deskthority

The recycling centre got a pallet of about 400 Dell keyboards, brand new in box, various models and of all kinds of languages (UK, GER, SWE/FIN, NOR, FR, USIL, EU, DUT, SPA etc.). Ones with card readers, volume buttons, wireless desktops, wrist supports, trackballs etc, or just vanilla ones. Unfortunately they were pretty much all too old for the recycling centre to resell (PS/2) and too new for me (rubber domes) to be worth much. Still, I figured I could really use the boxes on the bigger models though, as I'm boxing up my boards to keep them in as good a condition as possible.

I volunteered to go through the pallet for them and separate out the ones they could resell as it would've taken them quite a while to sort through them, especially to see which would've been worth anything to them. In return I could take anything I wanted.

Fortunately, apart from about two dozen very nice boxes including one big enough to actually hold the F122 (just barely!) I got what I had some small hope I'd find among the boxes:





Two black Dell AT102Ws, brand new in their original box! Includes cellophane, "manual" and everything! I'd hoped to get one of these for a while, and it's nice to find two of them now in perfect condition!



Of course this being a foreign language pallet mostly they were both German-layout. Which is still ISO, at least. However, to de-Germanify them, I replaced the alphanumeric and function keys with the dyesub PBT ones from my broken Alps AT102, as those were still virgin white of course:







Now, just the Num ▼, ▼ and Strg buttons as well as the model sticker betray this was actually once a German board .

Although they're new, I couldn't resist opening it up to see when it was made, as I figured it could be a pretty late one considering the rest of the pallet. Turns out it's from 2000, making it my second-youngest Alps board.



I'm keeping this one for myself, the other I might pass onto a friend for a friendly price .

Dibs .

Nice find, looks great with the dyesubs as well.

wow, very nice looking combination!

A great example of how changing the key caps can make a board look ten times better!

Where are all these wondrous recycling centres you source all these great finds from?

NIB? that is awesome, how are the switches in a new AT101W? Did they have any Russian layout ones?

Well my white ANSI AT101W from ages ago was NIB too so I'd felt it before xD . The switches feel a little stiff perhaps when new, and somewhat crisp, but otherwise much like normal. The difference between NIB black and NIB blue is pretty staggering xD .

They had no Russian keyboards there, unfortunately.

De-Germanify? Noooo. Please save it! Can I have one? ^^

If they had Swedish ones, I would be interested in one...

what a piece of junk, i used these back in the day and they had THE worst feel of a keyboard of anything i have ever used before or after it. Toss them back in the heap you found them bro. Complete waste of time unfortunately.

Curiosity wrote: ↑what a piece of junk, i used these back in the day and they had THE worst feel of a keyboard of anything i have ever used before or after it. Toss them back in the heap you found them bro. Complete waste of time unfortunately.

Would have to agree with this. Rubberdomes are nicer than those rubbish black alps

Curiosity wrote: ↑what a piece of junk, i used these back in the day and they had THE worst feel of a keyboard of anything i have ever used before or after it. Toss them back in the heap you found them bro. Complete waste of time unfortunately.

I must've had over a dozen of these keyboards over time, I'm well familiar with them xD . Tbh even if you don't like the switches, the case and caps are pretty nice to have . Black Alps caps are pretty rare.

photekq wrote: ↑

Curiosity wrote: ↑what a piece of junk, i used these back in the day and they had THE worst feel of a keyboard of anything i have ever used before or after it. Toss them back in the heap you found them bro. Complete waste of time unfortunately.

Would have to agree with this. Rubberdomes are nicer than those rubbish black alps

photekq and Chyros, apparently that post by Curiosity is just a sort of private revenge:
keyboards-f2/powerstation-by-kea-model- ... 13485.html

Or its just my opinion? I thought we were allowed to have opinions.. Or are they only allowed from insiders...hmm seems like a nice organization you have going here. I stand by my opinion though they are literally garbage.

kbdfr wrote: ↑ photekq and Chyros, apparently that post by Curiosity is just a sort of private revenge:
keyboards-f2/powerstation-by-kea-model- ... 13485.html

Personal revenge or not I'll still have to agree! Those keyboards are not kind towards the eyes or the fingers.

Curiosity, welcome to Deskthority. I hope you'll give the site a little more time to win you over before leaving in a huff. We might be elitist, but can you name an online forum that isn't? Personally, I think our brand of elitism is much better than anyone else's

photekq wrote: ↑
Rubberdomes are nicer than those rubbish black alps

I have been through quite a few of these, including one that I got with a new Dell system in the 1990s, and I have experienced a wide spectrum of quality (with my original still feeling good after quite a bit of wear).

However, about 2-3 years ago I got one from a salvage shop that was really, truly horrible, and I finally understood how bad they can really be.

Curiosity wrote: ↑Or its just my opinion? I thought we were allowed to have opinions.. Or are they only allowed from insiders...hmm seems like a nice organization you have going here. I stand by my opinion though they are literally garbage.

Of course you are allowed to have your opinion which is all that it remains no more no less. You joined yesterday, have less then ten posts and have managed to piss off a few people in this time. Decent effort.
https://geekhack.org

Curiosity wrote: ↑[…] hmm seems like a nice organization you have going here. […]

Please do not slam the door when leaving this awful place.

Wait so when opinions aren't to your liking you kick new people out? until you can form a club of elitist circle jerkers? So you're proving my point right?

btw these Dell keyboards needed to end up in the recycling heap where they belonged. Sorry if my opinion didn't stroke your ego enough

Curiosity wrote: ↑Wait so when opinions aren't to your liking you kick new people out?

No.

Curiosity wrote: ↑until you can form a club of elitist circle jerkers?

No too much work.

Curiosity wrote: ↑So you're proving my point right?

No.

Curiosity wrote: ↑btw these Dell keyboards needed to end up in the recycling heap where they belonged. Sorry if my opinion didn't stroke your ego enough

No because I could turn these into cash and buy Mitsumi miniature mechanical switches!

This thread seems to deserve its name: "Another fun find"
And I don’t mean Chyros’ Dell boards

Curiosity wrote: ↑
Dell keyboards needed to end up in the recycling heap

Dell 101s are quite sturdy and well-built keyboards, in straight-ANSI or ISO layout without weirdness.

I have 2 (black + beige cases with key caps installed in opposing colors) into which I have transplanted other Alps switches and they are some of my primary workhorses. My black case/beige+pearl keys/orange Alps switches is the one that sits at my station and gets used regularly, even with me being the rabid Model F evangelist that I am.

I find the alps switches are TOO hard to press... they literally hurt my fingers after typing on them for 2 seconds. Literally hurt. I must have the hands of a 10 year old girl. Darn

nevertheless the keyboard does suck tho

Curiosity wrote: ↑
I find the alps switches are TOO hard to press... they literally hurt my fingers after typing on them for 2 seconds.

You must have gotten a particularly bad specimen. Dust and grit can increase friction significantly.

Force requirements for various Alps switches are generally in line with all the other major switches.

was brand new in box. terrible. and i used a plenty

FWIW, I'd take black Alps over yellow mini Mitsumis any day .

Curiosity, you might like the video I'm going to post this weekend :p . Couldn't be better timed, this!

NIB black Alps can actually be really nice. I've got some in my NeXT board. They're entirely different to what my Dell AT102Ws were like.

Chyros wrote: ↑FWIW, I'd take black Alps over yellow mini Mitsumis any day .

Curiosity, you might like the video I'm going to post this weekend :p . Couldn't be better timed, this!

I hope you don't type your fingers to the bone using those cheapo dells. Yuck