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Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

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Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

#51
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's really no reason but nerd-ego to use a Model M anymore, and this post is pretty pointless by not even mentioning the wide WIDE range of mechanical keyboards available today.

In the sense of using an original PS-2 or older keyboard I agree however Unicomp still makes the Model-M and they are essentially identical to the old Model-M's (and still fantastic keyboards) but since I wanted one for the office at home and one for the office at work I could get two G80's for less than a single Unicomp Model-M so it was a sensible buy. In addition I really like the no-nonsense Cherry design, it fee…

Point is that any review of clicky keyboards is incomplete without mention of the new school boards. Unicomp also, unlike IBM, does not make a tenkeyless.

Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

#52
Mechanical keyboards are actually quite a broad market. Of course Cherry are the most famous, aside of vintage models like the Model M, and Model M users often actually discount modern mechanical keyboards since they think Cherry is representative of modern mechanicals and those aren't like Model Ms.

I use the Matias Mini Tactile Pro with my Mac http://matias.ca/minitactilepro/mac/ . It has custom Matias Click switches that they say emulate the old ALPS switches before ALPS changed hands. It's probably my favorite keyboard that I've ever used, and I'd say that it's a nice middle ground between buckling spring (which can be actually too difficult to use, as evidenced by reports of injuries in this thread) and the softer, less tactile Cherry switches.

I do also have a Rosewill RK-9000BR with Cherry Brown microswitches for my gaming PC, and enjoy that as well.

edit: Also, this thread has taught me about Topre switches, so cool!

Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

#53
post #28

I've recently had to readjust the way type to be more wrist-friendly since I've been seeing the beginning (intermediate? God I hope not...) stages of repetitive stress injury. And that's on my relatively ergonomic macbook air, which from what I've read is designed from the start to prevent that sort of thing. I cringe to think of the kind of damage I'd do to my wrists from developing on one of these things for any pe…

i don't see how you can avoid that long-term without a split/curved keyboard. maybe if you deliberately angle your hands, but then the keys are weird to hit

Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

#54
Just to add another keyboard to the list, the KBT Pure is a Cherry MX version of the HHKB2 layout, and available for around $100. It's well built, compact and you can reach all keys without moving your hands too much. Good key feedback, and I can type "pianissimo" when I pay attention to the MX Brown's click feel.

I haven't gotten any faster, as 80% of my typing is still on a Thinkpad keyboard. Also the Cherry keys feel much too high and don't have a trackpoint.

Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

#56
post #9

I couldn't bear to part with my Model M. I've modded one of them to have have the converter inside with a USB Type B socket. It was made 22 years ago and still works great. It'll probably outlive me. I've periodically considered converting it (or another one) to be Bluetooth wireless. Is there any consensus on the security of Bluetooth for keyboards?

"Is there any consensus on the security of Bluetooth for keyboards?"

No consensus because security is really big.

So... is there a guard in the guard shack aka an active keyboard / mouse, yes/no just look at a spectrum analyzer for power spectrum in the ISM band BT uses. You can also jam the guards BT devices preventing him from doing anything quite easily. Although once you go active transmitting the game is kinda on.

Some talk about pattern recognition vs time but I've never heard anything "serious" about it. This is the old IBM selectric hack from decades ago where you'd take an audio recording of that classic typewriter and E latency is 7 ms, F is 8 ms, G is 9 ms due to inherent design of the printhead, so you play back the tape and output a near perfect stream of whatever was being typed. Supposedly you can do something like this with BT like the the human key latency between i and n is faster than q and z because no words have a qz. So even if the i and n and q and z are perfectly encrypted such that you'd never mathematically decode them individually, in a sequence representing english text its supposedly easy to decode. Supposedly. I don't think its a practical fear and probably doesn't work for rehearsed muscle memory type passphrases.

Generally you can MITM bluetooth but once you're paired you're OK. So attacker would have to be there when paired. Google for simple secure pairing SSP and I think that needs ver 2.1 or newer (no problemo). Basically if you're not typing in four 0 to pair, then its probably SSP?

Once a BT device is woken up latency isn't so bad but my SIL's mouse / keyboard were famous for about 1 second latency when they fell asleep until they woke up to save power. This would drive me bonkers, your experience may vary.

The tradeoff would be one less cable in exchange for a battery that only fails at the most inopportune time. Eh.

Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

#57
post #32

Model M's are horrid. They are like playing a broken piano. I use one of these keyboards on my desktop: http://www.thinkpads.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/lenovo_t... It's the same as my laptop. Big thanks to Lenovo for making this piece of awesomeness. Edit: to the downvoters. I was a model M fan for years until it nearly fucked my hands up. CTS surgery was required. Now I prefer lighter touch positive action keybo…

I use the same lenovo keyboard, and in my text editor I map the mouse buttons to work like Canon Cat's LEAP keys. It's awesome. Any Canon Cat fans out there?

Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

#58
post #15

I'm currently in the process of building my own Ergodox ( http://ergodox.org/Default.aspx ), pretty excited for my first mechanical keyboard and mostly want to try out the parallel key arrangement instead of the slanted keys. Fun fact: keyboards are slanted because typewriters' keys would get stuck if parallel and we are still using a design that was produced to solve a problem we no longer have!

check out the kinesis advantage, and some other models they have too: http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/advantage.htm

There's also another company that makes parallel keys, I think it's called Maltron.

Re: Why I use a 20-year-old IBM Model M keyboard

#60
post #37

If has a wrong shape, proper keyboard should be choped in the middle :-). I used to have wrist pains, 4000 solved it. I bought six of those just in case. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Natural_keyboard

My ideal keyboard would be a Microsoft Natural with Model M keys.
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