21–30 of 282 posts
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…
Anyone know how this compares to Das Keyboard [1] that I am currently using? I have two IBM model M from the 80s that still work. They're currently assigned to my server room though not daily use. [1] https://www.daskeyboard.com/
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 has: Control, Fn, Alt/Option, Cmd/Super, Mod, and a special "Mouse" (emulation) key below the other keys, on the keyboard frame.
Some of the older keyboards are even worse in that they only have TWO modifiers on the left, which is a complete showstopper.
But other than that I didn't like it very much, it felt and looked very cheaply made and became completely unreliable and died about 2y later.
For me the sound was a big part of the satisfying typing experience but I can get something similar ("good enough") with more modern switches so I'm pretty happy with my keyboard from WASD Keyboards.
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…
This is the keyboard model I learned to type on, never found plain M that impressive.
Note that layer M2 are rubber domes, so be careful out there!
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…
> Why does the Model M have essentially zero spill resistance? Because the cheap design doesn't permit spill resistance. When you spill water on an M, expect to either have it dry for weeks or months as the water evaporates from between the membranes, or to disassemble it. If it wasn't pure mountain spring water, you have to disassemble it, which--due to plastic rivets-- is a destructive proecss. Hmm that would expla…
> As an EU resident, when I see that I think I'll have to deal with customs if i buy one :) Not much of an incentive.
Weird nationalism play there for me as well. For some reason japanese keyboard sounds artisan(given how many limited edition keyboards their scene builds) to me and american-made keyboard just sounds like grandure posturing. Especially since there are so many expensive japanese custom keyboards and none of them market themselves as being special BECAUSE they are japanese.
That said, QMK running decent quality mechanical keyboards nowadays are a rabbit hole with so many choices and price ranges that I find both this and the System76 announcement strange.
Edit: American-Made when used as a label to say how great your product is, absolutely IS appealing to national pride. Shipping cost is hardly relevant there.
I told myself this would be my next keyboard years ago. So know this about mechanical keyboards in general - choose wisely, because you'll be stuck with it. First, you won't ever go back to rubber dome like everyone always says, but second, the damn things don't seem to wear out. I'm still using the original Razer Blackwidow that I bought in first year uni - 2010. I thought I'd managed to kill it with beer in the fir…
I was under the impression that most games prized compatibility with normal membrane keyboards, and so chose keys that don't alias.
For example shift, ctrl and alt keys are less prone to aliasing as keyboard designers know you'll be pressing them and other keys at the same time.