price

Unicomp Ultra Classic Model M

Switches:

IBM Buckling Spring

About:

Ah here we come to the famous successor of the IBM model M. Unicomp was made by old Lexmark employees (the company that was making model M's for IBM from 1991-1996), They merely bought up the tooling and licensing needed to keep manufacturing a version of the legendary keyboard. Your basically getting a slightly updated brand new model M, which is really nice for those of us that have a fear of buying 30 year old hardware due to the amount of dirt, sweat and who knows what else hidden underneath the key-caps. Because its a brand new product you actually get a warranty but you shouldn't need to use it due to the great build quality of these. Also unlike the original IBM model M, you get a super and menu key. Weights about 1.7kg (3.7 pounds) as opposed to 2.2 kg of the oldest IBM due to case being thinner which causes a bit of flex, typing feels the same as late model model Ms but a bit less smooth when compared with the first gen of model M, but that could just be rose tinted glasses. Some users have said that the Unicomp version is even louder than the original IBM model M, Please don't bring this into the office! This keyboard comes with white or grey key-caps the key-caps are PBT and T H I C C. Some complain about the lettering on the key caps being a bit less focused than the IBM model M and not as centred, which makes sense as Unicomp is still using the original tooling used to make the model M. Comes with a basic straight USB cable instead of PS2 like the model M. While you can't fit any Cherry MX key-caps, you can order custom key caps from Unicomp's website. There's a version with a weird arrow cluster and no windows key if you want to be really hipster. Also a version with a track ball. Ultimately This is your only choice if you want the famous buckling spring switches in a new keyboard and it's fairly cheap. In reading all the reviews I could on this keyboard I found 2 reports of keys starting to double tap. Blueish key-cap legends really annoy some users.