The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video]

Re:The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] by elric on Saturday January 04, 2020 @11:04AM (#21955596)

While it's true that Unicomp have purchased all the rights and equipment to make Model M keyboards, the quality doesn't seem to a candle to the original. I managed to break two in the span of two years. At which point I gave up on them and simply built my own. This could just have been catastrophically bad luck. Or like Linus says in the video, maybe it has something to do with their version being based on the newer, cheaper Lexmark version and not the IBM original.

Model F was a very interesting keyboard. I was rather fond of the 24 function keys on mine. And I now regret not having taken mine with me when I moved out at age 18.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] by jrockway on Saturday January 04, 2020 @01:16PM (#21956384)

The model M got progressively "cheaper" throughout its lifetime. Mostly, metal was replaced with plastic. The keyswitches and keycaps are still top quality.

What Unicomp makes today is a mid-90s version of the model M. It's not the best ever made, but it's still pretty good. However, there are other keyboards around that are also pretty good.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] by throw7 on Saturday January 04, 2020 @02:32PM (#21956863)

Same robustness issues with my unicomp. The alt and spacebar keys don't register if not pressed a certain way (wonky)... all in about a year of use.

I still have a few model m's, but I got tired of not having a "windows" key, so I gave it a shot and can't recommend them.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] by dlevine on Saturday January 04, 2020 @07:29PM (#21958714)

I have a Unicomp, and my roommate spilled water on it once, which caused a bunch of the keys to not register and required a rebuild (which cost almost as much as a new keyboard).

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] by CommieBobDole on Saturday January 04, 2020 @08:48PM (#21959043)

I use both (model M at home, Unicomp at work) and while I've not had any failures, it's clear that the Unicomp is made of cheaper materials. One example is the case itself - the Model M's case is made of thick ABS, while the Unicomp is made of thin polystyrene. As a result, the two keyboards feel different - there's a a resonance from keypresses on the Unicomp that's almost entirely dampened on the M.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] by michaelcampbell on Saturday January 04, 2020 @02:35PM (#21956896)

Like every piece of anecdata, it varies. I have a unicomp with PS/2 adapter from ... at least a decade ago; before they even made one with "Windows" keys. Maybe longer. It works as good today as it did then.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] by LukeShu on Saturday January 04, 2020 @02:50PM (#21956996)

What I've heard is that Unicomp owns the actual original molds and such, and keeps using them, even though they're deteriorating. So I guess it makes sense that older Unicomp hardware is better. (I'm not sure how accurate that is, but it's what I've heard.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Greatest Keyboard of All Time Reborn (2018) [video] by Aloha on Saturday January 04, 2020 @11:32AM (#21955764)

I've had pretty good luck with them.

[ Parent | on HN ]