Great/Interesting Finds

[kawasaki161]

As much as I hate overpriced things on ebay, $200-$300 for a good condition Model F 122 with blue sub legends seems like a standard deal now. You only see good deals on forums such as this and GH or you get lucky with an ebay seller that has no idea what he is selling.

Ebay's suggested pricing sadly ruined most of deals on ebay.
It's even worse on ebay.de where almost every beige Cherry branded keyboard is a "very rare vintage collectors piece" and around 80€. Same thing with Model Ms, etc.

[zooksman]

It is sad how extravagant eBay prices are these days. People are trying to sell terminal model Ms for upwards of $100...

[Elrick]

It is sad how extravagant eBay prices are these days. People are trying to sell terminal model Ms for upwards of $100...

Because PEOPLE are willing to pay those prices.

It's simple market demand at work, if no one paid those prices then sellers would drop them immediately.

Now you will get IBMs that were sitting on the seabed for 30 years, being dredged up and sold on Flebay for hundreds or thousands of dollars (depending upon their history).

[Gnohio]

It is sad how extravagant eBay prices are these days. People are trying to sell terminal model Ms for upwards of $100...

Because PEOPLE are willing to pay those prices.

It's simple market demand at work, if no one paid those prices then sellers would drop them immediately.

Now you will get IBMs that were sitting on the seabed for 30 years, being dredged up and sold on Flebay for hundreds or thousands of dollars (depending upon their history).

So are (assuming good condition) Model F XT's worth the $70-$90+ that I see a lot of ebay listings at? I would think they are a better current deal than F AT's or F122's if one is purely looking for Model F buckling springs. IMO the layout isnt as bad as people claim and the XT layout looks and functions like an ISO layout more than anything.

[Techno Trousers]

If you like the XT layout, then it's definitely the bargain of the Model F lineup. But try it beforehand if you can, to decide if you'll like typing on it. The reach for the shift keys alone kills it for me.

[fohat]

If you like the XT layout, then it's definitely the bargain of the Model F lineup. But try it beforehand if you can, to decide if you'll like typing on it. The reach for the shift keys alone kills it for me.

10 years ago, you could hardly give an XT or a 122 away, much less a Bigfoot. ATs sold, but not like hotcakes.

5 years ago, XTs sold for $20-30 and 122s for $50-80. ATs could often be found at bargain prices, but also went for $100+ sometimes.

Soarer made the F family realistically usable for ordinary people, and prices jumped - first for the XT and later for the 122.

AT prices have really risen in the past couple of years as people realize how nice they are, and their relative scarcity.

[Gnohio]

If you like the XT layout, then it's definitely the bargain of the Model F lineup. But try it beforehand if you can, to decide if you'll like typing on it. The reach for the shift keys alone kills it for me.

I already have one that I got on ebay for $89.99 free ship a few months ago. I only use the right shift when typing and I dont mind, but a 1.25u might have made it better. The only thing thats mildly irritating is the heaviness of the space bar and the reach for the enter key sometimes but other than that its wonderful.

[Redmaus]

If you like the XT layout, then it's definitely the bargain of the Model F lineup. But try it beforehand if you can, to decide if you'll like typing on it. The reach for the shift keys alone kills it for me.

10 years ago, you could hardly give an XT or a 122 away, much less a Bigfoot. ATs sold, but not like hotcakes.

5 years ago, XTs sold for $20-30 and 122s for $50-80. ATs could often be found at bargain prices, but also went for $100+ sometimes.

Soarer made the F family realistically usable for ordinary people, and prices jumped - first for the XT and later for the 122.

AT prices have really risen in the past couple of years as people realize how nice they are, and their relative scarcity.

I miss using my F122, I have just become so comfortable with tenkeyless layouts. Huge thing takes too much space on desk so it just sits on my shelf

I wish I could have known about mech keyboards earlier so I could buy up all the kishies and unsavers for 20 bucks a pop

[Techno Trousers]

I wish I could have known about mech keyboards earlier so I could buy up all the kishies and unsavers for 20 bucks a pop

The catch-22 is that those keyboards were cheap before not just because they were less known, but because before Soarer, they were pretty much unusable. I wish I'd bought a couple of beamsprings back when they were relatively cheap (and unusable).

[kbdfr]

[…] Ebay's suggested pricing sadly ruined most of deals on ebay.
It's even worse on ebay.de where almost every beige Cherry branded keyboard is a "very rare vintage collectors piece" and around 80€. Same thing with Model Ms, etc.

Oh come on, here are three ebay.de Cherry boards with doubleshot caps, all called "Old Cherry keyboard rare collector piece" or similar, which sold just yesterday for between 4.50€ and 15.50€.
Starting price was 1€ for two and 5€ for one of them:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/282682591960
http://www.ebay.de/itm/282682575619
http://www.ebay.de/itm/282682569085

The same seller, by the way, still has quite many keyboards, including a few rather interesting things

[Wodan]

The same seller, by the way, still has quite many keyboards, including a few rather interesting things

Why do you even still have such a close eye on ebay

[kbdfr]

The same seller, by the way, still has quite many keyboards, including a few rather interesting things

Why do you even still have such a close eye on ebay

I guess it's just a residual habit

[depletedvespene]

I bought it for the keyboard. If it turns out the PC is actually in working order, it'll be a bonus. I'm fairly sure I have a copy of PC-DOS 3.3 around here somewhere...


I'll look up Soarer's converters and teensies for this keeb tomorrow. Now I need to get some sleep (while my wallet spends the night crying).

Necrobump... for a necrocomputer.

I finally got my hands on the Portable PC... it looked in great shape, but it was absolutely dead. The keyboard seems to be in good condition, but I haven't properly tested it yet. I now have to decide whether to keep the entire thing as the largest paperweight ever, or to discard it. Oh, well...

Surely you did not plug it in with he wrong voltage... right?[/quote]

Yes, I am sure.

[kawasaki161]

[…] Ebay's suggested pricing sadly ruined most of deals on ebay.
It's even worse on ebay.de where almost every beige Cherry branded keyboard is a "very rare vintage collectors piece" and around 80€. Same thing with Model Ms, etc.

Oh come on, here are three ebay.de Cherry boards with doubleshot caps, all called "Old Cherry keyboard rare collector piece" or similar, which sold just yesterday for between 4.50€ and 15.50€.
Starting price was 1€ for two and 5€ for one of them:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/282682591960
http://www.ebay.de/itm/282682575619
http://www.ebay.de/itm/282682569085

The same seller, by the way, still has quite many keyboards, including a few rather interesting things

What the heck? I was searching for those terms before posting that to make sure it's not "that one time there are tons of them on ebay". Maybe I should try again with a fresh browser and different proxy.

[Chyros]

VERY early SSK from June of 1987 with a black AT SDL cable - possibly the original one. Do we know of any SSKs that are even older than this one?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-IBM-C ... SwcWxZ49dV

[depletedvespene]

VERY early SSK from June of 1987 with a black AT SDL cable - possibly the original one. Do we know of any SSKs that are even older than this one?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-IBM-C ... SwcWxZ49dV

I've got two SSKs, both 1391472 as well, which are dated 14JUL87 and 26OCT87 (not earlier than this one, but pretty close); I bought both on e-bay, and both came with SDL-PS/2 cables. Obviously, I can't guarantee that either of these did come with its original cable, but I suspect that IS the case.

It is reasonable to assume that, if the black cable is indeed the original one for this particular unit, it was part of an old stock the factory was still going through at the moment this keyboard was packaged (although, in the absence of other evidence, I prefer to suspect that the keyboard's user simply changed the cable later on).

[wobbled]

VERY early SSK from June of 1987 with a black AT SDL cable - possibly the original one. Do we know of any SSKs that are even older than this one?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-IBM-C ... SwcWxZ49dV

I know of a few
See this document: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

I don't think SSK's ever came with black cables, pretty sure that was an old IBM Model M square label thing. Perhaps some leftovers were shipped or he bought the cable separately.

[Chyros]

VERY early SSK from June of 1987 with a black AT SDL cable - possibly the original one. Do we know of any SSKs that are even older than this one?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-IBM-C ... SwcWxZ49dV

I know of a few
See this document: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

I don't think SSK's ever came with black cables, pretty sure that was an old IBM Model M square label thing. Perhaps some leftovers were shipped or he bought the cable separately.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too - the AT cable kinda seems to have been silver and black-badge only. I do have an M from 1987 with an AT cable, though.

[flowerlandfilms]

I pulled the trigger on another piece for my Silicon Graphics collection.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Silicon-Grap ... 2749.l2649



No idea how to get it running without the proprietary software and workstation so will probably be a teensy project.

s-l1600.jpg

I suspect this not being alps - definitely interested to know what switches it uses!

IIRC this model was mx black, but I could be wrong.

You were right Mike!
Full dissection here.
photos-f62/silicon-graphics-32-key-prog ... 17511.html

[Slom]

NMB with Erase-Eaze 50$ BIN
https://www.ebay.com/itm/lot-of-3-vinta ... 2697900536

[Engicoder]

NMB with Erase-Eaze 50$ BIN
https://www.ebay.com/itm/lot-of-3-vinta ... 2697900536

Nice board, but comes with a lot of baggage

[nastrovje]

What's the DT opinion on this? http://www.ebay.at/itm/NIB-CHERRY-KEYBO ... 2906119419 Love it. Seller says he has a few more.

[derzemel]

What's the DT opinion on this? http://www.ebay.at/itm/NIB-CHERRY-KEYBO ... 2906119419 Love it. Seller says he has a few more.

Overpriced.
Most of us here on DT are not willing to pay that much for a set of fancy NIB OG Dyesub keycaps.

[nastrovje]

What's the DT opinion on this? http://www.ebay.at/itm/NIB-CHERRY-KEYBO ... 2906119419 Love it. Seller says he has a few more.

Overpriced.
Most of us here on DT are not willing to pay that much for a set of fancy NIB OG Dyesub keycaps.

What would be a "good" price for them? From what I heard from other hobbyists this is the first time they are on ebay? + NIB, I guess that is also driving up the price.

[derzemel]

What's the DT opinion on this? http://www.ebay.at/itm/NIB-CHERRY-KEYBO ... 2906119419 Love it. Seller says he has a few more.

Overpriced.
Most of us here on DT are not willing to pay that much for a set of fancy NIB OG Dyesub keycaps.

What would be a "good" price for them? From what I heard from other hobbyists this is the first time they are on ebay? + NIB, I guess that is also driving up the price.

That is the issue. Some people, who want them very badly, would say that 460GBP is a great price for them. I would say that those people are insane to pay that much for just for a keycap set.
This kind of money are in IBM Unsaver territory (which way cooler than any set of keycaps)
Personally, keeping in mind that the keycaps seem to be NIB and rare, I would not pay more than 300Eur for that keyboard.
But, in the end, it is all about availability and demand.

Edit: I bet if even if we ask BSP (the company that now owns the machines that Cherry used to create dye sub keycaps) to make a group buy for keycaps exactly like those, the would not cost even have that amount.

[seebart]

I would say that those people are insane to pay that much for just for a keycap set.

That's what I would say also.

This kind of money are in IBM Unsaver territory (which way cooler than any set of keycaps)

Agreed, if your lucky possibly even Kishaver territory. I paid a lot less for my Unsaver but Cindy's prices are fair.

[derzemel]

Agreed, if you're lucky possibly even Kishaver territory. I paid a lot less for my Unsaver but Cindy's prices are fair.

And yeah, I dream at an Unsaver and I am really sour that I discovered DT after Cindy sold the ones she had

[seebart]

Agreed, if you're lucky possibly even Kishaver territory. I paid a lot less for my Unsaver but Cindy's prices are fair.

Sorry, I could not help myself

And yeah, I dream at an Unsaver and I am really sour that I discovered DT after Cindy sold the ones she had

Just have patience and you'll find one. And yes it's a pretty cool Model F variation here's mine:

IMGP5834.JPG (957.69 KiB) Viewed 6576 times

[derzemel]

Just have patience and you'll find one. And yes it's a pretty cool Model F variation here's mine:

Spoiler:

[seebart]

055.jpg (303.01 KiB) Viewed 6528 times

I'll let you know if I change my mind.