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by dxq 5718 days ago
The HHKB is very much still in production (mine just arrived last week), though it can be hard to get one in the US. I ordered mine from http://elitekeyboards.com.

My HHKB is replacing a 16 year-old Apple Extended Keyboard. It's definitely not as click-clacky as a buckling spring keyboard, but it's much easier on my wrists (and doesn't wake people up when I'm hacking at night).

1 comments

Hmm... elitekeyboards.com only seems to have the HHKB Professional 2... the one I have is a "HHKB Lite 2", which (in a strange inversion of the usual hierarchy) includes an extra Fn key on the left and an inverted-T arrow-key cluster.

I realise using arrow keys is heresy to a certain subset of the programming community, but I've been using them for decades and it's hard to give them up.

I realise using arrow keys is heresy to a certain subset of the programming community, but I've been using them for decades and it's hard to give them up.

Then buy a RealForce or the Japanese HHKB Professional instead:

http://www.g-ray.co.uk/pictures/Realforce87U2b.jpg

http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/hhkeyboard/lineup/pdkb420b.html

FWIW, I use the arrows once in a while (not everything supports Emacs-style keybindings, after all, especially on Windows), and I like the HHKB's approach. Less hand movement than normal arrow keys.

in a strange inversion of the usual hierarchy, includes an extra Fn key on the left and an inverted-T arrow-key cluster

"Lite" refers to the price, not the number of keys. Topre keyswitches are not cheap. A rubber membrane is.

The lite can be found here http://pfuca-store.stores.yahoo.net/haphackeyser.html

Though they didn't take away their days unavailable from august. I believe this yahoo store is also found from the officials manufacturers website for buying the keyboards.

The arrow keys are accessible with the function key. It seems awkward at first, but after a day of use it becomes very natural.

If it's what you really want, the HHKB Lite 2 is actually sold in the US and is quite a bit cheaper (though the switches aren't as nice).

Can you reprogram where arrow keys are? I have my arrow keys in emacs as Alt and then IJKL (like WASD), so it would be nice if Fn IJKL worked the same in OS.
No, you can't reprogram them.