Wed 29 Dec 2004
I love the original IBM Type-M buckling-spring keyboard. No other keyboard gives the same tactile feedback. My co-workers are audibly aware of my preference. I’ve managed to save several PS/2 keyboards but eventually they wear out. Looking for replacements, I found:
- PC Keyboard, nee Unicomp, sells keyboards based on the buckling spring design that IBM/Lexmark used to make. I’m intrigued by their ‘Linux 101′ unit with the Control and CapsLock mapped correctly. $100 direct.
- The Tactile Pro Keyboard from Matias, a usb keyboard for Mac or PC, is highly regarded. $100 direct but Smalldog has them for $80.
- The Avant Prime, similar to the Northgate Omni, can be had for $149 from Lueck Data Systems.
2 Responses to “Keyboards”
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August 8th, 2006 at 8:21 am
[…] I spend a lot of time at the keyboard, often upwards of eight hours a day. A couple of years ago I blogged about keyboards and how I love the rugged Type-M buckling spring design. I keep a few around with PS2 and USB adapters for home and work but for the Mac, I was using a vintage 1990 Apple Extended Keboard II. This keyboard is often referred to as the “Nimitz”, supposedly after its codename during development, and the name is apt- it is huge and overbuilt. I’ve been using it with an iMate adb-usb adapter for years and while the setup was sometimes dodgy, it usually worked. The keyboard is not as industrial as IBM’s best and after sixteen years of intermittant use the spacebar is showing signs of wear and the keyboard is suffering key bounce and missing key presses. So it was time to replace it. […]
October 5th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Unicomp is awesome. They recently assembled a new Model M mini (84-key Model M space saver) for me at my request. I also just recently purchased a EnduraPro from them.
If you are interested in communing with others who feel just as passionate about their keyboards, swing by the geekhack.org forums.