Fantastic Model M deal - requires massive Geek cooperation

[0100010]

You can order ISO cap sets from Unicomp, you just have to ask on a ticket and reference the ticket on the order.

Spacebars are always sold separately.

[fanpeople]

Same ole unicomp pbt dye sub based on the original ibm caps. You don't need to salvage this board to get them, unicomp sells full sets for $25 in grey like these and classic pearl-pebble direct on their website. You can buy custom printed individual caps to fill in a 122 for a buck each. They even sell red, blue, and green legends as well for $20 more. However you can't get iso sets from unicomp I don't think

I ordered the green legends on brilliant white, they are on the way for me.  I think it will be a nice change for my new keyboard.

Edit: They didn't include the spacebar, but everything else is there.  I was assured by them it included it.  Oh well.

Did they tell you directly that it came with the spacebar, if so open a ticket and explain to them that they said it would come with the spacebar. I have placed maybe four orders with them and of that they have messed up two but they have been quick to respond to my tickets and have sent out the corrections ASAP with no issues. They are good like that and you should at least ask them.

You can order ISO cap sets from Unicomp, you just have to ask on a ticket and reference the ticket on the order.

Spacebars are always sold separately.

That is what I thought also, but if they said to Snowdog that it came with one, they should honour that as their people should know what their company does and doesn't offer.

Its like when they tried to tell me that they can only do keys which they have previously printed..... I said that I heard that they can print anything. They said they couldn't but they would ask the printing guy and to give them some choices in case they couldn't. Sure enough not only did I get my first nominated custom cap, but my three just in case they couldn't choices also.

[Snowdog993]

I sent in a ticket.  We will see.  I have a spare spacebar anyway, and I painted it brilliant white.  (letting it dry now).  I'm just disappointed because I really honestly was told it is a complete set.

[Snowdog993]

Date:    2015-01-08 21:48:29
Name:    Customer Support
   Printer friendly version

Message:

Please see the red sentence above the Style drop down menu where the button set was ordered:

http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/PSET

Regards,

Customer Support

I guess I missed that part.  Oh well.  It's not the end of the world.

[linziyi]

PLEASE sign me up if there are still place left! Had never own or typed on a Buckling Spring before...

[fanpeople]

Date:    2015-01-08 21:48:29
Name:    Customer Support
   Printer friendly version

Message:

Please see the red sentence above the Style drop down menu where the button set was ordered:

http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/PSET

Regards,

Customer Support

I guess I missed that part.  Oh well.  It's not the end of the world.

Did you order it from that link ...

or did you get it from this link...

http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeys

Because this link (the colour legend purchasing link) makes no mention of the spacebar not being included. Theoretically you could argue against their conclusion, along with the support of a ticket if you had one (in which they state that they supply it), if that was the case. But if you are happy to let it go than that is probably easier, maybe I am just jaded and cranky when it comes this sort of thing.

[Snowdog993]

I believe I was at the second link when I went to it.  I can try to argue this, but that would be pointless now.  I should have known.  Next time I do an order from them, I will remember to get the spacebar with the order.  It's only a $3 part.  I'm just disappointed is all.

[fohat.digs]

It is odd that the spacebar is not included in sets. It can't be the long/short thing because they know what set they are packing.

It would be awesome if there were good color choices in spacebars.

[Snowdog993]

or did you get it from this link...

http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeys

Because this link (the colour legend purchasing link) makes no mention of the spacebar not being included. Theoretically you could argue against their conclusion, along with the support of a ticket if you had one (in which they state that they supply it), if that was the case. But if you are happy to let it go than that is probably easier, maybe I am just jaded and cranky when it comes this sort of thing.

I believe I did order from the other link.  I don't recall anything about the spacebar not being included at all.  I re-opened the ticket and I believe I'll just get the same response anyway.  Shame.  I'm disappointed over a $3 part!

[fohat.digs]

Bring this thread back on topic.

Did you get any volunteers to pilot this venture? A Nevada geekhacker would make it 100x easier.

Even secondary shipping is almost a deal-killer.

It surprises me that people are popping up with "I have wanted to try a Model M, here's my chance"

They must be nuts. These things will cost $25-30 minimum, delivered, and have a greater than even chance of not working!

Anybody who wants to try a Model M needs to buy a standard, working, PS/2 specimen. If you are cheap, you need to be patient. For <$40-50 shipped it will be dirty and/or incomplete, for >$50 you should be able to get a decent one.

These in this lot are strictly for tinkerers and/or parts-harvesters, in my opinion.

[Snowdog993]

Bring this thread back on topic.

Did you get any volunteers to pilot this venture? A Nevada geekhacker would make it 100x easier.

Even secondary shipping is almost a deal-killer.

It surprises me that people are popping up with "I have wanted to try a Model M, here's my chance"

They must be nuts. These things will cost $25-30 minimum, delivered, and have a greater than even chance of not working!

Anybody who wants to try a Model M needs to buy a standard, working, PS/2 specimen. If you are cheap, you need to be patient. For <$40-50 shipped it will be dirty and/or incomplete, for >$50 you should be able to get a decent one.

These in this lot are strictly for tinkerers and/or parts-harvesters, in my opinion.

I agree.  This isn't exactly the best keyboard to step into.  That's why I posted the other terminal boards on another thread.  Those would be a much better choice.  I live in Southern Nevada, and the Sparks/Reno area might as well be in another state.  Los Angeles and Phoenix is closer to me than Reno.
The best person for this (I believe) would be Ezra because this would be a good deal for him, especially for the parts.  If I were a builder/tinkerer I would jump on it.  Not for me.

Sorry Fohat.  I have this bad habit of going off topic sometimes.  I type exactly what I am thinking.  Maybe there should be a "Model M discussion thread" pinned somewhere so we all can talk about them.

[ezrahilyer]

Is there any reliable GH members near Sparks NV? If the end price is going to be reasonable, it needs to be picked up locally.

I would be a little concerned that the good to bad yield might be low, who knows why he ended up with them, they could be factory rejects perhaps? seems like a high failure rate.

They would be great for keycaps and top and bottom cases.

I would be interested in the unworking rejects for parts ect, but I imagine that shipping  from NV will be prohibitively expensive.

I have a lot of 11 IBM M122s on the way right now (should be here tomorrow) that are going to have a Soarer mod done, and bolt mod, plus ANSI for most of them.

If you get these and can figure out a way to work out the logistics, i can offer my services to convert them to ANSI if anyone would like.
Shipping again is the kicker.

I admit I have never used a Unicomp M122, but I have heard that the build quality isn't up to the old IBM standards.

-Ezra

[ezrahilyer]

Although tempting, I'd be worried that shipping to Australia would make prices silly.

Does anyone have an idea how much it would cost to ship something large and heavy like this to Australia?

Also if it broke, I'd pretty much be stuck with it, or pay for shipping back and forth again.

I just shipped a Model M 101 to Australia two days ago, it cost $51USD from Florida USA to New South Wales AU
Since the M101 I sold was the older heavier version it was 6lbs 11oz packed up. I would imagine that these boards weigh a similar amount.

[rowdy]

You don't have a good buckling spring board unless you can bludgeon someone to death with it, wipe off the blood and go back to typing on it.

That's what drainage hole are really for

These in this lot are strictly for tinkerers and/or parts-harvesters, in my opinion.

+1

I just shipped a Model M 101 to Australia two days ago, it cost $51USD from Florida USA to New South Wales AU
Since the M101 I sold was the older heavier version it was 6lbs 11oz packed up. I would imagine that these boards weigh a similar amount.

Thanks for that!

Pretty much confirms what is typical for a heavy keyboard like this.

I think I had a QFS shipped here for under $25, but that is a MUCH smaller and lighter keyboard.

[orihalcon]

If any of you are wanting a new in box version with this layout with no broken rivets, USB Soarer's Converter built in, and Lexmark build quality that are almost 20 years old now, the New in Box Lynk ones I have are a good option: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=67297.0

Ezra's are a good option as well.

Agree with Fohat, the ones in this auction should really be only considered for parts and are not what you'd want for a beginner board and definitely not something that you should expect to be usable right out of the box even if it is tested working prior to shipping as they can apparently break during shipping, which is again not a characteristic of a well built model M. 

These probably would be a good source of caps, springs, and hammers if you need those though.

[berserkfan]

If any of you are wanting a new in box version with this layout with no broken rivets, USB Soarer's Converter built in, and Lexmark build quality that are almost 20 years old now, the New in Box Lynk ones I have are a good option: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=67297.0

Ezra's are a good option as well.

Agree with Fohat, the ones in this auction should really be only considered for parts and are not what you'd want for a beginner board and definitely not something that you should expect to be usable right out of the box even if it is tested working prior to shipping as they can apparently break during shipping, which is again not a characteristic of a well built model M. 

These probably would be a good source of caps, springs, and hammers if you need those though.

As a modder I was mentally prepared that this board be used for various experiments, including WCass and Fohat's Faux SSK project and samwisekoi's GH122/134 project.

The caps, springs, hammers, casing together are easily worth $60 shipped since they are all new. Furthermore the white color of the keycaps makes them ideal for dye jobs. In fact I am thinking of funding a bid and just making off with the keycaps, if we cannot get a US-located GHer to agree.

So guys, please be realistic. This is a very good deal for parts. If your keyboard works good as a daily driver, it's icing on the cake. But it's not the cake itself since there is plenty of evidence that this Unicomp batch is faulty.

[HydraDyne]

I would be up for this if the shipping would be cheap to Australia, but i think that is unlikely.

[fanpeople]

I would be up for this if the shipping would be cheap to Australia, but i think that is unlikely.

There are a few people from Australia who are showing interest with just the postage acting as a blocker. I wonder if it would be cheaper to send them in a group from US to Australia and then divide them from there. But then that would be two sets of postage and would probably bring the prince up to a similar level.

[fohat.digs]

I just shipped a Model M 101 to Australia two days ago, it cost $51USD from Florida USA to New South Wales AU

How can you possibly do that?

I shipped a 1 lb 12 oz cell phone in a box much smaller than a shoebox to Morocco today and it was almost $48 via Priority Mail!

Even on the 3-week slow boat it would have been about $24

[ezrahilyer]

I just shipped a Model M 101 to Australia two days ago, it cost $51USD from Florida USA to New South Wales AU

How can you possibly do that?

I shipped a 1 lb 12 oz cell phone in a box much smaller than a shoebox to Morocco today and it was almost $48 via Priority Mail!

Even on the 3-week slow boat it would have been about $24

This is a screenshot from my Paypal Shipping page; it shows an estimated shipping cost to ship a 6lb, 10oz box to the sydney opera house from my address in Florida.



I think paypal gives a 5 or 10% discount on shipping USPS

[dorkvader]

These are the cheapest construction cheapy buckling spring cheap-o boards ever cheaply made.

Wrong!

I had a Chinese buckling spring board with a translucent case that was amazingly bad.

Maybe a brand name like "Pinnacle"? I can't remember.

Ya-sheng buckling springs.
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=56485.msg1277713#msg1277713
"precision" I guess?

Pinnacle (now avid) made video editing systems and had some really nice keyboards on them.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dork_vader/sets/72157641884809274/

They are reportedly terrible, unlike the brother / alps version which are reportedly nice.

[GL1TCH3D]

While this is interesting the big unknown is whether any of these even work.

I doubt bidding is going to be very high on this lot so I imagine it could be obtained for $100 before the pallet shipping.

14 free to the person taking the responsibility (or more, honestly not sure what would be fair here) of receiving and reshipping them.

Not sure how much pallet shipping costs (so it would be great if someone could inform me if I'm way off) but I doubt it would be more than $150 for this lot to someone living near enough (not local since it seems from the previous comments there's nobody willing to pick them up local at the moment).

That would leave 50 boards to split in $250.

Though this is assuming bidding doesn't get ridiculous on this.

[fohat.digs]

Though this is assuming bidding doesn't get ridiculous on this.

I can't imagine the "bidding getting ridiculous" because the seller did everything he could to scare buyers off.

My initial thought was "well, for $20-25 delivered to my doorstep I might consider buying 1 or 2 of them for parts" but I am hardly even motivated for that pitiful investment of money and energy.

If he had said that they were all working properly, then yes, I could see that lot going for $1K or more + shipping.

[GL1TCH3D]

Though this is assuming bidding doesn't get ridiculous on this.

I can't imagine the "bidding getting ridiculous" because the seller did everything he could to scare buyers off.

My initial thought was "well, for $20-25 delivered to my doorstep I might consider buying 1 or 2 of them for parts" but I am hardly even motivated for that pitiful investment of money and energy.

If he had said that they were all working properly, then yes, I could see that lot going for $1K or more + shipping.

Oh definitely. I'd think the time it would take to verify whether any of these are even working would bring in higher bids unless he knows that none of them are working

[orihalcon]

$20-25 to your door isn't realistic without anyone being able to do the initial local pickup since it is looking like the cost of initial shipping plus reshipping will cost at least that much in addition to the auction price. Probably going to be more in the $35-$40 range I would think.  The more I think about it, the more I am sure that I could fix them with a good long term success rate, but not sure people are willing to pay $35 - $40 shipped to the USA.  I could put a return warranty on the ones that are tested working and do not after arrival.

Almost need new a new post from everyone interested that state quantity wanted, whether they need them to work or not, and the total price willing to pay for them.

[fohat.digs]

$20-25 to your door isn't realistic

That is my point.

Personally, I am "set for life" plus additional backups in the IBM keyboard department, so broken Model Ms do not interest me at anything above thrift store prices.

But that is just me, personally, and I am not the norm.

If I were looking at this as a profit-making venture, I would not waste my time unless I could clear at least $20 after all the fees and expenses were paid, or more.

Given that these are not particularly desirable models, and that solid working PS/2 Model Ms sell in the $60 shipped range, it is hard for me to see a price point that makes sense here.

[Snowdog993]

I still think maybe someone should get in direct contact and talk to the seller about what they would think would be a fair price to just take the whole lot off their hands.  This eliminates the entire auction.  Good luck!

[dorkvader]

The one I got from him when this was first posted here was NIB.

[ezrahilyer]

The more I think about it, the more I am sure that I could fix them with a good long term success rate, but not sure people are willing to pay $35 shipped to the USA.  I could put a return warranty on the ones that are tested working and do not after arrival.

So now that everyone has a more realistic price to consider, you almost would need to do a new interest check to see if people would be interested in these boards in the $35 range. 

Almost need new a new post from everyone interested that state quantity wanted, whether they need them to work or not, and the total price willing to pay for them.

All of that will tell you what to bid in the end and if the demand is there at realistic prices

I have determined not to bid on these myself, I think that Orihalcon may be the best positioned to turn these into a profitable venture.
If we all stay away from the auction and don't drive the price up, they are likely to be reasonably cheap even by the time initial shipping and testing is done. If his estimate of $35 shipped to the US is accurate, that is a very attractive price.

I have decided to stay away because these really don't fit with my business model. I am going to stick with the 'premium' restored Ms. I like the older heavier ones, and I like to do detailed thorough restorations down to cleaning the membranes and re-seating hammers.
That said, I also don't really have the room either.

I would be interested in doing a deal with whomever ends up with these, to buy hammers, membranes and or barrel plate assemblies, and key caps from the ones that are not able to be fixed. 

Good luck with this whoever you are that gets these, I know it will be a monumental effort.

I will be watching from the sidelines on this one.

-Ezra

[orihalcon]

Ezra mentioned that he'd be interested in the membranes, but I've found out that they aren't compatible with older controllers, so I doubt that they will be of much use outside of these specific boards.  Hammers, springs, stems, and keycaps should be usable for any model M though, which is good at least.

[fohat.digs]

I would be interested in doing a deal with whomever ends up with these, to buy hammers, membranes and or barrel plate assemblies, and key caps from the ones that are not able to be fixed. 

I don't know when Unicomp switched over from the old thick black rubber blankets to the new thin white latex ones, but I like the thin ones and you might offer them as an "upgrade" if you end up with a few.

I am pretty sure that not everyone that indicated interest will be willing to pay $35-$40 if that is what it ends up being.

That price point puts you close enough to a good working standard model that it is hardly worth it, unless you particularly like the 122-key configuration or want a black case to modernize your beige one.

[1391406]

Considering there's no telling the working condition and they're Unicomp(ie. not vintage), I'd have absolutely no interest. Then again, I probably wouldn't have much interest in vintage M's at this point, given I'm more interested in the F variety.

[Snowdog993]

The lot sold for $255.

[GL1TCH3D]

The lot sold for $255.

I got a notification 30 minutes ago that they were at $53...

Dang

[Touch_It]

Ewww.

[fohat.digs]

The lot sold for $255.

I got a notification 30 minutes ago that they were at $53...

Dang

$4 each is a great price, even if shipping makes the final price quadruple. Somebody will test them, sell the ones that work, and have thousands of keys left over!

[berserkfan]

Let's hope that the outcome I was trying to engineer came true.

Haven't heard from that guy...

[rowdy]

Did a GHer win?

[JinDesu]

If BF's plan worked out, I'd still be in =p

[orihalcon]

I got them. 

Oddly, looks like they would have gone for $53 if I didn't bid.

I messaged the seller and he said that for an extra fee he could put them in boxes and ship by Fedex, since I don't have a good way to receive pallets. Initial shipping is going to come out to be about $10 per keyboard after figuring in the additional cost of the boxes.  My thought is that I will test them, any that work or are fixable, will sell for $35-$40 as mentioned earlier.  Will do a discount of $5 per additional board ordered beyond the first since that will save on overall shipping.

I'm 90% sure that the problem with these is that the interface between the membrane and the controller just isn't pinched together tight enough or there is some tiny amount oxidation on some pins.  I think with a cleaning of both sides of the membrane interface with the PCB, maybe a thin layer of dielectric grease to stop any future oxidation, and increasing the pressure from the membrane to the PCB, most should be fixable.

Reason I think that is because he mentions in the description that there is a wide range of how many keys work and don't work and the fact that they all test good prior to shipping, but then don't work when they arrive, indicating that the membrane partially lost contact during shipping.  The number of keys would just depend on the degree of how many membrane pins aren't making good contact to the controller.  The membranes are brand new, and so are the controllers, so I wouldn't suspect either of them of actually being bad. 

If they don't seem to work after you receive them, I think all it would take is a re-seating of the controller on arrival to fix that.

And hey, if that doesn't work, will part out for keycap sets, cases, and springs/hammers, or sell complete units for parts.

Will keep you all posted when they arrive to let you know if they seem to be fixable.

[Touch_It]

Oh cool.  Glad someone here got them at least.  Definitely hope the issue is what you think it is.

[orihalcon]

Well, I opened the first box of 11 and tested them all.  Of those, 10 tested good.  The remaining one was not registering F2, F4, F6, F8, F10, F12, 5, 6, 8, Space Bar, and a few others.  Took it apart, lightly wiped the membrane contact to the controller lightly and the controller itself lightly with 90% isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel, put it back together, and everything works perfectly on that one as well. 

So bottom line is that even if you do get one of these and it is not registering a few keys because of the controller losing contact somehow during shipping, it should still be easily fixable. Hardest part about it is having a 7/32 nut driver on hand to open the case, but those can be had for $5 shipped if you end up needing one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321555842008

After actually using one of these, I do have to say that they aren't as "cheap feeling" as they are made out to be. Yeah, you can see that they cut costs inside, and the keycap legends and layout aren't everyone's favorite, but totally usable IMHO.  Another thing no one has mentioned is that these have kind of like a fine gold metallic flake in the keycap plastic, which I'm pretty sure is not normally there on pebble colored caps.

Feel free to PM me if interested.  Going to do $40 shipped to the USA for a quantity of 1, or $35 each if you buy more than one and have them shipped to the same address.  Will be setting up a classified posting later today or maybe tomorrow.

There probably will be a few that I test at a later time that actually do have bad controllers, and I will probably part those out, so also let me know if you are wanting parts of any kind from these.

[Evo_Spec]

Really glad to hear that someone here got them! Awesome deal that you're putting out too!

Now do I need one of these......

[Kira]

This would be great for a modding project. Anyone in for a custom case for these model m's?

[fohat.digs]

Anyone in for a custom case for these model m's?

More important, is it possible to mod the case tops for F-122s?

[MythicalWagyu]

Well, I opened the first box of 11 and tested them all.  Of those, 10 tested good.  The remaining one was not registering F2, F4, F6, F8, F10, F12, 5, 6, 8, Space Bar, and a few others.  Took it apart, lightly wiped the membrane contact to the controller lightly and the controller itself lightly with 90% isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel, put it back together, and everything works perfectly on that one as well. 

So bottom line is that even if you do get one of these and it is not registering a few keys because of the controller losing contact somehow during shipping, it should still be easily fixable. Hardest part about it is having a 7/32 nut driver on hand to open the case, but those can be had for $5 shipped if you end up needing one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321555842008

After actually using one of these, I do have to say that they aren't as "cheap feeling" as they are made out to be. Yeah, you can see that they cut costs inside, and the keycap legends and layout aren't everyone's favorite, but totally usable IMHO.  Another thing no one has mentioned is that these have kind of like a fine gold metallic flake in the keycap plastic, which I'm pretty sure is not normally there on pebble colored caps.

Feel free to PM me if interested.  Going to do $40 shipped to the USA for a quantity of 1, or $35 each if you buy more than one and have them shipped to the same address.  Will be setting up a classified posting later today or maybe tomorrow.

There probably will be a few that I test at a later time that actually do have bad controllers, and I will probably part those out, so also let me know if you are wanting parts of any kind from these.

Exciting stuff, can't wait to give one a whirl myself! I've got a special keycap just waiting for it...

More

[ezrahilyer]

I am glad they seem to be ok. good way to get started on buckling springs if you have never tried them.

[MythicalWagyu]

So far so good. BS is fun - I'm going to have a blast banging away on this at the office

Thanks again for testing and shipping these orihalcon!

[daerid]

Just got mine today. The layout is definitely gonna take some getting used to, especially dat left shift

[rowdy]

Just got mine today. The layout is definitely gonna take some getting used to, especially dat left shift

It is possible ti ANSIfy these.