Keyboard War - IBM AT vs Model M (or Spacesaver)

[Raven]

I just modded a Mitsuba case, which is a clone of the IBM AT case, and it had a i386 board in it running Win3x. It's the only case I owned that's that old-looking (subjective, I suppose) with mounting holes that happen to line up with some MicroATX, so I had my father help me and we modded the thing to accept the new board. As I sit in front of my Core 2 Duo AT typing on my Model M Spacesaver, I am curious whether the IBM AT (for the 5160) keyboard would be better with it. I know it would be slightly less ordinary to type on due to the layout, but I can get over that pretty fast.

What I want to know is what are your opinions? The AT is probably more authentic with the AT-like case, but the Spacesaver takes up less room (I also have non-Spacesavers if you have arguments in favor of those, of various ages).. There are many things like these to consider, so I thought I'd see what the masses of the forum have to say! :D

Also, apologies if I chose the wrong place for this, but I really wasn't sure where an opinion-based thread about keyboards from these eras went, but since the keyboards went to 286-486 machines, I thought this fairly appropriate.

Thanks!

Edit: I've been using my Spacesaver for a long time, so while I let this thread roll I'll give the AT a spin - it's clickier than the Model Ms, which I did not recall. The XT is even clickier, but nobody will make me an adapter to AT, damnit.

 

[tezza]

Well, I guess it all depends on what you're going for. Is it appearence?

The original reason for the mod was because the case looked old (hence you liked that vintage look presumably..which is certainly a reason I can understand). A vintage AT keyboard would add to the authentic look.

Tez

 

[Raven]

I should mention that while functionally it's an IBM AT clone, it doesn't have the IBM look to it, the case cover is styled differently so no matter what keyboard I use it won't match flawlessly.