21–30 of 116 posts
Some keys won’t work right away – you are responsible for making this keyboard work Do not use any beam spring keyboard in a mission-critical environment. I can say this is the first time I've seen this in the sales description for a keyboard. Are these assembled from NOS parts?
Hi HN, I know many of you are keyboard aficionados and I wanted to let you know that the Model F keyboard guy is making a 2nd generation of his Beam Spring keyboards. I got one and it is unlike any other keyboard I have ever used: the tactile feedback is precise like a buckle spring but louder and with a more pronounced break. Travel feels longer and obviously the keyboard sits very high compared to modern board. But…
"Like a Model F, but louder" is a heck of a pitch. I'm interested!
The sound is satisfying yes, but with other people in mind I am looking for the quietest mechanical keyboard I can find these days. I have become self conscious about typing quietly during phone calls or meetings in case I am unmuted.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Like a Model F, but louder" is a heck of a pitch. I'm interested!
Are mechanical keyboards becoming a way to show off like the programmer equivalent of loud truck exhaust? The sound is satisfying yes, but with other people in mind I am looking for the quietest mechanical keyboard I can find these days. I have become self conscious about typing quietly during phone calls or meetings in case I am unmuted.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My Endura Pro started having issues three months in after arriving to me in 2013; I remember how it was $99 and shipping was $98, and then I had to pay VAT on it. It died quite quickly after and become parts donor for old IBM Model Ms I bought out from people’s attics. It was a wonderfully repair-unfriendly thing, too.
Contrariwise, my unicomp model M has been going strong as a daily driver for at least 18 years. They may have lowered the quality more recently, and I'd recommend something in the cherry mx brown ballpark over it perhaps.
Your unit must have been a couple years older than mine, so it just might be of that more legendary quality. Yours is from at least 2008, right? You may even had got it before markets went bonkers!
Some keys won’t work right away – you are responsible for making this keyboard work Do not use any beam spring keyboard in a mission-critical environment. I can say this is the first time I've seen this in the sales description for a keyboard. Are these assembled from NOS parts?
In the meantime, I would remind the people who would like to experience a vintage keyboard to take a look at the Unicomp model M keyboards. They are not Model Fs or beam spring, but are rock solid, reliable, and sensibly priced considering their quality.
> considering their quality Has their finishing improved at all? A coworker bought one, maybe 15 years ago. He has to spend time with a file to remove all the remnants of the molding process. I'd expect a nearly $200 keyboard to feel finished and not have sharp pieces poking out all over the place. I've long thought about getting a Unicomp, but seeing how poorly finished they were always gave me pause and made me que…
I'm not associated with this project in any way, but I'm excited to see the Beamspring (and Model F capsense stuff) is still ticking along. I keep meaning to redesign my controller for the 2020s but the original crappy design keeps working perfectly for my needs and I can't justify the time to update it. I'd love to do something dumb like throw an FPGA at the problem or try and use the RP2350 PIO. I don't think we ever matched what IBM's original ASIC achieved.
Note that Ellipse/modelfkeyboards is notorious in the keyboard community for poor quality control and support. The keyboards often come misaligned or damaged in shipping, and it's up to you to fix them. I'm not sure about their beam spring keyboards, but their Model F keyboards come without keycaps installed, meaning that the keys haven't even been tested to actuate properly before the keyboard is shipped. If you hav…
In the meantime, I would remind the people who would like to experience a vintage keyboard to take a look at the Unicomp model M keyboards. They are not Model Fs or beam spring, but are rock solid, reliable, and sensibly priced considering their quality.
> considering their quality Has their finishing improved at all? A coworker bought one, maybe 15 years ago. He has to spend time with a file to remove all the remnants of the molding process. I'd expect a nearly $200 keyboard to feel finished and not have sharp pieces poking out all over the place. I've long thought about getting a Unicomp, but seeing how poorly finished they were always gave me pause and made me que…