I think I figured out the F Xt "best model F feel" controversy

[matt-taco]

I'm fairly new at the forum scene, so bear with me.

So I downloaded Let Go on Sunday after church while sitting at McDonald's to kill time before I needed to be at work. With in 2 minutes of having the app, I found a "vintage IBM PC" for 50 bucks. So I immediately contacted the owner, called my boss to say I'll be two hours late due to a "minor accident" and drove off to pick it up ( real responsible 17 year old I am). Long story short, I got a 5150 (256k +256k expansion, modem card, dual floppy and a 20mb "Hardcard"), 5153 and a model F but no software.

Why is am I telling you all this? Well, I got another F XT to go along with my other F XT, an AT and a f107 to compare.

My f107 served as my control as I've had it the longest and what I was used typing on. My second F was my F XT which was in a pretty clean overall, but the Ebay Picture didn't show the shine on the caps. It has  been extensively used, thus it has a  "smooth and light feel" relative to my 107, my dad told me he liked the feel of the XT in that regard and he hasn't had a conscious exposure to mechanical keyboardmm). My AT was buried in dirt but but seen little use. which gave it a pingier sound and crisper key feel. Now here comes the twist, the 2nd XT felt extremely similar to the AT except for the fact that it's feel exceeds that of the AT! I My first XT had virtually no after ping on the more used key, second one definitely did.

From this I take that those who say that the XT has a better feel is really just have a more used board or some other thing of that matter and the opposing side have a had a relatively less used board. There was a noticeable difference in feel, which I think is mainly attributed to your mind thinking the key press was softer do to a less harsh sound.

That's my take, on the situation. To be honest it is a similar thing with Model Ms, I've had 2 metal logos, grey and a lexmark. The metal logos fell in the same boat as the Fs, grey feeling like the metal logo in better condition, and the lexmark 122 was more like the heavily used metal logo. The sounds to those more attributed to the weights of each generation, but still.


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[pingmaster]

I have an XT from a prestine XT, nearly new in box. Likely less dirt on it than in an INTEL clean room. Well, its feel is second to none, as far as I have tried keyboards. 50$ for all that is a nice deal.

[1391406]

I'd still take the feel of a worn out Model F over a NOS original Model M.

[tp4tissue]

Cherry mx Booru.. = best switch.

[xueyao]

Personally I like the heavier feeling AT as the XT is too high pitched. Too each his own I guess haha. I've since switched to the beamspring and never looked back.

[fohat.digs]

the XT is too high pitched.

The floss mod takes the sound to an ideal level and mixture.

[matt-taco]

the XT is too high pitched.

The floss mod takes the sound to an ideal level and mixture.

I have two XTs, one worn out, one almost unused made in 83. The worn XT is my deepest sounding Model f of the four I had. The 5150 and 5160 both had extremely long service lives, so the it is't the XT itself I think is too high pitched, it's really just the model f itsef.

I would say floss mod is ideal, really depends on my mood, but I have to agree (for the most part).

[SamirD]

That was a steal for the whole deal.  Do you know how to use DOS and use that 5150?  That's pretty interesting it has a hardcard in it--those were rare even back during those times (I lived through them).

[chyros]

I like the AT one a lot for its sound. The plastic chassis emphasises the sound of the keystroke a lot more, while the XT's metal chassis is so stiff that you can only hear the switch ping.

F122 wins the coolness award easily.

[matt-taco]

That was a steal for the whole deal.  Do you know how to use DOS and use that 5150?  That's pretty interesting it has a hardcard in it--those were rare even back during those times (I lived through them).

I can put up some pictuers if you want, but yeah, I know dos and run it basically everyday. I run dos 3.3 and I copy games over on via a 386 I got by posting an ad on craigslist (only paid 12 bucks). I have issues with some programs and games since my ram card is completely dead, so I only have 256k instead of 640k.

[SamirD]

That was a steal for the whole deal.  Do you know how to use DOS and use that 5150?  That's pretty interesting it has a hardcard in it--those were rare even back during those times (I lived through them).

I can put up some pictuers if you want, but yeah, I know dos and run it basically everyday. I run dos 3.3 and I copy games over on via a 386 I got by posting an ad on craigslist (only paid 12 bucks). I have issues with some programs and games since my ram card is completely dead, so I only have 256k instead of 640k.

That would be super sweet!  I love seeing the old goodness still running today. 

Why not use dos 5.0?  I thought 5.0 was a bit leaner than 3.3.  I know 3.2 was leaner than 3.3, but lacked some support for hard drives if I recall.  How are you transferring the files between the two?  Is the ram card a physical add-in card?  Because I've seen examples of 'baking' cards gets them working again.  Might be worth a shot?

[matt-taco]

Sorry for the belated response, was waiting for 3 manuals to come in the mail.
 
PC dos 5 doesn't come in one of the nice IBM little binders to fit the aesthetic. There is also nothing the PC runs that really needs anything newer than 2.x, and I had a teacher who had an extra copy of 3.3 startup on display in his room, so I asked if I could have it. I did buy a cib copy of 3.3 with a new manual, but 4 5.25 startup disks, a 720k 3.5 version, and a 5.25 operating disk for 12 dollars.

5 does let you have a 2gb fixed disk, whereas 3.x is only 32mb, but with a xt-ide card (when I can afford it), I can just make multiple partitions so 3.3 is good enough. 3.3 only supports 720k 3.5 floppies, which is all the PC supports, so I may get an external bay and add one of those eventually.

It's a 64-256k board revision (I have 256k on board), with a bad 384k ast sixpack plus (ISA), so I'll try baking it, I haven't been at home much this past week to try it.

Transferring files is a tedious process. I make an archive of all the games I think I'll need, then burn it to a cd, then move it to the the 386 of which it's cd drive literally ejects the whole entire drive, then copy it to a 360k formatted floppy and then to the PC. I really need a kryoflux...

BTW, mac runs windows 7 and soon to be converted to a monitor.