Das Keyboard vs. Unicomp SpaceSaver M and other Keyboards. Buckling Spring vs. Cherry MX Blue.
I’ve been abusing Unicomp SpaceSaver keyboards, buckling spring keyboards that are direct descendants of the famed IBM Model M, for about a decade. My first from them was before they had a Mac version, but they’d supply “command” and “option” keycaps, and macOS / OS X makes it trivial to remap those meta (“modifier,” in Apple parlance) keys in the keyboard control panel:
(You didn’t don’t get the media control keys, though, or the eject key for an optical drive.) Eventually, Unicomp came out with the SpaceSaver M, and I was in heaven. Most of the time.
I have five (5) of these keyboards, some from as far back as 2011 (and one I think even a bit earlier than that). I’ll have to verify, but I think all (or at least 4 out of 5) of them have stickers on the bottom from when they were repaired by Unicomp. Some more than once. Keys would stop working, or I’d start getting phantom keypresses doing things like turning the volume all the way up or down. So frustrating. I literally have a spare Unicomp to use when one’s in the shop. Out of warranty, the repairs aren’t exactly cheap, either, though not $100 like a replacement keyboard would be. Their quality control has seemed to slip of late, with keycap sublimation printing that isn’t centered, etc. They have great mechanical switches, but poor reliability and they look like carry-overs from the early 90s (which, in a way, they are), but, not well implemented.
But I loved typing on them enough I was willing to put up with all of that. Much like the hassle of filling, cleaning, etc., fountain pens.
However. When two of my Unicomps started misbehaving at the same time the other day, I figured it was time to try something else. So I picked up a Das Keyboard Model S Professional for Mac, with Cherry MX Blue keyswitches.
On paper they seem to be pretty comparable to the buckling spring switches used by Unicomp:
(You didn’t don’t get the media control keys, though, or the eject key for an optical drive.) Eventually, Unicomp came out with the SpaceSaver M, and I was in heaven. Most of the time.
I have five (5) of these keyboards, some from as far back as 2011 (and one I think even a bit earlier than that). I’ll have to verify, but I think all (or at least 4 out of 5) of them have stickers on the bottom from when they were repaired by Unicomp. Some more than once. Keys would stop working, or I’d start getting phantom keypresses doing things like turning the volume all the way up or down. So frustrating. I literally have a spare Unicomp to use when one’s in the shop. Out of warranty, the repairs aren’t exactly cheap, either, though not $100 like a replacement keyboard would be. Their quality control has seemed to slip of late, with keycap sublimation printing that isn’t centered, etc. They have great mechanical switches, but poor reliability and they look like carry-overs from the early 90s (which, in a way, they are), but, not well implemented.
But I loved typing on them enough I was willing to put up with all of that. Much like the hassle of filling, cleaning, etc., fountain pens.
However. When two of my Unicomps started misbehaving at the same time the other day, I figured it was time to try something else. So I picked up a Das Keyboard Model S Professional for Mac, with Cherry MX Blue keyswitches.
On paper they seem to be pretty comparable to the buckling spring switches used by Unicomp:
| Cherry MX Blue | Unicomp Buckling Spring | |
|---|---|---|
| Force: | 60 cN operating force | 72gms ±20gms peak travel force |
| Travel: | 2.2 mm pre travel, 4.0 mm total travel | 3.8mm maximum key travel |
But typing on the Das Keyboard feels significantly different. Lighter. Less accurate (at least so far, I’m hoping that will change as I get accustomed to it). Typing on the two side by side, the keytravel actually does feel to be roughly equivalent, but typing on the Das Keyboard without having touched the Unicomp in a while, I would swear the Das Keyboard has a much shorter / shallower key travel. And I’m just learning a bunch about this stuff, so the above table may not tell the whole story. For instance, the “actuation force” for the Cherry MX Blues 50 ± 15 cN, and I don’t know what the equivalent number is for the Unicomp. The Cherries feel like they require significantly less force (pressure) to activate, though.
The Unicomp FAQ says their switches are rated for “25 million” (presumably keystrokes), while the MX Blues claim “> 50 million actuations.”
So far, the verdict’s out. I already like this more than the Razer BlackWidow Tournament Stealth I picked up a while ago when I needed a silent keyboard for a quiet office; that keyboard is fine, but the Razer Orange switches (roughly comparable to Cherry MX Browns?) aren’t my cuppa. (“Feel: Tactile and Silent; Actuation Force: 45 G; Travel Distance: 4.0 mm; Actuation point: 1.9 mm; Actuation vs Reset Point: 0.05 mm.”) (The difference between the “operating position” and the “reset position” is just over 1 mm in the Cherry MX Blues.)
I really wish Unicomp would modernize a bit, and fix their quality control issues. In the meantime, I think I’ll like the Model 3 Pro; it’s certainly a gorgeous, striking piece of glossy black hardware (that I don’t relish keeping free of fingerprints and other smudges).
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