The Pleased Hacking Keyboard line from PFU America is aimed at users who want a compact, however effective and adjustable keyboard with a fantastic typing feel. The current version of the HHKB (as it’s shortened) is the HHKB Studio, developed to compress both keyboard and mouse functionality into the most compact footprint possible. Like its predecessors, this keyboard isn’t low-cost– its market price is $385– but it provides a mix of functions you will not discover in other keyboards.Let’s take a look.HHKB Studio test drive The HHKB Studio utilizes USB-C or Bluetooth and battery-powered connections, with both cabling and batteries consisted of. Bluetooth pairing deals with as much as 4 distinct gadgets, and it can be utilized to command both Mac and Windows systems interchangeably.I was fond of the soft-touch, smooth-sliding linear mechanical crucial switch mechanisms used in the HHKB Hybrid Type-S model I formerly reviewed. The Studio uses the same switches, but you can switch in your own basic MX-stem switches– for instance, to offer the non-alphanumericsecrets a little bit more click, or to make the Esc essential more difficult to actuate. The keycaps delivered with my unit utilized a gloss-black over matte-black color scheme that you’ll either find sophisticated and stylish or next to impossible to construct out. There is no key backlighting, however a vibrantly lit room assists. IDG HHKB Studio includes a super compact keyboard layout with a pointing stick mouse and gesture pads. The super-compact 60-key layout implies no devoted cursor controls or number pad. Secret controls for the arrows are accessed by method of function essential combos. Also, the left Control
key now sits where Caps Lock usually does; you use FN+ Tab to access Caps Lock if required.
Each FN essential combo is printed on the bottom front of each keycap, however once again the black keycap colors on my unit made them difficult to read without direct lighting.For cursor control, the HHKB Studio includes two other functions. One is the pointing stick mouse, as promoted by the initial IBM ThinkPad. It’s set in between the G/H/B key cluster, and matched with thumb-reachable mouse buttons set listed below the space bar. It takes some practice to deal with, however for standard mousing about
it’s practical, and the keyboard comes with 4 replacement caps for the stick mouse. The other cursor control function is four “gesture pads”along the front edges and sides of the system. Slide your fingers along the left side and left front edges to move the cursor; slide them along the ideal side and ideal leading edges to scroll the present window or tab in between windows. You can likewise freely reassign the corresponding key
actions for these movements.The gesture pads are effective and beneficial enough that I seldom relied on the arrow-diamond key cluster or even the pointing stick to move the cursor. Nevertheless, you can activate the gesture pads by mishap. A couple of times I innocently bumped the side of the unit when moving it, and wound up sending keystrokes to a different window. Lots of hackable keyboard models use the VIA requirement
, implying you can change your keyboard’s design or behaviors through a web browser app. HHKB does not support VIA, regrettably; the keymapping and control tool offered it runs as an installable desktop application.Bottom line Like its predecessor, the Pleased Hacking Keyboard Studio packs functionality and a terrific typing feel into a small type aspect. This version ramps up the functionality even further by letting you get rid of a mouse. However you’ll have to decide if$ 385 is a worthy price. Copyright © 2023 IDG Communications, Inc. Source
