IBM
Recommended 23× on r/BuyItForLife
Shop IBM
Model F Keyboard
122K Keyboard
7014-T42 Network Rack Cabinet Enclosure

Model M Wired Keyboard - 82G2383
82G2383 Model 3 Class B Vintage PS/2 Wired Mechanical Office Keyboard

Keyboard for Aptiva 21XX; IntelliStation E Pro 62xx, Pro 68XX; IntelliStation M Pro
IBM Keyboards are designed for ease-of-use, comfort, full-functionality, and high reliability. It's safe to say that you interact with your keyboard more than any other part of you...

Vintage IBM Model M Clicky Mechanical Keyboard P/N 52G9658 Buckling Spring 1993

Computer Keyboard IBM
46W6739 Keyboard W Integrated Pointing Device PC/Mac, Keyboard
The Ultra-Nav keyboards are now available for use with IBM System x systems. These lower-cost products are RoHS 7cIII compliant, offering greater cost savings because they do not i...
Keyboard
Bring the ease of use back to your fingers with the IBM Preferred Pro Full-size 104-Key PS/2 Keyboard. This keyboard has been designed to complement NetVista desktops and is featur...
1395660 122K Keyboard
73G4614 IBM 101-Key Beige Keyboard
Why r/BuyItForLife recommends IBM
23 mentions from real owners
- #1Dec 30, 2025
What product category has gotten worse in quality, even at the premium level?
even older than that, my t42 had a Pentium M.. but i was speaking exclusively to build quality. no computer from 2004 is useful anymore but they also just don't make em like that anymore. the T420 as a solid machine, by that time i had an x220 and while I loved it, the build quality still wasn't quite the same as the old ibm machines. the t42 was so damn solid it felt like you could use it as a hammer. shout out to the t420/x220 for still having the draining keyboard though. chiclets suck
View on Redditopen_in_new - #2Jul 1, 2025
Name your top 5 BIFL items
These aren't must haves for anyone else, but they've served me well: - Herman Miller Aeron office chair - IBM Model F keyboard\* - Sennheiser HD600 headphones - Stanley thermos - Lodge cast iron skillet (\*The Model M is still in production by Unicomp and is better for most people, but the Model F is less prone to wear.)
View on Redditopen_in_new - #3Jun 12, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
Rubberdome version you say? I'll look into that. I've used Keytronics and they're... not the same. Very nice, yes, but still... nothing's like a Model M. :) Saving this for later, thanks!
View on Redditopen_in_new - #4Jun 10, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
I couldn't imagine using mine in a shared office. They are loud, but the tactile feel is unmatched.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #5Jun 8, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
I am well aware as an owner of 1988 Model M. Is use it most days for work. Anyone with basic search skills can find a way around this, like https://www.modelfkeyboards.com
View on Redditopen_in_new - #6Jun 7, 2025
What is your most unintentional BIFL item?
Logitech Trackman thumb wired T-BB18: https://deskthority.net/wiki/Logitech_Trackman_Wheel_T-BB18 Norelco 8895XL: https://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/product/philips-philishave-sensotec-hq8894-electric-razor IBM Model M: https://sharktastica.co.uk/wiki?id=modelm
View on Redditopen_in_new - #7Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
Best keyboard for sure.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #8Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
Types even sickerrrrr.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #9Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
Second this! I have a Unicomp 101 and IBM/Lexmark ones and my hands can't tell the difference. :)
View on Redditopen_in_new - #10Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
Got one, but that's just cherry blues and those are hit or miss. Model M is the Model M--there is no substitute.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #11Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
Love these, live these. I must have nearly 100 of them for all my computers. My hands will type 140wpm on these for 12hrs at a time with zero fatigue. :)
View on Redditopen_in_new - #12Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
Those keyboards were the best thing humankind has ever produced.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #13Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
this was the best keyboard
View on Redditopen_in_new - #14Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
I have three. 1990 versions. Love them so much, but I can't use them anymore... they make too much noise clackin' about for my situation now. But they still are here... awaiting the day one of them gets the call back up to the show. :) /I should maybe sell one or two... but I just can't bring myself to do it. //Best keyboard ever made. And I mean *ever*. Except the clack. But you *know* you pressed nothing else but an 's' or whatever.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #15Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
I have one too.. Wonderful keyboard, and insanely annoying to my wife, which makes it that much more a pleasure to use. Pairs perfect with some 80s classics to drown out my wife's K-Pop garbage
View on Redditopen_in_new - #16Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
I call those battleship keyboards. They have the coolest old school computing feel. It’s almost like they are what a keyboard is supposed to feel like, because that’s kind of the non-business person’s first contact with a good keyboard. The “standard”. They are actually in demand still and go for hundreds of bucks. I know a person at my job who works full time and has been selling various models of these for going on 20 years as a nice side business. I don’t want to risk being seen as a shill by linking, but he’s out there if the last keyboard you’ll ever buy interests you.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #17Jun 7, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
You can replace the original board inside with a new microcontroller, then connect with USB. Or, ps/2 to usb adapter.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #18Jun 6, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
My 1986 Model F 122 key terminal keyboard is still going strong.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #19Jun 6, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
The new Unicomp matrices are a bit better optimized and are thus better suited to gaming. For productivity, though, the old M's are perfect.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #20Jun 6, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
Have one from 1982 from the original IBM PC. Used it up until a few years until I started playing games.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #21Jun 6, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
mine is a ibm from 1989...good choice
View on Redditopen_in_new - #22Jun 6, 2025
Once Again, another generational peripheral, my IBM Model M Keyboard. A 32 Year Old Workhorse
I bought one a few years back from ClickyKeyboards. I think mine was from '87 or '88. You could kill someone with it.
View on Redditopen_in_new - #23Apr 7, 2025
Logitech k400+ Wireless keyboard/Mouse combo
They last around a decade of hard use and abuse, in my experience. If you want actual BIFL, you want an IBM Model M. They were produced starting in 1985 and are still in the wild. They run for $150-300. They will need adapters to plug into modern computers. I knew a lawyer who had one since 1985 and still used it daily. He actually owned three, but once a decade he'd sent it out for maintenance and wanted a spare for his spare in case he had to mail out the backup. [https://www.clickykeyboards.com/product/service-model-m-keyboard-cleaning-and-disassembly-reassembly-repair/](https://www.clickykeyboards.com/product/service-model-m-keyboard-cleaning-and-disassembly-reassembly-repair/) There's a link there to step by step photos of the restoration process. (Not a shill for Big Keyboard, just nerdy.)
View on Redditopen_in_new