Made In The USA - New Unicomp Product

ripster · 07 Apr 2011, 19:24

Yep, backup from Elitekeyboards. I can tell the future.

And America would be ranked above Germany if Unicomp didn't drag down the average so much.

webwit · 07 Apr 2011, 19:37

No country on your list is capable of producing a design like this.

kps · 07 Apr 2011, 19:53

webwit wrote:I like how it is everything Apple does not stand for.

Ugly, and functional?

(Mac Pro owner here. OS X is functional now, though Apple seems to be determined to make sure it isn't by the time I replace my machine.)

ripster · 07 Apr 2011, 20:14

Unicomp's keyboard needs a label like this on the back. Just sub in "Kentucky".

sixty · 07 Apr 2011, 20:23

Julle · 07 Apr 2011, 21:24

What, no key puller or WASD keys?

nathanscribe · 07 Apr 2011, 21:27

Minesweeper champion. Nice.

hoggy · 07 Apr 2011, 21:51

Unicomp, thanks for giving me an excuse to shake my fist at the sky...

ripster · 07 Apr 2011, 23:38

Hahaha - I LIKE those two key combos.

Especially SD. I'm always running backwards.

webwit · 08 Apr 2011, 00:05

: spacesaver_m.jpg (39.14 KiB) Viewed 7354 times

daedalus · 08 Apr 2011, 00:43

keyb_gr wrote: This photo has got to be a delayed April Fools joke. You see, I'm not particularly picky when it comes to looks, but that is some of the worst product presentation I've seen. At least get the darn white balance right if nothing else.

Looks like this was shot with a Canon S3 IS under artificial light - not exactly the right kind of camera for product shots, being a small-sensor superzoom. Fullsize view readily exposes the chromatic aberration and sensor noise, with the lighting not helping matters.

And yes, the LED label does look even uglier than the regular one.

The worst thing is the white/beige keys with the black casing. It really looks like a bullshit hack made from some spare parts they have lying around.

Pylon · 08 Apr 2011, 01:11

I just thought of this, but do a number of you want to volunteer for Unicomp and do them a website redesign, logo redesign, photography, etc. for free or maybe a small fee. They really need it.

I mean, think of all the sales they would get if:
1. They were better known.
2. They had a better website.
3. They had a better logo.

Maybe if they like it they'll tool us a SSK Mini.

webwit · 08 Apr 2011, 02:25

This product needs to be presented by the KBC Poker girl.

webwit · 08 Apr 2011, 02:35

Thing is, it is a space saving keyboard, there was just a slight miscommunication about scale.

: unicomp_x.jpg (47.6 KiB) Viewed 7341 times

002 · 08 Apr 2011, 13:40

Woah, you made the asian girl as big as Godzilla!?

keyboardlover · 08 Apr 2011, 13:40

As with the poker, I still prefer the girl to the keyboard.

ripster · 08 Apr 2011, 17:19

I've been examining her cleavage in multiple photos and suspect the use of duct tape.

002 · 09 Apr 2011, 00:04

She's gotta be using one of these:

Half-Saint · 14 Apr 2011, 07:57

I'm curious.. if Unicomp purchased the technology from IBM/Lexmark what did they do with all the equipment IBM used to make real Space Savers???

sixty · 14 Apr 2011, 17:07

I wonder too... I mean obviously they were able to make space savers at one point in time... but what happened then?

clickykeyboards · 14 Apr 2011, 17:57

Half-Saint wrote:I'm curious.. if Unicomp purchased the technology from IBM/Lexmark what did they do with all the equipment IBM used to make real Space Savers???

I asked the Unicomp guys the same questions about the original (84-key) IBM Space Saving keyboards 7 years ago (back in 2004).

At the time, they found a bunch of 85 space saving keyboards for me on a shelf in storage..

2004 IBM model M 85-key space saving (1394054) NEW http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cf ... /id/183757

As I understand it from discussions with Unicomp, they did not get or take everything in the move from Lexmark production warehouse to their current smaller location. My guess is that they might have taken some of the internal parts and exterior keyboard shells that were already produced, but did not take all the mechanical dies and plastic forms and/or designs. I had inquired about how much it would cost to re-make the dies and the estimate was too high to further consider.

Interesting that the Unicomp mighty mouse keyboard is now also end-of-life as well as some other cables and keyboards that Unicomp used to have available on their website.

ripster · 15 Apr 2011, 00:10

Somewhere in Lexington, in a large warehouse, in a long forgotten aisle, a Lexmark Model M Mini injection mold set sits alone and unloved. It probably was mislabelled "IBM Space Saver Keyboard Molds" instead of "IBM Space Saving Keyboard Molds".

webwit · 15 Apr 2011, 00:15

They are out of IBM 1390538s.

ripster · 15 Apr 2011, 01:58

Unicomp should have a Spring Garage sale and let us paw through the warehouse and see what we find.

daedalus · 15 Apr 2011, 15:29

Half-Saint wrote:I'm curious.. if Unicomp purchased the technology from IBM/Lexmark what did they do with all the equipment IBM used to make real Space Savers???

Given how much common the 101-key models seem to be over the 84-key models, I'd guess that they reckoned the fullsize models are more popular and decided to concentrate on those.

Given that the Unicomp Spacesaver isn't that much wider than an SSK, I think it's debatable as to whether it would have ever made sense for Unicomp to make them. Now, if they could make an ANSI version of the 5576-003...

quadibloc · 23 May 2011, 23:39

webwit wrote:In any case it is the only keyboard with Apple layout and buckling springs. You can see from the lines forming in front of the shops there is a great demand for such a thing.

Well, I don't know. I think that it's wonderful that they're making this keyboard.

It is a bit late, though. What with the App Store and Apple's policies there, I'm getting very concerned that the next version of the MacOS is going to become something closed and limited - say, like the Chrome OS. Perhaps that's a needless fear, but Apple has done such stupid things before that I can't completely dismiss that possibility. (However, apparently Apple is only "changing the way it does business" by putting iPad customer terminals in their Apple stores. Whew! And cool.)

It is a pity that this has happened so late in the day. Because this genuinely does eliminate a major obstacle for a Mac purchase for me - since the other alternative for an excellent keyboard (not simply a "better" keyboard) is a RealForce, and they're quite expensive (if not so expensive as an HHKB). I know the RealForce is available for the Mac (and even Sun workstations!) - I haven't checked to see if the RealForce also is; if it isn't, the cost factor is even worse.

mintberryminuscrunch · 23 May 2011, 23:42

Pylon wrote:So it's basically a SpaceSaver with an Apple layout.

The photography is really bad. The lighting is poor, there is quite a yellow cast and the harsh flash makes it look really ugly. It looks like a yellowed piece of beige junk from the mid-90s(i.e. something that doesn't really fit in front of an iMac). I'm sure it looks much better in person. I mean, jpc over at Geekhack has a really nice shot of an Endurapro that does it a lot of justice.

you forgot to mention the dog^^

daedalus · 24 May 2011, 17:52

Main obstacles to buying a Mac for me is the mediocre hardware, mediocre software, and generally batshit company vision.

ripster · 24 May 2011, 17:55

Is Steve Jobs dead yet?

Gilgam · 24 May 2011, 18:39

daedalus wrote:Main obstacles to buying a Mac for me is the mediocre hardware, mediocre software, and generally batshit company vision.

Mediocre hardware i don't agree, it was superiro hardware years ago, but it's still very high quality, not long lasting anymore though -i have a 24/24 G4 server but my G5 is dead, so my ibooks and one macbook pro- i won't but apple first version of machines...

Mediocre software i don't agree too Macosx is awesome, i still prefer linux but macosx is very nice with nice third party software.

Batshit vision i DO agree