could it be that theyve been reading gh after all?! Thats fabulous news! (even if it takes them a year, that they're doing it at all is earth shattering).
did he say its going to be the endurapro style spacesaver or the ibm M style 'mini' space saver? (either would be fine!)
They could put in OS keys on the bottom row and a trackpoint version would be cool, but those are the only changes I would like when it is based on the original design. Otherwise they should just try something completely new, i.e. a Filco like case design with BS.
I must be the only one around here who LIKES those little metallic flakes in the keys.
I do wish them the best of luck though.
Webwit is just worried they'll be tremendously successful with this and then start making the M15 again. THAT would tank the market.
well, given unicomp's ultra-conservative track record so far, I think what we can realistically expect is their version of the existing ibm-mini. I'd be very surprised (pleasantly tho) if they did anything more innovative than that!
Unless IBM made a spacesaver vesion of that Japanese C01 keyboard that the Endurapro/Spacesaver is modeled on, I'd agree that it's going to be in the style of the classic IBM one.
Other Board
what o (http://www.kbdmania.net/)ther board?
I can't read Korean...Switch the language in the upper right, then find the english sub-forum and the pics section.
See the little indent in the front from the trackpoint model - that's on the SpaceSaver too. It'll probably be on the Mini.
Why?
If that's it, it would go to show how eager they are to avoid making new designs, or even tweaking old ones :p
So the Customizer has the speaker holes??
I must be the only one around here who LIKES those little metallic flakes in the keys.
create, read, update and delete?
Show Image(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2632)
I just want to (again) put in a quick vote for this to happen, in case any Unicompers are lurking on this thread. I would order at least one, perhaps a matching pair of tenkeyless, BS, USB Unicomp keyboards if such a beast were brought to life.
Hey Xuan - that RIP Lexmark means your Model M never recovered from your sister??
You know - two different plastics injected into the key - dual shot, dual injected, dual molded, whatever.
I'm trying to figure out if IBMs had used it and then switched to dye sublimated in the 90's or something.
Little conversation started here. (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=6411)
You mean sharper edge on the colors]
Yah - any of your moldy oldies (excuse me, vintage I meant to say) ever have that look?
Correct! You can sometimes tell dual-shot injection molding by looking at it carefully under a magnifier or through a loupe, or sometimes even by feeling it really carefully. The borders between colors, from the different plastic elements, occasionally have a tactile difference as you cross between the two.
For History's sake (and I remember the Mighty Mouse Buckling spring version so you may be waiting a LONG TIME) my bet is on this:Show Image(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2631&d=1244832368)
Logitech caps don't have molding artifacts. Ripster, you know what to buy now...
dont hold your breath. according to some folks who have been here a long time, unicomp promised the exact same thing a couple of years ago. didnt materialize then either.
yea i was all excited too (i even mention it in my sig) until I heard that.
Now, if Unicomp could only make stuff like this again -Show Image(http://www.neotec.co.jp/syouhin/key/unicomp/ub20416/ub20416-0.jpg)
Unfortunately, Unicomp's black key making process wasn't all that good, they stopped selling black key models about two and a half years ago.
Is there any kind of coating that could be sprayed onto the key-caps to protect the lettering?
Gee, now we have TWO simultaneous Unicomp bashing threads.
They really are a small company. I see a dozen cars in their parking lot (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=510+Henry+Clay+Blvd,+Lexington,+KY+40505&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=59.769082,135.263672&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17&iwloc=A) (BBQ night).
I don't really get why you're bashing Unicomp. They're building fairly high-quality, solid products with great feel. What more could you want? I do get the Metadot bashing, but the bad controller is their fault (probably). I don't get the whole Filco hysteria, though; they sure are nice boards, but they're produced by Costar; as soon as anyone else asks Costar to make some, they will.
I'd like to see a Unicomp tenkeyless and/or number pad. Making new products takes lots of money, which I don't think is available during a crisis. I don't see the sense in a wireless BS board; they're way too heavy to take around with you, so what's the point?
-huha
Again, though, if you don't offer anything new, than you don't give anybody any reason to "re-buy" you products. Once you have a Model M, you will, more than likely, never need another. Unicomp said this was their main hurdle in the NPR piece. Once someone buys a 'board from them, it lasts forever, and there is no repeat business. The reason why there is "hysteria" over Filcos is that Diatec gives you choice. If I want a brown-Cherry keyboard, I can buy a regular one, an NKRO version, a Tenkyless, a wireless, a red version, or a Tenkeyless "Otaku." Hell, I could even collect them all. On top of that, they even offer some of those items in other switches, giving me even more choice. If I want a Unicomp, the best I could do is the Customizer or Space Saver in white or black. Most of the other items are just the Cutomizer with a trackball or trackpoint attached.
I don't really get why you're bashing Unicomp.
Frankly, though, if you want a no-hassle good keyboard, it's beneficial to have options. Making a soldered tenkeyless job is not something you can tell your friends about.
Depends on your friends.
I think their biggest problem is that they do not think that people will pay more for a new design.
By the way, Metadot has TWO keyboard products. One with blank letters (which they label the EU version as well - LOL) and the lettered version. Cycle design every two years to keep fresh. Market the hell out of them.
Outsells all these booteek keyboards we've been talking about. Check the view counts on Das Youtube "reviews". Check Filcos. Check against the view count of the "splatter against the wall 200 Taiwanese versions" of iOne, iRocks, and iClone.
and they're proven wrong on that every single day by the prices that old M mini's are fetching on ebay. If people are paying 200 bucks for 10 year old minis, they'll definitely pay 150 for a brand spanking new unicomp one.
add a piano black gloss on it, and its game over.
Game over for me, at least. Glossy plastic doesn't look good, it looks cheap. The only good way of making glossy plastic is to use thin acrylic printed on the back on top of your normal plastic, but that's quite expensive.
-huha
Personally, I'd be way more interested in the 122 (and better yet, the 124-125 you propose) if it were programmable.
I don't connect to a mini, but I'd love some media keys.
Ahem, perhaps I've missed something, but my 122 key '86 terminal board is coming along nicely in that regard...only a couple hurdles left.
Every key on the board sends a scancode, making every key on the board reassignable. That said, there are still those couple significant issues remaining.
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=6770
The one thing I thought I'd share here is that when asked about a keyboard similar to the IBM space saving model, he said it would be coming soon. How soon? Well depends, anywhere from 3-6 months to a year.
I see now, at
http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/mightymouse1.html
that while they don't have, yet, a keyboard like the abbreviated Model M without a numeric keypad, and they discontinued the version of the Mighty Mouse with a piezoelectric pointing device... they _do_ advertise on their stores.yahoo.net page (their regular page being down) a keyboard in the Model M4 or PS/2 L40 style. So unless there is an inaccuracy I am missing, there _is_ a buckling spring compact keyboard alternative.
That's their version of the M4, which is a rubber dome keyboard.
Oops, silly me. Plenty of people are making compact rubber dome keyboards, and at prices like $12 rather than $99, so that doesn't add anything. But that makes sense, although I'd have hoped for scissor switches at least.
It's not your average rubber dome. It's what iMav refers to as a "buckling rubber sleeve." I have never tried one, personally, but a lot of members think they are pretty nice for a non-mechanical 'board. I also read that the IBM versions are better than Unicomp's, but then again, I don't have any first-hand experience with them.
They're just about the same. After all, both companies used the same machines.
Yeah, but build quality is supposedly not as good. Supposedly...
Supposedly is right. How can build quality decline by a noticeable amount if the same machinery is used?
Hey lookie dat, they put a mark where to stick the foam tape. Luckily the tape doesn't disintegrate like the Model F foam.Wait another 5-10 years and it'll be gone too. Any foam will crumble once it hits a certain age.
Supposedly is right. How can build quality decline by a noticeable amount if the same machinery is used?
If the same machinery is being used after all these years, I'd bet it's probably getting quite worn.
I just got a call back from Unicomp, he was a very nice gentleman who answered a lot of my questions. Something with a "J" I think, Jim maybe? Sorry, I'm not very good with names.
The one thing I thought I'd share here is that when asked about a keyboard similar to the IBM space saving model, he said it would be coming soon. How soon? Well depends, anywhere from 3-6 months to a year.
So here's me keeping my fingers crossed and waiting. :thumb:
:eek: Wow. Seriously... w o w ! :eek:Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/hbikk.gif)
That has to be a record for reviving a dead thread...3.5 years! :))
I don't like starting new threads for existing topics, no matter how old. It's just messy to me.