Comment by rbanffy
17 hours ago
In the meantime, I would remind the people who would like to experience a vintage keyboard to take a look at the Unicomp model M keyboards. They are not Model Fs or beam spring, but are rock solid, reliable, and sensibly priced considering their quality.
> considering their quality
Has their finishing improved at all? A coworker bought one, maybe 15 years ago. He has to spend time with a file to remove all the remnants of the molding process. I'd expect a nearly $200 keyboard to feel finished and not have sharp pieces poking out all over the place.
I've long thought about getting a Unicomp, but seeing how poorly finished they were always gave me pause and made me question what other shortcuts they took.
Yes, they're way better now! The quality was poor because they were using decades-old original IBM tooling, and injection molds don't last forever D:. But, they made new molds in, I think, 2020? I bought a New Model M in 2021. Mine has a custom-printed layout, and it looks stock, not just some one-off. The plastic chassis is sturdy and doesn't need any sort of filing. It's been my daily driver ever since and is my favorite keyboard I've ever used, so I happily recommend them to any typing enthusiast. Sooo much better than Cherry switches (or, dog forbid, "office" keyboard rubber domes).
I have bought a Unicomp keyboard 7 years ago, had none of those problems, it works as well now as the day I bought it.
I've been twice the past year to buy their keyboards in-person in Lexington Kentucky US. They treated me very well. I can say this much, the full-size keyboard has a slightly nicer feel to it than the 10-key-less version, the key travel that is.
Link: https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/UKBD
I’d get one if the shipping to EU would be more reasonable.
That's $55 to ship to the UK. Tbh, I have an original Model-M and if ~£175 gets something of similar quality on your desk I'd say that's a fair value deal.
It's not cheap for a keyboard, but no one on this forum should be cheaping out on a keyboard. I always say, if you can find a vendor of Model-M keyboard buy a lifetime's supply (i.e. one).
My Endura Pro started having issues three months in after arriving to me in 2013; I remember how it was $99 and shipping was $98, and then I had to pay VAT on it.
It died quite quickly after and become parts donor for old IBM Model Ms I bought out from people’s attics. It was a wonderfully repair-unfriendly thing, too.
I love Unicomp and fully support their goal of keeping these switches alive, but I had a similar experience. The controller on the keyboard died after about a year. Meanwhile all of my 30+ year old IBM Model M's continue to work flawlessly.
This was the same time, around 2013, so I like to hope things have improved since then. I know they did switch the controllers they use in the intervening years and they also replaced the original IBM tooling for the other parts of the keyboard, so hopefully things are in better shape now.
Contrariwise, my unicomp model M has been going strong as a daily driver for at least 18 years. They may have lowered the quality more recently, and I'd recommend something in the cherry mx brown ballpark over it perhaps.
Many people swear by Unicomp, but I had that bad luck that I first paid for the thing, got the thing, and then read that as of recently, there had been problems. Problems with quality, problems with output. Then they went so quiet people thought they had gone out of business, then they resurfaced. By that time, I've had an original Model M and two different OG Model Fs. When I buy old stuff from eBay, at least I have my expectations calibrated to the fact that this shit is real old.
Your unit must have been a couple years older than mine, so it just might be of that more legendary quality. Yours is from at least 2008, right? You may even had got it before markets went bonkers!
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