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Vistance
54
Jun 12, 2015
As someone with a Topre Realforce 87U (uniform 55g weight) who previously used an '87 IBM Model M and a few different Cherry Blue/Brown KB's I have to say that buckling springs are wonderful keyboards. I am not sure how much different the Unicomps are in build from the IBMs (I hear a bit worse, but the original IBMs are really overengineered honestly).
I was really curious to try Topre since I was unhappy with the Cherrys I had tried, but they're kinda overrated. They really feel much more like a plain rubber dome, but they're a bit stiffer and they're more solid feeling as you press the keys. I do like being able to type virtually silently with the Topre, though unimportant for me personally. I find with my Realforce I accidentally press keys sometimes because they're so light, only occasionally when I game (I cannot imagine how anyone games on the non-uniform weight where the outer keys are 35 g...).
If I had to do it all over again, I'd just stick with the Model M or in this case the Unicomp. Not as good if you want to be "trendy" and dump tons of money on custom key caps like some people I know, but if you genuinely just want a good keyboard to type on that rocks you'll be hard pressed to do better. Just know the key presses require a fair bit of force. I did on rare occasion find myself thinking the IBM was a bit heavy to use, but it never got to a point that I couldn't use it anymore for the day. You really get used to it over time as well.
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