Review of the Model M-Inspired Unicomp Customizer Keyboard

ThousandStars writes "I wrote a review of the Unicomp Customizer Keyboard, which is a modern version of the IBM and then Lexmark Model M much beloved by nerds and hackers. The pros of the Customizer: it's sturdy, remarkably similar to the Model M, has great tech support, and uses a USB interface. Oh, and it's Mac-friendly. The cons: at $69 it's somewhat expensive, and its noise won't be music to your cubemate's ears." Note: this is one of the very, very few buckling-spring keyboards you can get new these days, instead of prowling through thrift stores, eBay, and university dumpsters.

Comments

Re:Fanbois, have you actually tried one?

[splutty]

Hmmm..

Interesting comment, however I completely and utterly disagree. Most modern keyboards (and I've gone through quite a lot), are simply not tactile and 'fast' enough. There are a number of keyboards (Looking at you, DELL), that I have serious problem with considering the speed I'm typing. More often then not, letters will be 'switched around', because I hit them in such fast succession. I've never had this problem with a Model-M, or with certain Cherry keyboards with microswitches (nor by the way, with this HP-KU keyboard, which comes with detachable numpad and card reader)

If you claim that a Model-M will slow people down, then I think you've either never typed on a tactile keyboard, or you're a slow typer to begin with. Of course I could be terribly wrong, and the positive effects of the Model-M surely vary for people, but in my experience I'm typing a LOT faster on my keyboard at home (which is an original Model-M/PS2) than on pretty much any other keyboard.

I think the main reason for that is twofold. First you never have to fully depress the key, plus aside from the 'noise' it also gives you a very tactile response, and even pushed the key back at you. This basically limits the amount of force and movement my fingers have to make to type anything, and for me at least, speeds my typing up enormously.

Stop complaining about price

[Octos]

Really. $70 for a keyboard is nothing. It's a tool you use every day for extended periods of time. If you're looking for a decent keyboard it's because you don't like the way the $3 crap-board feels. It costs three bucks for a reason. Quality tools that last are worth every penny.

If you really want to balk at price, I'll point you to my Kinesis Contour keyboard. It cost about $300. The key feel and ergos are great. I've used this board at work for about 9 years now and it's still going strong.

If you still insist on being cheap, go prowl Goodwill or other thrift stores. I found a Lexmark BS board in near mint condition for $5.

Re:too big

[sm62704]

Cut off the numeric keypad and we'll talk

I see you've never had to enter a long series of numbers into a database. Entering numbers from the number row above the letters is slow, cumbersome, and error-prone.