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New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

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Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#121

Post by nkrisc »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #26
formerly_proven wrote: post #2

The IBM Model M hype is absurdly overblown. Anyone who has used decent mechanical keyboards should be able to pretty much immediately notice just how cost-reduced that keyboard is. It is quite literally the cheapest buckling spring keyboard IBM managed to make in '89, and it shows. Cherry boards are often bashed for their flexing and wobbly cases, but the IBM Model M is hardly better with the top and lower parts of t…

I think a lot of the hype around mechanical keyboards in general is overblown. I had a period of transitioning to mechanical keyboards. I couldn't get used to the high-rise keys and long travel times which made my wrists hurt and made typing a chore. I kept convincing myself that I just had the wrong type of switch, so I changed keyboards every few months seeking that perfect feeling. The closest I got was low-profil…

I don't think it's overblown. I think it's spending $500 chasing that "perfect" typing experience and all the different switches that is overblown. I spent $50 on a basic G.Skill mechanical keyboard with Cherry Red switches and it's great. It's cheap, and best of all, it's very simple and repairable.

When I spilled a drink on it and gummed up a switch, I popped off the keycaps, took out a few screws, pulled out the board, desoldered the switch and soldered in a replacement switch. Good as new.

My favorite feature? The cord connects to the body with USB Type-C so even the cord is easily replaceable. The raised keycap design is nice too since I can just blow compressed air under all the keycaps to clean it and there's no raised edge around the faceplate to catch it.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#122

Post by deagle50 »

Syzygies wrote: post #60
m463 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a topre keyboard. It is the most solid keyboard I've used and love it. I bought the realforce RGB. I didn't really care about the RGB, but it's nice to turn on a solid color dimly so I can find the keyboard in the dark. It also has an adjustable actuation point, so you can make it less or more sensitive. I keep it above the point where resting fingers on the keys can set it off. I could probably tune the actua…

I also have a Topre keyboard, the Leopold FC660C, with a Hasu FC660C Controller supporting QMK firmware. The 12 keys closest to my non-pinky fingers are all tap/hold, so for example my hands don't move for control sequences. Alternate keymaps like Dvorak make sense if one needs to optimize letters for composing words. Shortening finger travel for programmers is an entirely different ball of wax, with many solutions i…

Can you share your config file? I just installed my Hasu controller and I’m not sure where to start.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#123

Post by kitsunesoba »

Symbiote wrote: post #83
pixel_tracing wrote: post #58

Is anyone else not a fan of these mechanical keyboards? I seem to have missed the hype (and I had old computers in the early 90s) Just don’t understand the current hype. If you use these please know bringing them to an office will make most dislike you due to the noise they make

Mechanical doesn't have to imply noisy, though it's inappropriate to choose a noisy/clicky one and take that to the office. My keyboard has "silent" switches (tiny rubber bits so bits of plastic don't hit together), and is comparable to Apple keyboards. (The first time I took one to the office, I checked with my neighbours. Between about 6 people, there was no consensus on which of my keyboard, an Apple one, or an ol…

Indeed. My current board uses u4 silent boba switches and it’s as quiet as the pre-2015 MacBook keyboards and more quiet than the post-2015 MacBook keyboards.

There’s also Topre boards like the HHKB which are similar in silence to rubberdomes while offering a much more consistent keyfeel.

Noise in mechanical keyboards is a choice, not an immutable fact.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#124

Post by sincerely »

michaelt wrote: post #30

> The New Model M is a typing keyboard, not a gaming keyboard. If you care about “ghosting,” it’s not the keyboard for you. Ghosting is when a keyboard stops registering new key presses when you hold down multiple keys at the same time. I was under the impression that most games prized compatibility with normal membrane keyboards, and so chose keys that don't alias. For example shift, ctrl and alt keys are less prone…

You're not wrong, but knowing that most games are compatible with normal keyboards is small comfort when it turns out the one you bought isn't. Some games also just require so many key presses in some situations (e.g. local multiplayer on the same keyboard, for instance the lego star wars series or some 2d fighting games) that encountering ghosting is an inevitability.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#125

Post by dkarl »

cmiller1 wrote: post #117
dkarl wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My theory is that most folks these days learned to type on membrane keyboards where you have to bottom out the keys (often with quite a lot of force, if the keyboard is old) I hate this. It's uncomfortable. If you aren't old enough to have used a good laptop before laptops could be thinner than two inches, you can think of modern laptop keyboards as the 21st century equivalent of a girdle. You give up a certain amo…

> If you aren't old enough to have used a good laptop before laptops could be thinner than two inches, you can think of modern laptop keyboards as the 21st century equivalent of a girdle I miss old laptop input devices, wish someone still made a laptop with a built in trackball too!

I never got to try a trackball. I remember that touchpads back in the day were garbage compared to touchpads now, though. I remember the Thinkpad nub was better than any touchpad I ever had until I got my first Macbook Pro. The Apple touchpads were so amazing I assumed they would eventually figure out keyboards, too. Still waiting ten years later.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#126

Post by rhinoceraptor »

scaladev wrote: post #56
benlumen wrote: post #10

I told myself this would be my next keyboard years ago. So know this about mechanical keyboards in general - choose wisely, because you'll be stuck with it. First, you won't ever go back to rubber dome like everyone always says, but second, the damn things don't seem to wear out. I'm still using the original Razer Blackwidow that I bought in first year uni - 2010. I thought I'd managed to kill it with beer in the fir…

Not to rain on your parade, but 10 years is nothing. I'm still using my cheap A4Tech KV-300H bought back in early 2011 for about $15. It works just as it did the day it was bought, except for some minor cosmetic wear. It had tea, coffee, and water poured on it about a dozen times, continuing working as before after a few hours in a warm place. I really don't get the usual "get one mechanical keyboard and it'll serve…

If that works for you, then great. For me, I use an ergodox because I can feel my wrists start to hurt after only a few hours of using a normal rubber dome keyboard. Even if I spent $1000 on it, it would still be cheaper than physical therapy.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#127

Post by meepmorp »

executesorder66 wrote: post #77
schwartzworld wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I probably don't speak for everybody, but I can try to speak to your points above: - They are loud They can be loud, depending on the switches you get. However, some people feel that they benefit from it. The loud clicks are satisfying in some way. Maybe it's an ASMR thing for some people. For me, the sound feels like feedback. - They are expensive They can be. But so can regular keyboards. My first mechanical was li…

I did not know you could get low profile keys. That's interesting and I'll look into that. Why aren't they the default though? But even with everything you say, I still don't see the point. You'd have to find specific switches and keys (which will probably be more difficult to find and more expensive) just to end up with something that roughly matches a rubber dome keyboard. And yeah, I admit they look cooler overall…

>Why aren't they the default though?

Historical reasons, I believe. Computer keyboards started out as typewriter keyboards modified to work with mainframes, and the typing experience was something that keyboard designers put some effort into recreating when designing things like the DisplayWriter or model f keyboards.

Personally, I hate low profile keys, but that's a matter of taste. It probably has to do with the fact that I learned to type on an IBM selectric II; still the best typing experience I've ever had, by far.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#130

Post by u678u »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #26
formerly_proven wrote: post #2

The IBM Model M hype is absurdly overblown. Anyone who has used decent mechanical keyboards should be able to pretty much immediately notice just how cost-reduced that keyboard is. It is quite literally the cheapest buckling spring keyboard IBM managed to make in '89, and it shows. Cherry boards are often bashed for their flexing and wobbly cases, but the IBM Model M is hardly better with the top and lower parts of t…

I think a lot of the hype around mechanical keyboards in general is overblown. I had a period of transitioning to mechanical keyboards. I couldn't get used to the high-rise keys and long travel times which made my wrists hurt and made typing a chore. I kept convincing myself that I just had the wrong type of switch, so I changed keyboards every few months seeking that perfect feeling. The closest I got was low-profil…

The high rise keys are a problem. There are a variant of mech keyboards with low risk keys that I definitely prefer. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=low+profile+mechnical+keyboard
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