I’m less interested in Unicomp/IBM’s novel buckling spring technology (as cool as it is) and more that they’re built well, are corded and not wireless, offer replacement parts on their website, and have a mail-in repair service.
Unicomp’s Model M keyboard was my first choice for a long-lasting keyboard, but now I want to lessen my dependence on American-made companies (especially since Unicomp is based in Kentucky) and wanted to see if any alternatives existed. I’ve heard good things about Cherry, but I don’t fully understand their business model or how to order their products.
I got the “unicomp model M” from KeyboardCo circa 2019 and it was a huge piece of shit, least reliable thing I ever used, apart from the buckling spring switches which felt great it was just the cheapest piece of junk and it worked for like 2 months before breaking. Avoid them.
My longest lasting mechanical keyboard was the Vortex Cypher 65% with Cherry MX Clear switches. Lasted several years, not even an old school Ducky usually did.
Right now I’m using a Ducky One 3 Daybreak SF 65% with Cherry MX Blue switches and it’s holding along fine. I also bought a random keyboard on AliExpress for like $50 and was really shocked with the good quality. It was a Yunzii X71 68% with some mystery “Crystal switch”, I only got it because it looked neat, I didn’t even know it was mechanical, shame about the ugly ANSI layout though, I can’t stand not having tilde next to CR when using Linux.