I’ve had the Topre Realforce 86U tenkeyless (no numeric keypad) board for several months now. It is my all time favorite when it comes to keyboards. It’s got a superlative key feel and a fantastic build quality. Plus it comes with a red esc key. That has to count for something ;)
The tactile feedback; the soft, rhythmic thock thock of the keys on the way back up; the sheer poetry of cutting code in Vim while I’m in the zone. That’s the drug I live on. The creative high that I keep chasing. The reason why I program.
If the red Esc key does not flash, hide your pr0n windows, and bring up a serious-looking Excel spreadsheet when wife/boss approaches, no, it does not count for anything.
Eddy.
Hi,
Just an FYI, the correct term is actually “flow” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
It was termed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote a very interesting book about it: http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi/dp/0060920432
This keyboard looks awesome! From where did you buy it?
It’s hard to find outside of Japan. I got mine from the Korean trading site gmarket.co.kr.
I have to agree with you. The exact keyboard has been under my fingers for several months now and I’ll likely never need or want another KB. It’s heavy, it’s solid, it’s accurate, it’s beautiful, the capacitive switches will outlast any other switch made, it’s not noisy though it has it’s own unique sound and it’s, well, very expensive. would I buy it again if I had it do over? Absolutely!! I have no idea if they have gotten any easier to find outside Japan since I purchased mine, but I got mine through a Korean shopping site. Mine has black on black keys that are readable if a light is shining on them just right. This nearly blank configuration has helped my typing quite a bit and I’m strongly considering buying a blank set to replace, at least, the QWERTY section of the Keyboard. My suggestion is that if you are willing to drop this much dough on a keyboard you might as well buy the clear plastic roof available. I, too, have the red esc key just for kicks. It’s nice to have a little color on this, otherwise, completely black treasure. Prove it to yourself that you know you deserve the best things in life and buy a Topre Realforce Keyboard (I prefer the 86U)
Peace & Love Beads
I’m thinking this or an avant stellar prime or a north gate omni key. Time will tell. I’m using a white Filco ‘otaku’ with blue cherries.
@Fletcher I’ve got a couple of SMK-88s with blue cherries. Since I originally posted about the Topre, I’ve found that I like, in order of preference: White ALPS > Topre > Buckling Springs > Blue Cherries. Purely personal preference of course.
It’s surprising that I’ve got the non-clicky Topre sandwiched between two very clicky switches. The Topre couldn’t be more different from those two. There’s just something extremely addictive with the smoothness and the sound of the Topre switches. I suspect that it will always remain one of my favourites. I’m lusting after those switches in the HHK Pro 2 layout. I also want to try black ALPS, but I can’t find them in tenkeyless format.