hardware review

Unicomp SpaceSaver 104, $79 from pckeyboard.com

Keyboards come for free with your new PC, or are $5-10 at your local store. $30 if you're overpaying at OfficeMax. Why would anyone pay $79 for a keyboard?

I am a keyboard snob. The One True Keyboard Feel is that of the IBM Model M, the heavy (steel!) standard keyboard that IBM shipped with every PC they built from the original down through the PS/2 years (except the PCjr, spit). There were many variations of size and additional keys, but the buckling-spring keyboard action remained the same.

IBM sold off the PC business years ago, and the keyboard business was spun off along with printers as Lexmark (spit). Lexmark sold the keyboard technology to Unicomp in 1996, and here we are.

Good:

+ keyboard action feels crisp, has proper depth of travel, buckles properly
+ keycaps are removable
+ keycaps are textured properly
+ seems to be built pretty solidly, though there is no steel plate
+ the layout and spacing between keys is exactly right -- my fingers needed no adjustment from my Model M or my Northgate Omni.

Bad:
- PS/2 cable does not detach from keyboard
- key caps are printed in all black instead of colors for meta keys
- keycaps feel a little flimsier than on my Model Ms (only noticeable when pulled off)

Overall, if you can't find a Model M, this isn't a bad choice.

hardware review

Unicomp SpaceSaver 104, $79 from pckeyboard.com

Keyboards come for free with your new PC, or are $5-10 at your local store. $30 if you're overpaying at OfficeMax. Why would anyone pay $79 for a keyboard?

I am a keyboard snob. The One True Keyboard Feel is that of the IBM Model M, the heavy (steel!) standard keyboard that IBM shipped with every PC they built from the original down through the PS/2 years (except the PCjr, spit). There were many variations of size and additional keys, but the buckling-spring keyboard action remained the same.

IBM sold off the PC business years ago, and the keyboard business was spun off along with printers as Lexmark (spit). Lexmark sold the keyboard technology to Unicomp in 1996, and here we are.

Good:

+ keyboard action feels crisp, has proper depth of travel, buckles properly
+ keycaps are removable
+ keycaps are textured properly
+ seems to be built pretty solidly, though there is no steel plate
+ the layout and spacing between keys is exactly right -- my fingers needed no adjustment from my Model M or my Northgate Omni.

Bad:
- PS/2 cable does not detach from keyboard
- key caps are printed in all black instead of colors for meta keys
- keycaps feel a little flimsier than on my Model Ms (only noticeable when pulled off)

Overall, if you can't find a Model M, this isn't a bad choice.