboard in the size of a 60%.
integrated numpad if you're not a number row peasant like I am.
low profile keycaps which are honestly much easier to type faster on.
Built like a tank - PBT everywhere.
6 key rollover
Sounds and feels just as good as full size topre with more tactility and less travel
It has a pen tray!!
Oh and.. it's topre.
Here are some pictures
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. They are quite stiff, maybe a little too stiff for my liking, probably about 60-70g weight, but I don't really notice it while typing fast. Every key above 1.5u is stabilized and the stabilizers are super rattly, quite disappointing, but probably easily fixed with some thick lube. Also the <1u keys are occasionally hitting the switch housing I think, they have a much louder bottom out sound than the rest.
Good thing I didn't get one of these then.