I forgot to post this here months ago when I wrote it, but I did a review of the newish Unicomp Mini M (mine's serial number 1034) on my blog.
The full, extremely thorough (IMO) review:
https://wyatt8740.gitlab.io/site/blog/005_006.html#unicomp-mini-1(I hope I'm allowed to link to it. Sorry if I'm doing something wrong, this is my first review post here.)
Any 'marbling' on this shell that you see is actually just hand oils and stuff. I guarantee you.
Here's the comparatively quick rundown, if you don't want to read my (
very long and in-depth) blog post/review. I'd recommend reading the review on my blog if you have time, though.
The Good:- I am pretty happy with it overall, now that Unicomp has worked out the early bugs from last Spring/Summer. I just wish I could get one in beige/pearl or industrial grey.
- It's certainly better priced than an IBM tenkeyless, which I've basically given up on getting unless one falls out of the sky onto my lap. And it feels nearly as good as my 1987 silver label 1386303 IBM M.
- It Feels a bit better (smoother) than my Lexmark/very late IBM boards (59G7980, 1391401), in my opinion.
- The plastics look good.
- The legends are crisp and in general well-aligned.
- The fact that the cable can be detached is nice, and something I also like about my IBM boards. I modified the lock mechanism on mine so it's a bit easier to unplug without a tool, though.
The Bad:- I had to re-seat two or three springs to get the entire board feeling consistent. Didn't take long, but it's worth mentioning. I wasn't afraid of breaking anything, but if you're unsure you may want to buy a few extra springs from Unicomp for the "chopstick method" (they're very cheap). I used a whittled Q-tip.
- I wish I could get it in beige, or maybe industrial grey.
- I don't like Windows keys, and this one uses the big blocky ugly windows 8/10 logo.
- They turned right alt into a windows key, which was a minor annoyance. It differs from the New Model M's key arrangement, and also means I have to use software to swap the right alt key.
- The blue LED's are also the primary gripe I have about the board; everything else ranges from acceptable to great.
- My keyboard has been modded in a handful of ways, which I cover in the review itself.
- The blue LED's it comes with are mounted on the membrane itself and are not a simple soldering job like the New Model M/other Unicomp products.
- My amber LED mod was highly non-trivial. It involves taking a pair of scissors or a knife to the membrane, and then soldering wires to the underside of the controller board and running them up to a perfboard sandwiched in the very tight space at the top of the case. It will void your warranty.
The Verdict:I like it a lot. I recommend it, if you would like the extra space and don't want to give up buckling springs or your mortgage payment.
Despite the high number of 'bad' items in the list, these items are relatively unimportant/trivial ones that I only complain about because I have to complain about something.
Even the blue LED problem isn't the worst, considering how rarely the lock keys will be used. The typing experience is very good, and second only to possibly my 1987 M, which felt a bit more uniform. Worth noting that I had to spend hours bolt modding that '87 M, though, and that the barrel plate on it is splintering, and that in 2022 you won't probably find an early IBM one for $18 like I did.
The biggest thing is that the mini is smaller than my full size M, and that it costs much, much less than an IBM SSK does, or even did five to ten years ago. They typing experience is quite good since Unicomp made new keycap tooling.
The Mini M is definitely worth $120, and I do not regret my purchase. And I say that with $120 being the most I've spent on any individual piece of electronics since 2015 when I bought my graphics card (a 750 Ti). I am quite cheap.
As my first ever Unicomp keyboard, I am pleasantly surprised, given the reputation they had previously acquired. Even if you had a bad experience with one of their products in the past, I would suggest giving them another look.
