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Author Topic: Praise for Unicomp  (Read 6126 times)

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Offline nowsharing

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Praise for Unicomp
« on: Thu, 07 May 2009, 14:10:47 »
I bought a $1 model M on ebay a few days ago that didn't have a space bar. Naturally, being a geekhacker, I wanted to restore it to its original spacebarred condition. I sent an email to Unicomp asking if I could buy an old space bar, possibly removed during a refurb, and Chuck informed me that they didn't have any used space bars in stock. He instead offered to send me a brand new one for free! They're running an incredible operation, and I'm suddenly wandering why there is no Unicomp in my pile.
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Offline nowsharing

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 07 May 2009, 16:12:38 »
Quote
I think our first response to keyboard n00bs (US especially) coming here would be to see if a Unicomp would work for them.
That's a great suggestion, as it supports Unicomp and protects the uninitiated from the dark side of old electronics (cleaning, re-reriveting, "hoarding," etc).

Quote
So you're telling me you're getting a Model M for $1.04 and shipping. That's not bad.
I've been lowering and lowering my snipe bids with the hope of weaning myself from this ebay habbit, but it's auctions like that that keep me addicted! It's time to pass the torch I'm afraid; this ebay sharp-shooter is nearing retirement.
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Offline ozar

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 07 May 2009, 16:38:30 »
Yep, Unicomp and the folks that work there are "the best", or at least that's been so from all my experiences with them.
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Offline ozar

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 07 May 2009, 16:39:46 »
Sorry, but off topic for just a moment...

Ripster, that is one cute geekgirl in your avatar.  The glasses give her a certain sexy look like the one that webwit posted the other day.
« Last Edit: Thu, 07 May 2009, 16:41:50 by ozar »
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Offline o2dazone

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 07 May 2009, 17:30:27 »
linux penguin got belly buttons :)
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Offline ozar

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 07 May 2009, 18:32:27 »
Don't know, but I think iMav is going to have to create a geeky-girls forum on GeekHack just for all these geek-girl pics... if eherzog will let him, that is!  :lol:
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Offline nowsharing

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 24 May 2009, 10:33:17 »
My complimentary spacebar arrived last week. I'm very impressed with this company.
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Offline megarat

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 01 June 2009, 11:51:15 »
I don't want to ruin the Unicomp love-fest currently in progress, but they do seem to have a difficult time fulfilling keyboard orders at the moment.  Has anyone else experienced this lately?

My own circumstances:  I placed an order with them two weeks ago (black spacesaver with a side-order of white APL keys).  They warned me in advance about a "component shortage" with their USB keyboards, and that the shipment would be delayed a week or so.

Now we're going on two weeks and it still hasn't shipped.  They haven't charged my credit card yet, so I'm not accusing them of fraud ... I just hope that this delay isn't a sign of something more serious.
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Home/Work:  Custom Filco FKBN87Z/EB and SGI 041-0136-001 chimera (original white ALPS, not simplified, rubber-dampened)
Gaming:  Wolfking Warrior with custom-colored layout, HHKB Lite 2 (Rubber dome)

Offline watduzhkstand4

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 01 June 2009, 11:56:15 »
I've always had great communications with Unicomp.
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Offline itlnstln

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #9 on: Mon, 01 June 2009, 12:44:08 »
They might still be reeling a bit from the NPR publicity.  It sounded like they got twice as many orders as they normally get a year in just a few weeks, so maybe even their parts suppliers are hurting a bit, too, from the rush.
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Offline itlnstln

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 01 June 2009, 12:54:46 »
Quote from: ripster;93729
I hope that's the case. Worries me though whenever I talk to them. Sounds like they have all the time in the world.
 
Might be a Southern thing though.

You're probably right about the Southern thing.  It always seems like that when I deal with small companies from the South.  It's a different pace around here... unless you work for my company.  I am sure (because I have gotten the offers) that I could do about half the work and get paid at least 1.5x as much elsewhere.  The job security here is unbelievable, though, and these days, that's worth more than the pay.
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Offline ch_123

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #11 on: Mon, 01 June 2009, 14:03:03 »
It's funny to look at their website on Archive.org - it's actually gotten worse over the years. Although some of the older designs look completely dated, they still manage to be more enticing than what they have now.
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Offline D-EJ915

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #12 on: Mon, 01 June 2009, 14:13:12 »
Quote from: megarat;93712
Now we're going on two weeks and it still hasn't shipped.  They haven't charged my credit card yet, so I'm not accusing them of fraud ... I just hope that this delay isn't a sign of something more serious.
Charging you at time of order isn't fraud...
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Offline bigpook

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #13 on: Mon, 01 June 2009, 16:21:02 »
Quote from: watduzhkstand4;93715
I've always had great communications with Unicomp.


Same here. They have always responded to my emails and I had a few telephone conversations with the Owens fellow.
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HHKB Pro 2 : Unicomp Spacesaver : IBM Model M : DasIII    

Offline ch_123

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #14 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 04:42:57 »
Anyone seen this?

Link.

Oddly enough, the rest of the site seems to be working, it's just the front page is down.
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Offline D-EJ915

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #15 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 05:54:24 »
somebody deleted the index.html, etc. so it tries to show the index but it is disabled.
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Offline ironcoder

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #16 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 08:43:22 »
Yeah it's been messed up since yesterday at least.

Edit: I was going to place an order for a million keyboards but oh well, the website didn't work so I have to go with another vendor ;)
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Offline itlnstln

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #17 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 10:05:59 »
Zwmalone had a pretty cool sample homepage for Unicomp.  I can't remember what thread it's in, but if he's reading, maybe he can post it again.
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Offline patrickt

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #18 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 13:35:30 »
I recently bought a keyboard from Unicomp. I needed Spanish keycaps and wanted it shipped to Mexico. I have to say that other than a long wait, they were extremely could to work with.
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Offline zwmalone

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #19 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 14:33:08 »
Quote from: itlnstln;94161
Zwmalone had a pretty cool sample homepage for Unicomp.  I can't remember what thread it's in, but if he's reading, maybe he can post it again.


I'm still reading.  I'd do there entire website for the missing "-" key on the numpad of the lexmark 'board I just bought :P
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Can't get enough of them ALPS

Offline zwmalone

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #20 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 14:33:50 »
I'll try to dig up the design in a bit, after I finish my first impressions of this 'board...
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Can't get enough of them ALPS

Offline zwmalone

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #21 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 14:37:07 »
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Can't get enough of them ALPS

Offline itlnstln

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #22 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 14:47:57 »
Awesome, thanks!
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Offline ch_123

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #23 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 17:06:06 »
Quote from: D-EJ915;94146
somebody deleted the index.html, etc. so it tries to show the index but it is disabled.


Maybe they're making good on their website renovation promises. But I wouldn't hold my breath on that one =P
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Offline zwmalone

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #24 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 17:19:50 »
Who would I even contact to see about redoing their awful website?
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Can't get enough of them ALPS

Offline cchan

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #25 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 17:22:48 »
Quote from: zwmalone;94232
Who would I even contact to see about redoing their awful website?


Jim or Chuck probably. They're known to hold long conversations about the Model M with geekhackers.
I'd like to give one of them a call soon.
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Offline wheel83

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #26 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 17:37:04 »
you should really look into it malone.  your mock website alone makes me want to purchase a customizer again
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I <3 BS

Offline zwmalone

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #27 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 17:48:03 »
Thanks everybody.  I'm currently (as in right this second) working on a new version that doesn't use the Men In Blue font (We're trying to freshen up Unicomp, not clone IBM...) and modernizes it a bit.  No major changes from the previous version, just a decent facelift...
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Can't get enough of them ALPS

Offline zwmalone

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #28 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 18:41:08 »
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Can't get enough of them ALPS

Offline wheel83

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Praise for Unicomp
« Reply #29 on: Thu, 04 June 2009, 20:20:31 »
I liked the IBM type logo a lot.  I mean they are cloning Model M's.  So its not that bad of an idea.  Maybe make it have a different amount of stripes.  like ADIDADS
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I <3 BS
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