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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

#191

Post by kstrauser »

Hey, watch this! I'm going to burn a few million dollars of productivity with a post!

I wanted to buy a new mechanical keyboard with a home office budget that my employer gave us, and a friend recommended I check out WASD Keyboards. (Up front: I have zero relationship with them except as a customer.) Wanna talk about analysis paralysis? The following killed a week of evenings for me:

- Go to https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/products/mechanical-keyboards/...

- Debate long and hard about the form factor. Do I need the 10-key? Yes! No? Huh, I don't really use it. But what if! Settle on 87 keys.

- Next screen: eh, black case it is.

- Next screen: wait, I can choose the color of every individual key?

- Next screen: wait, I can choose the key caps separately for the symbol, modifier, and OS keys, with a range of fonts and glyphs to choose from? Or I can upload a PDF for custom screen printing?

The end result was this: https://honeypot.net/images/wasd_keyboard.jpeg

- Light grey keys (with a retro font) for letters

- Dark grey keys for punctuation

- Blue keys for numbers and actions

- Red keys for things that control the system

- Pink keys for the function keys

- Green keys for modifiers (with Amiga keycaps for the OS keys, because this is proper)

- And a yellow key with a skull and crossbones that I've mapped to a macro that instantly locks my computer, because I work with the security team and this seemed appropriate.

You might hate my design. That's OK, really! See if you can make one you like more.

(There. And with that, I just set the US tech economy back a few hours.)

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

#192

Post by matwood »

kstrauser wrote: post #191

Hey, watch this! I'm going to burn a few million dollars of productivity with a post! I wanted to buy a new mechanical keyboard with a home office budget that my employer gave us, and a friend recommended I check out WASD Keyboards. (Up front: I have zero relationship with them except as a customer.) Wanna talk about analysis paralysis? The following killed a week of evenings for me: - Go to https://www.wasdkeyboards…

Haha, I had the same issue when I dove into mechanicals. I finally just bought a keychron k2, and have been completely happy with it. I wasn't sure I needed colored LED backlights, but turns out it's pretty cool to see when I sit down early in the morning to start work.

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

#193

Post by matwood »

cbm-vic-20 wrote: post #99
mewse wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Agree. Older-than-40 here, I learned to type primarily on electric typewriters and old-school terminal keyboards, where the switches would trigger around half-way down the travel of the key. When I use a mechanical keyboard, I do the same- the Cherry MX Clear switches in my keyboard act in a similar way- you don't need to "bottom out" a switch for it to activate. Manual typewriters, though, had a /huge/ amount of tra…

> Older-than-40 here, I learned to type primarily on electric typewriters and old-school terminal keyboards

Came here to say the same thing. But then I was stuck on keyboards that required bottoming out for many years. It's been a re-learning process to not bottom out on my fairly keychron k2. But, wow so pleasant to use.

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

#194

Post by ghaff »

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 have a mechanical keyboard and I've used them going back to the Model M and then improved Northgate versions. But I must admit that I type so much on laptops with short key travel that my mechanical keyboard takes a little adjustment.

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

#195

Post by z0r »

znpy wrote: post #57

I own a real model m and an unicomp endura pro. The model m was cheap because I literally pulled it out of the dumpster. The endura pro was a complete waste of A LOT of money considering double shipping (usa to usa and usa to europe since they would not ship to europe, and that implies a re-shipping handling fee) and import duties on top of that. The keyboard is loud but doesn't add anything really to my typing. And…

I don't know if your Endura Pro was USB or PS/2, but I have used two Unicomp Model Ms with trackballs built in and the trackball performance was unacceptable for the USB model and excellent for the PS/2 model. Seems silly, but I think their USB firmware is probably a poor hack.

The trackball in the top right corner combined with the Model M form factor was an unknown dream realized when I was using it regularly, so while your opinion is as legitimate as any I have to disagree.

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

#196

Post by slowmovintarget »

cipherboy wrote: post #33
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 own three Model Ms: my grandfather's 87, a '89, and a later Lexmark ('95? too lazy to look). The latter two were given to me by a colleague; they saw (what I can only assume to be, based on their original condition) extensive use at IBM before I cleaned them up. He had 7 others. I've bolt modded the Lexmark for the day my grandfather's finally needs to be done. But all three have well withstood the test of time: my…

I have a 1984 Model M, and keyboards from Das Keyboard (Cherry MX Blues) and WASD (Zealio 67g).

Model M is still my favorite among the three, though it is no longer as "solid" as it used to be. I've only had it and used it for 20 years, but it was in active use before I got it. Not bad for 37 years of typing.

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

#197

Post by burlesona »

wodenokoto wrote: post #175
burlesona wrote: post #132

Ok, for the keyboard enthusiasts here: does anyone know if there’s such thing as a “magic keyboard” - flat keyboard and flat keys - but as a split keyboard? I’ve been testing split keyboards lately and I think they’ll provide some relief to some neck and shoulder pain I get from hunching when I type, but I don’t really like how gigantic the keyboards all are, and to be honest I prefer the “chiclet” keys over the big…

How split? Like actual two pieces or just wavy? logitech ergo k860 And Microsoft sculpt are pretty flat, chiclet style ergonomic keyboards.

Two pieces. I’ve discovered that I hunch mainly because my shoulders are pretty wide and I sort of have to hunch to put my hands side by side to type. I think the wavy keyboards look okay, but they don’t have as much gap as I’m looking for.

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

#198

Post by burlesona »

MivLives wrote: post #134
burlesona wrote: post #132

Ok, for the keyboard enthusiasts here: does anyone know if there’s such thing as a “magic keyboard” - flat keyboard and flat keys - but as a split keyboard? I’ve been testing split keyboards lately and I think they’ll provide some relief to some neck and shoulder pain I get from hunching when I type, but I don’t really like how gigantic the keyboards all are, and to be honest I prefer the “chiclet” keys over the big…

You're looking for something with choc mechanical switches. I personally use a Lily58 but there's a bunch of other boards you can potentially find with them.

Where do you go about ordering a split board with custom switches and key caps?

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

#200

Post by Krisando »

jwr wrote: post #24

The deal-breaker with all the Model M keyboards and clones is the scarcity of modifier keys. I mean, you get only three on the left side, plus a giant spacebar that you will only ever tap with your right thumb in a single spot. That's good for Tim Cook, I guess, but any self-respecting computer geek will want to have more modifiers. My Ultimate Hacking Keyboard has a small spacebar on the right half, while the left h…

Unicomp will let you request a custom mapping on any keyboard. If you want a crazy Model M keyboard with lots of special key options, you could get a custom Unicomp PC 122 5250 with keys setup as you wish.

https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/40L5A

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