Layers, Mod Keys? Am I expecting too much…?
Hmm well it does look like it has at least one programmable fn layer as far as I can tell, but yeah. I think we’ll need to get our hands on this gui to see how feature rich or feature lacking it is.
They ran the 2019 China HHKB fans meetup yesterday in Shenzhen. I went there and tried all models. The new models felt quite nice. I could tell the build quality of new models is slight better than the old model pro 2 but the typing experience is close.
I brought my old pro 2 there and bought one new model Hybrid in this event. I asked Prof. Eiiti Wada to sign both of my keyboards. He looked at my old pro 2 and freezed quite a while. Then he said some Japanese but I could not understand Japanese. I guess he was surprise to see a mod like that.
I’m happy to have two HHKBs of different models with his signatures. They are a part of the HHKB history and also become a part of my memory during these years.
The legend of HHKB continues.
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Priceless … thanks for sharing this with us !
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Holly mo,
i’m not a jealous guy by any means, but this might be one of those exceptions of that rule.
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Speaking of end game boards. This is the one. HHKB signed with one of the creator of the board! Damn!
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Wow, it must have been quite an experience, meeting the creator in person!
While I love the HHKB, I do find the lack of arrow clusters undermining my enjoyment.
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I have one of the new ones but haven’t taken it apart yet. I suspect that it will probably be compatible, though probably not the bluetooth models.
I’ll have to do something to adapt the housing between the v2 and v3 due to the damned USB C though. grr.
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While I was lurking taobao I saw a HHKB aluminium case replacement, that looks similar to a brick 
https://world.taobao.com/item-amp/523139210844.html
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Interesting. This looks an exact match to the prototype that was so widely derided in the past for its acoustic properties. The negative reaction to that oneis why I’ve been exploring doing a plate in a polymer for fitting into an aluminum housing. I think fully re-making an integral Topre plate with housings in aluminum is probably just a bad idea, for a number of reasons.
I’m curious to see how you do this as it would be interesting to compare your method to that of xondats with the evija.
Either way I think they will both be highly marketable, but also very different from each other in sound signatures and feel.
…So you’re telling me that we have yet another Taobao thing that MassDrop poached and passed off as their own thing?
Amazing.
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I saw the prototype in SoCal, and I think the primary goal on that one is to provide an HHKB layout but without trying to replicate the characteristic feel of the HHKB per se, which is a clever solution to the problem and slightly different from my own objective. It requires buying a second keyboard such as a Realforce from which to harvest slider housings to pop into its custom plate, which essentially makes it more like a Realforce in a different layout, but since I love the Realforce that isn’t a bad thing from my point of view. At first glance, it may seem absurd to buy a whole second keyboard just to harvest housings, but frankly that doesn’t necessarily make it more expensive than my own approach, even with the extra Topre keyboard you have to buy. 
The integral plate and housings are a very complicated/intricate geometry and extremely expensive to replicate at low volumes in a polymer.
My own aim is to replicate some of the characteristic bouncy feeling of the original HHKB but with an aesthetically upgraded and heavier housing. Whether or not that is superior is a subjective matter, but I’ve always felt that a big part of what draws people to the HHKB is that unique feeling, so I wanted to take on the technical goal of trying to replicate that as best as I could. That’s where I’m getting my creative kicks on this project, and it has indeed proved really fucking challenging–but that’s just as I would have it, and I really feel like I’m in striking distance right now. Still tweaking and refining.
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I agree completely.
I tried all the topre boards except full size ones and HHKB is unique because of the plastic plate, and I can say I enjoy it the most for typing because of that.
Looking forward for your take on the HHKB case with a polymer plate 
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Cannot wait to see what you are up to. I’ve been waiting for someone to get this right for a long time 
I have been avoiding saying too much until I’m absolutely certain I can deliver something amazing, but I think I’m really close to finalizing things and having something to offer in the next couple of months that I think will make hhkb nerds pretty excited. My technical ambitions on the project have just kept growing and growing since I started on the project, which is why it has taken so long, but I think the end result will have been worth the effort. More soon.
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I’ve been patiently waiting for your HHKB housing. I own your Norbatouch and Norbaforce. Both are phenomenal after market housings. I’m sure everyone will be pleased with the final results of the HHKB version.
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I can hardly wait, time to save some money!
omg, I love that movie, and that scene.