Great/Interesting Finds

[Redmaus]

Yeah that IBM board looks awesome, but the shipping really kills it for me too.

How do those switches compare to buckling spring?

[ne0phyte]

No idea what the green alps feel like, but I'd love to try them

[seebart]

You mean green Alps SKCC? Different switch from Alps SKCL. Both linear. Alps SKCC are an older series.

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCL/SKCM_series

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCC_series

[mr_a500]

The green "T" ALPS (SKCC) are very smooth and light - one of my favourite linear switches. The keyboard is super-pingy though. It can drive you insane if that sort of thing bothers you.

Shipping to Canada is fairly high too - otherwise I'd get one or two more.

[seebart]

I'd love one of those IBM Alps boards, pingy or not. Apart from the shipping the price is good.

[bazh]

checking back the thread after some times only to find I just missed the 1800 deal

[SL89]

checking back the thread after some times only to find I just missed the 1800 deal

I came here to say this, I feel the pain as well

[ramnes]

Portable IBM XT keyboard
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-5155-Origin ... 1703612392

Seriously guys, 31$?

[seebart]

Portable IBM XT keyboard
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-5155-Origin ... 1703612392

Seriously guys, 31$?

someone got a good deal!

[GuilleAcoustic]

Portable IBM XT keyboard
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-5155-Origin ... 1703612392

Seriously guys, 31$?

someone got a good deal!

I was the first bid, at $30, that I tempted 10s before the end of the auction ... got outbidded by one dollar 6s later.

[kbdfr]

[…] I was the first bid, at $30, that I tempted 10s before the end of the auction ... got outbidded by one dollar 6s later.

You did not get outbidded "by one dollar".
Irrespective of how much the highest bid was, it wins with "one bidding step" on top of yours.
So perhaps the highest bidder was prepared to pay way more - if that is any consolation

[GuilleAcoustic]

So perhaps the highest bidder was prepared to pay way more - if that is any consolation

That is not of any consolation ... for once, I had found a very appealing XT for a decent "price + shipping + fees" package. I was way too optimistic

[Muirium]

[…] I was the first bid, at $30, that I tempted 10s before the end of the auction ... got outbidded by one dollar 6s later.

You did not get outbidded "by one dollar".
Irrespective of how much the highest bid was, it wins with "one bidding step" on top of yours.
So perhaps the highest bidder was prepared to pay way more - if that is any consolation

Compare this with the way we sell homes here in Scotland:

• You see a property advertised for "Offers Over" a certain number of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
• You see your "solicitor" (a fancier and better paid name for "realtor" that we have here) who takes a guess at how much over that number your offer should be. He charges you for the privilege.
• You submit your one and only permitted bid in a sealed envelope. Or actually, your solicitor does. He charges you for the privilege.
• At the closing time, the seller's solicitor opens up all the submitted bids. Any which are foolishly low are discarded. The highest value one wins. This can easily be 150% of the asking price, and I've even heard of a full double.
• You lose. Your solictor calls to tell you. He charges you for the privilege.
• You wonder how much the place sold for. Your solicitor fancies a laugh and tells you. Naturally he already charged you for the privilege.
• You realise how perma-screwed you are.

I don't like ebay either. They're an effective monopoly, and act like one. But Jesus Christ, the people who come up with these systems are fine gentlemen who know how to charge you for the privilege.

[SL89]

Mu, what is worse... Massdrop or Ebay

[Muirium]

Is this open mic night?

To be fair to Massdrop, they're playing a bigger rôle in the process than Ebay does. MassDrop's a true middleman, who actually handles the logistics of getting your stuff to you. (Often incompetently, as we have seen with the European customs fiasco on Granite Round 2.) Ebay meanwhile mostly handles the logistics of swimming through all that cash they tax from the world's largest dodgy dealer community, by simply keeping their servers on.

[scottc]

But Jesus Christ, the people who come up with these systems are fine gentlemen who know how to charge you for the privilege.

I can just imagine the phone conversations:

- Yes, it went for 800,000 pounds and your bid was for 400,000.
- Thank you for letting me know.
- You're welcome. It was... my privilege.

[seebart]

[…] I was the first bid, at $30, that I tempted 10s before the end of the auction ... got outbidded by one dollar 6s later.

You did not get outbidded "by one dollar".
Irrespective of how much the highest bid was, it wins with "one bidding step" on top of yours.
So perhaps the highest bidder was prepared to pay way more - if that is any consolation

ebay sniping has become very common. Lots of software available. And of course ebay does not mind since it increases sales and therefore ebay profits.

[andrewjoy]

So perhaps the highest bidder was prepared to pay way more - if that is any consolation

That is not of any consolation ... for once, I had found a very appealing XT for a decent "price + shipping + fees" package. I was way too optimistic

salt in the wounds

i got a parts XT for less than that if you want a spare case and bottom plate you are welcome to them

the top plate of the "parts" xt was in better condition than my good one.


my point is you will get one eventually, there will always be one in a basement or garage somewhere that someone finds and sells not knowing what it is.

[GuilleAcoustic]

I guess this is how ebay works. That's why I prefer direct buys, but prices are often too high especially if you add the postage and import fees. Sadly there's not many QWERTY IBM buckling for sale, here in France. And I might be a little masochistic as I'm after an XT keyboard

my point is you will get one eventually, there will always be one in a basement or garage somewhere that someone finds and sells not knowing what it is.

Do not pops that often in France. Saw a french ISO IBM AT in january, perfect condition, for 30€ .... seller never replied to my 2 emails .

[vsev]

ISO AT, hmm I'd really like to find one too !

[Muirium]

Hey Guille, you can swap the keys around on an XT dead easy. No need to be too picky about QWERTY vs. AZERTY or QWERTZ. You can even use Model M caps to replace them, or new ones from Unicomp.

XTs aren't usually so expensive. Have a little patience and you should be able to pick one up on DT with no customs fees, and maybe even within France.

ISO AT? Far as I know, all ATs are "big ass" which is neither ISO nor ANSI. Like this:



Unless you mod them, which I have.

But Jesus Christ, the people who come up with these systems are fine gentlemen who know how to charge you for the privilege.

I can just imagine the phone conversations:

- Yes, it went for 800,000 pounds and your bid was for 400,000.
- Thank you for letting me know.
- You're welcome. It was... my privilege.

Since you get just one shot at it, a lot of bids use repeating numbers and such to try to pip the line. A friend of mine "won" his house (a decades long debt to the bank, yay!) by something like 11 pounds as I remember, because he used some actual random numbers; the sly bugger. With genius like that he should really be a solicitor.

<Awkward silence as I near the Submit Post button.>

Oh, sorry, of course. I'll write a cheque.

[scottc]

Cherry G80-0493. Not sure if it's been posted yet. Photekq, IvanIvanovich?

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Schone-alte-CHER ... 4192a2a5f4

Since you get just one shot at it, a lot of bids use repeating numbers and such to try to pip the line. A friend of mine "won" his house (a decades long debt to the bank, yay!) by something like 11 pounds as I remember, because he used some actual random numbers; the sly bugger. With genius like that he should really be a solicitor.

<Awkward silence as I near the Submit Post button.>

Oh, sorry, of course. I'll write a cheque.

Hah! That's genius. 11 pounds is a particularly slim margin.

[Muirium]

I think his place was offers over 80 thousand — he's out in the country so there's less of a multiplyer than here in town — and the second placed bid was 101,101.

Rubes!

[HzFaq]

Cherry G80-0493. Not sure if it's been posted yet. Photekq, IvanIvanovich?

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Schone-alte-CHER ... 4192a2a5f4

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Schoene-alte- ... 736wt_1399

G80-0439, I might put a cheeky snipe on this one, fair warning.

No idea why that link isn't working/is nuts but there we go. I've also cancelled my cheeky snipe .

[mr_a500]

ebay sniping has become very common.

I learned that the hard way. When I first joined eBay over a decade or so ago, I lost every damn auction I bid on - always in the last few seconds after being top bidder for days. I thought, "How the fuck can I win anything?!" That's when I turned to the dark side and started timing everything to bid in the last few seconds (tricky, because I was on dialup on my Amiga 500 at the time) - and that's when I actually started winning things.

I still like to make a token initial bid long before the end (so that I'm not a total asshole), but I wait around in those tense last few seconds to make the kill. (manually, no software)

[scottc]

Cherry G80-0493. Not sure if it's been posted yet. Photekq, IvanIvanovich?

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Schone-alte-CHER ... 4192a2a5f4

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Schoene-alte- ... 736wt_1399

G80-0439, I might put a cheeky snipe on this one, fair warning.

No idea why that link isn't working/is nuts but there we go. I've also cancelled my cheeky snipe .

Well surely my URL wins because it's less nuts Sorry for re-posting it!

Somebody buy this! I want to see inside of it, but I already have far too many keyboards that I'll never use...

[Muirium]

I still like to make a token initial bid long before the end (so that I'm not a total asshole), but I wait around in those tense last few seconds to make the kill. (manually, no software)

Hey, quit judging us in the last 5 seconds club! (One window watches the climbing bids. One window composes my own. I try to submit it with nary a heartbeat before the close.) I only bid when it's too late for anyone else to react. My hitrate's pretty good, so I suspect less people use sniping software than everyone fears.

[HzFaq]

I'm fairly sure someone has one already without a case. Can't find the thread at the moment though, heading into a meeting.

[SL89]

First thing I ever did with Android on my G1 was snipe sales on the go. I had a million timers for things...

[mr_a500]

Hey, quit judging us in the last 5 seconds club! I only bid when it's too late for anyone else to react.

Nobody can beat my ultimate snipe - a winning 1 second snipe (bid and end time were the same - does that make it 0 second?), using a 1987 Amiga 500 on 56K dialup. Now that was unbelievable timing.