

Model M keyboard - edward
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard

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jburwell
My all time favorite keyboard. In the mid-90s, Unicomp
([http://pckeyboard.com/page/ABUS](http://pckeyboard.com/page/ABUS)) licensed
the design from IBM. Today, they sell the Model M with updates such as USB
connector, Windows and Mac key layouts, and black case color
([http://pckeyboard.com/page/category/UKBD](http://pckeyboard.com/page/category/UKBD)).
I use one everyday, and love it. Highly recommended.

~~~
jseliger
It is. A couple years ago I wrote a review of Unicomp's version:
[http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/product-review-
unic...](http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/product-review-unicomp-
customizer-keyboard/). These days I'm using a Kinesis Advantage, but anyone
who a) isn't working in the same room as another person and b) wants a
conventional keyboard layout won't find better.

~~~
jburwell
Relatively recently, Unicomp introduced a Mac version
([http://pckeyboard.com/page/product/UW4ZP4A](http://pckeyboard.com/page/product/UW4ZP4A)).
Mine predates that option, and while not perfect, the Windows layout works
with a Mac. Thankfully, I telecommute so the noise is not a factor for anyone
else, but I will give Unicomp credit for accurately reproducing that aspect of
the Model M as well.

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brudgers
I had a Model M for a few years in the mid 1990's - and I didn't know what it
was, just that I liked it.

It came with the PS/2 Model 8580-71 that was being discarded by the office I
was working for in 1996. They even gave me the invoice with it - something
north of $10,000 new [1]. Anyway, after I left to join the spinoff firm, I
brought it into the office to run the plotter [HP DesignJet 750C]. We ran it
as a sneakerNet server, even after we got a real network and file server with
[QIC tape drive]. By the time I left a couple of years later, the keyboard had
made it's way back to the home office and I used it on the old 486 running
bootlegged Advanced Server from my brother-in-law as a backup device - also
had a QIC tape drive I picked up for about $12 - I was using a PII box as my
primary machine, by then and a USB keyboard just because it was so finicky
that the PS/2 keyboard would sometimes not work after a reboot [a really cheap
and crappy machine that was]. So my model 80 went away when I donated the 486,
and then many years later I learned what it was.

The 8571 was just a gorgeous hardware with a cast aluminium case and a
carrying handle. The hard disk inside was about the size of a small cat and
sounded like a washing machine when it was running.

[1]
[http://www.cs.cuw.edu/museum/IBMPS280.html](http://www.cs.cuw.edu/museum/IBMPS280.html)

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mdellabitta
Relevant subreddit:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards](http://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards)

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dlevine
I have a Unicomp Spacesaver that predates the Mac Version. It was my main
keyboard for a while, but I've since switched to a Leopold Tenkeyless with
Cherry MX Browns (and blank keycaps).

While the Unicomp is nice (built like a tank and very clicky), it's quite
loud, and also takes up a lot of desk space. The keys also take a lot of
actuation force, and I found my fingers getting a bit sore after using it for
a while. So I switched to a keyboard based on Cherry switches, which are also
pretty good.

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rdtsc
I have an original IBM keyboard (mid 1980's) and I really like it. The other
one I like is on my laptop -- Thinkpad, also IBM.

Just like smartphones, keyboards are something people touch every day, and I
think it is something that it is easy to get attached to.

If I someone took away my monitor, I could replace it and it would be alright.
If my keyboard disappeared, I would be more distraught, even though logically
I could just as easily buy another one.

~~~
cpwright
> If I someone took away my monitor, I could replace it and it would be
> alright. If my keyboard disappeared, I would be more distraught, even though
> logically I could just as easily buy another one.

The thing is that you can't always just buy another one. I used to be a fan of
Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite's, but now they are not manufactured in the
same layout or with the same feel. After about 15 years of typing on one kind
of keyboard, I found out two years ago about the discontinuation and couldn't
buy another when one of mine broke.

I've now switched to a Kinesis Advantage with linear feel switches, and at
$325 it is a lot more than the $30 the MS Natural Elite was; and it also took
a bit of getting used to, but when I had an intermediate MS ergonomic keyboard
(not elite) my hands would start hurting, and I couldn't type as accurately.

I just need to look a monitor, and different machines are pretty much the same
but maybe faster or slower; but the keyboard is how I interface with the
machine, and its comfort and design are of paramount importance.

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psychometry
The guy in the apartment next to mine uses one of these. I know this because I
can hear the clicking through the wall.

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X41
to be honest, i have yet to use a keyboard that is better than my Model M

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jiggy2011
The lack of a start key could be annoying.

~~~
stronglikedan
Ctrl+Esc. Not as convenient, but it works. Alternatively, pair it with a new
mouse fro m the MS Sculpt line, and you have a start button on the mouse.

~~~
jeremysmyth
Sadly Ctrl-Esc doesn't work for the various Win-key shortcuts (show desktop,
dock to screen edge, lock, etc.), or any of the things you can do with Super_L
in Linux (I've got Super_L as my i3 key for example)

~~~
stronglikedan
Wow, I did not know that. You are correct, and that is a terrible
inconvenience.

You could go the Sculpt mouse route still. I have the ergo, and I'm digging
it. I have yet to use the (un-customizable) start button on it, but it does
support the shortcuts.

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robobro
Why is this getting voted up? "LOL, I USE A MODEL M KEYBOARD, SO I BETTER
UPVOTE THIS"?

~~~
brudgers
I didn't upvote it, but keyboards are, despite the rise of touchscreens, still
a useful technology. Particularly for people who spend all day using them.

The Model M is a great choice for some people because of it's buckling spring
design. Though for me, the Natural Erognomic 4000's layout trumps the superior
tactile feedback - it also is very comfortable when sitting in my lap. But
I've toyed with getting another Model M, one with the trackpoint...my ancient
Toshiba Laptop has one on it's excellent keyboard and the trackpoint is the
best mouse alternative out there...in my opinion...because I don't even have
to move my hands from the home row.

