I want to buy a Model M, and the New Model M comes with everything I’m looking for, such as:
- USB support out of the box
- Meta keys
- No hunt for the correct model
But the price is steep:
- $125.00 New Model M
- $24.00 2x Customization fee: RP2040 controller for New Model M outside of the USA1
- $101.56 Fedex International
- Subtotal: $250.56
- $50.11 Import sales tax 20 %
- $0 Customs fee (Goods code 8471606000 and 8473302000)
- Total: $300.67
Keyboardco appears to be a former(?) European supplier since they don’t ship the New Model M to Europe, so the shipping costs are here to stay. I could probably get an IBM Model M for cheaper, albeit with more work and additional equipment for modding, but I dunno. What do you think?
1Unicomp is not allowed to ship the RP2040 controller built into the New Model M outside of the USA according to support.
UPDATE: I’m now the proud owner of an IBM Model M keyboard :)
I found a Model M for 105€ on a local auction website. I'll go check it out.
The only thing I can tell you is that if you get a keyboard with a bad membrane, it CAN be fixed but it's a huge pain in the ass since you need to replace all the little plastic tabs on the chassis with tiny bolts.