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

still heavy enough?

[i.r.id10t]

But are they still heavy and sturdy enough to "console" someone... repeatedly? Sometimes I channel the BOFH, and these cheap plastic Dell deals just don't hold up to the abuse...

Re:still heavy enough?

[Odinson]

I have owned one of these customizers for a couple of years so far and I can say yes. Even a woman of moderate build could fell two or three professional wrestlers with this thing. If they can lift it.

They should have know better than to mess with you when they heard your keystrokes sounding off like machine gun fire in the night. They are very spill resistant too, so you don't have to worry about how bloody they get. You can type a strongly worded letter mere seconds after an attack.

Now if they would just offer one with lit keys so you can see who you are pummeling in the pitch black without the aid of night vision goggles at an additional cost!

Re:Geezer alert!

[Brian Gordon]

No wires or ball? You got ripped off buddy.

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.

You should have bought more than one!

[freenix]

The model M is not immortal and any good nerd has at least three in the closet. I have only had one of these die on me and it was probably a wiring problem that I can fix but it was nice to have more waiting. They seem to be going for about $25 on ebay, so the internet has not let you down by letting people share their love. Perfect knowledge and many providers is a fair market so $25 is a fair price for a used keyboard. Finding a cache in a dumpster is like finding several hundred dollars on the street and you should save them all for yourself, your friends or just to sell them.

New keyboards like this are worth their price if you type a lot. It does feel good to type on and it will last forever. The only problem with the new ones, like the reviewer noticed, is the windows keys which decrease the size of Ctrl and Alt so that you might miss them.

Re:You should have bought more than one!

[RobertM1968]

While the Model M is not immortal, it is as close to immortal as any keyboard or piece of computer equipment ever was.

I have a few old Model M keyboards... still running. I bought my mother a computer 15 years ago or so, and gave her a (used) Model M with it. She has went through numerous computers, and still uses that same Model M (it turned 22 years old this past February). She wont give it away, she wont sell it, she wont part with it for any reason. Her computer dies, she gets a new one, chucks the keyboard that comes with it and plugs in the Model M. Doesn't bat an eye over replacing a computer every few years... doesn't have any intention of ever replacing her Model M and expects it to outlast her next few computers (which it probably will).

Interestingly, as her's is a lot older than the Model M's and M13s I have, the click is very unique in comparison. About as loud, but more metallic/click sounding.

I used to have a few dozen of them (bought a box full of them). I had one "test" keyboard, which we tried killing... we'd walk on it (ok, that's nothing for a Model M... but we had to try), we drove over it with an Isuzu Trooper (well, the guy driving hit the gas and it shot out from under the back wheel across the parking lot... minor scratches on the bottom)... we put it in front of a city bus' rear wheels and watched as the bus edged up on it waiting for a traffic light to change, and then drove off... still worked of course. Finally, we launched it off a 3 story roof... as far outwards as we could throw it (musta went a few hundred feet horizontal, in addition to the three story drop)... picking up the keycaps and such was not fun. Though we did manage to shatter the outer case (and couldnt find a few keycaps), it still worked. We took a small torch to the plastic... weird stuff, that plastic... it's surface bubbled and browned, but we would have had to hold the torch to it for quite a long time to melt through, so we gave up.

A sledge hammer managed to damage the plastic keycap plate enough in a few areas to stop some keys from working... but then again, most people dont run over their keyboards or hit them repeatedly with sledge hammers.

We did have a few in the box we bought that had some issues... most seemed to be screwed up springs from being jammed in with so many others (fallen off keycaps and bent, damaged or missing springs).

This is being typed on my Model M13 - a youngin by Model M standards (10 years old this June). Our other Model M is 16 years old, and our other Model M13s are 12-13 years old (2 beige, one black).

My fave is the Model M13 black or Model M in olive-grey (heh - find one of those... I'm trying ever since I missed out on buying one of 6 that were on sale a few years ago).

My only problem with the M13's is that the Trackpoints seem to "die" on them (they get pegged to a corner or side of the screen... sometimes fixable by re-gluing it to the keycap plate... sometimes not). Still trying to figure out where I can get new Trackpoint sticks to fix two of them...

As a side note, from what I understand, you can still get the UniComps without the Windows key. I prefer the standard Model M/M13 layout (no extra keys).

The standard 101 key Model M clones are at:
(white) http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/cus101usenon.html
They dont seem to have the black ones for sale in 101 key layout anymore...

Funny thing is they sell their Model M clone with an optional "Enhanced" mushy switch option (ie: no clicky mechanical spring). I dont think they understand the meaning of the word enhanced.

I type 12 hours a day, every day... and will not use anything but a Model M/M13 unless absolutely necessary. Once you get used to the click (which does serve a purpose and increases typing speed), you find that you look at the keyboard or screen a lot less when typing, you make less mistakes, and you type faster. I can hit ov

Re:Fanbois, have you actually tried one?

[R2.0]

That runs contrary to most other's experience and ergonomic principles. The buckling spring keyboard offers 3 types of feedback - visual (character on a screen), tactile (when the electrical contact is made, the key "gives"), and auditory (the famed "click"). Rubber dome keyboards only really offer 1 of these - visual. The tactile and the audible are generated by the key hitting the bottom of the stroke and are dependent on the force with which the key is struck, so typists tend to continue the stroke until the key bangs into the stop, then return the finger. In a buckling spring, it is possible to type without ever making contact with the physical limit of key travel, so finger motion and shock is reduced.

In other words, you're a troll.

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.

Re:Hear Much?

[snowraver1]

The clicking is the best part. When you are typing up a storm, the whole office better know it. When something is broken and everyone it waiting for you to fix it, and everyone hears "CLACKITY! CLICK! CLICK! CLACK! CLACK! THUNK(spacebar)! CLACK!" the only thought in thier head is "Man he must be doing something complicated".

Re:USB vs. PS/2

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a mod for the PS/2 keyboards to work with USB when power draw is too high. Basically, you solder two 4.7k ohm pull-up resistors on the keyboard's circuit board. These are connected to pull-up the clock and data lines.

If you're wary of modding the keyboard, you can build an adapter like so:
http://www.geocities.com/jszybowski/keyboard/Adapter.htm