IBM Model F XT review (IBM capacitive buckling springs)

[chyros]

Today we look at a true classic. The IBM Model F XT. Hope you enjoy it, guys!

[quasistellar]

Although I'm sure I'd love the feel of the model f, I know I could never get used to the sound.  The model m is already too pingy for me!  The typing demo at the end sounds like a spring factory exploding.

[chyros]

Although I'm sure I'd love the feel of the model f, I know I could never get used to the sound.  The model m is already too pingy for me!  The typing demo at the end sounds like a spring factory exploding.

Yeah, the sound is rather polarising. Even many people who like the typing sound of the M can't stand the F, I've found.

Personally, I think it's amazing .

[klennkellon]

I'd like to get the AT model personally, I love the M but it's just a little too heavy.

[chyros]

I'd like to get the AT model personally, I love the M but it's just a little too heavy.

The M is great. The F is goddamn amazing. There's no contest really xD .

[jsto69]

Great video, these reviews are amazing, it's like david attenborough narrating the most obscure bbc documentary ever. I check my thrift stores and older schools getting rid of stuff in the basement but have yet to come across a model m or f :/

[chyros]

"Here we see the Model M in the wild..."

[rowdy]

My Model M keyboards seem quite loud, at least compared to the various Cherry keyboards I have around here.

The Model M you used for comparison seems positively silent in comparison.

Given the difference in volume between the M and the F in your video, I can only assume that the F is as loud as f***!

[chyros]

My Model M keyboards seem quite loud, at least compared to the various Cherry keyboards I have around here.

The Model M you used for comparison seems positively silent in comparison.

Given the difference in volume between the M and the F in your video, I can only assume that the F is as loud as f***!

It is xD . It's probably the second loudest keyboard I own xD .

The camera I use is not great at picking up soft noises tbh, hence why I don't use it for the typing demos.

[smknjoe]

"Here we see the Model M in the wild..."

."...as heavy as a ****ing brick..."

[rowdy]

"Here we see the Model M in the wild..."

."...as heavy as a ****ing brick..."

Heavier )

[kingnestea]

I guess BS is gonna be my next goal

[greenteei89]

Thanks for the review! and the other videos you  have made. I just got into trying out vintage keyboards and I have to say that they are extremely unique compared to the current array of switch options.

[Elrick]

I guess BS is gonna be my next goal

If you call yourself a "Geekhacker" then it's every mechanical keyboard fan's goal, to own and use a Model-F in their lifetime.

Otherwise you just become like all the rest, another slobbering, Cherry Docile pretending to be a keyboard fanatic  .

[mike52787]

Just finished putting my xt back together, forgot how much I loved this thing. Nothing tops my cream alps omnikey though.

[klennkellon]

Just finished putting my xt back together, forgot how much I loved this thing. Nothing tops my cream alps omnikey though.

to be fair the Omnikey and the Model F are comparable in build quality. I would say it's somewhere between an M and an F.

[ander]

Even though I don't own an XT and don't plan to, I love this review, and come back to see it now and then.

Showing the XT's literally heavier than a brick—hah!

And how Chyros points out that everything about the XT is divine, except for the small fact that it's virtually unusable to anyone who's accustomed to a modern layout... Why does that remind me of dating?

So, go ahead, ridicule me for posting to a thread from September. I don't care. This is an awesome thread that doesn't deserve to die, just like the immortal—but for the most part, unusable—board it venerates.

[klennkellon]

For just regular typing and data-entry the layout looks pretty usable IMO. I could see myself writing an essay on it after getting used to where the keys are.