Your Dad's Keyboard - Unicomp Classic Model M Review

As a longtime writer, I've always appreciated the feel of a good keyboard, yet I've never actually used one that's has that kind of a reputation. I've been in squishy dome hell for damn near two decades and only fairly recently got a proper mechanical keyboard - but even that still didn't feel quite right. Ever dissatisfied, my keyboard search finally led me to this: the legendary Model M.

Source: PC Magazine

Let's start with some background. The IBM Model M came to being in the mid-1980s as a more cost effective version of the older Model F keyboard. It used a similar buckling spring type mechanism, but switched to a membrane instead of a capacitive PCB. The key layout was also changed to what would later become the standard ANSI and ISO layouts almost every keyboard uses today.

That might sound a little baffling, but yes: the Model M is in fact a membrane keyboard. But it uses a mechanical switch to trigger it instead of the dome switches you find on most cheap keyboards in this day and age. The result is still an extra responsive key feel that many users still argue is actually better feeling than that of a traditional mechanical keyboard.

IBM later divested it's keyboard and printer manufacturing, forming a company called Lexmark in 1991. While IBM remained Lexmark's main customer within the five-year deal allocated to them, they also continued to produce Model M variants for other OEMs and customers with specialized requirements.

Since 1991, noticeable design and quality changes started to be made to the Model M in order to lower it's manufacturing costs relative to cheaper and increasingly popular membrane dome keyboards. The outer casing and steel backing plate were lightened to reduce material cost, while the electronics and wiring were considerably simplified, including a switch from a removable coiled cable, to a fixed flat coil - and later a straight round cable. 

A late-production Lexmark Model M.

The molds for the casing were also later simplified to remove many earlier vestigial elements like the speaker grill, and indentations for the removable cable. The late-production Lexmark Model M's are generally less solidly built than their pre-1991 forerunners, but they still provided a typing experience that was undoubtedly superior to that of the membrane dome keyboards of the era.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for IBM to remain invested in the Model M, and in 1996 they opted not to renew their five-year agreement with Lexmark. In turn, Lexmark exited the keyboard business, selling some of it's related assets back to IBM. The company actually continued to produce the keyboard until 1999 at it's existing plants in the UK and Mexico (some of them still in pre-Lexmark spec), but US production of the IBM Model M was effectively dead.

Or was it?

Some of the people at IBM and Lexmark clearly still saw the value in keeping the Model M in production. The same year that Lexmark pulled the plug on keyboard manufacturing, those folks ended up buying the license, tooling, and design rights for the Model M and it's unique buckling spring switches, relaunching the business once again in Lexington, Kentucky; as Unicomp. 

Unicomp is the whole reason you can still buy a brand new IBM Model M and it's original variants almost three decades after production under Lexmark ended. Dubbed the Unicomp Classic, the new keyboards have optional USB and Windows keys, but that's basically it as far as major changes are concerned. Otherwise, these are newly produced Model M's using the same exact tooling Lexmark had when it closed the doors on keyboard production.

That all sounds pretty desirable, but then you realize that same tooling is now at least 28 years old, and time has certainly not been kind to it. If Lexmark's Model M's had a bit of reputation for being of somewhat lesser quality than the IBM originals, some late-production Unicomp Model M's made even those look just as desirable as a 1985 IBM square badge model by comparison.

My particular Unicomp Model M was built in 2011, so the tooling was a little bit more spry being just 15 years old at the time, but I certainly noticed some characteristics about my keyboard that some other users have noted on those produced around the same time and even later.

The plastic casing is... not the greatest. Lexmark had already shed some material from the case molds over the course of their production run, making the keyboard not quite as rigid as the pre-1991 IBMs, but Unicomp appears to have switched to a different plastic entirely that has only amplified this reduced rigidity. I believe the old ones used PVC cases, while this one feels like it could be ABS. 

The slightly raised rectangle of plastic is where the speaker grill would have been many decades ago.

Honestly though, the case on my particular Unicomp isn't nearly as bad as a lot of people seem to make it out to be. I'd even call it perfectly acceptable - but you can really get a taste of some of the inconsistencies caused by that old tooling. It creaks and squeaks a lot, even when just resting your wrists on the front edge while typing. Flip it over and you find all kind of weird artifacts, particularly the distinct spots where Lexmark filled in the unneeded elements over the years. The flip out feet are also terrible. They work, but they're visibly warped and very loose feeling.

All that said, everything else about the keyboard feels and looks reasonably tight. It's a conservative, if slightly dated looking design that looks inoffensive in any setup. The keys all look straight and don't have any unneeded play in them and the deck is still actually rather stiff despite the years of weight shedding. There is a known problem with all Model Ms where the deck looses some rigidity due to the plastic rivets securing the assembly breaking off over time, but mine thankfully doesn't appear to have that issue.

It's a big honkin' keyboard too, measuring at about 19 inches wide, 8 inches deep, and almost 2 inches tall without the feet raised. It also weighs roughly three-and-a-half pounds, which is pretty hilarious considering people still tend to treat this as the "cheap" Model M. It still feels like you could bust open someone's skull with it.

The prominent curvature of the keys is also one the Model M's more striking features, which helps a fair amount with the keyboard's ergonomics. It's worth noting that the shape of the keycaps isn't what creates this feature like on most modern keyboards, rather the entire deck is curved, and all the keycaps are actually the exact same profile, allowing you to very easily reconfigure the layout without having to buy an entire new set of keys.

The keycaps are PBT with a very nice pronounced texture to them and really sharp dye sublimated legends on them. Unicomp also has a reputation for misaligned keycap legends, but all of mine look generally good. However, I did notice a few molding imperfections on some of the keys, namely on the larger ones like the spacebar. Plus many of the keys are yellowed, which is very weird for PBT - and this keyboard isn't even that old. Maybe Unicomp got stuck with a bad batch of plastic for some time..

The internals of my Model M definitely show evidence of a past spill.

Thankfully, the keycaps are easily replaceable and Unicomp sells full sets of new Model M keys. They're a lot more like popping off membrane dome keys than traditional MX mechanical keycaps, but instead revealing none other than the prized buckling spring itself.

In my own specific case, my Model M has several dead keys on it's numpad and function row likely due to liquid damage. I'm going to have to tear the keybed open at some point and see if I can repair the traces and subsequently bolt-mod it. But thankfully, all the main keys work so I'm still able to give it a thorough shakedown against...

That of course, is a Razer BlackWidow V3; one of the most ubiquitous mechanical keyboards on the market, and it's been my primary keyboard for roughly two years now. But, I've never felt overly compelled to review it because, well... I'm not really all that fond of it. Being that they're roughly the same price at the moment ($140 for the BlackWidow V3 and $150 for the Unicomp Classic), I figured it was a worthwhile candidate for direct comparison.

The Model M is nowhere near as fancy as the BlackWidow V3, with it's swathes of RGB backlighting and multifunction keys. It's a very barebones and dated looking keyboard by comparison. But, even though Razer puts nicer looking and feeling aluminum up front, I'd say the keyboards are about equal in terms of build quality. Unicomp's plastic case kinda sucks, but their PBT keycaps are far more resistant to wear than Razer's double-shot ABS caps, which will almost certainly turn to glossy shit in no short order. 

There isn't anything super wrong with the BlackWidow V3's typing performance. I just find that it works better as a gaming keyboard first rather than a typist keyboard. The Razer Green switches are quite sensitive, with roughly only 1.8 millimeters of pre-travel and 55 grams of force required to trigger them. That's great if pushing APM is the name of the your game, but I find it makes typing sessions a little unpleasant.

I've found myself making more typing mistakes with the BlackWidow V3 than I did with any of my prior membrane keyboards. To me at least, the light key feel just makes it a particularly ungratifying keyboard to type on. Granted, it was my first true mechanical keyboard so I'll give it some benefit of the doubt, but there's no changing the fact that I just didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

But the Model M's typing feel is in a whole other class of it's own. The old buckling spring switches feel so damn good. They have a far more defined tactile feel when pressed and their pre-travel distance is more reasonable at 2.5 millimeters than the annoyingly short throw of the Razer Green switches. It also takes a good chunk more force to actuate: roughly 70 grams. The Model M's keys just have a way more solid feel to them than those of the BlackWidow V3 - like comparing an MDF cabinet from IKEA to a solid oak one from the turn of the century. It's something else entirely.

As a gaming keyboard, the Model M is fine. It's biggest shortcoming in this regard is that it's only two-key rollover unlike the Razer, but in practice I've found this to be more complicated, and not nearly as big of a problem as it sounds on paper. The need for n-key rollover is very much a situational thing that most users probably won't even recognize - but it is nice to have. The BlackWidow V3 is also technically the faster keyboard with lower latency but again, not something I noticed despite clocking a fair number of hours between the two keyboards for this review. 

I wish Unicomp put more effort into this LED overlay: it looks cheap.

Finally, you can't talk mechanical keyboards without talking about the noise. Buckling spring type switches are infamous for their racket and needless to say, the Unicomp's Model M lives up to that reputation. Each key press has a noticeably more full bodied mechanical noise versus the higher pitched clicking of the Razer Green switches. 

RTINGS.com states that the Razer Green switches of the Blackwidow V3 Pro average out at 57.3 dB, while the Model M is little bit higher at 58.8 dB. I can attest that the Model M does seem to be noticeably louder than the BlackWidow V3 but in my own personal opinion, it's a less grating and more satisfying sound than the Razer's sort of just... hollow clickiness. Still, I wouldn't recommend either if you're trying to keep noise levels down in your work or gaming environment. 

The keyboard equivalent of a label scar - yet another weird leftover from the Lexmark years.

I think the most glaring shortcoming of the Model M versus it's modern competition is the lack of any sort of creature comforts, and this is true no matter what era the keyboard comes from. Features like media keys, Bluetooth, RGB or backlighting, even just a removable cable are completely absent from the Unicomp Model M. Considering that Unicomp has been producing this keyboard for nearly three decades now, it's kind of baffling they haven't really even considered any of these now relatively mundane features.

Still, being somewhat of a boutique company though, I can understand all of that still being well out of their scope as a business. I'm sure continuing to use the same tooling since the 90s was not something they willingly did because they strongly cared about originality or whatever. Hell, they only just managed to release new keyboards with upgraded tooling three years ago. They certainly aren't operating with the same amount of resources as a company like Razer or Logitech, and I can't really knock them for that.

The New Model M.
Source: Unicomp

As it stands, Unicomp is the only manufacturer continuously producing buckling spring keyboards, and one product of their shift to new tooling is the aptly named New Model M, which Unicomp intends to phase out the old Classic with. It's a slightly smaller keyboard in terms of footprint than the original, so there is somewhat of a loss in authenticity, but everything about is (hopefully) of much higher quality than the Classic. That's the one you should honestly buy, unless you absolutely hate Windows keys and want a proper IBM or early-Lexmark built Model M for the retro flair.

Me personally, I wanted that old school, oversized silhouette, but I also was uncompromising on wanting Windows keys - leaving the Classic 104 as my only option. It being available in black was the icing on the cake. Despite the age of it's design, this is still the most satisfying keyboard my fingers have had the pleasure of typing on. I just freaking love how this thing feels. Sure, there's more cutting edge keyboards out there for the same amount - if not less money, but I'm willing to bet none of them are going to have the staying power of this old titan. Everyone should try one.

What's Good

• Easily one of the most satisfying typing experiences on the market.
• Faithful retro design that's still heavy and rugged.
• Relatively customizable through Unicomp.
• More attainable compared to similar vintage keyboard models.

What's Crap

• Rickety plastic casing and a general lack of attention to detail.
• Lacks many modern creature comforts.
• Might be too noisy for some users.
• Difficult to service if the membrane gets damaged by liquid.

Verdict

You probably won't find a better feeling keyboard for anything short of an obscene amount of money, but some further modern enhancements would be very welcome.