mechanical keyboards

8bitdo-m-edition-mechanical-keyboard-is-a-modern-take-on-ibm’s-model-m

8BitDo M Edition mechanical keyboard is a modern take on IBM’s Model M

8bitdo, ibm, Keyboards, mechanical keyboards, Tech, Wireless keyboards / /

Bucks buckling springs —

Numpad sold separately.

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  • 8BitDo’s IBM-like M Edition keyboard.

    8BitDo

  • Design cues help pay tribute to the ’80s buckling spring keyboard.

    8BitDo

  • It even has arrows on the Tab key, like the original Model M had.

    8BitDo

  • A profile view.

    8BitDo

  • Modern updates include these dedicated media keys.

    8BitDo

  • The keyboard has integrated storage for the wireless dongle.

    8BitDo

8BitDo is releasing an IBM-inspired look for its $100 wireless mechanical keyboard. Keyboard enthusiasts love regaling normies with tales of IBM’s buckling spring keyboards and the precedent they set for today’s mechanical keyboards. But 8BitDo’s Retro Mechanical Keyboard M Edition doesn’t adopt very much from IBM’s iconic designs.

8BitDo’s Retro mechanical keyboards come in different looks that each pay tribute to classic tech. The tributes are subtle enough to avoid copyright issues. Similar to 8BitDo’s ‘80s Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Commodore 64 designs, the M Edition doesn’t have any official IBM logos. However, the M Edition’s color scheme, chunkier build, and typeface selection, including on the Tab key with arrows and elsewhere, are nods to IBM’s Model M, which first succeeded the Model F in 1985.

Of course, the keyboard’s naming, and the IBM behemoth and floppy disks strategically placed in marketing images, are notes of that, too:

The IBM Easter eggs are apparent.

Enlarge / The IBM Easter eggs are apparent.

8BitDo

Despite its IBM-blue striped B and A buttons, the M Edition won’t be sufficient for retro keyboard fans seeking the distinct, buckling-spring experience of a true Model M.

As mentioned, the M Edition is basically a new color scheme for 8BitDo’s wireless mechanical keyboard offering. The peripheral connects to Windows 10 and Android 9.0 and newer devices via a USB-A cable, its wireless USB-A 2.4 Ghz dongle, or Bluetooth 5.0. 8BitDo claims it can endure up to 200 hours of use before needing a recharge. The M Edition also comes with the detachable A and B “Super Buttons” that connect to the keyboard via a 3.5 mm jack and are programmable without software.

  • A closer look at the Super Buttons.

    8BitDo

  • The pair of buttons attach to a port on the keyboard’s top edge.

    8BitDo

Differing from the Model M’s buckling spring switches, the M Edition has Kailh Box White V2 mechanical switches, which typically feel clicky and light to press. With crisp clicks and noticeable, but not slowing, feedback, they’re good for a modern mechanical switch for frequent typing.

But IBM’s ’80s keyboard didn’t use modern mechanical switches. It used buckling springs over a membrane sheet that made keys feel heavier to push than the keys on the preceding Model F keyboard (which used buckling springs over a capacitive PCB). 8BitDo’s switches are hot-swappable, though, making them easily replaceable.

The M Edition’s keycaps have an MDA-profile-like height, according to 8BitDo’s website. True Model M keycaps all had the same profile. The M Edition’s keycaps are doubleshot like the true Model M’s were, but the new keyboard uses cheaper ABS plastic instead of PBT.

While dimensions of 14.8×6.7×1.8 inches make the M Edition fairly dense for a tenkeyless keyboard, I would have loved to see 8BitDo commit to the vintage look with a thicker border north of the keys and more height toward the top.

But smaller keyboards that let owners reclaim desk space are the more common prebuilt mechanical keyboard releases these days, especially for gaming-peripherals brands like 8BitDo. A gaming focus also helps explain why there’s no numpad on the M Edition. 8BitDo is releasing a detachable numpad to go with the keyboard. It can connect via Bluetooth, dongle, or cable, but it will cost $45 extra.

The numpad has a button for switching to a regular calculator.

Enlarge / The numpad has a button for switching to a regular calculator.

8BitDo

8BitDo’s new keyboard colorway may appeal to people craving a hint of IBM nostalgia that doesn’t make their workspace look like it’s completely stuck in the past. But considering the fandom and legacy of old-school IBM keyboards’ switches and looks, shades of gray and blue won’t feel retro enough for many IBM keyboard fans.

The real deal: an IBM Model M.

Enlarge / The real deal: an IBM Model M.

If you want a real Model M, there’s a market of found and restored models available online and in thrift stores and electronics stores. For a modern spin, like USB ports and Mac support, Unicomp also makes new Model M keyboards that are truer to the original IBM design, particularly in their use of buckling spring switches.

The M Edition comes out on July 15.

Listing image by 8BitDo

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8bitdo’s-$100-wireless-mechanical-keyboard-is-a-tribute-to-commodore-64

8BitDo’s $100 wireless mechanical keyboard is a tribute to Commodore 64

8bitdo, commodore 64, Keyboards, mechanical keyboards, Tech, Wireless keyboards / /

  • Fits in nicely with old cassettes and floppy disks.

    8BitDo

  • The keyboard uses a top mount and has an aluminum top plate.

    8BitDo

  • The keyboard has knobs for toggling connectivity modes (left) and controlling the connected system’s volume (right).

    8BitDo

  • There’s a magnetic compartment for storing the optional wireless dongle.

    8BitDo

The Commodore 64 introduced a generation of future computer geeks to personal computing. The 8-bit system first launched in 1982 and was discontinued in 1994. During that time, it made its mark as one of the first and most influential personal computers, and many still remember the computer fondly.

A Commodore 64.

Enlarge / A Commodore 64.

Gaming peripherals maker 8BitDo wants to bring that nostalgia to people’s fingertips and this week announced the Retro Mechanical Keyboard – C64 Edition. 8BitDo is careful not to use the name “Commodore” outright. But with marketing images featuring retro Commodore gear in the background, press materials saying that the keyboard was “inspired by the classics,” and certain design cues, the keyboard is clearly a tribute to the ’80s keyboard-computer.

8BitDo starts with the sort of beige that you only see on new peripherals these days if the gadgets are trying to appear old. A rainbow stripe runs horizontally and north of the function row, like on Commodore’s computer. There’s a power button with a bulb popping out of the keyboard case, ready to illuminate when it receives the signal.

  • The 8BitDo keyboard’s power LED.

    8BitDo

  • Retro rainbow.

    8BitDo

Like the Commodore 64, the C64 keyboard has limited keys, foregoing a number pad. The column of F-keys on the right side of the retro computer is abandoned in favor of today’s standard navigation keys. Naturally, the ports have also been updated. 8BitDo’s wireless mechanical keyboard can connect with a detachable USB-C to USB-A power cable via a 2.4 GHz wireless USB-A dongle or Bluetooth 5.0. 8BitDo claims that the keyboard’s 2000 mAh battery can endure 200 hours of use before needing a charge.

The new keyboard also reduces the bulkiness of a true vintage keyboard. It’s 6.7 inches tall and weighs 2.31 pounds. Commodore 64s were about 8 inches tall and weighed over 4 pounds.

A trimmer keyboard should help 8BitDo better appeal to its core audience of gamers. The keyboard even comes with a separate pair of large buttons and a joystick for gaming with an arcade feel. The joystick and Super Buttons, as 8BitDo calls them, are programmable, including with macros, without downloading 8BitDo’s software.

NES-inspired keyboard.” data-height=”1708″ data-width=”2560″ href=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/5-Super-Stick-and-Super-Buttons.jpg”>The keyboard comes with a joystick and mega-size buttons, just like 8BitDo's <a href=NES-inspired keyboard.” height=”427″ src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/5-Super-Stick-and-Super-Buttons-640×427.jpg” width=”640″>

Enlarge / The keyboard comes with a joystick and mega-size buttons, just like 8BitDo’s NES-inspired keyboard.

8BitDo

The C64 doesn’t support Apple devices; it only supports Windows 10 and Android 9.0 and higher. The software for reprogramming the keyboard and setting up different profiles (which you can toggle with the heart button near the keyboard’s top edge) doesn’t officially support Apple OSes.

SA keycaps

If you really want to feel like you’re typing on an ’80s system, it’s not just about muted shades of beige; it’s about what your fingers feel. While there are some design changes that might have made the keyboard feel more authentic, some thought was clearly given to making this 2024 keyboard feel like it came out more than 30 years ago.

To start, the C64’s keycaps are made of ABS plastic with doubleshot legends. Some premium mechanical keyboards these days opt for PBT, as such keycaps typically offer better grip and resist fingerprint smudges better. But if we’re trying to be as accurate to the original C64 as possible, doubleshot ABS is the way to go.

The keycaps on the Commodore 64 were also notably spherical and contoured. 8BitDo’s design uses SA-profile keycaps, which are some of the tallest keycaps that are widely available. Some hardcore enthusiasts can tell the difference between SA keycaps and the Commodore 64’s original keycaps, but this is still a strong choice from 8BitDo, (plus the original Commodore 64 keycaps wouldn’t fit on modern mechanical switches without some modding).

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“Rasti Computer” is a detailed GRiD Compass tribute made from Framework innards

3D printing, computer history, grid compass, grid systems corp, laptop design, mechanical keyboards, Tech / /

But can it play Pitfall!? —

It’s a custom keyboard, an artfully dinged-up case, and a wonderful throwback.

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Penk Chen's Rasti Computer

Enlarge / Penk Chen’s Rasti Computer, built with 3D printing, Framework laptop internals, and a deep love for the first laptop that went to space.

If I had to figure out what to do with the insides of a Framework 13 laptop I had lying around after today, I might not turn it into a strange but compelling “Slabtop” this time.

No, I think that, having seen Penk Chen’s remarkable project to fit Framework parts into a kind of modern restyling of the Grid Compass laptop, I would have to wait until Chen posts detailed build instructions for this project… and until I had a 3D printer… and could gather the custom mechanical keyboard parts. Sure, that’s a lot harder, but it’s hard to put a price on drawing unnecessary attention to yourself while you chonk away on your faux-used future laptop.

The Rasti Computer, which Chen writes is “derived from the German compound word ‘Rasterrahmen’ (grid + framework),” has at its core the mainboard, battery, and antennae from the highly modular and repairable first-generation Framework laptop. It takes input from the custom keyboard Chen designed for the chassis, with custom PCB and 3D-printed keycaps and case. It sends images to a 10.4-inch QLED 1600×720 display, and it all fits inside a bevy of 3D-printed pieces with some fairly standard hex-head bolts. Oh, and the hinges from a 2012 13-inch MacBook pro, though that’s possibly negotiable.

  • Rear view of the Rasti Computer, with “a touch of silver dry brushing [that] added the beat-up metal look.”

  • Semi-exploded view of the Rasti Computer.

  • You can, of course, run Windows on this device, if you like. But it might feel dissonant to put so much custom work in to run a stock OS.

Chen’s project derives from, and pays tribute to, the Grid Compass (styled “GRiD” by its maker, GRiD Systems Corp.). The Compass was probably (again, probably) the first clamshell-style laptop made. It saw use by NASA’s Space Shuttle program, as well as by military and other entities needing a laptop that was both compact and throw-it-at-a-wall durable. It had 256KB of memory by default (less than half the amount Bill Gates didn’t say you should ever need), a 320×240 pixel screen, and an Intel 8086 processor. Some models contained a 1,200bps modem. It cost more than $8,000 in 1982, or almost $25,000 today.

We have it on good word from some resident vintage computer collectors that the Compass remains a rare and expensive item to get. Rebuilding a Framework mainboard into a modern-day Grid-like doesn’t seem particularly cheap, depending on your 3D printer setup, or lack thereof. Nor is it likely to be easy, given a glimpse at how it goes together. But it will give you a unique portable and conversation piece, one that runs programs beyond Grid-OS.

You can read more about the Grid Compass at Cooper Hewitt, the firm where Compass designer Bill Moggridge worked as design director from 2010 until his 2011 passing. If you remember bubble memory, it’s a dip back into that genial trauma. Hackaday, where we first saw the Rasti project, wrote up a similarly Compass-inspired laptop, the GRIZ Sextant, with a Raspberry Pi at its core.

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Figma’s Creator Micro made me a macro pad person with its colorful, clicky keys

creator micro, figma, Glowing keyboards, Keyboards, macro pad, mechanical keyboards, Tech, work louder / /

Clicky Keyboards —

Besides being a fun tool, this pad’s layers work great for OS-switching.

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Creator Micro on a desk next to keyboard, glasses, and Field Notes notebook

Enlarge / It’s coded for designers, quite literally, but the Figma Creator Micro is just a rebranded version of the stock Creator Micro from Work Louder. It is quite colorful, though.

Figma

A number of my friends, friends who aren’t streamers, have picked up Elgato’s Stream Decks. I can understand the impulse to have shortcuts, automation triggers, and fiddly little knobs within arm’s reach, without expanding the keyboard itself. But the Stream Deck’s customizable icons, upright nature, and streaming-focused app support make it a non-starter for my physical desktop. I’m a clicky keyboard person, even if I can see some intriguing non-QWERTY possibilities.

I hadn’t considered looking further into a secondary keyboard until I noticed that the makers of interface design tool Figma had collaborated with Work Louder on a custom tiny keyboard, the Figma Creator Micro. It’s a version of Work Louder’s standard Creator Micro, done up with a Figma-style color scheme and set up with four layers of shortcuts most useful inside that app, for a total of 48. It’s mechanical, it’s colorful, and it—or its more standardized cousin—might do a good bit toward improving your workflow.

Figma sent me a sample of its Creator Micro to test it out. I do not design interfaces, nor use Figma, but for all purposes, you could consider this to also be a test run of the standard Creator Micro. The two are functionally identical, minus the looks, and the pre-programming and custom shortcut keycaps included with the Figma version. Mine came with the “Clicky” (Kailh White) keys, though “Silent” (Kailh Brown) is an option.

  • The Figma Creator Micro, minus the USB-C cable it needs for data and power.

    Figma

  • The keycaps included with the Figma version of the Creator Micro.

    Figma

  • The base of the Creator Micro.

    Figma

  • Creator Micro on a desktop, with keyboard for scale.

    Figma

I reprogrammed three layers of my Micro with essentially the same 12 shortcuts, remapped with the web-based VIA software to mimic the same functions on Mac, Windows, and Gnome-based Linux (I haven’t gotten around to Chrome OS yet, but logically that’s next). This is a need more common among technology writers than perhaps many other trades, but it’s my favorite thing about the Micro. When I switch systems, I have to both physically switch my full-size keyboard (a NuPhy Air 75) between “Mac” and “Win” and also mentally shift my keyboard shortcuts. When I toggle between layers on the Micro (helpfully indicated with tiny LEDs), my shortcut scheme remains the same.

That scheme is geared toward my work, which is largely typing, taking screenshots, manipulating windows, and choosing which music is playing when I’m staring at a cursor and doubting myself. I’ve addressed the Micro’s buttons in horizontal rows, from the top:

  • Play, Next (skip) media
  • Resize windows left, center, full-size, and right (using native shortcuts or Rectangle)
  • Full-screen, active window, area selection, and save-to-file screenshots
  • Copy, paste

The top and bottom rows could probably be replaced, but I’m finding it nice to have backups for when my fingers can’t relearn the Command/Control differences between systems. The tall dial I have set to system volume and the smaller metallic wheel set to undo/redo actions. You can obviously go much further into specific app shortcuts, so long as you’re willing to learn VIA’s encoding system.

Having these shortcuts available has been helpful, but also fun. I’m not above admitting that I’m using the Micro to make my job—typing into a box about electricity—seem more like running some kind of complicated machine. The tactile feedback and sound from pressing one of the Micro’s keys provides the same kind of forward momentum feeling that mechanical typing enthusiasts pursue. Moving windows around with dedicated keys, and choosing when to grab a screenshot, feels more intentional and lends a sense of mastery.

OK, it’s fun, I’m saying. It’s fun to have a little box for little computer tasks, rather than efficiently doing them all through one slab you must memorize under pain of being considered unoptimized. Sometimes I just twirl the volume knob up and down, with nothing playing, because it’s fun to twirl a knob.

That kind of fun isn’t going to be worth $130–$160 (at the moment) to most people, maybe not even those already tuned into clicky keys. I think the Micro (and its Figma variant) looks and feels great, especially the knob, wheel, translucent RGB-lit border, and the just-heavy-enough non-skid base. Think about it when you next find your fingers tired from stretching to hit awkward combinations or your brain fatigued from differentiating between too-similar letters.

As Marcin Wichary, Figma’s design director and author of Shift Happens, a terrific compendium of keyboard history, puts it in Figma’s blog post about their Creator: “In a way, the QWERTY keyboard is boring because it has to be boring… it lost a lot of its personality to become versatile, and a lot of its quality to become ubiquitous.” The Creator Micro, and its Figma variant, are just two more tools to wield against practical, reasonable monotony.

Listing image by Figma

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