8BitDo's Reimagining of IBM's Model-M Keyboard Draws Reactions Online (omgubuntu.co.uk) 72
"Few computer keyboards are as iconic, as influential, or as beige as the IBM Model-M," writes the blog OMG Ubuntu adding that it's "no surprise then that it's been given a modern reimagining by 8BitDo."
Following on from their Nintendo NES and Famicom and Commodore 64 homages, 8BitDo has unveiled its latest retro-inspired mechanical keyboard. This one pays tribute to a true computing classic: the IBM Model-M keyboard.
Lest anyone familiar with the real thing get too excited I'll mention up front that 8BitDo's Keyboard-M is a mechanical keyboard, using Kailh Box V2 white switches (swappable, of course) and not the buckling spring mechanism synonymous with the original. On Linux you can enable a buckling spring sound effect for every key press though, should you buy this and want the clatter to accompany it...!
Like 8BitDo's other retro keyboards you can use this over Bluetooth, 2.4G wireless (USB adapter sits underneath), or wired. It has a built-in rechargeable 2000mAh Li-on battery that's good for 200 hours between charges.
"It certainly looks the business," writes the Verge, "especially with the slick new wireless numpad / calculator combo pad 8BitDo will sell alongside it for another $44.99."
And Ars Technica adds that "The M Edition's color scheme, chunkier build, and typeface selection, including on the Tab key with arrows and elsewhere, are nods to IBM's Model M," (noting that the Model M first succeeded the Model F keyboard in 1985). "Of course, the keyboard's naming, and the IBM behemoth and floppy disks strategically placed in marketing images, are notes of that, too..."
"The M Edition also comes with the detachable A and B "Super Buttons" that connect to the keyboard via a 3.5 mm jack and are programmable without software."
"The paint job is pretty faithful to the original," notes Windows Central, "with a combination of gray and white throughout, right down to the accurately recreated LED status panel in the right-hand corner. There are even two key caps with an IBM-inspired blue font on them. It's just tremendous."
Ars Technica offers this advice to unconvinced purists: If you want a real Model M, there's a market of found and restored models available online and in thrift stores and electronics stores. For a modern spin, like USB ports and Mac support, Unicomp also makes new Model M keyboards that are truer to the original IBM design, particularly in their use of buckling spring switches.
Lest anyone familiar with the real thing get too excited I'll mention up front that 8BitDo's Keyboard-M is a mechanical keyboard, using Kailh Box V2 white switches (swappable, of course) and not the buckling spring mechanism synonymous with the original. On Linux you can enable a buckling spring sound effect for every key press though, should you buy this and want the clatter to accompany it...!
Like 8BitDo's other retro keyboards you can use this over Bluetooth, 2.4G wireless (USB adapter sits underneath), or wired. It has a built-in rechargeable 2000mAh Li-on battery that's good for 200 hours between charges.
"It certainly looks the business," writes the Verge, "especially with the slick new wireless numpad / calculator combo pad 8BitDo will sell alongside it for another $44.99."
And Ars Technica adds that "The M Edition's color scheme, chunkier build, and typeface selection, including on the Tab key with arrows and elsewhere, are nods to IBM's Model M," (noting that the Model M first succeeded the Model F keyboard in 1985). "Of course, the keyboard's naming, and the IBM behemoth and floppy disks strategically placed in marketing images, are notes of that, too..."
"The M Edition also comes with the detachable A and B "Super Buttons" that connect to the keyboard via a 3.5 mm jack and are programmable without software."
"The paint job is pretty faithful to the original," notes Windows Central, "with a combination of gray and white throughout, right down to the accurately recreated LED status panel in the right-hand corner. There are even two key caps with an IBM-inspired blue font on them. It's just tremendous."
Ars Technica offers this advice to unconvinced purists: If you want a real Model M, there's a market of found and restored models available online and in thrift stores and electronics stores. For a modern spin, like USB ports and Mac support, Unicomp also makes new Model M keyboards that are truer to the original IBM design, particularly in their use of buckling spring switches.
wat (Score:1, Flamebait)
That looks nothing like a model m.
Re: (Score:3)
It's essentially a white version of their beige & brown C-64 keyboard. Dunno how good it is to type on, but from appearance it must be better than the chicklet-shit keyboards that are ubiquitous today.
"Modern reimagining" wasn't a clue? (Score:2)
That looks nothing like a model m.
That is the point of "modern reimagining". Been using Model M since the 80s, literally, original PC connector not even PS/2. Also unicomp. My favorite is an all black (case and keys) unicomp, looks different but it feels right. That feel is what I expect actual users want. What it "looks like" is for folks more interested in being fashionable than in feeling that click. If 8bitdo's versions FEELS right then its a viable alternative. I suppose it has to SOUND right for some too but personally I don't care. L
Re:"Modern reimagining" wasn't a clue? (Score:5, Interesting)
It doesn't feel right. Buckling springs are very different from Kailh whites. That isn't to say it's a bad keyboard—I'm sure it's probably great if those switches are your jam. But, to use your verbiage, this piece is more a fashion statement.
Re:"Modern reimagining" wasn't a clue? (Score:5, Funny)
this piece is more a fashion statement
I prefer the term "cosplay keyboard"
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Agreed.
If it doesn't have 122 keys, it's not the same.
You can still get them, places like Unicomp [pckeyboard.com] or ATG [affirmativetg.com]
I hope Slashdot got paid⦠(Score:2, Insightful)
Slashvertisement indeed. (Score:2)
I expect to see more of them.
I love slashdot moderation (Score:4, Insightful)
We get articles about actual technical innovations that are unable to be purchased anywhere and everyone cries "slashvertisement" and gets modded up.
Then here we get an actual blatant advert complete with summaries for the product from review sites, and the person who claims its a slashvertisement gets modded troll.
*Facepalm*.
Re: (Score:2)
Sometimes I like to read the comments in the Slashvertisements. Otherwise I'd not learn of their competitors and things I might actually want, like the ATG keyboards mentioned elsewhere in the comments here.
Do they come with the Smite key? (Score:2)
If not, someone should sell an aftermarket key cap. (https://store.gocomics.com/product/the-far-side-comic-art-print-god-at-his-computer/)
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I have Panic and Eject keys on my Dell QuietKey keyboard from around the turn of the century. I had to get a PS2 to USB-A adapter a decade ago.
Yes... but... (Score:1)
8bitdo has been riding the nostalgia bandwagon for a while, but how many different "retro" keyboards one can have?
I liked their arcade controller. It is cheap and easy to use, and gives us the old school coin-op feeling. I get that. However with many similar products flooding the market, I am not sure they will have the return on investment that they expect. Every incremental product will have diminishingly lower returns.
Re: Yes... but... (Score:3)
the knockoffs were higher quality and really forced 8bitdo to shape up lol.
i have one of their early nes-themed controllers and itâ(TM)s garbage.
Tepid. (Score:4, Insightful)
Crapvertisement (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't have the original model M buckling springs then it's bullshit. The reason people loved the M was how it felt to type on.
I've had other stupid fake clones over the years and none of them comes even close to the awesomeness that is the M original springs. I still have that keyboard from 1987. If it came with Bluetooth it would be perfect for a modern build.
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It doesn't have the original model M buckling springs then it's bullshit. The reason people loved the M was how it felt to type on.
Amen.
I've had other stupid fake clones over the years and none of them comes even close to the awesomeness that is the M original springs. I still have that keyboard from 1987. If it came with Bluetooth it would be perfect for a modern build.
I have two genuine IBM from back in the days, 80s PC connection, 90s PS/2 connector. I also have a 90s Unicomp, PS/2 - not the quieter edition so switches should match properly, which feels right to me. IIRC Unicomp claimed to have made keyboards for IBM back in the day. Hard to imagine going wrong there if you are ordering a model with the correct key switches.
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The problem is getting one with the right springs. Even old unicomps which might have had the real buckling springs at one time are hard to find.
eBay always has a bunch of them but most of them look really sketchy and cost a lot.
I'd like to see someone make a model m clone and just flat out say, "there are the exact same buckling springs used in the original M from the 80s, no joke, no bullshit, no leg pulling". But that doesn't happen. They always use the name and sell you something else.
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You have that keyboard? Well, I collected every single one I have been able to since the early 1990s when people started giving me their old computers. Now I have over 100 Model-M's. Perhaps the largest private collection at this point. And this is less than half of my collection now: Google "reddit Model M collection half of it"
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Holy shit you got 100+? Fuuuuuck....
Mine came with the PCjr, 1987. Whatever version that was.
Re: (Score:2)
PCjr came with a model M?
D@mn! At last a reason to own a PCjr...
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Yup. I'm pretty sure it's the same as other M but the 100+ guy would know better. I defer to the expert.
The jr was definitely a piece of shit otherwise. It's the only PC that ran slower than 4.77mhz. Mine reported at 4.33. It also got so fucking hot inside I had scorch marks inside the case from serious over heating. I was young, it was a gift and my first PC. After that I built my own with my own money.
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Yes, it should have been the same as the other Model M keyboards if it was a Model M, but most pics of the PCjr show it with a chiclet style keyboard reminiscent of the very first Commodore PET.
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Shrug, dunno. It's definitely an M and the label on the bottom gives the proper M info. Maybe there was a keyboard upgrade option? Or my dad simply bought me an M separately knowing the standard keyboard was trash? No idea.
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"PCjr came with a model M?"
Presumably as an extra you could pay additional for. By default, the PCjr came with the infamous "chiclet" keyboard, which is widely regarded as really awful.
The primary reason. (Score:2)
so you are the reason why we cannot get old keyboards ?
Re: (Score:2)
Today it's different (Score:2)
>> The reason people loved the M was how it felt to type on.
The reason why people love the model M today is because there's nothing like it to annoy the hell out of your coworkers with the loud clicky noises.
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That being said, I think a lot of the Model M rage came before the mechanical keyboard market exploded. So for a while, you pretty much had to dig up an old Model M to get an type of experience that Kailh, Gateron, and Cherry (and a ton of boutique downstream brands) will now happily help you get in on.
Re: (Score:2)
It's a very personal thing. I've tried a bunch of other keyboards, some lauded as amazing very high end and great feel and etc and have yet to touch one that rose to the level of deep satisfaction and comfort the M gave me. They're just not the same. Some really were truly great keyboards but provided a different experience. The M just had an ephemeral magical quality to it I think can only be duplicated by truly duplicating the hardware (the keys and springs parts at least).
It did weight a few thousand
idiots (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
I've bought unicomp. They can say whatever they want but my unicomp is a pale shadow next to my real M.
Re: (Score:2)
Same here. Be careful of Unicomp too, they don't honor their warranties. If you send a keyboard in for repair they will claim something was spilled in it and then charge you for return shipping if you want it back. They lost my business over that BS. They were having known reported issues with their USB circuitry but instead of honoring the warranty chose to alienate a customer.
Not all Unicomp have proper key switches (Score:2)
I've bought unicomp. They can say whatever they want but my unicomp is a pale shadow next to my real M.
I have IBM from the 80s and Unicomp from the 90s. My Unicomp feels right. Unicomp does offer models with alternative key switches, quieter switchers, I ordered a model with the original noisy ones. Do you perhaps have one with the quieter replacement keys?
Re: (Score:2)
I got my unicomp about 15 years ago iirc. It's "ok" and I used it for years for gaming and work and just kinda got used to it. Then I pulled my real M out and was like "oh uhm yeah..." on the unicomp. Unicomp eventually broke in a move and I tossed it. Not a big loss. My M needs a replacement keyboard port. My very energetic dog managed to stomp hard on the exact point where the cable coil connects to the keyboard cable port and pretty much destroyed that part. It is replaceable but I'd need to find
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Unicomp during the 90s owned the original IBM machines that made the keyboards. Later, the machines wore off and eventually broke, and with the replacement machines the quality of Unicomp keyboards went way down.
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Unicomp during the 90s owned the original IBM machines that made the keyboards. Later, the machines wore off and eventually broke, and with the replacement machines the quality of Unicomp keyboards went way down.
Did we lose the tooling blueprints, like we "lost" the Saturn V tooling blueprints? :-)
Re: (Score:2)
Did we lose the tooling blueprints, like we "lost" the Saturn V tooling blueprints? :-)
Not very likely. It's also possible that some inventive engineers at Unicomp found clever ways to cut some corners to reduce price. Lexmark is known to have done exactly that, before handing keyboard business to Unicomp.
Not buckling spring (Score:2)
Not interested. I can put any switches I can buy in any keyboard I like.
No buckling spring mechanism means not a Model M (Score:5, Informative)
No buckling spring mechanism means not a Model M.
Clicky keys don't make it a Model M.
Go to https://www.pckeyboard.com/ [pckeyboard.com] and get a real (and modern!) Model M instead!!
Re: (Score:2)
How are the Unicomp modern Model M keyboards?
I remember watching this episode of LGR where he unboxed one of their Model Ms, and his instant reaction was that it doesn't feel like his original IBM era Model Ms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
He goes on to note that they aren't at all bad, but not the same. Anyone have both to compare?
In any case, they are the only real option if you want one now, other than paying out the arse on eBay.
Re: (Score:2)
For a few decades after Unicomp started, they were using the original tooling and dies that IBM/Lexmark had already been using for years and they were quite worn out.
I understand that Unicomp now has new tooling and dies so the keyboards are much closer to the original.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks, it's interesting that the new ones are supposedly closer to the originals. Might be time to order one.
Re: (Score:2)
They are not quite the same as the Model M. Particularly in the weight and key feel areas since back then IBM spent an enormous amount of time and money to get that particular feel and since you were paying over $2000 in 80's money for that IBM computer, it had to feel like it was worth it vs a clone like an Everex, Compaq or a Dell.
Supposedly, the "New Model M" that they sell (and yes that is it's name. Not sure why they didn't call it M2 or something) fixed the problems that the older Unicomp keyboards ha
Re: (Score:2)
Interesting you say that "added weight" was an issue. Often the criticism I hear of keyboards is that the lack of weight makes them feel and sound different.
Personally I don't care about sound so much, it's the feel that is important.
Re: (Score:2)
Those are options, sure.
But it would be easier to just go out to my garage.
Of course, then I would need to find the PC to PS2 adaptor, into which I could plug the PS2 to USB adaptor.
But it would still be on a cord.
And then there's that I rarely use the desktop any more, anyway.
I really don't remember how many model M keyboards I kept. At least one, but it might be 2 or 3.
I'll pass (Score:3)
No buckling springs. There's nothing like a true Model M and F keyboard. I have enough of them to last me for the rest of my life. I'm set, it's all good.
Thanks keyboard snobs (Score:3)
Thanks to you, countless terminals and rare systems were sent to the scrapyard just to you can sit there clacking away in the office.
Feel, Not Look (Score:2)
I don't really want beige or the XT or AT layout - I want the feel.
And I don't really care who makes the springs - the patents are all expired.
And it needs to be heavy enough to decapitate a grizzly so it stays put against vigorous keypresses.
It's weird how so many people take a shot at the King and miss on this topic.
$45 for an 'optional' numpad?? (Score:3)
Do these hipsters do any real work that requires numeric input?
A numpad should be a standard feature.
Re: (Score:3)
Plenty people do "real" work that doesn't need a numpad. I wouldn't be surprised if most people would get by absolutely fine without one.
Numpads absolutely have their place, but dropping it has ergonomic benefits: more desk space, and your mouse is closer.
Re: (Score:2)
I've been a consultant that works from laptops for about 10 years of my career. Standard 14-15" laptop with no numpad. It doesn't bother me that it's not there. These days I buy tenkeyless keyboards for everything.
The extra space and closer mouse is worth it to me.
Re: (Score:2)
Sadly that appears to be the way mechanical keyboards are going. The TKL (ten key less, or numpad-less, why they had to call it something non-standard I don't know) keyboard layout seems to be the standard keyboard layout nowadays.
Then you have people using 80/60/50/40/30/20/10/5 percent keyboard layouts. Somewhere between 50 and 60 percent the layout resembles the old 90s laptop keyboard layout where all th
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Most 16" class laptops have numpads. The 14" and smaller do not have the space and Apples never had them.
But once you climb to the 15" and larger laptops, especially 16" and up, you'll find numpads to the right of the main keyboard.
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Pretty Cool (Score:2)
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Looks like it's a standard bottom row, so you could replace it easily enough. Matching that exact shade of beige might be tricky, though.
Re: (Score:2)
That key is properly labeled "command" or "cmd" with that funky highway cloverleaf logo . . . :)
hawk
Unicomp (Score:4, Informative)
Another one. (Score:2)
It's an ancient design for keys that literally everyone agrees is the best design for keys. Why the hell can't I find one that is first, a full goddamned keyboard, second, has media keys, and finally, is wireless? I'd be pretty damned tempted just to buy one if it were a full keyboard with media keys. I'm still not undersanding why so many keyboards exist without a number pad. I can maybe see excluding that when you're trying to make something portable (for some damned reason), but for a separated hardware
Re: (Score:2)
Cost. Mechanical switches have a noticeable cost even at wholesale prices and so any you can safely drop from the BOM and get away with it, the lower retail price you can advertise and undercut full size keyboards by a decent amount. Personally I think the market got a bit skewed. Keyboard manufacturers think people don't want numpads but what I believe happened was the mechanical fad boomed and people wanted to dip their toes in the market, so they bought from the cheaper end of the scale meaning reduced k
Re: (Score:2)
This one is wireless, though I'll admit that isn't something I care about (or even want). My main quip would be that its just not very model M like. The keycap font and indicator legends are vaguely Model M-esque, but the general case shape isn't similar, the numpad is missing, it has atrocious extra keys and doo-dads at the top, and worse, its just using plain old Kaihl Box Whites.
I don't have an issue with box switches. My work keyboard uses NovelKeys/Kaihl Box Jades (my home keyboards is a Model M), b
No backlight, no switch options (Score:1)
How hard would it be for a manufacturer to offer some options:
1. 104/110 ANSI
2. Numpad
3. Backlist
4. Brown/Blue/White/MX switches
5. USB, BT, WiFI
THEN could they charge $150 for this $25 device?
What a rip.
Box White switches? (Score:2)
I'm sorry, but a major, MAJOR draw of the Model M is the buckling spring mechanism. It feels a specific way that people who like the Model M tend to prefer. A Kaihl Box White switch is not similar and basically just makes this another random mechanical switch keyboard like any of hundreds of others on the market.
If you want a Model M, Unicomp still makes them.
Model F Labs? (Score:2)
This appears to fall short, since it doesn't have real buckling springs. But I've been reading good things about Model F Labs' work. They are pricey, though. Any thoughts on them?
How to clean it? (Score:2)
If I can't wash this clone in the dishwasher like a genuine Model M, then I'm not interested.
New buttons for Model M trackpoint? (Score:2)
Has anybody ever come up with a good way to refurbish a mid-90s Model M with Trackpoint whose two Trackpoint buttons died years ago?
The last time I checked, there was no good way to fix it. I keep hoping someone will eventually make one.
Too Small (Score:2)