Where to buy an original IBM Model M “clicky” keyboard

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If you have ever wanted to purchase an original IBM Model M “clicky” keyboard, you are in luck!

You can buy an original IBM keyboard here:
https://www.clickykeyboards.com/shop/
These keyboards are completely refurbished and in like-new condition. A few years ago, they were in the $80 range, as I recall. The price has gone up considerably.
Full disclosure: I have never purchased anything from Clicky Keyboards. But from reading their website, I am confident that they are on the level.

A company called Unicomp now has the patent for this keyboard, and they are making and selling them.
https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/SFNT
I bought a USB version of this keyboard from Unicomp many years ago, but it wasn’t a very good keyboard. The touch and feel of the keys was good, but as I recall, it wasn’t reliable. I suspected that it was because it was a USB keyboard, whereas when IBM made it, it was PS/2. If I needed a keyboard today, I would get their PS/2 version of the Model M.

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Cybertooth

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MrJimPhelps wrote:

I bought a USB version of this keyboard from Unicomp many years ago, but it wasn’t a very good keyboard. The touch and feel of the keys was good, but as I recall, it wasn’t reliable. I suspected that it was because it was a USB keyboard, whereas when IBM made it, it was PS/2. If I needed a keyboard today, I would get their PS/2 version of the Model M.

@MrJimPhelps, I’m curious–in what way did you find Unicomp’s USB keyboard not to be reliable?

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It was a long time ago, but as I recall, sometimes a keypress wouldn’t result in the character appearing on the screen.

I had a feeling at that time, and I still do, that because IBM made a PS/2 keyboard, it would work well as a PS/2 keyboard; everything about that keyboard was designed for PS/2. However, when it was converted to USB, the conversion wasn’t done well by Unicomp.

If IBM had released a Model M USB keyboard, my thought is that it would have worked well, because IBM was thoroughly familiar with everything about that keyboard, and would therefore have known how to do it right. But Unicomp wasn’t thoroughly familiar with everything about that keyboard, and so they missed a key detail or two in the conversion process.

That’s my theory about why my Unicomp USB Model M keyboard had problems.

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Cybertooth

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“… IBM was thoroughly familiar with everything about that keyboard, and would therefore have known how to do it right. But Unicomp wasn’t thoroughly familiar with everything about that keyboard, and so they missed a key detail or two in the conversion process.”

I thought I had read a long time ago about the history of Unicomp, that it had been started by IBM employees who were involved with the design of the Model M keyboard. Here’s the wikipedia page that kind of/sort of describes it —

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicomp

In 1996, Lexmark International was prepared to shut their Lexington keyboard factory where they produced Model M buckling-spring keyboards. IBM, their principal customer and the Model M’s original designer and patent holder, had decided to remove the Model M from its product line in favor of cost-saving rubber-dome keyboards.

Rather than seeing its production come to an end, a group of former Lexmark and IBM employees purchased the license, tooling and design rights for buckling-spring technology, and, in April 1996, reestablished the business as Unicomp.

I had always thought that at some point (maybe in the next century or so) when my current stash of IBM Model M’s finally give up the ghost, that I would consider getting a replacement from Unicomp. No other keyboard will do.

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MrJimPhelps, Cybertooth

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Thank you for that information. I now have more confidence in Unicomp than I had before.

My Unicomp USB keyboard did have a bit cheaper feel than my genuine IBM Model M keyboards do – the genuine IBM ones feel as solid as tanks as your typing on them. I wonder if Unicomp has scrimped anywhere? Seems like they have.

As I stated previously, I would take a chance on a Unicomp PS/2 keyboard, if I needed a keyboard. They are far cheaper than the refurbs from ClickyKeyboards, although I get the feeling that those are as good as brand new IBM Model Ms. And my gut feeling is that the PS/2 to USB conversion wasn’t done properly, that’s why it misses keystrokes.

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I have two IBM Model M keyboards, and it looks like they will last forever. However, if one of them ever gives up the ghost, I will probably purchase a Unicomp Model M PS/2 keyboard to replace it. Unicomp likely hasn’t changed a thing on that keyboard, and so it likely will work as well as the two keyboards I now have.

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Cybertooth

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Thanks for the details!

Right now, I’m typing on a Unicomp Model M USB keyboard. The clickety-clack feel and sound of the keys as I press on them is wonderful–I love that tactile and sonic feedback!

However (and this is what caught my eye in your discussion), as often as not, the Unicomp keyboard will miss or ignore a press of the Shift key and the intended letter will come out in lower case instead of upper case. In order to make sure that the letter comes out as a capital, I have to press the Shift key very carefully, and this slows down my typing.

This never used to happen with the IBM keyboard I used on my friend’s original PC back in 1982. In fact, I became a fast typist on that IBM PC with the help of a typing program (DOS-based, of course!). My typing improved more in four weeks with that little program than it did in two full semesters of typing class back in high school.

So I’m hoping that this capital annoyance will go away if I purchase one of Unicomp’s PS/2 models.

 

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Here is something interesting about Unicomp and and keyboard quality that I found on Wikipedia:

“Since 1996, the tooling and molds that Unicomp had inherited from Lexmark began to wear out, leading to a gradual decline in build quality and finish. However, in 2020 Unicomp replaced its tooling leading to quality improvements. The company also began shipping new designs at this time.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicomp

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I grew up with thousands of hours on PC/AT keyboards, so I also have a soft spot for clickety-clack keys and particularly the concave “dish” shape of the keyboard surface. I never could fathom how anyone could type on Apple’s gawd-awful flat chiclet keyboards.

But I could never quite get used to the Model M’s lobotomized Enter key.

25 years ago I bought a 10-pack of Keytronics PS/2 keyboards with the dished surface and originally shaped Enter key. They don’t have the clickety-clack, but I’m okay with giving that up for an Enter key I can use. They work fine with a PS/2-to-USB adapter and I still have 6 left, so I figure my stash will last me the rest of my lifetime.

 

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MrJimPhelps, Cybertooth

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