Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

tidbits.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 282 posts

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

#151

Post by dukeofdoom »

The long key press and the clicking sound is why this would not be something I would choose. I think my next keyboard will be a logitech ergo k860 keyboard. I tried it at best buy and it feels so great to type on, and I know bluetooth will work. I just wished it had leds. If you're in the market for a keyboard, I would check that one out.

Last year, I switched to keychron k1, A low profile mech keyboard. The lighting effects are absolutely stunning, it really is the most beautiful keyboard I have typed on. However, the bluetooth and typing experience it a little off. The keys are jagged on the corners and I seem to catch the corners. And bluetooth intermittently drops connection to my macbook, making it useless.

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

#152

Post by pram »

pan69 wrote: post #12

For those who are interested in buying a genuine IBM Model M, there's a website for that: https://www.clickykeyboards.com/

Holy crap these are expensive! I got all my Model Ms from Goodwill back in the very early 00s. There were literal piles of them for like $5 each. Funny how times change.

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

#153

Post by tokamak-teapot »

mewse wrote: post #75
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…

> They can be loud, depending on the switches you get. It’s worth noting that for folks who don’t know proper typing technique (which is probably nearly everybody under the age of 40, as nobody really teaches it any more, at least in the countries where I’ve lived) it almost doesn’t matter what sort of mechanical switch you’re using, in terms of noise. In my experience, the majority of mechanical keyboard noise for m…

I didn’t realise this when I started using keyboards with Cherry MX switches and bottomed out the keys. Noisy, slow, probably not great for my wrists!

I eventually realised that you’re supposed to press them gently, like you might with a camera shutter, just past the actuation point. Now I type faster, it feels better, and it’s really quiet.

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

#154

Post by TylerE »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #151

The long key press and the clicking sound is why this would not be something I would choose. I think my next keyboard will be a logitech ergo k860 keyboard. I tried it at best buy and it feels so great to type on, and I know bluetooth will work. I just wished it had leds. If you're in the market for a keyboard, I would check that one out. Last year, I switched to keychron k1, A low profile mech keyboard. The lighting…

Topre dude. You'll thank and hate me later.

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

#155

Post by rhombocombus »

thereddaikon wrote: post #149
scaladev wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I have a 1989 marked Model M I still use. Its all original. I have to use a PS/2 to USB dongle but it still works great.

Mine is from '91 but same. I also don't fully understand the flaming the model M as flimsy, I am fairly confident I could use mine as a medieval cudgel if I needed to!

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

#156

Post by duhi88 »

alberth wrote: post #150

Butterfly keyboard / low-travel. Am I the only person who has grown to love the butterfly keyboard? It take sooo much stress of my of joints to type since the travel is so shallow. I also type considerably faster with the shallower/lower travel required. I know folks had issues with reliability with he design but I guess I'm on the of the lucky few who hasn't had issues.

I really liked the feel of my 2017 MBP. It just didn't work well as a portable, every day device because the keyboard was always breaking.

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

#157

Post by Pet_Ant »

mewse wrote: post #75
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…

> They can be loud, depending on the switches you get. It’s worth noting that for folks who don’t know proper typing technique (which is probably nearly everybody under the age of 40, as nobody really teaches it any more, at least in the countries where I’ve lived) it almost doesn’t matter what sort of mechanical switch you’re using, in terms of noise. In my experience, the majority of mechanical keyboard noise for m…

> the majority of mechanical keyboard noise for most folks doesn’t actually come from the switches at all; it comes from the keys noisily bottoming out on each keystroke.

There are silicon o-rings that you can place around the stem peg of the keycap. It's like a $15 mod, takes about maybe a half-hour for a whole keyboard. It will definitely dampen the sound of the key bottoming out and will be a lot quieter and remove the blunt "shock" in your fingertips of bottoming out.

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

#158

Post by driverdan »

dartharva wrote: post #140

In India we have the TVS Gold range of mechanical keyboards that are complete rip-offs of the Model M but are also very cheap: https://www.tvs-e.in/keyboards-and-mice/ They are extremely popular, almost standard-issue in most of India's government offices.

Those are not buckling springs, they use Chinese cherry blue knockoff switches. Still not a bad price for US$36 on Amazon.in.

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

#159

Post by solox3 »

etlandis wrote: post #145
jasonv wrote: post #135

I spend my day on a Macbook Air and a MS Surface, and a Dell. The Dell keyboard is squishy and horrible to type on. I ordered a Logitech mechanical keyboard but it came broken, so I returned it.. and didn't get a chance to try it out. Anyone have a recommendation for a low-profile, relatively quiet mechanical keyboard that will not feel disruptive to my Mac & Surface keyboard habits? Something akin to those, but mech…

I've heard very good things about the Keychron keyboards[1], especially on a Mac (the design is almost Mac-first) - the K1[2] and K3[3] are both low-profile and should be as quiet as a mechanical keyboard gets with Red/brown switches and you can opt for optical switches too - also bluetooth so it's fairly portable. Although there's no firmware/software to remap keys so you'll need to do that on the OS side. Companies…

I'm currently on the Havit. Excellent key response with lighter weight and shorter travel. Typing on it takes much less effort than my other blue switch keyboard.

This "low profile blue switch" uses a click bar, so the click you hear does not correspond to the actuation point exactly---which I am a bit bummed about---but I hear the majority of low profile clicky switches currently have the same implementation/issue.

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

#160

Post by ghostpepper »

dkarl wrote: post #125
cmiller1 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

It's not too late! Thinkpads still come with a nub.
Post reply on HN