Great/Interesting Finds

[cumwagondeluxe]

So the guy who offered $335 on that K9AX Blue alps board backed out and I have a chance to grab it now for $300, ~$320 IIRC shipped to Canada.

Do I do it? Seems to be in pretty good condition, but I'm more interested in just getting any good condition blue alps board than some rare one, so not sure if I should wait and hope that something clean and more common comes up for like <=$200~$250 or not. Given that the KB101 above sold for $350 shipped and it seems to be in similar condition to this K9AX, I'm kinda worried that there might be a significant rise in blue alps board prices on the horizon this year..

[seebart]

So the guy who offered $335 on that K9AX Blue alps board backed out and I have a chance to grab it now for $300, ~$320 IIRC shipped to Canada.

Do I do it? Seems to be in pretty good condition, but I'm more interested in just getting any good condition blue alps board than some rare one, so not sure if I should wait and hope that something clean and more common comes up for like <=$200~$250 or not. Given that the KB101 above sold for $350 shipped and it seems to be in similar condition to this K9AX, I'm kinda worried that there might be a significant rise in blue alps board prices on the horizon this year..

Unless you know that those blue Alps are in really good condition that's a lot of $$$ for one keyboard! Remember really worn Alps SKCM cannot be rejuvenated. Cleaned and lubed yes, but that does not make them new.

[Khronokrator]

No sure if this has been discussed here or not. I had a pretty bad experience buying keyboards from him.

I purchased a keyboard advertised as having APL keycaps. He sent a regular Model F, and did not reply emails for more than two weeks that I had to open a case on ebay against him. He then said he is willing to do an exchange, and then disappeared for another two weeks, citing that he had asthma, and had a hard time breathing. He also mentioned he is a good friend of Cindy, etc... In the end, the exchange never happened.

I'm not sure how true him claims are. Just beware...

This is pretty late, but I had the exact same experience, and it probably happened around the same time as yours. While I did eventually get a keyboard with APL keycaps, the one I received has defective 8, 0, and = keys on the top row. Taking off the caps reveals that the springs under those keys are slightly smaller than the ones on the other keys, leading me to suspect they were damaged and replaced with Model M style springs as part of their 'refurbishment.'

I don't know enough about buckling springs to even know how to fix this sort of thing, so I just ate the loss and have lived with it. To be honest, $240 was not worth it just for a set of keycaps you can buy from Unicomp for $35 and stick on any Model M or F lying around.

Caveat emptor, would not recommend.

[cumwagondeluxe]

So the guy who offered $335 on that K9AX Blue alps board backed out and I have a chance to grab it now for $300, ~$320 IIRC shipped to Canada.

Do I do it? Seems to be in pretty good condition, but I'm more interested in just getting any good condition blue alps board than some rare one, so not sure if I should wait and hope that something clean and more common comes up for like <=$200~$250 or not. Given that the KB101 above sold for $350 shipped and it seems to be in similar condition to this K9AX, I'm kinda worried that there might be a significant rise in blue alps board prices on the horizon this year..

Unless you know that those blue Alps are in really good condition that's a lot of $$$ for one keyboard! Remember really worn Alps SKCM cannot be rejuvenated. Cleaned and lubed yes, but that does not make them new.

They seem to be in OK condition - could probably use a good cleaning/dusting though. If you guys think it shouldn't be overly difficult to find switches in similar or better condition for a better price in the next year I'll probably just pass on this, though.

Pics for reference:
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5UAAAOSwo ... -l1600.jpg Switch itself looks good, just some dust/hair and what seems to be a bit of rust on the plate

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PFYAAOSwN ... -l1600.jpg Board has some stains/yellowing in places, and there's been some sort of serial number engraved into the top of the keyboard but the keycaps look pretty good and doesn't seem like it'd be hard to clean.

[Khronokrator]

I'd beware of all that dust. If there's that much dust around the switch, there's probably an equal amount of dust *inside* of it.

And Alps switches do not respond well to dust, at all.

[seebart]

If you guys think it shouldn't be overly difficult to find switches in similar or better condition for a better price in the next year I'll probably just pass on this, though.

I never said that, someone give cumwagondeluxe a second opinion!

No sure if this has been discussed here or not. I had a pretty bad experience buying keyboards from him.

I purchased a keyboard advertised as having APL keycaps. He sent a regular Model F, and did not reply emails for more than two weeks that I had to open a case on ebay against him. He then said he is willing to do an exchange, and then disappeared for another two weeks, citing that he had asthma, and had a hard time breathing. He also mentioned he is a good friend of Cindy, etc... In the end, the exchange never happened.

I'm not sure how true him claims are. Just beware...

This is pretty late, but I had the exact same experience, and it probably happened around the same time as yours. While I did eventually get a keyboard with APL keycaps, the one I received has defective 8, 0, and = keys on the top row. Taking off the caps reveals that the springs under those keys are slightly smaller than the ones on the other keys, leading me to suspect they were damaged and replaced with Model M style springs as part of their 'refurbishment.'

I don't know enough about buckling springs to even know how to fix this sort of thing, so I just ate the loss and have lived with it. To be honest, $240 was not worth it just for a set of keycaps you can buy from Unicomp for $35 and stick on any Model M or F lying around.

Caveat emptor, would not recommend.

Sounds like a rip-off to me.

[cumwagondeluxe]

If you guys think it shouldn't be overly difficult to find switches in similar or better condition for a better price in the next year I'll probably just pass on this, though.

I never said that, someone give cumwagondeluxe a second opinion!

Yeah, that was me fishing around for some more opinions :p I'm mostly leaning towards letting it go but I'm half waiting for one of the blue alps expert guys to come in and confirm before 100% deciding not to get it. Plus, I'm probably gonna buy one of those Model F replicas this month so that gives me an excuse to put the ~$300 I'd spend on this towards that instead and pretend like I saved money (lol).

[Harshmallow]

If you guys think it shouldn't be overly difficult to find switches in similar or better condition for a better price in the next year I'll probably just pass on this, though.

I never said that, someone give cumwagondeluxe a second opinion!

Yeah, that was me fishing around for some more opinions :p I'm mostly leaning towards letting it go but I'm half waiting for one of the blue alps expert guys to come in and confirm before 100% deciding not to get it. Plus, I'm probably gonna buy one of those Model F replicas this month so that gives me an excuse to put the ~$300 I'd spend on this towards that instead and pretend like I saved money (lol).

I'm not an expert but I'll give you my opinion as I own both very clean and dirty Alps (and even a NOS one) boards and have been looking for Blue Alps keyboards for a while myself. I initially went a little crazy with it but stopped focusing so hard on one type of board/switch - that shit just convinces you to pay more than the keyboard probably cost originally for a feeling that is going to be very hard to match up to when it finally arrives...and with my luck, I'd spot an amazing deal for one right after having bought that board for an exorbitant price.

What Seebart is getting at is important - Alps switches do not handle heavy wearing and dirt well at all. I just cleaned out a great looking Focus FK-5001 with pine white alps and opened every switch to get rid of every spec of dirt/dust. It still wasn't nearly the same as my NTC with NOS white alps. It looked in great condition on the surface and didn't even have too much dust under the plate - it was just heavily worn and the switches felt like crap, binding at anything but on-centre presses. Luckily I got that keyboard for $10 + $30 shipping on ebay, but still...it's just an inherent risk you take with every used purchase. Is the risk work $300? For blue alps? IMHO...no. That money would be much better spent on the upcoming and future legendary-status model F's Ellipse is working on. I fucking love my model F AT. The keys just feel perfectly weighted, crisp and the click is way better than the M.

My FK-5001, for reference. And the calculator works with absolutely no dead cells on the screen at all! Such a shame...but I'm keeping it for a future switch replacement regardless. I love the layout and look of this board...the switches just feel kinda sticky and not smooth anymore.

20170214_173605.jpg (4.29 MiB) Viewed 5485 times

20170205_173407.jpg (3.8 MiB) Viewed 5485 times

[Hypersphere]

If you guys think it shouldn't be overly difficult to find switches in similar or better condition for a better price in the next year I'll probably just pass on this, though.

I never said that, someone give cumwagondeluxe a second opinion!

Yeah, that was me fishing around for some more opinions :p I'm mostly leaning towards letting it go but I'm half waiting for one of the blue alps expert guys to come in and confirm before 100% deciding not to get it. Plus, I'm probably gonna buy one of those Model F replicas this month so that gives me an excuse to put the ~$300 I'd spend on this towards that instead and pretend like I saved money (lol).

If your choice is between an expensive blue Alps board in unknown condition vs. an Ellipse Model F, I would go with the Model F. Regarding blue Alps, if you don't require a standard-layout ANSI board, you might wait for something like a Leading Edge DC-2014 in excellent condition to appear on eBay or in the DT or GH classifieds. It seems that standard-layout ANSI blue Alps boards (such as the Leading Edge DC-3014) come up infrequently and the prices have been escalating. I've also been finding out the hard way that Alps boards in less than excellent shape often have some flaky switches, either unresponsive or chattering.

[Khronokrator]

+1 to everything that Harshmallow said. I actually had the same experience with an FK-5001 last month myself; I got it for a good price on eBay and though the board itself is in materially good shape (minus yellowing on the keys themselves) the typing experience is pretty awful. Lots of binding, and an overall 'sticky' feeling that makes the act of typing singularly unpleasant. There's also lots of corrosion spots on the backplate.

Alps switches in general do not respond well to the steady infiltration of dust and dirt. Generally the best indicator of 'good switch' candidacy (or lack thereof), IMO, is the presence of dust or corrosion on the metal backplate on the seller's ebay pics, which makes me hesitant about that $300 Blue Alps keyboard.

I have an almost mint condition Omnikey Ultra T that I snagged for a great deal last summer thanks to Chyros, and it's probably the best Alps keyboard out of the dozen+ that I own. Even though the switches aren't Blue Alps, they're mint condition pine White Alps and are a pleasure to type on. In fact, lately I've been searching for a new daily driver as I'm afraid of using the keyboard *too* much, if that makes sense.

[cumwagondeluxe]

Thanks for the help guys Definitely gonna sit tight and join the Model F group buy instead.

Also, generally speaking, it seems like you can get some really nice deals on some of the more common but still desirable SKCM/SKCL switches. Other than the impossible-to-get neon green/striped amber/etc alps and blue alps, is it ever worth paying more than like $100USD for e.g. SKCL greens, SKCM whites, SKCM oranges, etc. in good condition or is it a pretty safe bet that any of those sorts of switches will pop up in great condition for cheapsies every so often?

[//gainsborough]

terminal M122 for $20!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1990-IB ... SwdGFYo23L

[Chyros]

I'm not an expert but I'll give you my opinion as I own both very clean and dirty Alps (and even a NOS one) boards and have been looking for Blue Alps keyboards for a while myself. I initially went a little crazy with it but stopped focusing so hard on one type of board/switch - that shit just convinces you to pay more than the keyboard probably cost originally for a feeling that is going to be very hard to match up to when it finally arrives...and with my luck, I'd spot an amazing deal for one right after having bought that board for an exorbitant price.

What Seebart is getting at is important - Alps switches do not handle heavy wearing and dirt well at all. I just cleaned out a great looking Focus FK-5001 with pine white alps and opened every switch to get rid of every spec of dirt/dust. It still wasn't nearly the same as my NTC with NOS white alps. It looked in great condition on the surface and didn't even have too much dust under the plate - it was just heavily worn and the switches felt like crap, binding at anything but on-centre presses. Luckily I got that keyboard for $10 + $30 shipping on ebay, but still...it's just an inherent risk you take with every used purchase. Is the risk work $300? For blue alps? IMHO...no. That money would be much better spent on the upcoming and future legendary-status model F's Ellipse is working on. I fucking love my model F AT. The keys just feel perfectly weighted, crisp and the click is way better than the M.

My FK-5001, for reference. And the calculator works with absolutely no dead cells on the screen at all! Such a shame...but I'm keeping it for a future switch replacement regardless. I love the layout and look of this board...the switches just feel kinda sticky and not smooth anymore.

20170214_173605.jpg

20170205_173407.jpg

I agree. Even though blue Alps are my favourite switch, I wouldn't put that much money on a GAMBLE that they might be nice ones. If you know they're perfect, it's maybe worth a more serious consideration, but gambling with Alps is an old tale that doesn't often end well. A Model F gives one an, in my opinion, similarly great experience, with a much better success rate.

By the way, that 5001 looks gorgeous. They're such great-looking boards!

[mecano]

I'm happy to play Kellyanne Conway today, but not in support of Ivanka Trump

sixty, co-founder of Deskthority, is again selling some stuff on eBay.

"Go buy [sixty]'s stuff […] I'm going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online."

All (nearly) gone already! Time to decide me to write to him about shipping and pufff! Damn would have been great to get some vintage blacks :/

[marijan]

BTC-5060 for 37EUR
http://www.ebay.de/itm/BTC-5060-XT-Tast ... Sw32lYnd-5

[jellybelly]

There is also a btc 5060 on the dutch ebay for 35 euro:

http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/computers-e ... e=lr&pos=1

[seebart]

There is also a btc 5060 on the dutch ebay for 35 euro:

http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/computers-e ... e=lr&pos=1

Vintage toetsenbord BTC-5060 Cherry MX

Would seriously impress me if that had Cherry MX switches.

[jellybelly]

There is also a btc 5060 on the dutch ebay for 35 euro:

http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/computers-e ... e=lr&pos=1

Vintage toetsenbord BTC-5060 Cherry MX

Would seriously impress me if that had Cherry MX switches.

This is what is said below:

A clean BTC-5060. Linear BTC foam and foil switches on Cherry MX mounts.
Which ofcourse seems accurate

[seebart]

Of course, or just call it multi-mount-magic.

That seller Grote has been selling keyboards on marktplaats for years I wonder what his collection looks like.

[Ratfink]

Datahand, auction starting at a kilobuck: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-DataHan ... Swx6pYnMxW

[//gainsborough]

F AT for $150 OBO

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-IBM-Per ... Sw3v5YpPQ5

[Chyros]

Datahand, auction starting at a kilobuck: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-DataHan ... Swx6pYnMxW

Haha I'd love to do a review on one of them someday xD . I don't really do ergo stuff at all, but this seems so crazy that I'd love to show one of these in a video xD .

[cumwagondeluxe]

Was going to buy that NOS M0110 for like $100ish shipped when I got home from work today after it being up for like 2 or 3 weeks but somebody snagged it literally during my walk home, and all the other really good condition ones are waaay overpriced.. feelsbatman. Should be able to find another one for not too much though, as they seem fairly common.

On the other hand, these crazy ergo boards just got listed: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Comfort-Keyboard ... fresh=true for not too much more. Seems to be some sort of dome with slider, although I'm not really experienced enough to identify which. If it's BTC though, somebody buy it because I'm pretty tempted to and I should really be putting the money aside so I can snipe one of those split uTRONs when it comes up..

Also, bought this thing: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/302223437580 for a pretty decent price (I think?). Surprised it didn't get posted here since it was up for a solid week or two!

[Wodan]

PSA: THIS IS NOT A NIXIE KEYBOARD!!!
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Nixdorf-Computer ... Sw4A5YpEVe

When looking at the pictures of the auction you can't see a dark/brown pcb between the keycaps. Instead there seems to be something light-grey/steel under the keycaps. Please compare this with my non-Nixie Nixdorf keyboard:


It's a nice keyboard but DOESN'T HAVE NIXIE SWITCHES!!!

[seebart]

Wodan is right, they are magnetic switches with a very strange slider. in fact I might buy this if it stays low, I like these magentic Nixdorfs!

Here are the switches, you can see the light metal plate here also:

keyboards-f2/nixdorf-sm-8890-t14370.html?hilit=nixdorf

wiki/Nixdorf_SM_8890

Here is HaaTa's same keyboard:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/triplehaa ... 956847424/

The keyboard you want either has a brown or green PCB, not a light plate:

keyboards-f2/nixdorf-ba80-8870-lfinr-65 ... it=nixdorf

In fact it's a very lucky coincidence the seller took a flash picture at that angle or we would not be able to see that light plate and this would go $$$.

[Chyros]

Only in a sad, sad world would people consider snagging a magnetic valve keyboard "bad luck" compared to a bunch of MX switches :p . They're a fun-looking switch, and can't go wrong with magnetic valve! Thanks for the analysis though, this is good to know.

[Wodan]

Only in a sad, sad world would people consider snagging a magnetic valve keyboard "bad luck" compared to a bunch of MX switches :p . They're a fun-looking switch, and can't go wrong with magnetic valve! Thanks for the analysis though, this is good to know.

I'll gladly trade you my magnetic valve keyboard for a nixie board when you find one

[Chyros]

Only in a sad, sad world would people consider snagging a magnetic valve keyboard "bad luck" compared to a bunch of MX switches :p . They're a fun-looking switch, and can't go wrong with magnetic valve! Thanks for the analysis though, this is good to know.

I'll gladly trade you my magnetic valve keyboard for a nixie board when you find one

I don't live in Germany so you're much more likely to find one than I am, but I'll keep the offer in mind :p .

[seebart]

Only in a sad, sad world would people consider snagging a magnetic valve keyboard "bad luck" compared to a bunch of MX switches :p . They're a fun-looking switch, and can't go wrong with magnetic valve! Thanks for the analysis though, this is good to know.

You and me are on the same page but we know all about the nixie hype that is equal to or beyond the blue Alps hype. That's reality, no more. It will be interesting to see how this auction goes.

[Chyros]

Only in a sad, sad world would people consider snagging a magnetic valve keyboard "bad luck" compared to a bunch of MX switches :p . They're a fun-looking switch, and can't go wrong with magnetic valve! Thanks for the analysis though, this is good to know.

You and me are on the same page but we know all about the nixie hype that is equal to or beyond the blue Alps hype. That's reality, no more. It will be interesting to see how this auction goes.

Definitely! Could you pass the popcorn please? 8)