The Enigma Black Heavy Grail is my favorite. Using stock HHKB internals and 55g OEM domes. I personally just love the way Topre feels.
Topre is incredibly smooth and has the best key feel in my opinion. I have many other boards (MX, Alps, Buckling Spring, Space Invaders) but I always come back to Topre.
Congratulations on the HHKB! The only must do mod is lubing the stabilizers heavily. There are a lot of great videos on lubing Topre boards through YouTube. Thankfully Topre is pretty easy to work with once you get used to it.
The aftermarket cases get pretty expensive, but the boards themselves are obtainable. The Fc660c and HHKB are pretty widely available. You could check out SHO cases.
It’s worth the price tag to me. They are expensive but they also hold their value pretty well so if you’re not a fan you can recoup most of your money.
Correct! The bottom 3 are JIS boards. The newer models have a program you can use to program the function layers. The older Pro 2 boards don’t, but you can buy an aftermarket controller that adds programmability. I use Hasu controllers and they’re great. You should be able to get what you want with these controllers.
If you want to find a board with this layout you can use something like Buyee to proxy ship a used one or buy the newer model that’s programmable stock.
Oops, All Alps! (i.imgur.com)
Topre Collection (i.imgur.com)
This is my Topre collection. I’ve been a collector for years now and mainly collector Topre and Alps boards.