But since there's no used to sell, i wantes to look for IBM Models M orginals. My question is:
Which model to avoid? Are there any? Would connect it to a PS/2 adapter.
I don't like the normal mechanical keeb market, because they're loud.
[1]: https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/UKBD
Happy owner of 5 original IBM Model Ms here, plus Das Keyboard, Apple Extended, 2 x Apple Extended II and others.
If you don't like "normal mechanical" K/Bs because they're loud, you will not like a Model M. They are much, much louder. I don't know any 21st century keyboard that's as loud as the real IBM deal.
When I moved to Czechia in 2014, I took a Model M in my suitcase, in the spirit of "accept nothing less than the best."
People crossed the floor of my open-plan office with 40-50 co-workers to ask what I was typing on. People multiple rooms away asked what the noise was. My boss' boss, in his own private separate room, said my "typing sounded like rain." Heavy rain, outside, he clarified.
Offices used to be very different places, acoustically.
Gods help me, I even listened to a record of mechanical keyboard sounds. More than once.
https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/03/mechanical_keyboard_a...
I actually don't like using them on my Macs.
The key feel of a Model M tells me I'm on a PC, or a Unix box.
The key feel of an Apple Extended tells me I'm on a Mac, and I hit different combos without thinking of it. Cmd+C/V/X instead of Ctrl+C/V/X etc.
Put the PC keyboard on a Mac and my muscle memory gets very confused...
I treated myself to one about four years ago. After many years of telling myself it was too expensive.
It was complete crap. I mostly kept it in its original box except for fooling around with it on an rPi. It failed in less than two years.
I sent it back for repair under warranty. The warranty required I pay for shipping it back. Another twenty-five bucks down the drain.
A few weeks later its back. In the interim, I am poking around on the Unicomp website and notice that it lists the weight as...I don't remember, but like five or six pounds.
The one I bought from Unicomp weighed in at just under three. I remembered when the Unicomp arrived and thinking it felt light and flimsy compared to my memory of the original Model M I'd had back in the 1990's (salvaged from a 8580 headed to the dumpster).
I got the replacement back and sell it on eBay to cut my losses.
I bought the Unicomp before the pandemic, so it wasn't a supply chain issue. Just a company maximizing profits. Requiring customers to pay for shipping under warranty is probably a sign that the company knows it will have a lot of warranty repairs.
My advice is don't buy a Unicomp. But YMMV.
I concur. Not a patch on the real thing.
I then heard that they revamped the e keyboards and I tried again. This one has been problem free for a few years now.
I own a half-dozen Unicomp keyboards, have used original IBM Model Ms, Model Fs, and has a pair of the Model F Labs F77s, so I have some familiarity with buckling spring boards.
Unicomp's manufacturing equipment came by way of Lexmark and the quality suffered as the tooling aged. They replaced their tooling in 2020 when the shipped the New Model M. Fit and finish is much improved since then.
From Wikipedia:
"Unicomp continued to use the original IBM machinery to produce Model Ms, leading to a gradual decline in quality as the tooling became worn. This, and various problems with their USB controllers helped keep a market for vintage Model Ms thriving. In 2020 Unicomp replaced its tooling and shipped a "New Model M" with noticeably improved build quality that more closely resembles the classic 1391401 (though with a 104- or 103-key layout and USB); many older variants are no longer sold on Unicomp's website and some still on sale have been deprecated."
There are a few issues with the Unicomp boards:
1. Thinner plastic cases and a lighter backplate. The case was improved with the new tooling, but the backplate still changed the feel compared to the originals. 2. Plastic rivets breaking. The board itself is sandwiched and held together with plastic rivets. These rivets will eventually start failing, which leads to key detection issues or complete board failure. They have to be bolt modded to fix this. 3. Non-customizable USB controller. Programmability has become expected with mechanical keyboards and other than Unicomp themselves flashing a layout at the factory there's nothing here.
Customer service from the company has always been excellent, in my experience, but it's definitely a firm that gives the impression of trying to keep the lights on for 30 years and just barely making the margins pencil out (thus paying for return shipping).
Some people really love buckling springs. Unicomp makes a decent board that gets you that for a price less than $500, but if buckling spring isn't your terminal value in a keyboard, consider one of the dozens of excellent mechanical keyboards out there with modular key switches.
The keyboard Unicomp sold me was complete crap. It failed after a dozen hours of use (just being plugged in to an rPi is in that number) over a few months. Otherwise it sat in its box on a shelf.
I was into the original keyboard for $150. Another $28 for shipping under warranty.
It didn’t feel like quality.
It didn’t perform like quality.
Unicomp didn’t stand behind it as if they believed it was quality.
Buckling springs are way louder than almost all mechanical switches on the market.
I don't see any rational argument for a Model M in 2023. There are so many options in keyboards that are more modern, quiet, well built, compact and yet feel nicer to type on.
That said: yes, they're extraordinarily loud. OP you're barking up the wrong tree if what you don't like about other keebs is their noise.
This is a highly subjective take. Just taking myself as an example, an original Model M feels far nicer to type on to me personally than any of the other modern mechanical keyboards that people often recommend.
There are absolutely rational arguments for a Model M. Just as there are rational arguments for other keyboards too. You just have to try to look at it more objectively and try to match to people's own unique personal preferences.
Built in function in Linux and macOS; on Windows, SharpKeys puts a dead easy GUI on the built-in Registry key.
Means I get rid of CapsLock, puts Super where Unix keyboards had Ctrl, and I keep Ctrl and Alt where they belong. Works well for me.
I mean, they lack a Right Super key (AKA menu key) and so on as well, but I have no need of anything else, TBH.
Again, just myself as an example, I've been somewhat surprised over the years how little I've actually needed a super key.
On Mac OS, my preferred keybindings was to have Command bound to both left and right Alt keys, Ctrl kept as the left Ctrl key, while the right Ctrl key was rebound to Option/Alt. Some people also like rebinding the usually-useless Caps Lock key but I am one of those weirdos who doesn't like doing that.
I've moved back to Linux over the past couple years and haven't found the need to do any rebinding to get a Super key on my keyboard at all.
Your mileage may vary!
A known refurbisher of M models is:
https://www.clickykeyboards.com/
the name should tell something.
There is a thread on HN revolving on M keyboards talking also of PS/2 to USB adapters:
If you don't want a loud keyboard, then you do not want a Model M. They're probably the loudest keyboard you can buy today (excepting something bespoke that's intentionally louder than a Model M).
That being said, any of the 1980/90s PS/2 models will probably be perfectly fine, as long as you find a reputable seller. I bought mine (early 1990s) from eBay for about $50 in 2012, and haven't had any problems since.
I have the OG model M from 1993 or so, the Unicomp Model M, and a Model F keyboard from modelfkeyboards.com.
Of the 3 my favorite is the New Model F. It has a satisfying ping-y The Model M is good too, but the cable is fraying and I'm afraid to use it and accelerate its demise. Probably I can send it to someone for fixing or fix it myself somehow but haven't gotten around to it.
Nothing is wrong with the Unicomp technically but it is my least used... not sure why.
If your complaint about mechanical keyboards is that they are loud, be prepared that the buckling spring keyboards are several times louder than anything Cherry-like.
On the other end of the spectrum I have a Realforce R2 PFU edition. It has silenced topre switches which are sort of a fancy rubber dome. This is the keyboard I use 90% of the time and for this comment.
Unicomp has a repair service to fix old Model M keyboards. They will even clean them and upgrade to USB! I just sent in my two Model Ms from the 90s yesterday. It's a bit expensive but if what you want is a classic Model M, there's not much of an alternative.
> I don't like the normal mechanical keeb market, because they're loud.
So it sounds like you heard about the mythical model M and now want to own one for geek cred. Only problem is it seems like you never heard one in action. To give you an idea listen to an audio recording from a WW1 front-line.
I own a 1986 Model M and bought a USB cable for it off eBay. It's FUCKING LOUD. The buckling springs not only emit a loud report but also a twang that vibrates through the steel backing plate. Very unique sound but not everyone within a kilometer will agree. Its also HUGE with a very deep profile. I love it but it took up too much room on my little desk.
On a whim I bought a Happy Hacking 2 (HHK2) since I've always wanted one and wound up falling in love with the Topre switches. They are quiet while having a really soft and comfortable feel. The HHK's lack of keys was a bit annoying in some situations so I purchased an 80% Realforce RGB. Initially I did not want illuminated keys but you can turn them off or change the colors using the keys directly - no driver or software needed.
I used one of some variety or another at my job about 10 years ago working at a helpdesk. It made a good conversation piece, but eventually I got tired of the conversations and users on the phone could hear it too.. sometimes not for the best.
I went into this rabbit hole for a bit, I had bought I think four or five vintage Ms varying from the 80s to early 90s when Lexmark took over (Blue IBM logo, drain channels on the bottom), three Unicomps (two full size models, 104 keys, one USB one PS/2), one space saver model. The space saver model I bought for my mother that was teleworking; it randomly failed at some point after a couple of years and I was never able to figure out why, there wasn't a spill or anything that I could find evidence of.. I never looked into repairing it, just got rid of it.
The Unicomps were okay. You can tell that the molds and tooling they bought from Lexmark are pretty worn now, and the weight has been reduced even further no doubt in an attempt to be price competitive with the current market which isn't easy. I still have one of them and it still works, the other I lost due to damage that can't be levied against the keyboard.
At some point though I just got sick of the noise. At this point for old mechanical keyboards I'd sooner seek out a Dell AT101 than using another buckling spring board. It uses Black ALPS switches, they are tactile with a much fainter sound that I enjoy, and they're equipped with Windows keys. I have one Model M connected to a file server at a remote site that I touch maybe once or twice a year, I'm reminded at these times of why people love and why I no longer care for them.
My current keyboard is a Ducky Shine 7 with Cherry MX Blacks. Blacks and Browns (or comparable from the many other suppliers that have cropped up in recent years) are the only ones that interest me.
If you really want a model M look around on the used market and don't obsess over which model you are getting. They're all variations of one another with some cost cutting added here and there but imo they never compromised the solid feel of the keyboard or the fantastic tactile click of the keys.
If you have money, these people have been on HN a few times:
So, you either get one whose keys have all been tested to work, or you should be ready to do some manual work.
As far as I know, internally all models (M122 terminal, standard Enhanced Keyboard, and Space Savers/TKL) are internally the same w.r.t. reliability, noise, and feel.
you should be ready to do some manual work
Reasonable if fixing broken machines is something a person likes to do.
In that case, looking for one that's clean and complete and faulty and cheap is the way to start.
Yes and no. Some PS/2 adapters can be flaky with original Model M's because of the heavier power draw from the older chips compared to modern IC's.
https://www.swvincent.com/articles/ibm-model-m-power-consump...
>I don't like the normal mechanical keeb market, because they're loud.
Buckling springs are about the same volume as the Cherry Blue's I've tested.
Edit: am Emacs user.
I think a concave ferris with 3 thumb keys or an extra outside column would be the sweet spot, or a more staggered corne.
Try non-blue switch options; I love my Logitech G915 Pro for example, although its the midway brown switch and a very different profile; but there are plenty of others that will be more like the classic style and (relatively) quiet.
Then install dampeners and use silent/non-clicky switches? This seems a very bad reason not to use a mechanical keyboard.
There are also other options, e.g. for modern rubber dome keyboard (like the HHKB).
I’ve had crappy Logitechs and no-names that lasted longer. Kinda disappointing considering how well built it is.
Unfortunately I can’t recommend that trash.
Have a look at RealForce Topre keyboards tho. Feel real nice.
Get something that lasts instead piling onto landfills.
You need good passive protection, shooting range earmuffs may be a solution. I don't recommend the active ones though as they are designed to let voice pass though, which mean you will still hear your coworkers yelling at you and your <censored> keyboard.
https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_det...
https://1upkeyboards.com/shop/controllers/fc660c-controller/
I too have a closet full of mechanical keyboards, somehow indulging the obsession while failing to see the point. A Topre switch is so much better, it allowed me to focus on my layout then get back to work.