Hi! Nice to be among you.

[olspookishmagus]

Why, hello out there.

And a special hello to all past, current and future geekhack regulars!

I'll share a confession with my initial post here: I don't happen to own any mechanical keyboard yet. Just some rubber dome ones, some of which are quality ones.

[bocahgundul]

Wellcome to GH NOW GET SOME MECH KEYBOARDS

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

Are you planning on purchasing a mechanical keyboards?

If not, no worries, as the keyboards section actually says "dome, scissor, capacitive, mechanical, buckling-spring, laser, membrane, hall-effect, etc." - so all are welcome

[bocahgundul]

Why hello there youngster wellcome to GH

[olspookishmagus]

...
Are you planning on purchasing a mechanical keyboards?
...

For quite some time now, I was considering buying a UNICOMP one.
Depending whether a trackpoint is a plus or not, either a EnduraPro Black Buckling Spring USB or a Classic 104 Black Buckling Spring USB.

Why hello there youngster wellcome to GH

I thought nowadays, "post count" would have been globally established to be overrated.

[rowdy]

...
Are you planning on purchasing a mechanical keyboards?
...

For quite some time now, I was considering buying a UNICOMP one.
Depending whether a trackpoint is a plus or not, either a EnduraPro Black Buckling Spring USB or a Classic 104 Black Buckling Spring USB.

Yay buckling spring!

Another alternative is to find a reasonable Model M - same keyboard, albeit without the Windows/Menu keys.  If you can find a reasonably solid one (i.e. that the rivets haven't fallen off), it should last you for a good few more years.  You can also bolt mod them - replace the plastic rivets holding the insides together with small bolts.  A fiddly and time-consuming process, but once done you end up with a 100% solid keyboard that should keep going for another 30 years.

[SamirD]

For quite some time now, I was considering buying a UNICOMP one.

You definitely can't go wrong with one of these if you want the windows keys.  The original IBMs never had them, but I personally like them that way.

[meow a cat]

...
Are you planning on purchasing a mechanical keyboards?
...

For quite some time now, I was considering buying a UNICOMP one.
Depending whether a trackpoint is a plus or not, either a EnduraPro Black Buckling Spring USB or a Classic 104 Black Buckling Spring USB.

Yay buckling spring!

Another alternative is to find a reasonable Model M - same keyboard, albeit without the Windows/Menu keys.  If you can find a reasonably solid one (i.e. that the rivets haven't fallen off), it should last you for a good few more years.  You can also bolt mod them - replace the plastic rivets holding the insides together with small bolts.  A fiddly and time-consuming process, but once done you end up with a 100% solid keyboard that should keep going for another 30 years.

Buckling spring is great OP! Good choice. I love my BS board to death.

 I bet an original full-size M could be quite a bit cheaper than a Unicomp too, especially if you're willing to fix it up. Phosphorglow also has a solid Model M for sale on his site right now, just FYI.

[SamirD]

I bet an original full-size M could be quite a bit cheaper than a Unicomp too, especially if you're willing to fix it up. Phosphorglow also has a solid Model M for sale on his site right now, just FYI.

They can be, but it's best to see it in person or have a very reputed seller so you know what may be wrong, if anything.  But I'd always go for an original if you can live with the 101 layout.

[rowdy]

I bet an original full-size M could be quite a bit cheaper than a Unicomp too, especially if you're willing to fix it up. Phosphorglow also has a solid Model M for sale on his site right now, just FYI.

They can be, but it's best to see it in person or have a very reputed seller so you know what may be wrong, if anything.  But I'd always go for an original if you can live with the 101 layout.

About the only thing I miss is a Windows key under Windows.  But there's ways around that too.  On Mac Ctrl is Ctrl and Alt is Command, so the Option key is missing.  I really don't use that much at all, so I don't miss it on my Mac.

[SamirD]

About the only thing I miss is a Windows key under Windows.  But there's ways around that too.  On Mac Ctrl is Ctrl and Alt is Command, so the Option key is missing.  I really don't use that much at all, so I don't miss it on my Mac.

Anything that can be done with the Windows keys can be done on the 101 with combinations.  But if you miss them that bad, there's always the Unicomp model with all the keys.    Even though I don't personally need them, I'm really glad Unicomp made a buckling spring with them--opens the doors to people using what may be the best for their hands.  I know the 101 can be a dealbreaker for a lot of people now that the keys have been on most keyboards for 10 years+.

[Snowdog993]

I bet an original full-size M could be quite a bit cheaper than a Unicomp too, especially if you're willing to fix it up. Phosphorglow also has a solid Model M for sale on his site right now, just FYI.

They can be, but it's best to see it in person or have a very reputed seller so you know what may be wrong, if anything.  But I'd always go for an original if you can live with the 101 layout.

Hey SamirD!  Do you even know who Phosphorglow is?  Maybe you should take a look and find out about Phosphorglow. 
http://phosphorglow.net/
He has restored several of my keyboards as well.  I highly recommend him.

[njbair]

Anything that can be done with the Windows keys can be done on the 101 with combinations.

I don't think this is true. Win+P for projector/2nd screen options, Win+L to lock the computer, Win+Pause to bring up system options, Win+E to open Explorer. These are all buried options without the Windows key.

[SamirD]

I bet an original full-size M could be quite a bit cheaper than a Unicomp too, especially if you're willing to fix it up. Phosphorglow also has a solid Model M for sale on his site right now, just FYI.

They can be, but it's best to see it in person or have a very reputed seller so you know what may be wrong, if anything.  But I'd always go for an original if you can live with the 101 layout.

Hey SamirD!  Do you even know who Phosphorglow is?  Maybe you should take a look and find out about Phosphorglow. 
http://phosphorglow.net/
He has restored several of my keyboards as well.  I highly recommend him.

Yep, I stumbled upon him thanks to your image gallery I believe.  He's got a really nice M for sale, but at the price it's the same as the Unicomp, so the buyer would have to decide what's best for them (Unicomp having the windows keys).  Personally, I'd just grab the one phosphorglow has as it's in really good shape.

[SamirD]

Anything that can be done with the Windows keys can be done on the 101 with combinations.

I don't think this is true. Win+P for projector/2nd screen options, Win+L to lock the computer, Win+Pause to bring up system options, Win+E to open Explorer. These are all buried options without the Windows key.

I didn't say they would be single keystrokes, but they can be done.  You can actually assign keyboard macros to file shortcuts, so the explorer one can easily be done.  Locking is super-quick with an alt-ctrl-del and space.  But the projector one would probably involve going into control panel or graphics card software.

[njbair]

Anything that can be done with the Windows keys can be done on the 101 with combinations.

I don't think this is true. Win+P for projector/2nd screen options, Win+L to lock the computer, Win+Pause to bring up system options, Win+E to open Explorer. These are all buried options without the Windows key.

I didn't say they would be single keystrokes, but they can be done.  You can actually assign keyboard macros to file shortcuts, so the explorer one can easily be done.  Locking is super-quick with an alt-ctrl-del and space.  But the projector one would probably involve going into control panel or graphics card software.

They are all shortcuts, as in there is a longer way to do them all, and in that sense they are non essential. But by that definition so are Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.

[SamirD]

They are all shortcuts, as in there is a longer way to do them all, and in that sense they are non essential. But by that definition so are Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.

Quite true.  It's amazing how much you can speed up (or mess up) things with shortcuts.

[rowdy]

About the only thing I miss is a Windows key under Windows.  But there's ways around that too.  On Mac Ctrl is Ctrl and Alt is Command, so the Option key is missing.  I really don't use that much at all, so I don't miss it on my Mac.

Anything that can be done with the Windows keys can be done on the 101 with combinations.  But if you miss them that bad, there's always the Unicomp model with all the keys.    Even though I don't personally need them, I'm really glad Unicomp made a buckling spring with them--opens the doors to people using what may be the best for their hands.  I know the 101 can be a dealbreaker for a lot of people now that the keys have been on most keyboards for 10 years+.

Unicomp broke the bottom row.

I think I'd find their revised bottom row layout more difficult to use than a few simple work-around on a 101!

[SamirD]

Unicomp broke the bottom row.

I think I'd find their revised bottom row layout more difficult to use than a few simple work-around on a 101!

Ouch!  I'm surprised to hear this.   What do you find so difficult about the layout?

[rowdy]

Unicomp broke the bottom row.

I think I'd find their revised bottom row layout more difficult to use than a few simple work-around on a 101!

Ouch!  I'm surprised to hear this.   What do you find so difficult about the layout?

You mean apart from big Ctrl, little Win, big Alt, space, medium Win, big Alt, little Menu, big Ctrl?

Every other keyboard I have has Alt keys (or Command keys for Mac) either side of the space bar.

[SamirD]

Unicomp broke the bottom row.

I think I'd find their revised bottom row layout more difficult to use than a few simple work-around on a 101!

Ouch!  I'm surprised to hear this.   What do you find so difficult about the layout?

You mean apart from big Ctrl, little Win, big Alt, space, medium Win, big Alt, little Menu, big Ctrl?

Every other keyboard I have has Alt keys (or Command keys for Mac) either side of the space bar.

Well that's a funky layout indeed!  I didn't think they'd try to retain the original M's alt/ctrl sizes and make them all the same size like everyone else does.