Hacker News Reader

Comment by aeroheim | Hacker News Reader

Topre keyboards are my holy grail honestly. They aren't technically "mechanical" keyboards since they still use rubber domes but are still well-known and respected in the MK community (albeit memed upon often). Since Topre uses proprietary switches based on capacitance there isn't as big of a modding community around them but the keyboards are mostly produced in Japan (Realforce) and Korea (Leopold) and have insane build quality.

As a relatively fast typist (~150wpm) the tactility and comfort of topres feel superior to me in every way. And oh man the sound - do yourself a favor and look up a video of a silenced Realforce or Leopold - they sound like gentle raindrops and are insanely therapeutic when working.

View on HN

I've been using a RealForce keyboard for years and it's an absolute joy to type on. With a decent wrist I've never felt any fatigue even after very productive days.

I wish I'd bought a silent one though, whenever I forget to mute myself on Zoom my typing is clearly audible. Not everyone appreciates the 'thonk'.

Along those lines, I have plans to purchase a Matias Ergo Pro as my first foray into mechanical. I can't type on a non-ergo keyboard (I've been using the Microsoft Natural for over a decade), and I'm thrilled at the idea of going mechanical, but the noise bothers me.

I heard a side-by-side of a silenced topre (realforce 87u) vs Matias quiet click, the the silenced topre is much quieter.

Are there any ergo topre keyboards out there?

There are silent switches too. Look up Silent Alpacas or Gazzew Boba U4 Silents for example

I'm not ready to do a build myself. If I wanted to use these switches in an ergonomic, what are my options?

Any hot swappable ergonomic board will be fine. Hot swappable means the switches can be pulled out of the sockets on the circuit board. Otherwise, you'd have to desolder the switches.

Edit: Do not worry, assembling a keyboard from parts is childs play. There's not a lot that can go wrong, just be careful not to damage the circuit board, and check that it fits the case.

Thanks for responding to me... I went into a deep dive, since I didn't know that was a possibility. Unfortunately, there are no full-size split hot-swappable ergonomic boards.

I can deal with a separate numpad, and I can use shortcuts to replace media/brightness/volume keys, but you can take away my arrow keys when you can pry them out of my cold, dead hands ;-) I'm not ready to go the chording route of something like the ErgoDox.

I found the Cloud Nine C989M, not hot-swappable, but ANSI layout only, no ISO, so it's out of bounds.

The Keebio has the Quefrency, which I can kit out with a separate numpad and wrist rests, but that's not hot swappable, and 1.5 to 2x the Matias Ergo Pro.

I think for now, it'll have to be the Matias, and maybe later I'll decide it's worth the investment to go chorded, or invest 4x what I'm used to (as opposed to 2x)

I don't use ergo boards myself, but you could try to ask Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards

Good luck!

Last week I used my old macbook pro (2016) for the first time in long. I have 2 mechs, 1 with reds and one with silver speeds.

I noticed how I somehow wrote alot faster on my old macbook pro, and not messing up that much.

So I was thinking about moving from mechs to something else. But perhaps i should try a "Topre"?

Same here, I'm using the HHKB for about 2 years now, and it just feels so much better over all other keyboards I've tried.

I was seriously disappointed by the HHKB. My Type S is still kicking around in a closet, it's just a very rattly/plasticy feeling keyboard for the price point.

Boba U4 is a mechanical switch that gives an extremely similar feel to a Topre, but is dramatically less key wobble which makes a huge difference

> insanely therapeutic

Quite an oxymoron here.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com