Stuff you just bought

[dcopellino]

The one I had was in perfect physical condition, didn't look yellowed at all, It also did end up in the EU so this could be it

Hi Jesseg, I got the chicony that doesn't present any yellowing, even though it isn't flawless. I discovered with my great disappoinment that the "end" key doesn't properly register, as you can see on the attached pic. I'll attach the serial number also so that you can tell me if this kind really comes from the other part of the world!
My regards.

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[hellothere]

@ dcopellino, I'd recommend that you desolder the End and Pause keys and flip them. I do use the pause key, but not often. You could also see if someone's willing to sell you a single switch and/or you could buy, say, an Alps orange switch and swap the switch plates.

The really bad thing would be is if you swap the End key with a known good switch and it still doesn't register.

Or, if you prefer a software approach, get a free copy of SharpKeys and map some other key to End.

[dcopellino]

Thank you for the right tip if I only were able to use the soldering tool
..... I know what you are thinking.... Wtf so are you doing on this board, if you aren't even good at using it

[inmbolmie]

Just bought the in worst condition IBM Thinkpad 700c ever. The rubber finish is a sticky mess and for everything that can be possibly broken, it is. The keyboard seems to be in quite decent condition though. Obviously I paid next to nothing for it. I see it as an amusement project.

I was curious about its keyboard quality, as this is the first Thinkpad laptop ever (1992) but haven't seen here any mentions or reviews for this particular model. If it finally doesn't end in the trash bin and it is of any interest, I will try to make a "review".

700c.jpeg (401.35 KiB) Viewed 9368 times

[hellothere]

Thank you for the right tip if I only were able to use the soldering tool
..... I know what you are thinking.... Wtf so are you doing on this board, if you aren't even good at using it

Hey, I only had limited soldering experience before coming here. I do recommend getting into it. Doing it is much easier than you think and there are lots of YouTube videos on the subject. Only real problem is that you do have to put down $80+ to get a decent soldering iron station and -- trust me on this -- a good solder sucker. (I also recommend flux pens, instead of wick or the cans.)

[Jan Pospisil]

Just got this interesting piece. The seller (imo incorrectly by mistake) listed it as a Chicony KB-6926, but it's clearly an ACER keyboard.
KB-084C to be precise, a model which I found mentioned only once on DT in 2017.
The seller said:

"Can’t find another one like it. It will have come from a Philips/IBM research facility where my father worked so may have been a model that was on special order."

(and said it was untested, but I just did try and it works.)
I remember that Chyros mentioned in his review the KB-101A was the oldest ACER keyboard. Could this one be older?
edit: Clearly it's a (budget? silent/tactile?) version of this one:
wiki/Acer_KB-084AS
It has some kind of Mitsumi hybrid switch, but I'm not sure which variant it is yet. (PCB or membrane) I'll be opening it later in the week.
Also notice the stem hole is octagonal, not square as on other Mitsumi hybrid switches. The caps are not great, some kind of printed ABS.

[hellothere]

Well, it's some kind of some with slider.

[hellothere]

Just got this interesting piece. The seller (imo incorrectly by mistake) listed it as a Chicony KB-6926, but it's clearly an ACER keyboard.
KB-084C to be precise, a model which I found mentioned only once on DT in 2017.
The seller said:

"Can’t find another one like it. It will have come from a Philips/IBM research facility where my father worked so may have been a model that was on special order."

(and said it was untested, but I just did try and it works.)
I remember that Chyros mentioned in his review the KB-101A was the oldest ACER keyboard. Could this one be older?
edit: Clearly it's a (budget? silent/tactile?) version of this one:
wiki/Acer_KB-084AS
It has some kind of Mitsumi hybrid switch, but I'm not sure which variant it is yet. (PCB or membrane) I'll be opening it later in the week.
Also notice the stem hole is octagonal, not square as on other Mitsumi hybrid switches. The caps are not great, some kind of printed ABS.

Possibly some variant of wiki/Acer_6510_series. The stem is octagonal, but the inner piece looks round.

Can you post a picture of a key removed from the keyboard? I'd like to see the shape of the stem.

[Jan Pospisil]

Just got this interesting piece. The seller (imo incorrectly by mistake) listed it as a Chicony KB-6926, but it's clearly an ACER keyboard.
KB-084C to be precise, a model which I found mentioned only once on DT in 2017.
The seller said:

"Can’t find another one like it. It will have come from a Philips/IBM research facility where my father worked so may have been a model that was on special order."

(and said it was untested, but I just did try and it works.)
I remember that Chyros mentioned in his review the KB-101A was the oldest ACER keyboard. Could this one be older?
edit: Clearly it's a (budget? silent/tactile?) version of this one:
wiki/Acer_KB-084AS
It has some kind of Mitsumi hybrid switch, but I'm not sure which variant it is yet. (PCB or membrane) I'll be opening it later in the week.
Also notice the stem hole is octagonal, not square as on other Mitsumi hybrid switches. The caps are not great, some kind of printed ABS.

Possibly some variant of wiki/Acer_6510_series. The stem is octagonal, but the inner piece looks round.

Can you post a picture of a key removed from the keyboard? I'd like to see the shape of the stem.

I'll take pictures when I take it apart. But I do think it's a Mitsumi hybrid of some kind. The round outer ring in the photo is a rubber buckling sleeve. The key stem is quite small.

[Reimu64]

Two boards came in today...and from completely different worlds.
Bought the Model F because I had a Model M before that I really liked and people said the Model F was better feeling (the spacebar is heavy af though). The Cooler Master board has these "mem-chanical" switches that piqued my interest, but it wasn't that interesting otherwise.

[hellothere]

BTC-5100C. This is after I ultrasoniced the keycaps.

Spoiler:

IMG_1260 (2).JPG (1.52 MiB) Viewed 9077 times

The front legends for the "numeric keyboard" and Num Lock key are light blue.

It's a mini keyboard. The switches are BTC dome with slider. I also bought it on the advice of others. It's surprisingly nice. It's tactile with a very small click. The keys are dye-sublimed ABS. I'm very fond of the font. I can even use the "numeric keypad" properly. Only disadvantage, after typing appx one hour on it, is that the up arrow/page up is directly to the right of the shift key. Fortunately, I generally use the left shift key.

I think I'll put a Teensy in this and convert it to USB. I assume that this was a "travel" laptop, but it has a big ol' 5 pin DIN.

[kelvinhall05]

BTC-5100C. This is after I ultrasoniced the keycaps.

Spoiler:

IMG_1260 (2).JPG

The front legends for the "numeric keyboard" and Num Lock key are light blue.

It's a mini keyboard. The switches are BTC dome with slider. I also bought it on the advice of others. It's surprisingly nice. It's tactile with a very small click. The keys are dye-sublimed ABS. I'm very fond of the font. I can even use the "numeric keypad" properly. Only disadvantage, after typing appx one hour on it, is that the up arrow/page up is directly to the right of the shift key. Fortunately, I generally use the left shift key.

I think I'll put a Teensy in this and convert it to USB. I assume that this was a "travel" laptop, but it has a big ol' 5 pin DIN.

I doubt those are dyesubbed, as you can't dyesub ABS and reverse dyesub (everything but the legend gets dye) is very uncommon on vint boards.

[hellothere]

BTC-5100C. This is after I ultrasoniced the keycaps.

Spoiler:

IMG_1260 (2).JPG

The front legends for the "numeric keyboard" and Num Lock key are light blue.

It's a mini keyboard. The switches are BTC dome with slider. I also bought it on the advice of others. It's surprisingly nice. It's tactile with a very small click. The keys are dye-sublimed ABS. I'm very fond of the font. I can even use the "numeric keypad" properly. Only disadvantage, after typing appx one hour on it, is that the up arrow/page up is directly to the right of the shift key. Fortunately, I generally use the left shift key.

I think I'll put a Teensy in this and convert it to USB. I assume that this was a "travel" laptop, but it has a big ol' 5 pin DIN.

I doubt those are dyesubbed, as you can't dyesub ABS and reverse dyesub (everything but the legend gets dye) is very uncommon on vint boards.

Hmm. Interesting. So, if the keys aren't pad printed/silk screened, they're probably PBT? That'd be nice.

[kelvinhall05]

BTC-5100C. This is after I ultrasoniced the keycaps.

Spoiler:

IMG_1260 (2).JPG

The front legends for the "numeric keyboard" and Num Lock key are light blue.

It's a mini keyboard. The switches are BTC dome with slider. I also bought it on the advice of others. It's surprisingly nice. It's tactile with a very small click. The keys are dye-sublimed ABS. I'm very fond of the font. I can even use the "numeric keypad" properly. Only disadvantage, after typing appx one hour on it, is that the up arrow/page up is directly to the right of the shift key. Fortunately, I generally use the left shift key.

I think I'll put a Teensy in this and convert it to USB. I assume that this was a "travel" laptop, but it has a big ol' 5 pin DIN.

I doubt those are dyesubbed, as you can't dyesub ABS and reverse dyesub (everything but the legend gets dye) is very uncommon on vint boards.

Hmm. Interesting. So, if the keys aren't pad printed/silk screened, they're probably PBT? That'd be nice.

I doubt they are PBT, much less (reverse) dyesubs. Probably lasered, pad printed, or silkscreened ABS.

[derzemel]

got an amazing deal for a brand new Realforce R2 PFU on a local classifieds website:

[rox]

Just upgraded from my F122 to this 1982 3278. Thanks to cKype for the board and pandrew for the controller. It's working nicely through an Adder CCS4-USB for seamless sharing across 4 systems.

[Reshala]

My first Topre keyboard, an Epson BFK

[ddrfraser1]

snap. nice.

[ifohancroft]

It came about an hour ago:



I found it a couple of months ago on Bulgaria's version of Craigslist and I just had to have it, so I asked the seller to save it for me. It was selling for 100BGN, which converted to USD, today is about $62. It is hella dirty but supposed to work, although I don't know if there's any ink in and in what state. I have not tested it yet as it came wet from condensation and I am waiting for it to dry. It doesn't say Selectric anywhere, which is weird, but it does say IBM XYD on the bottom. It is made by IBM Netherlands (sorry for not taking a picture of the model number sticker on the bottom). Btw it wasn't fun carrying it up four flights of stairs

Any tips on repairing/disassembly/assembly/cleaning and re-lubing the insides?

[Scarpia]

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I just got this M0118 with Alps SKCM Orange switches in decent condition. I got it as part of a great deal together with the mouse, two poor-condition AEKII boards and a beautiful Macintosh Classic II:

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[ifohancroft]

I this M0118 with Alps SKCM Orange switches in decent condition. I got it as part of a great deal together with the mouse, two poor-condition AEKII boards and a beautiful Macintosh Classic II:

That's an awesome find!

[TNT]

Any tips on repairing/disassembly/assembly/cleaning and re-lubing the insides?

Afaik, "XYD" is how IBM branded their late Selectric II models for the german market.
I recommend watching Phoenix Typewriter's video about the selectrics. You can find him on YouTube.

Those are a nightmare to maintain and repair tho, be prepared

[TNT]

Olivetti Lettera 22

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IBM 6715

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IBM PS/2 M65SX

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[John Doe]

Done my 2021 goal.

Spoiler:

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[fricked]

Done my 2021 goal.

Spoiler:

1610551020625.jpg

good keyboard

[mcmaxmcmc]

Done my 2021 goal.

Spoiler:

1610551020625.jpg

Congrats!

[John Doe]

good keyboard

Congrats!

thanks, man.

[shine]

I just got a working 3101 Manufactured week 28 1983

[inmbolmie]

I just got a working 3101 Manufactured week 28 1983

[ifohancroft]

Any tips on repairing/disassembly/assembly/cleaning and re-lubing the insides?

Afaik, the XYD is how IBM branded their late Selectric II models for the german market.
I recommend watching Phoenix Typewriter's video about the selectrics. You can find him on YouTube.

Those are a nightmare to maintain tho, be prepared

Thank you!