Hey.
Just picked myself up two of these beauties - IBM Model M, type 1395985. They have
green text on the left ALT key, and on the right CTRL key it says "Ctrl/Act". Also, these have a speaker installed in them, which I hear is not so common?
Here's the birth certificate of my personal, daily use Model M (I got them yesterday):
1991 is a special year for me, as I was 16, left school and started my first job as an electronic repair technician. I stripped both these boards right down, removed mechanisms, scrubbed and brushed the casings with household anti-bacterial spray, ensuring
all grime, dust & dirt was completely and utterly gone (I'm meticulous - why leave a job half done?). The entire black plastic key well mouldings were hoovered, scrubbed, all keys & caps removed and soaked in warm water + shampoo + anti-bacterial cleaner over a few hours. Next, keys & caps were rinsed, drained, then hand brushed and scrubbed (the grime just slid off with ease!). Next, the wet keys and caps were left on a towel in the sun to dry - halfway through, I slapped the keys against my trouser leg, ensuring all water trapped deep inside was ejected right out (saves a LOT of drying time).
When dry, they were re-assembled (spent 20 mins looking for two missing keycaps, searching the grass outside where I took 'em to dry, only to find them sitting on the bathroom chair, later!), tested, curly cords cleaned, and then boards tested... THEY GLEAM!!
I'm amazed that being ~20 years old, the key caps have
no wear whatsoever, a true testament to high build quality and decent plastics!
I love this keyboard. My friend said "Wow that's SO loud"... yeah, but so much better than modern rubbish!
Shook off my laziness, and uploaded a photo of the birth certificate of the second, Lexmark Model M I just got:
Ping! --->
http://audioboo.fm/boos/732636-lexmark-1395985-model-m-pings
