Earlier this year my trusty old keyboard died after a decade of use. I had a few different spare keyboards that had come with new PC’s over the years so I tried them all as replacements. They all felt wrong to my fingers that have grown accustomed to the original IBM PC and Selectric typewriter buckling spring keyboards I’ve been using for nearly forty years.
Searching around I found what seemed to be the closest match to the IBM style keyboards from Keytronic, the DESIGNER-P2. I bought one from Newegg unfortunately it was defective so with the added expense of shipping it back for replacement I ended up spending close to $60.00 before I had a functioning unit. Then came the big disappointment, it just didn’t have the buckling spring feel I wanted. While it is far better than the other keyboards I tried, it still fell short of my expectations.
After further searching I found the company that bought and still uses IBM’s keyboard technology, Unicomp of Kentucky. Through Unicomp’s online store I bought the SpaceSaver 104/105 model and I love it. The feel of the keys is exactly what I wanted and it has brought my typing speed and accuracy back to where it should be. The Keytronic keyboard is now packed away for use as a temporary replacement when my SpaceSaver 104/105 breaks and I’m waiting for a new one to arrive.
Paul Hutchinson's Blog 