So according to the chart, Toshiba is still making Model Ms?
I was under the impression that if you really wanted a modern Model M, Unicomp were your only choice. Looking at the chart, that was the case for some time. But now that Toshiba is there in the mix, I wonder if there are any reviews of their versions in comparison to Unicomp's.
Yes, but not the Model Ms you are thinking of or maybe hoping for. There are essentially two lineages in the Model M family; the buckling spring one (plus some rubber dome variants of) and the buckling sleeve one. Essentially Unicomp inherited the former, Toshiba the latter. As a rule of thumb, buckling springs was generally for IBM's flagship desktop PCs and mainframe/midrange/ASCII terminals, whereas buckling sleeves was generally for IBM's flagship laptops and point-of-sale terminals.
If you're unfamiliar with them,
IBM "buckling rubber sleeves" were introduced in 1991 with the IBM Model M3 (PS/2 L40 SX laptop's keyboard and keypad). That was followed by M4/M4-1, M6/M6-1, M7/M7-1, M8, M9 and M11 as the original buckling-sleeve line-up. M6/M6-1 is the most prominent as they were the original IBM ThinkPad Keyboard. If you're expected essentially quieter buckling springs, they won't scratch the itch, but I think they stand well as their own thing. Very underrated (well, perhaps just under-known.)
Anyway, M7 through M11 were the
IBM Retail POS keyboard family. IBM later modernised them to become the
Modular POS family. In 2012, Toshiba TEC purchased IBM Retail Store Solutions, gaining access to all of these designs. Toshiba has customers as big as Walmart, so if you're in the USA, you may even see buckling-sleeve keypads on POS monitors in their stores. You probably won't find many if any professional reviews of them as they're not consumer products. But they often fall into the hands of IT resellers and can be found on eBay (etc.) nonetheless.
I've seen some reviews of Unicomp keyboards. While the boards still retain their buckling spring greatness and typing feel, there are issues related to the aged tooling and build quality.
In my opinion and experience, Unicomp keyboards are generally better now than they were in the lead-up to the Pandemic at least. Since then, they introduced the New Model M and Mini Model M, both produced with new, fresh outer case tooling. Their other keyboards are still made with old IBM/Lexmark-era tooling though, and those would be subject the aged tooling issues you have heard about. Regardless, the case plastic they use (PC+ABS) does not feel as good as IBM's (generally PVC) and the fit and finish isn't to the old standards, but it may be difficult for them to improve in those areas. A full-size Model M in its heyday was
very expensive adjusted for inflation. I don't think Unicomp could viably charge that much nowadays, even if it meant achieving IBM's quality. In some jurisdictions, I believe PVC is also being increasingly regulated and there are some bodies calling for an outright ban - in lieu of that, I think some additives used with PVC have already been so. Anyway, having many of all IBM, Lexmark and Unicomp Model Ms, I'm generally happy with them all to be honest. There are minute to noticable differences in quality you can pick out at any point of the timeline and there is no denying older is generally better, but I think Unicomp generally does "good enough" for me and I'm happy they are still with us and keeping the spirit alive! I love my Mini Ms in particular, with their new keymatrix design that permits larger key combos across the alphabetic keys.
