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Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

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Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#21

Post by blairbeckwith »

vunderba wrote: post #19

As an aside and a huge lover of mechanical keyboards since the original IBM model M with the buckler springs, I picked up a Keychron Q5 Pro a few months ago and really like it. https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q5-pro-qmk-via-wi... It's pretty easy to replace the key caps and it has a very good tactile feel to it. It does weigh as much as a houseboat but that's fine as I prefer it to stay stationary. One thi…

I am not sure about the rest of their nice, but at least the Logitech MX Master 3 allows you to switch between 3 paired bluetooth devices via a button on the bottom.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#22

Post by thomastjeffery »

23B1 wrote: post #9

Not sure if this breaks HN's rules, but I'd love to hear anyones suggestions on favorite split keyboards. There's a lot of homebrew boards out there that're very small/light but I have sausage fingers and the demeanor of an orangutan. https://www.amazon.com/KINESIS-Advantage360-Professional-Erg... ^closest I've found, but $$$

I really like my keyboard.io Model 01. The thumb (and palm) keys are excellent.

Beyond that, there is a market for prebuilt Dactyl and similar hand-made boards.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#23

Post by astrospective »

23B1 wrote: post #9

Not sure if this breaks HN's rules, but I'd love to hear anyones suggestions on favorite split keyboards. There's a lot of homebrew boards out there that're very small/light but I have sausage fingers and the demeanor of an orangutan. https://www.amazon.com/KINESIS-Advantage360-Professional-Erg... ^closest I've found, but $$$

I’ve been using an Ergodox-EZ for 7 years, it’s been so good for my wrists.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#24

Post by misterbwong »

23B1 wrote: post #9

Not sure if this breaks HN's rules, but I'd love to hear anyones suggestions on favorite split keyboards. There's a lot of homebrew boards out there that're very small/light but I have sausage fingers and the demeanor of an orangutan. https://www.amazon.com/KINESIS-Advantage360-Professional-Erg... ^closest I've found, but $$$

I was doing quite a bit of shopping for a split ergo about a year ago.

My main contenders ended up being:

  - Glove80
  - Advantage360
  - ZSA Moonlander
  - ZSA Ergodox
  - Various alice layout KB's (not full split.  ex: Keychron K15)
  - Custom building some sort of sofle or dactyl - ZSA recently came out with the voyager which looks essentially like a wired 65% sofle.
In the end I went with the Glove80, which I _highly_ recommend. It's the most comfortable keyboard I've used, bar none. The biggest knock I have on the Glove80 is the fit/finish for its price-it doesn't feel like you'd imagine a $400 keyboard would. The unique design makes it worth it for me, though.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#25

Post by jseliger »

slig wrote: post #12
jseliger wrote: post #2

I used one for years and liked it, but, after switching to an ergonomic keyboard, I wouldn't want to primarily move back to a standard one.

Which ergonomic model did you choose?

A Kinesis Advtange: https://jakeseliger.com/2011/07/17/further-thoughts-on-the-k.... Well, a series of them. Now I have one from Upgrade Keyboards: https://upgradekeyboards.com/collections/kinesis-advantage36... with "Box White" keys. Very nice!

My guess is that, for most people, myself included, once one has invested the time in learning any particular ergonomic keyboard (Ultimate Hacking Keyboard, Ergodox, whatever), the switching costs are annoying that one just keeps using it

A small number of people seem to get obsessed with the narcissism of small differences in terms of switches, or minute aspects of positioning, or similar matters, but I find that one hits diminishing returns quickly and it's less the keyboard than what's done with it.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#26

Post by adrianmonk »

As long as we're talking mechanical keyboards, do they all require maintenance just to keep working, or is the basic Cooler Master one I bought just a dud?

After only like 2 years, many of the keys stopped working reliably. They'd double type or fail to register. I looked into it, and this seems to be a common issue with many mechanical keyboards. I tried some of the recommended solutions (blow dust out, use contact cleaner), and it improved things, but it's still not quite right.

I do like the feel, but I don't like the maintenance or lack of longevity. I'd be willing to pay more for a mechanical keyboard that is darned near maintenance free, but I'm not sure whether such a thing actually exists.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#27

Post by dotancohen »

23B1 wrote: post #9

Not sure if this breaks HN's rules, but I'd love to hear anyones suggestions on favorite split keyboards. There's a lot of homebrew boards out there that're very small/light but I have sausage fingers and the demeanor of an orangutan. https://www.amazon.com/KINESIS-Advantage360-Professional-Erg... ^closest I've found, but $$$

I've had over a dozen split or mechanical keyboards over the years. By far the most comfortable for everyday usage (software development) was the Matias Ergo Pro. The keys are outstanding. The layout is terrific. The keyboard is completely adjustable so the R in RSI is vastly reduced, I would move mine around constantly. But the quality is atrocious. After less than a year mine was repeating some keys and not registering others. The company rep told me this was normal but sent to me a replacement anyway - and that one had the same issues a year later.

That said, if money were no object I would just get a new one every year. That's how much I loved that keyboard while it was working.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#28

Post by geophile »

vunderba wrote: post #19

As an aside and a huge lover of mechanical keyboards since the original IBM model M with the buckler springs, I picked up a Keychron Q5 Pro a few months ago and really like it. https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q5-pro-qmk-via-wi... It's pretty easy to replace the key caps and it has a very good tactile feel to it. It does weigh as much as a houseboat but that's fine as I prefer it to stay stationary. One thi…

It sounds pretty nice, but it's a non-starter for me. I am highly dependent on key bindings for the cluster of six keys: Ins/Del/Home/End/PageUp/PageDown. This cluster used to be pretty common but is increasingly rare. The Unicomp has it, the Keychron does not.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#29

Post by geophile »

rootusrootus wrote: post #3

I've got one of these. It's difficult to beat the feel of those keys, that is for sure. But at full tilt I think the neighbors across the street can hear me typing. So it primarily sits in my closet these days, while I use a much quieter (but far from silent) CODE mechanical keyboard.

Yeah, it's loud. My wife complains about it. (I didn't realize how loud until I got hearing aids.)

Fortunately, we have offices far apart from each other.

Re: Unicomp's "New" Model M Keyboard

#30

Post by roblh »

adrianmonk wrote: post #26

As long as we're talking mechanical keyboards, do they all require maintenance just to keep working, or is the basic Cooler Master one I bought just a dud? After only like 2 years, many of the keys stopped working reliably. They'd double type or fail to register. I looked into it, and this seems to be a common issue with many mechanical keyboards. I tried some of the recommended solutions (blow dust out, use contact…

They shouldn’t need that kind of maintenance unless you’re using it in an unusually dirty or dusty environment, as far as I know. I have a coolermaster tenkeyless with mx blues that I got about 10 years ago as a main keyboard that has worked without issue.
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