Great/Interesting Finds

[LewisR]

Yeah... you need a functional S/370 to use this in the original context though.

I've got one of those laying around here somewhere.

[y11971alex]

Yeah... you need a functional S/370 to use this in the original context though.

I've got one of those laying around here somewhere.

I doubt that. If you really had one, you wouldn't need to look for it.

[LewisR]

Yeah... you need a functional S/370 to use this in the original context though.

I've got one of those laying around here somewhere.

I doubt that. If you really had one, you wouldn't need to look for it.

It's somewhere among my vast real estate fortune. I've got Trump kind of money, you know? These old mainframes are small potatoes; got dozens of 'em.

[emdude]

You are probably too deep into the hobby if you've needed to file for bankruptcy six times..

[photekq]

This one went for a song...

http://page17.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/a ... v467213764

[Firebolt1914]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-IBM-DIS ... SwARZXnpZA

[alh84001]

Cat picture probably won't help with this one

[Slom]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-IBM-DIS ... SwARZXnpZA

If you are more into ISO:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Schreibsystem-IB ... 1933399453

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nice Siemens PC with keyboard (edit: apparently rubberdome)
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Siemens-PCD-2-PC ... 1622146186

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Rustmaster XT Bigfoot
http://www.ebay.de/itm/131894958031

[Touch_It]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-IBM-DIS ... SwARZXnpZA

oh man. My ideal display writer layout. Might have to watch this closely.

[alh84001]

(Shipped only within the U.S., unfortunately...)

GE/Marquette (Unicomp) medical Model M's – $66 shipped OBO

Did anyone here get some of these? Wondering what the accepted price was.

Rustmaster XT
http://www.ebay.de/itm/131894958031

Those are bigfoots, not XTs. A bit more complicated to convert.

[kbdfr]

(Shipped only within the U.S., unfortunately...)

GE/Marquette (Unicomp) medical Model M's – $66 shipped OBO

Did anyone here get some of these? Wondering what the accepted price was. […]

There are tools allowing to retrieve this info:

Spoiler:

http://www.marktplatz-tools.de/besterpreis.php
Enter item number and press Enter
Click "Besten Preis jetzt anschauen!"
The tool opens the eBay "Best offer" page already completed with the best offer.

In this case, $40 each for 4 pcs.

[OleVoip]

nice Siemens PC with keyboard
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Siemens-PCD-2-PC ... 1622146186

While there are nice PCD-2 keyboards that look almost identical and are mechanical, this one has rubber domes.

[alh84001]

There are tools allowing to retrieve this info:

Spoiler:

http://www.marktplatz-tools.de/besterpreis.php

Thanks. That is a useful page.

[alienman82]

removed.

[Touch_It]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-IBM-DIS ... SwARZXnpZA

oh man. My ideal display writer layout. Might have to watch this closely.

is this a Beanspring board?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes it is.

[Slom]

nice Siemens PC with keyboard
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Siemens-PCD-2-PC ... 1622146186

While there are nice PCD-2 keyboards that look almost identical and are mechanical, this one has rubber domes.

Thanks for the info. Is there a way to tell them apart?

[elecplus]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-IBM-DIS ... SwARZXnpZA

Same seller has some really nasty TRS-80 keyboards too.

[atrere]

If that beam spring stays low, I'm tempted to bid on it, coat it in black plastidip, replace most of the keys with black Selectric II caps, and call it "The Orca".

[Ander]

Re Unicomp GE/Marquette Model M's (sorry, I can't see a way to link to particular posts here...)

Nice find, but what's that, an advertisment? ... I need one of these? :lol:

What I actually said was, "If you care about IBM-style MKs, you need one of these." It was just a way to say, "If you collect buckling-spring boards, you may want one of these, since they're unique." It wasn't an "advertisement", any more than any of the other things people post about here. I'm not the seller, and I have no financial interest in these boards; I just thought you might like to know about them.

I prefer APL legends :)

Then you should get one with those instead, shouldn't you? This is a different kind of board, for a different purpose... Funny how that works, isn't it?

Such nice keycaps. The only thing I'm wondering is why that "TAB" key is in all caps :)

Who knows? But it must have been a specific request. It's just one of the things that makes KBs interesting—especially to people like us who are fascinated by small, precise details.

They rejected my $25 low-ball immediately BTW.

I can't blame them... These are priced the same as ordinary Model M's, so they're already a pretty good deal... That's why I posted here about them (which, for some reason, I'm starting to regret).

Wow, a very rousing.. erm, advertisement. I was almost sold on it.. almost. :)

Look, however you respond to something like this is up to you. I don't know why you guys got this idea I was "advertising" anything; I was just being enthusiastic about something I found cool, and taking some of my own time to post about it here in case anyone else found it interesting. If you want to discourage us from doing that, just keep saying those kinds of things, and we'll eventually stop.

Early Unicomp keyboards are certainly very nice, shame they can't be bothered to make anything like this these days.

Indeed, these were made shortly after Unicomp took over Lexmark's production line, and were still producing KBs to those standards.

You have to remember that the original IBM Model M's sold for hundreds of dollars each—in '80s and '90s dollars. The boards Unicomp makes and sells now are under $100. They're still great boards, but obviously some design concessions were necessary—especially considering that Unicomp continues to make their products domestically, rather than farming out their labor to Asia—or they'd soon be out of business.

Does it really say "Fick" on the H key? Now that could be a reason to order one :D

Yes, the famous Fick key. Beats me what it means... I guess you'd have to track down a manual, or a medical technician who used one of these.

[emdude]

Re Unicomp GE/Marquette Model M's (sorry, I can't see a way to link to particular posts here...)

Wow, a very rousing.. erm, advertisement. I was almost sold on it.. almost.

Look, however you respond to something like this is up to you. I don't know why you guys got this idea I was "advertising" anything; I was just being enthusiastic about something I found cool, and taking some of my own time to post about it here in case anyone else found it interesting. If you want to discourage us from doing that, just keep saying those kinds of things, and we'll eventually stop.

You are right, that was a rude thing to say. I apologize.

[ohaimark]

These are all optical keyboards:
http://www.electronickeyboards.com

Apparently they use an IR sensor matrix. I'm guessing that typing on them is similar to using a touch screen. And God forbid you hover your fingers over the keys.

[ramnes]

This one went for a song...

http://page17.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/a ... v467213764

[gogusrl]

At least it wasn't a SAU

[OleVoip]

nice Siemens PC with keyboard
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Siemens-PCD-2-PC ... 1622146186

While there are nice PCD-2 keyboards that look almost identical and are mechanical, this one has rubber domes.

Thanks for the info. Is there a way to tell them apart?

On Siemens and Tandberg boards of the 1980s and 90s, various mechanisms can be found underneath keycaps that look exactly like Siemens STB caps. While the caps are identical in colour and outer shape, the font used for labelling the keys allows for quick recognition:

Fonts on STB-shape keycaps: DIN 1451:1951 (top), Univers, Helvetica, Neuzeit S heavy (bottom)

Siemens-caps-fonts.png (9 KiB) Viewed 6448 times

Caps labelled in Univers are lasered, almost always there are rubberdomes underneath. Some exceptions can be identified by the LED holes in some of their keycaps (cf. www.ebay.com/itm/262522342144), whereas a grid pattern of ridges that shows through the gaps between the keys clearly marks rubberdomes. Sometimes a photo needs to be filtered such that the ridges become visible:

After filtering, ridges can be seen on the board referenced by slom

rubberdome-ridges.png (19.17 KiB) Viewed 6448 times

With respect to PCD-2 boards, however, things are simple: the mechanical ones have DIN 1451 lettering.

[larryniven]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/112079867737

Model M with APL caps?

[lot_lizard]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/112079867737

Model M with APL caps?

Those smell like Hooleon or the like to me. The company has been around since the mid-80s, and that font face and weight looks familiar. The X, S, G, Numpad, etc... Just a touch off


http://shop.hooleon.com

[uncletobai]

Televideo vintage computer

https://www.willhaben.at/iad/kaufen-und ... 169592820/

[ohaimark]

JIS layout Panasonic:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-PC-Panaso ... 1701421176

[//gainsborough]

JIS layout Panasonic:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-PC-Panaso ... 1701421176

I came here to post this. I can't find any information about the board though.

edit: I think it's this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fujitsu-fm-Town ... 51e81d97f5

[snuci]

JIS layout Panasonic:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-PC-Panaso ... 1701421176

I came here to post this. I can't find any information about the board though.

edit: I think it's this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fujitsu-fm-Town ... 51e81d97f5

There's no hope it's the same a Fujitsu FM Towns keyboard and I'm fairly certain it's a rubber dome but my bid at $20 is worth finding out