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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

#251

Post by Krisando »

rbanffy wrote: post #250
Krisando wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to describe other than, the new model m is just better than previous classic and endura pro. I find them more sturdy, almost no key wiggle (as opposed to having some before), the lettering on the keys are clearer (although that I didn't notice until someone pointed it out and didn't care after, it was something people complained about), the enclosure doesn't creek if you try to flex it etc. My only complain…

I'd pay extra for green LEDs...

They have done custom requests before, you could ask their support e-mail if they do green LEDs.

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

#252

Post by rbanffy »

kstrauser wrote: post #247
rbanffy wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I own a real model m and an unicomp endura pro. They are real Model M keyboards. Unicomp got the Lexmark machinery and IP and essentially continued manufacturing them ever since. They aren't recreations.

Not exactly. I have a Model M made in '86 or so, and I used that for a while but wanted a more modern version so I got the Unicomp. I was sorely disappointed because it was not the same keyboard. The Unicomp was significantly lighter than the IBM model, and I could flex the body of the Unicomp without too much effort whereas you could park a tank on the IBM. The innards may be mostly the same, but it definitely was n…

The Unicomp ones use tooling from the 90's. Lexmark did a lot of weight reductions in the keyboards after their launch. The steel plate in my 122-key is thinner than my '85 model but it's still a monster.

Another comment here mentions they had some mechanical improvements in the past two years or so.

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

#253

Post by rbanffy »

Krisando wrote: post #251
rbanffy wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd pay extra for green LEDs...

They have done custom requests before, you could ask their support e-mail if they do green LEDs.

Oh yes. I bothered them a lot before ordering my 122.

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

#254

Post by Krisando »

konart wrote: post #199

>The New Model M is a typing keyboard, not a gaming keyboard. If you care about “ghosting,” it’s not the keyboard for you. This is a strange statement. My Space65 is also a typing keyboard and I do care about ghosting.

He's confusing ghosting with key rollover. Ghosting isn't a problem on the Model M, key rollover is.

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

#255

Post by 3dbrows »

oflannabhra wrote: post #190
pjsg wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My model M (daily use on a Mac) was built 24-sep-1987 plant code J1 which seems likely to have been Lexington KY. I really need to pop all the key caps off and clean them as some of them are pretty grungy.

Lexmark (the printer company, also an offshoot of IBM) bought the Model M design from IBM and continued production until 1996. Unicomp, another company in Lexington bought the rights from Lexmark and has been making them ever since.

Do you happen to know if the design or build quality has changed much under new ownership?

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

#256

Post by 3dbrows »

quercusa wrote: post #163
3dbrows wrote: post #5

There are probably several dozen of us reading this thread who are still using ancient Model Ms. I have a Greenock-made UK model (built 1988-11-15) which feels indestructible. The Greenock IBM factory closed down years ago, sadly, so there won't be any more coming from there. The factory has been the site of some interesting urban exploration. [1][2] [1] https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/ibm-greenock-dec-2008....…

ClickyKeyboards.com maintains a database of old Model M keyboards where you can find the siblings of yours. I've got a 1987 and a 1989. https://www.clickykeyboards.com/model-m-archive-project/

That is amazing, thank you. Seeing as IBM trivia is perhaps of interest to you, you might like to know that the extreme last vestige of IBM Greenock closed in Dec 2018, when the railway station attached to the plant closed. It served only an eerie, deserted brownfield site by its end. I once tried visiting to go dumpster diving for old keyboards, but there was nothing around and demolition was nearly complete. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_railway_station

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

#257

Post by Krisando »

deeg wrote: post #228
Krisando wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I own a real model m I have one made in 1986. > 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. That's so strange, they delivered directly to Europe for me. I have an older unicomp and a newer unicomp since the retooling last year. > The…

> I have an older unicomp and a newer unicomp since the retooling last year. How does the newer unicomp compare to the Model M's? I have three Model M's (work, home, and spare). I bought a Unicomp around 2010 because it has USB but had to give up on it because it required too much pressure and gave me mild CTS, something I've never experienced with the Model M's.

> How does the newer unicomp compare to the Model M's?

To compare to my original M.

Pros:

- it has all the windows keys, menu keys etc.

- It really is the best Unicomp keyboard I've ever had and I can't really tell much of a difference between this any my original M. Not sure if my original Model M is showing its' age, but it really doesn't feel worse.

Neutral:

- It's nowhere as heavy

- The sound is different (not better or worse for me).

- key pressure is close to the same.

- I can't tell the difference between the lettering on the keys (used to be an issue with Unicomp keyboards).

Cons:

- Blue LED is distracting at night, putting white tape under the LED cover fixes it perfectly (might be able to request this when ordering -- never tried).

> it required too much pressure and gave me mild CTS

I've only noticed additional pressure in Model Ms (including Unicomps) after applying grease or WD40 to make the keys more quieter (usually a bad idea). There are a bunch of second hand Unicomp keyboards out there where people have done this and made them difficult to type on.

> I bought a Unicomp around 2010 because it has USB

Surprisingly, a lot of modern motherboards still come with PS/2 support today.

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

#258

Post by visarga »

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…

> everyone’s just typing with much more force than necessary and driving the keys all the way down to the backplate on every press

After getting a mechanical with high force keys (80g) and learned to type without bottoming out I find with every key press you get a bounce back, a bit of energy that sustains typing. It's like tiptoeing on a trampoline.

One other thing I like about mechs is that you get to feel the center of the keys, as they have a small depression in the middle. this helps align hands to the buttons and reduces mistyping. Flat and crowded laptop keys bad with centering.

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

#259

Post by wodenokoto »

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…

Check out R-Go Split. Never tried it myself, but seems to fit your description

https://www.r-go-tools.com/products/ergonomic-keyboards/

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

#260

Post by visarga »

thereddaikon wrote: post #148
executesorder66 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I'm not alone. I really can't understand the appeal of a mechanical keyboard. - They are loud - They are expensive - The keys are massive and ugly - Massive travel time (So slow to type on) Sure they are a bit more customizable, but is that really worth all the drawbacks? Especially the worse typing, which is the main point of a keyboard. If you are a mechanical keyboard fanatic, and my comment angered you, please…

It sounds to me like you have used one particular kind of mechanical keyboard. What you describe sounds a lot like either a buckling spring like the Model M or a clicky tactile switch like the Cherry MX Blue. One of the cool things about mechanical switches is they can be built in such a way to have different characteristics. Much like how a car's suspension can be tuned to be soft or hard and with high ground cleara…

> you can build switches to be loud of quiet, clicky or soft, long or short travel

I'd like to add actuation force to this list. It's one of the most important characteristics.

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