What’s the 2022 verdict on old mechanical keyboards?

[Poppavalyim Andropoff]

Are they still being jizzed over or is there enough aftermarket shit available now people stopped caring?

 

[Foxxo]

As long as the keyboard is wide, it's good for me.

 

[Manul Otocolobus]

From what I'm seeing on ebay regarding recently sold models, the bubble seems to have burst. ~$70-80 is a good deal for a model M in good shape. During the craze they were easily going for far more than that.

 

[Bongocat]

I always thought they sounded janky and weird. The thing is that keyboards often sound very different when recorded than they do irl, especially as they break in over time. I suspect when enough people got their hands on it they figured out it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Also recession.

 

[Judge Dredd]

My guess is the wider availability of cheap mechanical keyboards has killed them. There was a time 10 years ago where your options were paying triple digits for a decent mechanical keyboard, or shitty membrane based keyboards that stopped working in 9-12 months. Though don't seem to really exist any more outside of the super low end.

 

[Kosher Dill]

Using a 20-year-old mechanical keyboard was never good in the first place, it was just considered the "least bad" option during a particular window of time. Now you can get new, higher-quality keyboards that don't require an AT port.

 

[I fucking love Cocaine]

Don't get a Model M if it still has it's original rivets, don't do my same mistake.

Every Model M so far suffer from it's plastic rivets breaking due to wear and age, mine's numpad was eventually toasted due to it.

I didn't have a riveting machine, so I tried to bolt modding it (using bolts and nuts instead of rivets) and didn't fucking work. "itz eazy!!" says Reddit, my ass.

Actually something messed up in it's internal circuit because it still refused to work after I redone the mod. I tried looking at the circuit itself and it didn't look damaged, so I had no fuckin idea.

I mean my rubber dome Compaq keyboard from the late 90s still works fine, and they actually used metal screws to attach it's internal circuitry to the metal plate, why IBM couldn't do the same?

Anyway, then I decided to tear it down again and sell it's parts on eBay. at least I got some of my money back.

"Model Ms were built like a tank!!", again, my fucking ass. Overpriced PoS and fuck redditors for overhyping it as well. Never again.

 

[Poppavalyim Andropoff]

From what I'm seeing on ebay regarding recently sold models, the bubble seems to have burst. ~$70-80 is a good deal for a model M in good shape. During the craze they were easily going for far more than that.

I must have missed the bubble or didn’t notice it in terms of price just sales volume.

Using a 20-year-old mechanical keyboard was never good in the first place, it was just considered the "least bad" option during a particular window of time. Now you can get new, higher-quality keyboards that don't require an AT port.

Yeah I’m finding new mechanical keyboards in ewaste now. That tells me somewhat they’ve moved on. I have my finger on the pulse of the retro scene where people want the era correct matching peripherals.
Good answers team I guess these can just go for spares ‘as is’ to the retro set.

 

[Manul Otocolobus]

The benefit to the Model M, and the buckling spring in general, is that it is literally the only mechanical key switch design where the auditory cue (the buckling spring "ping"), and the tactile response are timed to the exact moment when the key switch is actuated. The auditory "click" for any other mechanical switch does not correspond to the actual moment the key switch is actuated, nor necessarily when they tactile response is felt.

You can see it in the key force vs. travel diagram:



See that cliff that happens on the first leg of the diagram? That's the maximal pressure point, it's also the operational point (also known as the point of actuation), and also where the auditory "ping" is heard. The buckling spring switch is the only switch that has all three of those points occur at the same moment. That means as soon as you hit the minimum pressure necessary to actuate the switch, it does, giving you instant tactile feedback (as the key force drops suddenly) and you hear the "ping" at the same time.

This is all a result of the inherent design of the buckling spring switch. The point of actuation is when the spring buckles. The buckling of the spring is what provides the tactile feedback, as well as the "ping" sound as the spring buckles. All 3 events occurring simultaneously is a fundamental function of the design.

I find the tactile feedback, and the auditory feedback, both being tied to the actual moment of actuation to be a big benefit for a touch typist. As soon as you feel and hear it, you can release the key and move to the next one. I find I type much faster on a Model M than I do on any other mechanical keyboard. (I also find it makes people on the other end of the phone happier when they can hear you typing if you say you are looking something up, opening up a document, etc... just about anything because they can actually hear you doing something. People like being about to "hear things happening".)

 

[Poppavalyim Andropoff]

The benefit to the Model M

and here I am thinking the benefit was just that it looked cool & fitted in with a retro setup
but that's stunning information all of which I had never considered.