wrote:wrote:What's the retail price of Unicomp buckling spring keyboards these days?
like 100 ish
But you can get them on ebay for much less, new even. I got my 122key model M for 65$
It seems like the cheapies I've seen on eBay are the terminal keyboards, are those even useful nowadays?
Yeah, I've got a USB Unicomp space saver. I've had it since 2011.
Only setback is that it doesn't work on my Raspberry pi.
I messed around with the keycaps a bit. I swapped left control and caps lock and got the "option" and "command" keys because I didn't want any windows logo on it.
The keys are arranged in the Colemak layout.
wrote:Yeah, I've got a USB Unicomp space saver. I've had it since 2011.
Only setback is that it doesn't work on my Raspberry pi.
Dang that's a bummer. Did you email Unicomp about the issue?
wrote:Yeah, I've got a USB Unicomp space saver. I've had it since 2011.
Only setback is that it doesn't work on my Raspberry pi.
Perhaps it would work through a powered hub? AFAIK mechanical keyboards might need more power than cheap rubber dome ones.
Also, I'd love to have one, but I can't find one locally for a reasonable price.
wrote:It seems like the cheapies I've seen on eBay are the terminal keyboards, are those even useful nowadays?
No, they're practically useless for PC use. I got a box full of them for cheap from ebay once, which I bought since I noticed one PS/2 model in the pictures. IIRC they do work on PC, but use different scancodes (which can be remapped). And they don't send separate key-on/off scancodes, but only key-on, with integrated typematic repeat, which will seriously confuse some programs (games, most of all). They also lack caps/scroll/num lock leds.
Perhaps you could replace their circuit board with a PS/2 one though. I should try that sometime.
wrote:wrote:It seems like the cheapies I've seen on eBay are the terminal keyboards, are those even useful nowadays?
No, they're practically useless for PC use. I got a box full of them for cheap from ebay once, which I bought since I noticed one PS/2 model in the pictures. IIRC they do work on PC, but use different scancodes (which can be remapped). And they don't send separate key-on/off scancodes, but only key-on, with integrated typematic repeat, which will seriously confuse some programs (games, most of all). They also lack caps/scroll/num lock leds.
Perhaps you could replace their circuit board with a PS/2 one though. I should try that sometime.
That's what I figured, I heard they're primarily used to work with IBM mainframes, not sure if that's true or not.
wrote:wrote:Yeah, I've got a USB Unicomp space saver. I've had it since 2011.
Only setback is that it doesn't work on my Raspberry pi.
Dang that's a bummer. Did you email Unicomp about the issue?
Nah, it's all cool. I only got the pi recently and the keyboard has been working like a dream since I got it. I picked up a cheap keyboard to use with the pi and mac mini when I wanna mess around with Morph OS, Risc OS, and Raspian.
I found an abandoned model M leaning against a tree a few years ago, it was filthy and had its cable clipped off, but I restored it and have been using it daily since.
I also have a DAS keyboard with Cherry Blues (meh) and a Quick Fire Pro with Cherry MX Brown (like it).
Life? Don't talk to me about life.
Personally I never understood the novelty of mechanical keyboards. They sound nice, they feel nice but they're expensive as all hell (you want a small keyboard? Sure. That will be $150) and it seems most of the people who use one have massive ego problems (I knew someone who walked around with a Model M at school and insisted he use that in classes over anything else. To this day I still think he was trying to roll out some weird joke but never got to finish the punchline). I'll use just about anything put in front of me (like the G15 I'm typing this on, or the IBM SK-8835 with a broken spacebar sitting in my laptop dock's nook) so long as it's not like the dreaded membrane keyboard on the Sinclair XZ81....
"It's science. I ain't gotta explain sh*t" 
I am a full convert to the Holy Buckling Spring religion. I went from a decent 90s Compaq keyboard, to several no-name pieces of crap, to Keytronic and Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro before being worthy enough of the One True Keyboard. Since knowing about them and trying one out I had been looking for one for more than a decade and it wasn't until 2013 I was able to get my very own. Before that the only time I've seen one for sale around here was a 122 key terminal model at a flea market many years ago, but it was too expensive for a filthy nonstandard keyboard lying on a flea market so I didn't grab it. In retrospective I should've grabbed it anyway for parts (if I knew that a decade later I'd need spare keycaps and stuff), but oh well.
In 2013 I finally managed to find one at a flea market, not in the best of shape but fully working:
It's a Mexican Model M manufactured in July 1989 sporting the ISO Latin American layout, which is awesome since I don't like the ANSI layout. I'm actually used to the European Spanish layout which is slightly different, but all the keys fit so it's not a problem if you touch type.
After a thorough cleaning it became my daily driver instantly. Later I was able to snatch the missing keycaps off another Mexican M I got.
Later that year I got my hands on two broken Mexican Model Ms which are slightly different. They have a manufacturing date of 1993, the IBM logo is blue instead of gray and the silk screening on the keycaps runs a little thinner than in the old ones. As you can see the first thing I did was cannibalize the keycaps my good Model M needed. 😜
Both have damaged membranes and the big gray keys (Enter, long Shift, etc) get stuck when pressed and no amount of cleaning and lubrication seems to help. I remember seeing a possible solution on Deskthority a while ago, but I didn't understand it, and of course it's gone now and I didn't think of saving it, because stuff never disappears off the Internet, right? 😢
I cleaned one up just to see how it looked, even though both are still broken:
One day I'll get around to get me all the parts needed for bolt-modding both of these, along with contacting Unicomp and asking them if their replacement membranes work for the ISO Model Ms, and if they happen to have language-specific replacement keycaps. For now they sit in storage.
In these few short years I realized how attached I became to these keyboards. My fingers have become really spoiled and I started to worry about not having a second working one for other computers I might use regularly, either for work or play. Fortunately I was able to fulfill that at the end of last year, got me another one at a local retro computing forum. Not cheap, but not eBay-expensive either. It's a gray-logo 1988 model, just in need of a slight cleaning.
Only the bottom keyboard is mine, the top ANSI model M was snatched by a friend.
Here's its pedigree:
Overall I'm quite happy to have two working units in my preferred layout, and I hope to repair the other two someday.
Finding these in the third world is not an easy task, a decade+ long search has finally borne fruit, but I'm still on the lookout for more. 😜
Great post 133MHz!
It's amazing how well the model M's clean up and how tuff they are. They don't seem to yellow either, which is a bonus. I'm always on the lookout for a backup too but they go for about 100 bucks around here, which is too much for a keyboard IMHO. I'm in no rush though, I have a feeling that mine will last at least another 20 years 😀
Life? Don't talk to me about life.
wrote:They don't seem to yellow either, which is a bonus.
I really hope so. I thought IBM didn't use ABS plastic which is why it doesn't go yellow, but recently I digged up my PS/2 model 25 out of storage and it has noticeably yellowed. 😲 😢
wrote:I'm in no rush though, I have a feeling that mine will last at least another 20 years 😀
Indeed, they are keyboards for a lifetime. 😀
Sexy flexy disk 133MHz 😘 🤣
wrote:I've got a couple of M's myself. First, the one I use on my main rig: http://i.imgur.com/yQkFCqKl.jpg [...] […]
I've got a couple of M's myself. First, the one I use on my main rig:
[...]
had a keyboard like this, came with my PS1/pro pc... I threw it in the trash somewhere around 1994-1995 because it was making too much noise during my night gaming sessions 🤣
wishing I would just store it instead of binning it... 😐
wrote:Personally I never understood the novelty of mechanical keyboards. They sound nice, they feel nice but they're expensive as all hell (you want a small keyboard? Sure. That will be $150)....
But this keyboard will still be going strong in 20 years. The cheaper logitech I use at work won't be 😀
I wouldn't count on it lasting that long, the one I have left, upon testing just now, has died like the others I had a decade ago. No loss to me, but I'm gathering the reliability might not be as good as you think. IBM though, so that figures.
How many pictures do we need of the same keyboard anyway? Here's the label on my IBM one;
In all honesty I'm hoping the rest machine dies soon too as I'd like an excuse to be shot of it, it takes up too much room and never gets used but I can't bring myself to sell it whilst it is working.
As for the disgusting rubber dome I talked about, here; http://s26.postimg.org/yvhgj843d/PHTO00106.png this is from my Dell laptop, I am proud of it, especially as my friend has OCD and starts feeling uncomfortable every time he sees it.
wrote:As for the disgusting rubber dome I talked about, here; http://s26.postimg.org/yvhgj843d/PHTO00106.png this is from my Dell laptop, I am proud of it, especially as my friend has OCD and starts feeling uncomfortable every time he sees it.
Ho-lee shit. And I thought my desk was kinda dirty. This takes dirty to a whole new level.
...mind if I post this to reddit for magic internet points? 🤣
I don't know if it's of interest, but Unicomp sells replacement parts and I think they have a repair service for Model M keyboards.
How easy are these keyboards to clean and what tools do you use?
wrote:How easy are these keyboards to clean
Not easy in my opinion. The Achilles heel of the model M for me is the inability to take it completely apart non-destructively. To get to the membrane you have to cut all the plastic rivets, and to put it back together you have to do what's called a "bolt mod", not easy. The MS Natural Keyboard Pro is light years ahead in that respect, very modular & straightforward to clean down to the last inch.
On the other hand the removable keycaps makes it easy to throw them in the wash every once in a while, but cleaning the bottom where all the dirt accumulates is a pain.
wrote:and what tools do you use?
The only special thing you need is a long 5.5mm hex nut driver to take the case apart.
