IBM Numeric Keypad

litster · 28 Jul 2011, 06:23

Received this today. Haven't played with it yet. But it is rubber dome. Not sure how rare this might be, but I am glad I have one

. It comes with a RJ45-to-PS/2 cable. But the num pad doesn't work through that cable and a PS/2-to-USB converter. I will have to try it with a PS/2 male-to-male cable (using the PS/2 port instead of RJ45 port) when I find one.

I wouldn't know about this num pad if I didn't read about it on keyboardporn.com. Thank you for that, Sixty!

002 · 28 Jul 2011, 11:02

Having never typed on an IBM board with rubber domes, how do they stack up against Topre?
Does an IBM rubber dome board feel any better than your standard fare OEM crap that's produced nowadays?

laggy-gaga · 28 Jul 2011, 11:04

I thought that is a buckling spring
turns out rubber dome
but still a good find
I only saw it on sixty's website and KBMania..
how much u spent on it?

litster · 28 Jul 2011, 16:00

It feels a lot more "crunchy" than Topre. I like the feel. I paid $20 shipped.

Pylon · 28 Jul 2011, 21:09

That's probably buckling rubber sleeve similar to the ones on the M4s.

IBM had a bunch of rubber dome with different feels. There's the rubber dome Ms, the rubber sleeve M4's, the Chicony boards (KB-3923, KB-8923, KB-9930, several others) I have a KB-9930 in front of me with okayish feel), the NMB-oem'd Space Saver II, etc. Most of them probably feel different

litster · 28 Jul 2011, 22:56

If M4 uses the same rubber sleeves, I may have to get an M4. I like how the numpad feels.

daedalus · 28 Jul 2011, 23:27

I have a black, US layout M4-1 if you are interested.

As for the item pictured, it's a numpad for the IBM PS/2 L40 laptop. It attached to the mouse port of the laptop, and had a pass-through for the L40's optional mouse, which was a bizarre contraption that could covert between trackball and conventional mouse.

litster · 29 Jul 2011, 18:42

daedalus wrote:I have a black, US layout M4-1 if you are interested.

As for the item pictured, it's a numpad for the IBM PS/2 L40 laptop. It attached to the mouse port of the laptop, and had a pass-through for the L40's optional mouse, which was a bizarre contraption that could covert between trackball and conventional mouse.

That is good to know. Is it possible to make it work on a modern PC? Mine doesn't work through the blue cube.

ripster · 30 Jul 2011, 19:31

litster wrote:If M4 uses the same rubber sleeves, I may have to get an M4. I like how the numpad feels.

They are actually pretty nice for a rubber dome.

Pull a key and look for this.

litster · 30 Jul 2011, 19:35

Yep, my numpad looks exactly like your M4. Same rubber sleeves. Too bad I don't think the numpad can be used with a regular PS/2 port.

ripster · 30 Jul 2011, 20:38

Yep. Just like the M4 numpad has a RJ type connector. The main keyboard controller does all the work.

webwit · 30 Jul 2011, 22:30

I think the M4 sucks big time. Rubber dome + low travel = doorstop.

7bit · 30 Jul 2011, 22:32

webwit wrote:I think the M4 sucks big time. Rubber dome + low travel = doorstop.

What about replacing the rubberdomes with springs?

webwit · 30 Jul 2011, 22:36

It would still suck!

webwit · 30 Jul 2011, 22:38

Nr. 1 at google images for "doorstop" is this poor ZX81, with possibly the worst computer keyboard ever made.

laggy-gaga · 31 Jul 2011, 04:51

This one ends soon
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... K:MEWAX:IT