NIB Majiqkey (Black Onmikey) $275 OBO

[engicoder]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GT6OMNIKEY-Mechanical-Click-Programmable-Keyboard-OMNIKEY-PS-2-NIB-/301604322385

Anyone know anything about these. I've seen one once before, but can't find the reference.

[digi]

I might buy it just for this "offers you a new, out-of-the-box experience."

[engicoder]

I might buy it just for this "offers you a new, out-of-the-box experience."

But first, are you experienced?

[chyros]

Why for god's sake is there an integrated LED in the arrow up key?! Oo

[rm-rf]

when you enable the up LED, it presses triple when illuminated.

[False_Dmitry_II]

Does this mean they are black alps? Because if they are they're worthless to me.

[chyros]

Does this mean they are black alps? Because if they are they're worthless to me.

As far as I know OmniKey only ever used SKCM White and Blue in their keyboards.

[dorkvader]

this is odd. It doesn't look like a northgate omnikey to me (case is completely different). Seeing as it comes with a modern-style keypuller, you might want to ask the seller to pull one to check.

Then again, the FCC ID (GT6 OMNIKEY) does correspond to northgate, 1989 - 1995

[chyros]

this is odd. It doesn't look like a northgate omnikey to me (case is completely different). Seeing as it comes with a modern-style keypuller, you might want to ask the seller to pull one to check.

Then again, the FCC ID (GT6 OMNIKEY) does correspond to northgate, 1989 - 1995

You're possibly confused because it's not an Omnikey 101, but a 102. The case looks identical to me.

[dorkvader]

I guess I didn't have as good an idea of the case as I thought. I knew the top-part was the same but I thought the bottom of the beige version wad different.

edit: looks a lot like the avant-stellar KB. The author thinks it's MX (how cute) so it appears to be white alps
http://archive.benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=376&Itemid=65&limit=1&limitstart=4

[engicoder]

CVT bought the rights (probably the tooling?) for the OmniKey line back in the early 2000's, so it makes sense that this would be one of their boards. Anyone know what type of Alps/clone switches they used? I thought that the SKCM's that the Northgate used were not manufactured past the end of the 90's.

[False_Dmitry_II]

That'd be why I asked that already. Without knowing what switches it has it's just a really expensive housing for Matias switches.

I had an omnikey briefly while I worked on it, and it didn't seem to be much better put together than an AEKII, which I already have.

[Hak Foo]

I had an Omnikey 101 for a few days (it was a total basket case)... that model had some nice features-- NKRO, a solid metal bottom tray and a fairly robust looking top (which was cracked badly on mine), and a detachable cord-- and some gimmicky ones (apparently, you could toggle it to run on an Amiga and some not-quite-fully-compatible PC clones, and certain keys had special behaviours configurable.).

Frankly, I don't see this as a $275 product, especially now that you can get a Matias board if you just want a decent white-ALPS experience.

[chyros]

I had an Omnikey 101 for a few days (it was a total basket case)... that model had some nice features-- NKRO, a solid metal bottom tray and a fairly robust looking top (which was cracked badly on mine), and a detachable cord-- and some gimmicky ones (apparently, you could toggle it to run on an Amiga and some not-quite-fully-compatible PC clones, and certain keys had special behaviours configurable.).

Frankly, I don't see this as a $275 product, especially now that you can get a Matias board if you just want a decent white-ALPS experience.

If you want a good White Alps experience, don't buy a Matias. There's tons of good condition boards with genuine White Alps around for much, much less money (and with a better keyfeel).

[fohat.digs]

There's tons of good condition boards with genuine White Alps around for much, much less money (and with a better keyfeel).

Says the guy who got a new-in-box straight-ANSI blue Alps board for practically nothing!

[Hak Foo]

I had an Omnikey 101 for a few days (it was a total basket case)... that model had some nice features-- NKRO, a solid metal bottom tray and a fairly robust looking top (which was cracked badly on mine), and a detachable cord-- and some gimmicky ones (apparently, you could toggle it to run on an Amiga and some not-quite-fully-compatible PC clones, and certain keys had special behaviours configurable.).

Frankly, I don't see this as a $275 product, especially now that you can get a Matias board if you just want a decent white-ALPS experience.

If you want a good White Alps experience, don't buy a Matias. There's tons of good condition boards with genuine White Alps around for much, much less money (and with a better keyfeel).

It's more a price thing.  With the Matias a known quantity, selling all day for $145, it represents a ceiling price for new ALPS boards without a major gimmick to differentiate themselves.

[chyros]

There's tons of good condition boards with genuine White Alps around for much, much less money (and with a better keyfeel).

Says the guy who got a new-in-box straight-ANSI blue Alps board for practically nothing!

Yes, exactly! Why go buy a massively overpriced Matias board when a better board should be easily available? Some eBay hunting can get you one with no problem (remember the big batch of NIB Unitek boards for instance?) or with some skip diving / recycling centre hunting you can get them for practically nothing.

[False_Dmitry_II]

That isn't a normal result.

I have gotten NIB Monterey Blue, for $30 shipped, and knew that wasn't normal.

[chyros]

You still got it though. Because you looked for it.

[False_Dmitry_II]

Actually, it was posted to this very subforum at the time. It's just that everyone else forgot about it by the time it ended and I was the sole bid. Then everyone marveled at what a deal it was.

So, no it is not a normal result. I was lucky, as were you.

The only way you can prove to me otherwise is to give me inside information for me to get such a mythical NIB white alps for nothing from some particular listing.

I don't even know what a Unitek is, but then I disappear from these parts for large amounts of time.

[False_Dmitry_II]

Someone bought one at full price!

I hope whoever it is tells us what switches it actually has.

[RickBrant]

Apologies for the thread necromancy - I found the thread while looking for one of the keywords in one of these ads.

The LED in the up arrow key was a hallmark of what might be called the second generation Northgates; I call them "poor second cousins". Sometime around 2000 I started seeing these in computer stores. Unlike the original Northgates they did not have a bank of DIP switches under the little door at the upper left of the keyboard. But they did have the Windows and Context Menu keys, which I use.  And even though they still used white Alps keyswitches they did not feel the same. Maybe these used the "simplified" Alps vs. the older "complicated" ones?

Another feature of these newer Northgates was that they were programmable. All or nearly all of the keys could be assigned some other keystroke, or a sequence of keystrokes. It could be done right from the keyboard or with the aid of a program running in the machine the keyboard was connected to. The program allowed key configurations to be saved and restored. Originally it only ran on Windows 9x, not the NT family, which was a pain for me.

The LED in the up arrow key was lit during the from-the-keyboard programming sequence; maybe from the interface one too. This key also was a decidedly different keyswitch - it had no click at all.

The controller chips in the programmable Northgates were apparently very fragile. In one week, when I was at a client's that was near a store that sold them, I bought and returned three of these - each had failed during the first evening of trying it. I gave up on them.

Much later I used a CVT "Northgate" for quite a while. It had the opening for the LED in the up arrow key but was not actually programmable. It also did not fail prematurely. Thus you can't really tell from the appearance of the up arrow key whether you're looking at an unreliable (but programmable) Northgate or a reliable (but not programmable) one.

I see there's one of these "Majiqkey GT6OMNIKEY" keyboards on eBay now. From the "TietoEnator" logo I found references to a company, "TietoEnator Software Technologies", now called "Tieto".  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tieto ) The keyboard does say "programmable" on its label. My suspicion is that this keyboard and its weird keycaps are associated with one of the company's software packages. Maybe it also has been custom programmed to go with that application - which, if you can't find the software for programming it, might make it less than useful.

[SamirD]

Such a wealth of info!  Well worth the bump.

[Cannabat]

hi all

a thread that keeps on giving rises again

i came across a TietoEnator-branded (?) Omnikey and figured yous guys would like a closer look. the board was scavenged from office disposal in Sydney, Australia. i was pleased to find that it is in pretty much perfect working order, and cleaned it thoroughly, despite it not appearing to be anything really special. my first unintentional quasi-retro keyboard find, yay.

relevant points, based on this thread:
- it has what I believe to be SKBMFA Alps switches (simplified clicky white)
- some switches appear to be mounted upside down - 'ALPS' is written right-side-up on a few rows.
- the board must have been made sometime between 1999 and 2008 - the company's name was only TietoEnator during those years.
- like the other boards in this family, the up arrow has an embedded green LED and is a mint green color, feels linear
- the PCB has 101-102-PROGRAMMABLE written on it, says DESIGNED BY KIDDO (), and copyright 1995
- the PCB has a perforated line between the left panel of 12 keys (one 2x5 bank plus one 2x1 bank)  and the rest of the board, and there is a printed indication to chop-er-off at that point if the board was to be a 104-key model instead of 116-key
- under the top-left flap with TietoEnator branding, there are no DIP switches
- there is no key or button available to enter any sort of programming mode
- the device has a PS/2 connector which requires an active PS/2 to USB converter
- the `~ and Esc keys are switched from their usual locations
- only the N, M, and E keys are double-shot. the rest are printed
- it appears as though the board was customized for TietoEnator (hence the non-standard keys like CANCEL, INTERRUPT, FORWARD, BACKWARD, REDSPLY, etc). perhaps the double-shot keys were replacements taken from other devices? the printed keycaps are thin and janky.
- i like the colors. Ctrl = red, Shift = green, Alt = blue

i will hold onto this board for a week or so and then try and find somebody who likes loud things to take it. if anybody wants any other photos, please speak relatively soon or forever hold your peace. i was enjoying myself far too much during the teardown, cleanup, and reassembly to take any photos, but i would be delighted to do it all again if people are curious.

(oh, the photos are mostly upside down. too bad)