91–100 of 282 posts
> The New Model M is a typing keyboard, not a gaming keyboard. If you care about “ghosting,” it’s not the keyboard for you. Ghosting is when a keyboard stops registering new key presses when you hold down multiple keys at the same time. 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…
Unicomp had piqued my interest when the first rumors about a new SSK were brought up 10+ years ago. Today I'm a bit with other posters in this thread, regarding the design and build quality. When it finally comes out, I don't think I'll buy one. In 2021 you can buy much, much better keyboards. I really enjoy my Leopold with PBT keycaps and Cherry silent red switches, even more than my expensive Topre Realforce
As someone who owns one of their keyboards since the retooling in 2020, it pretty much invalidates reviews on their keyboards prior to it.
What happened?
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I think a lot of the hype around mechanical keyboards in general is overblown. I had a period of transitioning to mechanical keyboards. I couldn't get used to the high-rise keys and long travel times which made my wrists hurt and made typing a chore. I kept convincing myself that I just had the wrong type of switch, so I changed keyboards every few months seeking that perfect feeling. The closest I got was low-profil…
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…
- Yes, but most (I'm having a bad experience with a malfunctioning 5-year-old Kinesis, but that's way too complicated a keyboard with too much electronics, programmability, etc) are simple and hardy. I've lugged a Happy Hacking inside a backpack for many many years and it's just great. It's lasted me three laptops by now.
- Judgement call, yeah.
- You don't have to press keys to the bottom. Keys that go all the way down take some getting used to, since they have an "implicit" point where they'll register, but overall travel time doesn't have to be much larger than in a thin keyboard. What makes it ergonomic is precisely that there's a lot of yielding to this point where keys will register, so your fingers aren't hitting the metal all the time.
I started using mechanical keyboards because I was trying to get into the classical guitar and had long fingernails on one hand. Except for the Kinesis, which does assume a whole postural ergonomics setting and desk space to place it, smaller keyboards like the Happy Hacking are a great add-on to a travelling laptop setup. Besides, since they're usually also USB hubs, you can switch your wireless mouse between laptops together with your keyboard.
The only thing I wish my Happy Hacking had is a wireless interface like the ubiquitous Microsoft mouses with the little dongle. But I'm not in a phase of my life when I'm spending a lot of money on new stuff.
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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…
I did not know you could get low profile keys. That's interesting and I'll look into that. Why aren't they the default though? But even with everything you say, I still don't see the point. You'd have to find specific switches and keys (which will probably be more difficult to find and more expensive) just to end up with something that roughly matches a rubber dome keyboard. And yeah, I admit they look cooler overall…
I can't say. I came to mechanical keyboards to get away from the crappy Apple laptop keyboards, so would never occur to me to use key caps like that.
- You'd have to find specific switches and keys (which will probably be more difficult to find and more expensive)
Have to? Or get to? Sourcing parts for your dream keyboard can be fun. At least as fun as any other hobby. At the end of the day, if you like the keyboard you're using, you're doing it right.
The one thing I will say, is that my fingers probably touch my keyboard more than any other item in my house. I'm a developer and I might spend hours straight at the computer. When you consider that, the $150 I spent on my keyboard or the $99 I spent on my trackball don't seem like so much money.
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…
> The Model M has no replaceable parts.
Unicomp sells a lot of replacement parts and a lot of the most common repairs can be easily done by the user. Besides that, they are really durable: I know people who use Model M's older than them.
And few keyboards will resist coffee spills.
One thing I wish it could do is backlit keys. Some people mod them, but I've never seen this done.
> Because it is much cheaper to make.
That's really true. Model F keyboards were expensive, beam-spring ones were even more and the kind of mechanical beasts you find inside IBM Selectric-based terminals and the 2260 terminals would be considered art installations more than office appliances if made today. You can get a new Model M today for less than many good mechanical keyboards with good switches and nice keycaps will cost you. And I assure you, no mechanical keyboard sounds like a Model M (or F, or beam spring, if you can pay for one).
I have a couple keyboards on my desk. The M sits beside a small "gaming" (which means "ridiculous RGB effects") mechanical one and a couple Apple ones (one wireless, one wired) all connected to different computers, which are used for different things (the Sun Type 7 is stashed away, for now, but, as cool-looking as it is, it doesn't feel that great). The gaming one will, eventually, get new sculpted/spherical keycaps because this is one area where these keyboards really shine - they are ridiculously customizable.
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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…
For several years, sometimes I slacked off and just typed on my Mac keyboard, and fingers would start getting sore again so I'd switch back to the mechs. Now I've apparently healed up a bit and a modest amount of laptop typing doesn't bother me, but I still bring out the mechs for more substantial work.
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…
I have learned to touchtype about 80WPM in my teens, over 2 decades ago and I still have hard time not bottoming out or using right shift key.
I have been successful in re-learning to use dvorak instead of qwerty and to type in a tempo (ie. with equal intervals, using metronome), but the bottoming dynamic is much more basic than that, I think.
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…
Manual typewriters, though, had a /huge/ amount of travel, and since the travel provides the force to strike the type on to the paper, you really had to hammer on them.
I own a real model m and an unicomp endura pro. The model m was cheap because I literally pulled it out of the dumpster. 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. The keyboard is loud but doesn't add anything really to my typing. And…
> 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.