Hacker News Reader

> I own a real model m

I have one made in 1986.

> 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.

That's so strange, they delivered directly to Europe for me.

I have an older unicomp and a newer unicomp since the retooling last year.

> The keyboard is loud but doesn't add anything really to my typing.

Compared to my previous mechanical gaming keyboard which used linear switches and other membrane keyboards, I don't typo really at all on any of these keyboards. I think the tactile response is what helps with that for me.

> Really, don't waste your money on an unicomp keyboard.

I think the new model m (from last year) is fine - it doesn't have some of the flex and other things that the older Unicomp keyboads had. I still don't really understand the double charge you got when I didn't have it.

> Mechanical keyboard is just a meme in my opinion, and one of the dumb ones.

I don't really consider the Model M a mechanical keyboard, it's a membrane keyboard to me and the best membrane keyboard I've ever used.

> That's so strange, they delivered directly to Europe for me.

they did not for me. I had my purchase cancelled, then I had half-an-argument with a support agent, then I had to buy again and set shipping to an US address (actually a re-shipping company)

edit: they cancelled my order specifically and explicitly because I wanted it delivered to europe. and I had paid the price and shipping their website told me to.

> Compared to my previous mechanical gaming keyboard which used linear switches and other membrane keyboards, I don't typo really at all on any of these keyboards. I think the tactile response is what helps with that for me.

I have a farily low error rate with most of my keyboards, as long as I can get some time for getting acquainted (let's say, 30min). the fact that a keyboard s mechanical (or spring-based, as in the case of the model m/ unicomp) doesn't really adds anything, besides noise.

> I have an older unicomp and a newer unicomp since the retooling last year.

How does the newer unicomp compare to the Model M's? I have three Model M's (work, home, and spare). I bought a Unicomp around 2010 because it has USB but had to give up on it because it required too much pressure and gave me mild CTS, something I've never experienced with the Model M's.

> How does the newer unicomp compare to the Model M's?

To compare to my original M.

Pros:

- it has all the windows keys, menu keys etc.

- It really is the best Unicomp keyboard I've ever had and I can't really tell much of a difference between this any my original M. Not sure if my original Model M is showing its' age, but it really doesn't feel worse.

Neutral:

- It's nowhere as heavy

- The sound is different (not better or worse for me).

- key pressure is close to the same.

- I can't tell the difference between the lettering on the keys (used to be an issue with Unicomp keyboards).

Cons:

- Blue LED is distracting at night, putting white tape under the LED cover fixes it perfectly (might be able to request this when ordering -- never tried).

> it required too much pressure and gave me mild CTS

I've only noticed additional pressure in Model Ms (including Unicomps) after applying grease or WD40 to make the keys more quieter (usually a bad idea). There are a bunch of second hand Unicomp keyboards out there where people have done this and made them difficult to type on.

> I bought a Unicomp around 2010 because it has USB

Surprisingly, a lot of modern motherboards still come with PS/2 support today.

Thanks for the lengthy response! I wish I could try it out before buying one.

> 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.

I know. that changes nothign btw.

Not exactly. I have a Model M made in '86 or so, and I used that for a while but wanted a more modern version so I got the Unicomp. I was sorely disappointed because it was not the same keyboard. The Unicomp was significantly lighter than the IBM model, and I could flex the body of the Unicomp without too much effort whereas you could park a tank on the IBM.

The innards may be mostly the same, but it definitely was not a "Model M, but made more recently and with USB".

The Unicomp ones use tooling from the 90's. Lexmark did a lot of weight reductions in the keyboards after their launch. The steel plate in my 122-key is thinner than my '85 model but it's still a monster.

Another comment here mentions they had some mechanical improvements in the past two years or so.

I don't know if your Endura Pro was USB or PS/2, but I have used two Unicomp Model Ms with trackballs built in and the trackball performance was unacceptable for the USB model and excellent for the PS/2 model. Seems silly, but I think their USB firmware is probably a poor hack.

The trackball in the top right corner combined with the Model M form factor was an unknown dream realized when I was using it regularly, so while your opinion is as legitimate as any I have to disagree.