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geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: dbg32 on Thu, 20 February 2020, 07:55:14

Title: IBM Model M Soft Touch - Ebay
Post by: dbg32 on Thu, 20 February 2020, 07:55:14
Saw this soft touch IBM (8184692) listed on ebay this morning. Incomplete board but it's rarity makes it postworthy. I personally use one at the office and love it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-M-Soft-Touch-Clicky-Keyboard-8184692-no-cord-missing-keycaps/303493222665?hash=item46a99b1109:g:oioAAOSwsnVeTW7V  (https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-M-Soft-Touch-Clicky-Keyboard-8184692-no-cord-missing-keycaps/303493222665?hash=item46a99b1109:g:oioAAOSwsnVeTW7V)



Title: Re: IBM Model M Soft Touch - Ebay
Post by: biothermal on Thu, 20 February 2020, 08:14:58
Quote from: dbg32 on Thu, 20 February 2020, 07:55:14
Saw this soft touch IBM (8184692) listed on ebay this morning. Incomplete board but it's rarity makes it postworthy. I personally use one at the office and love it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-M-Soft-Touch-Clicky-Keyboard-8184692-no-cord-missing-keycaps/303493222665?hash=item46a99b1109:g:oioAAOSwsnVeTW7V  (https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-M-Soft-Touch-Clicky-Keyboard-8184692-no-cord-missing-keycaps/303493222665?hash=item46a99b1109:g:oioAAOSwsnVeTW7V)

Bit of a tangent but... Based on what I know of how a "soft touch" model works, is there any reason you can't get the same feeling/noise level out of a normal model M?

Just wondering if there are any functional differences besides the grease that make the board desirable, besides the "soft touch" label on the badge.
Title: Re: IBM Model M Soft Touch - Ebay
Post by: dbg32 on Thu, 20 February 2020, 08:46:00
Not sure if you could recreate the feel and sound with a normal model m. It's something that usually comes up whenever the soft touch is talked about. The soft touch definitely has a different feel than a typical model m. Hard to describe but typing with a model m feels smoother. When the spring buckles, the grease takes some of the energy so its not as violent of a 'snap'. This results in the keypresses feeling smoother, while still retaining the satisfying snap of the spring buckling, just not as prominent. At least for my board, many of the keys feel slightly different from one another and have different sound profiles as well.
Title: Re: IBM Model M Soft Touch - Ebay
Post by: dbg32 on Thu, 20 February 2020, 08:48:58
Yeah the biggest feature of this board is that it's not as noisy as a typical model m, trading off a slightly watered down buckling spring feel.
Title: Re: IBM Model M Soft Touch - Ebay
Post by: JP on Fri, 06 March 2020, 09:47:12
I assumed this was the rubber dome Model M so I guess there are still more things left out there to discover.

[Sold] At this time there is one available for $75 shipping. As a bonus this model has the internal speaker  :thumb:

https://www.redmarket.store/shop
Title: Re: IBM Model M Soft Touch - Ebay
Post by: jacethesaltsculptor on Thu, 26 March 2020, 00:14:39
Quote from: dbg32 on Thu, 20 February 2020, 07:55:14
Saw this soft touch IBM (8184692) listed on ebay this morning. Incomplete board but it's rarity makes it postworthy. I personally use one at the office and love it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-M-Soft-Touch-Clicky-Keyboard-8184692-no-cord-missing-keycaps/303493222665?hash=item46a99b1109:g:oioAAOSwsnVeTW7V  (https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-M-Soft-Touch-Clicky-Keyboard-8184692-no-cord-missing-keycaps/303493222665?hash=item46a99b1109:g:oioAAOSwsnVeTW7V)

Out of curiosity does the grease get into the inner workings of the board, or is it just permanently on the springs?

I wondered how that grease was doing after all these years on those boards.