UK-made vs Lexmark-made 42H1292 IBM Model M

[ZX Spectrum]

Hello
what do you think about the overall quality of 42H1292 units in comparison with other model m units?
i know these units were made both in USA (Lexmark) and in UK (IBM)
do you think there is any quality difference s between theses two variations ?

[Snowdog993]

Hello
what do you think about the overall quality of 42H1292 units in comparison with other model m units?
i know these units were made both in USA (Lexmark) and in UK (IBM)
do you think there is any quality difference s between theses two variations ?

4th Generation Model M Greenwich plant. Not too much difference at all. Either one is good to go with. The space bar in the UK version DOES yellow over time. Other than that, I can't think of anything really "different" except where it came from. The UK 42H1292 IBM keyboard was sold here in the US as well.

The only 4th gen I have now is the Unicomp UNI0446 PS/2 103-key.


I DO prefer the 3rd (or lower) generation boards over the 4th generation versions.

[ZX Spectrum]

Snowdog993
thank you for your answer
so other than comparing UK 42h1292 vs Lexmark 42h1292; do think that these 42h1292 (whether Lexmark or UK ones) feel a lot cheaper than 3rd generation model m ??

i know they are lighter but aside from that:
1-  do you really feel that 42h1292 has cheap feeling when compared to 3rd gen model m ?
2- well now unicomp units do feel really cheap indeed IMHO (especially the plastic case) how are 42h1292 units when compared to unicomp units ?

thanks

[Snowdog993]

Snowdog993
thank you for your answer
so other than comparing UK 42h1292 vs Lexmark 42h1292; do think that these 42h1292 (whether Lexmark or UK ones) feel a lot cheaper than 3rd generation model m ??

i know they are lighter but aside from that:
1-  do you really feel that 42h1292 has cheap feeling when compared to 3rd gen model m ?
2- well now unicomp units do feel really cheap indeed IMHO (especially the plastic case) how are 42h1292 units when compared to unicomp units ?

thanks

Interesting questions both.

1. NO.

2. Not really. Some people argue that the quality has suffered over time, and yes, the dyesubs are not as clear as the older keyboards were.

That being said....

If you were to do a blind test with a NOS 4th gen IBM Model M against a current Unicomp, the feel of the keyboard is the same. 

[ZX Spectrum]

thanks for the information