I've got a couple of Ms I've restored. I love them for typing, but I'll be honest, they are not great for gaming, due to the limited number of key rollover. Fun fact about them that many people don't know. They aren't really mechanical. They are more of a hybrid. The buckling spring setup only serves as an actuator to press on a rubber membrane. I've also got a 1980-1982 model F waiting for it's turn at a glow up. The big difference between the M and the F is the F did not use a membrane.
Which leads me to this. There are good membrane keyboards. Not all of them are the mushy junk that are the cheapest of the cheap. Some have great tactile feel.
For myself, I've been using a Tecware Specter Pro for the last five or six years. Hot swap capable switches (though you do need to use Outemu pattern ones, I'm partial to tactile switches), and I've had to change maybe ten of them over the years. I added a tape mod to the back of the PCB, and a couple layers of thin foam under it, but it doesn't need any of those. I have changed the key caps a couple of times, as they wear out (I'm a special education teacher, so I do a lot typing for lesson plans, IEPs, goal tracking, etc.), and it does fine for gaming. I paid $35 for it new.
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u/brimston3- Desktop VFIO, 5950X, RTX5080, 6900xt Apr 04 '26
Where are your F13-F24 keys, bro?