Topre RealForce 104UW Keyboard Review

[Guest]

We review the Topre RealForce 104UW.

Topre RealForce 104UW Keyboard Review : Read more

 

[Xeres Forteen]

Wow. I like the retro look. Does it have an AT connector?

 

[dark_lord69]

Look an early 90's keyboard with a 2017 gamer hardware price!
HA! If I knew I would have kept hundreds for those crappy keyboards!

Don't let the price fool you... It's just a keyboard.

 

[therealduckofdeath]

Why not got full-tilt retro and make one with the super high keys of a VIC or a PET? They could charge 4-500 bucks for that, I bet...

 

[toddybody]

Coming from a CM Storm Quickfire Rapid TK...now on the Logitech G810 Orion Spectrum, I can't see the value of these 150.00+ keyboards.

 

[Co BIY]

Keyboard reviews need a Price/performance graph. Something to help the average reader find the "sweet spot" where good performance meets reasonable price.

I'm on a Microcenter Inland DK-3001B - It's an obvious step-up in keyfeel from OEM boards and has nice LED mono-blue through key backlighting. All that for $25.

 

[husker]

Nice article, but I thought listing "Highly divisive--love it or hate it" on the Final Analysis page as a con is not fair. This seems to be saying that "you might love this!" is a negative. Agreed, you might hate it, but listing it as a con is pre-supposing you will hate it. With any product you have to determine whether or not you like it, but listing the fact that you might not like it as a con seems a bit unfair.

 

[techy1966]

They are kidding right over $200 for a keyboard that looks like it was made back in 1993. This is a flat out copy of the fujitsu keyboards from back in the day even the same color design. I know this because I still have one of them laying around which I paid a lot less than $200 for it at the time and it is most likely built a lot better as well since the thing weighs a fair amount and has a metal bottom and mech keys since back then that was the thing. O got mine back I think in 1991 maybe a bit older I used to have several of them but over the years they got lost or borrowed. Good to see they want to bring the retro look back but at least do not try to charge prices that are way above what they should be for it.

 

[Timothy_11]

>$200 for a keyboard that's made essentially the same as the $5 Dell/HP rubber dome keyboards? I'll pass.

 

[Rock_n_Rolla]

5 words for this Keyboard.

"Wolf in a Sheep's Clothing"...

 

[daglesj]

I'll just get a Cherry keyboard instead.

 

[Jay_29]

I love it when people that have never used the item bash it and compare it to 10 dollar keyboards. Why not just grab one and try it? You can re-sell it for the same exact price you paid easily if you do not like the item.

 

[lorfa]

lol @ people that think Topre switches are the same as dome switches.

 

[DotNetMaster777]

The Keyboard looks very nice but to expensive from my point of view !?

 

[bit_user]

For its size, it could easily have a 6W laptop SoC built-in. I'm thinking like a throwback to the old Apple II, Commodore, Amiga, and Atari computers that had the keyboard integrated into the main housing.

I'm not saying I'd buy it even if it were a complete PC... I guess my point is that its size just seems excessive, these days.

Speaking of expensive keyboards, I finally pulled the trigger on a Kinesis Advantage 2:

https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage2/

 

[bfunke]

It reminds me of the KB that came with a Gateway 2000 I bought in the early 90s.

 

[JQB45]

I like the higher force required to press these keys. But they lost me when it was mentioned that this keyboard is loud. Perhaps I'd be interested in the "silenced" version. But based on all the information I have been given by this article... I want to try this bad boy before I buy it, and I can think of no where that I can find this device in person. For comparison, if I was to buy a cherry mx keyboard from wasdkeyboards.com with PBT keys, Clear Cherry Switches, 101 keys, it would likely cost about the same.

 

[pug_s]

It is April Fools day?

 

[murphym18]

Fantastic review! I follow your YouTube channel, and this is one of the keyboards I was hoping to see you review.

 

[hotroderx]

Reading these comments make me pretty sad. Special with how much people pay to trick out there PC's in this community. Sure the keyboard's aren't for everyone nor are they meant to be. I have a real force keyboard my self 2 of them. That where over 200 dollar's each. There about as comparable as a Dell "Gaming Computer" is to something custom built by a boutique shop at like 20x's the price. The adage you get what you pay for is true. I also built a 75% keyboard that was over 150 dollar's. Why did I do this because I liked the customization and the quality. Also keep in mind not everyone wants a bling board. I mean more power to ya if you really enjoy those crazy colored board's that have insane fonts and all that jazz. Personally I prefer a more subdued board. That being said I do have a few crazy looking keyboard's like my k-type. What I am getting at is you get what you pay for. People don't all have the same taste. I might bulk at someone paying 10k for a set of rims for there car but I still respect the fact they like 10k rims its there money. I don't gotta talk smack about it. Special when I never had a set for my self so realistically I can't judge on any type of fact.

 

[bit_user]

I might bulk at someone paying 10k for a set of rims for there car but I still respect the fact they like 10k rims its there money. I don't gotta talk smack about it. Special when I never had a set for my self so realistically I can't judge on any type of fact.

I think I was with you until this point.

There are two types of extravagant expenses:

■ What you gotta pay, if you want the quality.
■ Pointless waste of money.

So, those cars from Dubai you see with gold plating and single-digit number plates are a perfect example of the latter. No benefit is derived other than to show the world you have money to burn. #1 is where it gets tricky, and here's where it gets tied up with rims. If you want a truly well-engineered set of wheels that are as light and strong as possible, they won't be cheap. But there's also a lot of overpriced garbage rims that are nothing but bling.

So, if someone buys quality expensive wheels, maybe the owner feels it's worth the price to have that level of quality, but maybe they're just buying expensive wheels for the bling factor. To know, you have to look at how much they know about what they're buying and how they use it. It can only be judged on a case-by-case basis.

What I respect is well-engineered products and geeks of (pretty much) all kinds. I don't personally respect people who simply feel the need to show of the fact that they have more dollars than sense and are loud and proud of that fact.

 

[LordConrad]

I'll stick with my Unicomp Classic. Buckling spring keyboards are the best.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Interesting review.

I still use my IBM Model M keyboard that I purchased way back in 1984. As far as I know it was one of the very first mechanical keyboards. It weighs 8.5 pounds and is virtually indestructible.