said Dr. Nikolaus Klepp via tde-users: | > Digging through issues one by one here. Am using the desktop more | > after having gotten a TKL (SSK in IBM parlance) Model M from Unicomp. | > I have a couple of genuine IBM SSKs, but they have become to valuable | > to use. The Unicomp reissue is if anything better, and I love it. But | > I digress. | | Oh ... I want one ... just for decoration that is :) It's here: https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/MINI_M The white keys are definitely better in person than the gray ones. Unicomp was Lexmark employees who bought up all the equipment when Lexmark stopped making Model M keyboards for IBM (and the equipment used by IBM before it spun off keyboards and printers as Lexmark). They kept making Model Ms, though after the existing stock was gone sold them as Unicomp. I have a batch of them from those days (and earlier, actually -- more Model Ms than anyone has a right to, including the 122-key battle cruisers in both IBM and Unicomp livery). Anyway, over the years the equipment got worn out and the quality suffered, so a few uears ago Unicomp created the New Model M (https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/NEW_M), which had the same guts but a less ridiculous case, all new tooling, and as a result a brand new Model M, unavailable since IBM made 'em pre-1991. Then, by popular demand, they produced the Mini M, which is like the IBM Space Saving keyboard -- a model M without the number pad. Much nicer, actually, than my original SSKs. All nice and clicky and good. (They still make the older stuff for those who prefer it. Fortunately, the Unicomp Model Ms I have are nearly 20 years old, so they were made before the tooling went loose.) The Mini M I'm typing this on was made December 10 and I received it December 18. Like IBM, they put the "birth certificate" on the back. Praise the Lord, there is no awful Unicomp logo on the front of the keyboard. Though the LEDs are a too-bright blue, if you get some very yellow gel or tape, you can turn 'em green the way God intended. Chyrosran22, the Jeff Cooper of keyboards, did an excellent review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxT1ja8OWRY While we're in the neighborhood, a guy named Joe is also reproducing the Model F, which is in some respects clickier and nicer and more technically profound. Those who have gotten them seem to love them, though they come without the keys attached and the whole operation seems slightly, um, weird to me. I asked a few questions, swallowed hard and ordered one anyway, but Joe canceled my order because I'm not the kind of customer he wants. (He's right.) In case you're more forgiving than I am and are interested: https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/ Chyrosran22 on the Brand New Model F, to which project I believe he contributed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzcEtwSFz9I And to round it off, there is an application, "bucklespring," that plays the sounds of a Model M through your speakers as you type. I installed and used it just to see how it sounds, then deleted it, inasmuch as I have an actual Model M. I wrote about some of this here: https://ofb.biz/sa1250 And here: https://ofb.biz/safari/article/1272.html -- dep Pictures: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/depscribe/album Column: https://ofb.biz/author/dep/ ____________________________________________________ tde-users mailing list -- users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Web mail archive available at https://mail.trinitydesktop.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
