Two Tone Ultra Classic Model M Black Buckling Spring 104 Key USB Keyboard

I'm sort of just looking for an excuse to type with this keyboard as it just came today and so this is a very initial impression. I was a little worried about getting one of these from Unicomp, I hard heard of the legendary quality of the old IBM model M's and that these new Unicomp keyboards don't quite live up to the name. I had seen in some YouTube reviews that the plastic body often had weird defects from the molding process and that the key caps were somewhat sub par when it came to their dye sublimated legends and overall feel. While the plastic on the body of my keyboard isn't entirely defect free, I really have to look to find something that I would consider out of the ordinary or ugly. The key caps feel pretty nice to me, the tops have a nice rough texture and they feel pretty solid and heavy overall. It seems like some of Unicomp's model M's had issues with misplaced legends on the keys but I'm happy to see that mine are all where they should be. I really like the white and grey key caps, they look better in real life then they do in the pictures. One sort of interesting thing is that my keyboard came with both of the windows key caps on the right side and that weird left click key on the left between the ctrl and alt, though the actual keys function as they are supposed to, I think I'll leave it because it makes it feel like it was put together by someone, which is cool. Many of the key caps have a bit of a plastic nub on their far side from where they were cut out of the mold which is a little disappointing for a keyboard of this price but I might be able to sand it off on my own if I'm determined enough one day.The feel of this keyboard is fantastic, I've been using a keyboard with cherry MX browns up to now and I got tired of the lack of tactility and click, so I thought I'd finally give buckling springs a try. The buckling spring mechanism of this keyboard is the polar opposite of cherry MX browns, these keys are loud, they are tactile and they are awesome. One thing that is sort of throwing me off is that the key travel feels a lot shorter on these than browns, but that is by no means a bad thing and I'm getting quickly getting used to it. Every key press feels so much more substantial than on any other keyboard I have every typed on, the thunk of the keys, the click of the buckling spring, the sound of the key rebounding back into place, all incredibly satisfying. The only downside is that I imagine this keyboard would annoy the heck out of anyone around you and it sounds like a tiny machine gun once you really get going. The awesome thing is that the tactile bump, click and actuation are all perfectly synchronized, on cherry MX browns I could get past the tactile bump without actually actuating the keys if I tried hard enough, which is completely impossible on this keyboard.It does creak a bit if I pick it up and try to flex it or if I press on the bottom edge of they keyboard, but the keys themselves don't actually move at all so I don't think this should affect functionality at all.This is my first time trying buckling springs and I would definitely say that they live up to the hype, but I wish the keycaps were a bit higher quality and that the body of the keyboard wasn't as creaky as it is.

I bought this keyboard because it is literally the ONLY keyboard entirely made in the US. If at all possible, I will buy American and not become a traitor to my country and fellow citizens.On a whole, I love this keyboard. I have had it for about two weeks, and am really starting to appreciate it. This is my first venture away from rubber domes, so I don't know how it compares to other mechanical keyboards. It looks really cool, and sounds even better. I am loving the tactile feedback you get.HOWEVER, I have had some of the issues described by other customers. My 'v' key is not completely reliable, and will fail to actuate occasionally. (Very annoying since I use 'ctrl + v' excessively.) This is after I took the key off and put it back on again. The upside is there is a distinct feel when the spring actuates, so when it fails to actuate, it is easy to tell just by feel, and you can I also didn't find the cord routing channel to be cooperative, as others have said.Regardless, I am still just happy to have found SOMETHING computer-wise made in America, and would gladly buy it again regardless of the minor workmanship defects.A note on pricing: I, like several others, would have happily payed even twice as much for this keyboard if I knew it was going to be super reliable and last me 7+ years without any problems. I would much rather pay more and get something with really excellent buil quality.

I wanted a keyboard that felt like a real keyboard, the kind IBM used to make. This one seemed to have the proper key switches. It feels solid. The keys are responsive although they take a little more pressure than some other keyboards. I like that most of the time but sometimes a key with a longer reach may not respond to my careless touch. I have to concentrate a bit more when I type. But when I do pay attention to what I am doing I like the feel. The keystrokes are noisy with a distinct clunk at every keypress. This is not irritating to me. It provides some feedback; after a while I can tell if I made an error just from the sound. I type fast and this keyboard suits my style just fine. Value rating: it seems expensive but the price is consistent with other quality keyboards. Accuracy Rating: I sometimes feel I need to press too hard but that is when I am not concentrating on what I am typing. This is professional typists keyboard but would be good for a beginner typist because it provides tactile feedback as well as a distinct sound.

So it arrived and a few of the keys felt different than the others.Most would go "thonk-click" and type.The "A" key and a few of the number keys wouldn't click. If you pushed down on them hard enough they would sort of "crunch" when you let them go.I reseated them per the instruction sheet fixed that.After a week of having this keyboard "B" key started typing double "BB" every so often. More and more as the day progressed. I never had any issue with the "B" key before this. Now the keyboard is unusable.So, I'm returning it. I loved the feel and the sound. It's FANTASTIC, but I found other people online that had the same exact issues with the "B" key.I'm only getting $92 and I'm losing the $14 shipping they charged. So that sucks.On the upside, I found a Gigabyte keyboard with CHerry MX Blue keys that sounds even better and was only $39.99. I bought that for work. Now I'm going to buy another one for home.I'll miss this keyboard, but it's failed in a number of ways in the week I've been actually using.I don't eat while I type. Nothing was spilled on it. Wasn't dropped, etc.Sad to see it go.