I'm typing on my "new" Model M keyboard I just bought through E-Bay. It is a later Model M, manufactured in Scotland/UK. The sticker on the bottom indicates that this board was actually made on April 24 2004. It still has the blue oval in the upper left corner, but there is nothing about this keyboard I can honestly say that I like! This keyboard is horrible! I haven't felt like this toward a keyboard in a long time. I don't know what else to say... This thing just doesn't have the same feel; the same "presence" as my old one. In Star Trek, when Captain Pickard came on the bridge for the first time, there was no doubt he was "The Captain"! When Archer went to the Enterprise bridge, there was a distinct lack of presence, confidence or "bigger than life attitude". That's the way I feel about this keyboard. I know what part of the difference is. This board was made in 2004, with a completely different set of materials. There is no heavy steel plate, the plastics are much thinner, and even the Space-bar is made of a lighter PVC, instead of what it was in the early days of the Model M. The keyboard is much lighter than my original, the sound "pingy", the keys are noisier. The entire weight and feel is just, "off". The only thing I can attribute the differences to is the cheapness in the new construction vs. the old. The new keyboard weighs exactly half what my old one weighs. But while the keys are still the same two piece design, the plastic plate underneath is much lighter as well.
I even went so far as to pen this keyboard to have a good look inside. There are no broken plastic rivets, but man the keys on this board feel almost gritty and nowhere near as smooth as they should be. One thing this board needs is a "floss" mod. That will dampen some of the pinginess during typing. I'm also going thinking of adding a piece of felt to the inside bottom of the case between the steel plate and the plastic housing. Both of these mods were designed to help later Model M keyboards like this a lot quieter. This keyboard doesn't even have Model M designated anywhere on it at all. If it weren't for the design, and a friend and I looking up the part number, I never would have known that it was considered a Model M. The really sad part about it is that Unicomp keyboards are far better than this specimen. That's says volumes; and not only about Unicomp, because they make a decent keyboard.
Until today, I just though people were being too sensitive. To tell you the truth; I am seriously displeased, and discouraged with this keyboard. I really don't like it all that much. I wonder if the drainage channels have something to do with the added noise I hear coming from the case. Could they be acting as a sort of small resonance chamber?
Just think; if I had come across this particular specimen of a keyboard before my other one, I would have forever and completely turned off of the Model M keyboard and just how wonderful these keyboards can be. Thankfully I know what to expect in a true Model M keyboard.
