cheap cherry POS boards on eBay

[Pacifist]

If i actually get a tracking number or at least get the item marked as shipped Ill be happy

[xmagusx]

If i actually get a tracking number or at least get the item marked as shipped Ill be happy

I never got either. Just showed up at my door.

[whiskytango]

I just ordered. Is everyone pretty much getting clears? I saw that YUIOP got browns.

I really hope this has clears. Whole reason I ordered.

[CPTBadAss]

I got Clears on mine, but I got mine in the first lot. This second lot seems to be Cherry Browns.

[whiskytango]

FYI, just got this message from the seller:

We updated our description and photos today to indicate the remaining stock has no smart card reader, just card swipe, and no white switches, only brown switches. Please confirm you are okay with that, if not we will be happy to issue a refund. Let us know, thanks.

 

[strict]

I got Clears on mine, but I got mine in the first lot. This second lot seems to be Cherry Browns.

Damn, I would never have ordered one if I thought I would end up browns. Since my order was one of the last, if not the last, it sounds like I don't have much chance getting clears.

[E TwentyNine]

I got Clears on mine, but I got mine in the first lot. This second lot seems to be Cherry Browns.

Damn, I would never have ordered one if I thought I would end up browns. Since my order was one of the last, if not the last, it sounds like I don't have much chance getting clears.

If you were part of the first batch, which had a picture of a clear switch in the auction, complain to the seller.

Wouldn't shock me if he gave you a full discount and let you keep the board, wouldn't be worth the time to send it back and resell it.

[CPTBadAss]

FWIW, I got a sheet of paper from J&R saying there's a 30 day warranty on the board. I think you can probably rely on them to give you a discount if you're unhappy with your board. Just don't do what I did and instantly disassemble it )

[whiskytango]

I found them very easy to communicate with today. They sent me that notice about no more clear boards left, I responded that I wanted a refund, and about 10 minutes later my refund was processed through paypal. I am sure if you have a legitimate gripe with them, such as "item not as described/pictured" that they will work with you on it.

edit: especially since they don't have a lot of feedback yet, so any neg feedback is really going to affect them.

[Pacifist]

I found them very easy to communicate with today. They sent me that notice about no more clear boards left, I responded that I wanted a refund, and about 10 minutes later my refund was processed through paypal. I am sure if you have a legitimate gripe with them, such as "item not as described/pictured" that they will work with you on it.

edit: especially since they don't have a lot of feedback yet, so any neg feedback is really going to affect them.

Did they pay for return shipping or no?

[whiskytango]

I found them very easy to communicate with today. They sent me that notice about no more clear boards left, I responded that I wanted a refund, and about 10 minutes later my refund was processed through paypal. I am sure if you have a legitimate gripe with them, such as "item not as described/pictured" that they will work with you on it.

edit: especially since they don't have a lot of feedback yet, so any neg feedback is really going to affect them.

Did they pay for return shipping or no?

My order never shipped. I ordered this morning, then an hour or so later they messaged me that they only have browns left and that they had changed the product description and asked if I wanted a refund

[dorkvader]

beware: seller has listed this board as "new" but there appears to be wear on the trackpad:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181389864664

[Pacifist]

beware: seller has listed this board as "new" but there appears to be wear on the trackpad:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181389864664

also go to last pic, and look at that huge blue mark. Def not new

[SpAmRaY]

I found them very easy to communicate with today. They sent me that notice about no more clear boards left, I responded that I wanted a refund, and about 10 minutes later my refund was processed through paypal. I am sure if you have a legitimate gripe with them, such as "item not as described/pictured" that they will work with you on it.

edit: especially since they don't have a lot of feedback yet, so any neg feedback is really going to affect them.

Yeah I ordered a week ago and they just sent me the message about not having the correct boards.....lame.

EDIT: So either these guys are reading this or are being scammy...I replied to their message (no so nicely) and they magically materialized another board with clears for me...

[unfloopy]

I got my keyboard from the first batch today. It has Clears, but no Cherry sticker

[Pacifist]

got message today

no more clears. fff i wanted worn in clears

[RESPRiT]

Mine from the first batch is in terrible quality, anyone else have issues with lots of gunk on the board and staining?

[dorkvader]

I got my keyboard from the first batch today. It has Clears, but no Cherry sticker

only 1/4 of the ones I got had cherry sticker

Mine from the first batch is in terrible quality, anyone else have issues with lots of gunk on the board and staining?

This is pretty par for old, used cherry POS keyboards. All the ones I got in were very dirty with random staples, paperclips (even a penny) in them. It's all about the parts for me, so I don't mind.

[strict]

I ordered a week ago today and have yet to receive a shipping notice or a tracking number.

[SpAmRaY]

I ordered a week ago today and have yet to receive a shipping notice or a tracking number.

I would say you will be getting the message that they only have browns left.

[xmagusx]

This is pretty par for old, used cherry POS keyboards. All the ones I got in were very dirty with random staples, paperclips (even a penny) in them. It's all about the parts for me, so I don't mind.

That was your instant rebate.

[MisterZ]

I have bought from these guys many times, no problems whatsoever.

[MisterZ]

This is a total steal at $25, even for the browns. I sent them a IM to see if I can buy more as an off ebay sale. I really dont know what people are complaining about, these keyboards probably cost them a fortune when they bout them new. If I end up getting more of them, if anyone wants I will share for the same price I paid. I am going to offer to buy all they they have, wish me luck.

[SpAmRaY]

I have bought from these guys many times, no problems whatsoever.

Interesting considering this ebay seller only as 46 feedback.

[MisterZ]

I had one problem with them in the past and they gave me a full refund, if a seller gives you a full refund without hesitation, come on, you can't really complain.

I am really hoping to strike a deal with them , will let everyone know later today.

[strict]

I had one problem with them in the past and they gave me a full refund, if a seller gives you a full refund without hesitation, come on, you can't really complain.

I am really hoping to strike a deal with them , will let everyone know later today.

Purely out of curiousity, what would you plan to do with 20+ (wild guess) POS keyboards? Assuming you wanted to part out all the switches/stabs/etc that sounds like a mountain of work for not much money IMO.

[MisterZ]

I dont want to brag, but I have a HUGE collection. I have several hundred IBM branded from the 70's alone. I trade them, but for every one I give up, I get 10 more.

Hopefully, they will appreciate with time, a lot of time---)

[Pacifist]

This is a total steal at $25, even for the browns. I sent them a IM to see if I can buy more as an off ebay sale. I really dont know what people are complaining about, these keyboards probably cost them a fortune when they bout them new. If I end up getting more of them, if anyone wants I will share for the same price I paid. I am going to offer to buy all they they have, wish me luck.

I got the version of this with doubleshot caps for $25 before.

Browns this old should go for around 20 cents a switch, which takes $20 of the $25 value. But the caps aren't really worth much, and you won't really be reusing that case. For scrapping is not a good deal, if you actually use it, maybe yes, but its quite and ugly layout if you aren't actually doing POS work

[jwaz]

They just now shipped mine out :X

[strict]

They just now shipped mine out :X

Same here, got the notification a few hours shy of a full week after I ordered and paid 

[jevvix]

I know a lot of you will be salvaging them for parts but did anyone actually test theirs? My friend bought one on my recommendation and it seems quite broken. Sucks because he was actually planning on using it.

The results of a keytest (plus the trackpad doesn't work):

Judging by the pattern, there's gotta be some broken traces?

[E TwentyNine]

I dont want to brag, but I have a HUGE collection. I have several hundred IBM branded from the 70's alone. I trade them, but for every one I give up, I get 10 more.

Hopefully, they will appreciate with time, a lot of time---)

Ok.  Pics?

[Grr8]

I think we now understand why J&R created a new account to sell this stuff.

[nubbinator]

Mine came with with Browns, a singular Tactile Grey and a singular Clear.  The Grey was weird (in lieu of a Clear), but the one random Clear was really weird.

[Pacifist]

I know a lot of you will be salvaging them for parts but did anyone actually test theirs? My friend bought one on my recommendation and it seems quite broken. Sucks because he was actually planning on using it.

The results of a keytest (plus the trackpad doesn't work):

Show Image

Judging by the pattern, there's gotta be some broken traces?

I'm sure that if you complain ebay will easily give you your money back

[dorkvader]

Mine came with with Browns, a singular Tactile Grey and a singular Clear.  The Grey was weird (in lieu of a Clear), but the one random Clear was really weird.

It's the one above F12, right? That key is pretty odd. See the diode is usually not in the switch and instead next to it. I don't know why, but almost all NKRO POS boards have one there.

[nubbinator]

That would be the one.

[IvanIvanovich]

I know a lot of you will be salvaging them for parts but did anyone actually test theirs? My friend bought one on my recommendation and it seems quite broken. Sucks because he was actually planning on using it.

The results of a keytest (plus the trackpad doesn't work):

Show Image

Judging by the pattern, there's gotta be some broken traces?

I have gotten several like this in the past... what happens is the ribbon cables that connect the matrix and controller come loose during shipping. Just open it up and I am sure you will see what I am talking about, just need to get them reseated and it will probably work properly.

[jevvix]

I have gotten several like this in the past... what happens is the ribbon cables that connect the matrix and controller come loose during shipping. Just open it up and I am sure you will see what I am talking about, just need to get them reseated and it will probably work properly.

Friend dropped it off at my house today for me to inspect. At first I did try to reseat all the connections but it made no difference. I then decided to detach it all and check out the PBC. Unfortunately, it was as bad as I expected:

[IvanIvanovich]

Cracked PCB... well that sucks. I guess you should send that pictures to the seller and get taken care of one way or another. I think repairing it with wires to bridge the damage is more trouble than it's worth... perhaps someone that is parting out will send you a PCB that is good?

[dorkvader]

Yeah, I got a whole stack of PCBs. Some are even still soldered. I can send you a working PCB or trade a PCB+switches for your broken one.

Also: this is one of the many reasons I don't like the quality of cherry KBs.

[jevvix]

Yeah, I got a whole stack of PCBs. Some are even still soldered. I can send you a working PCB or trade a PCB+switches for your broken one.

Also: this is one of the many reasons I don't like the quality of cherry KBs.

I agree. I thought these things would have much higher build quality. For the first Cherry keyboard I've tried, it seems really poor quality. I want to punch whatever engineer decided that those ribbon cables (that attach the matrix to the controller board) should be like an inch long. PITA to reattach.

[yuiop]

For those of us just wanting to harvest switches and parts, cherry boards are great because they are single-layered pcb + leaded solder = super easy to desolder.  I was able to desolder entire board with 120 switches/diodes in an hour yesterday while watching a hockey game

[dorkvader]

For those of us just wanting to harvest switches and parts, cherry boards are great because they are single-layered pcb + leaded solder = super easy to desolder.  I was able to desolder entire board with 120 switches/diodes in an hour yesterday while watching a hockey game

And put them in something more deserving!

The switches, keycaps (depending on which) and cable are usually really nice. The case itself the controller design, the PCB, the PCB layout / routing / the actual controller PCB soldering / assembly are all really poor. I usually harvest the cable, switches and diodes (if available). they can be a little "big" but they make really nice mini USB cables if you can manage to properly crimp them. I recommend strain relief directly on the brained shielding and then heatshrink the outer cable to the mini USB plug. Bonus points if you can get the inductor on there as well.

[Pacifist]

POS cherry cases are complete *****es to deal with. No screws, but those tabs get pretty stupid sometimes

[dorkvader]

POS cherry cases are complete *****es to deal with. No screws, but those tabs get pretty stupid sometimes

it's not so bad to open up. Not like an HP 2760P or stupid lenovo Helix (also a POS) or whatever.

The actual case itself is thin and flimsy. That's my main gripe.

[MisterZ]

I got a couple of bad ones but they made me send them back to them. They exchanged for a few others, no problems.

[strict]

Got mine today with clear switches. The board I got was clearly very heavily used, I've shop vac'd an insane amount of dust and coin wrapper shreds out of this thing.

[SpAmRaY]

got mine as well....it looks really nasty

[strict]

got mine as well....it looks really nasty

I don't know how far you dug into yours but for mine, nasty would have been an improvement. I got everything desoldered and now I need to figure out the best way to get dust out of the inside of 100+ switches. Any existing lubricant inside the switches is now totally useless due to the amount of dust that made its way inside. I'm debating trying to find some way to run them through the dishwasher lol.

On a happier note, I was excited to find mine had a cherry gray in the space bar. I will definitely be putting that on the Phantom