geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: NorrisB on Fri, 13 April 2012, 11:40:25
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Checked some thrift stores near my house and I realized I'm probably not doing this right. How do you find Model M's?
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My job involves a lot of driving around. There are a dozen or so thrift stores that I pass on a monthly basis or oftener. When I have a couple of minutes to spare, I stop in and have a quick look.
In a couple of years, involving probably well over a hundred searches, I have found 2 working Model Ms and 2 dead ones (not including a rubber dome 72H model).
I have found perhaps a dozen good mechanicals in that time, at least that many broken ones, plus some other niceties.
Assume that 95% of the time you go in, you will find absolutely nothing. If you are not driving around anyway, making a special trip will almost always disappoint.
Maybe try Mondays, on the chance that something came in over the weekend.
PS - I don't know about LA, but in the Atlanta area "Goodwill" brand stores don't carry computer gear anymore, because of pressure from real computer stores, according to the manager I spoke to.
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A Model M's natural habitat is in the dusty attics of an old office. I found three of them in the back of a computer interface/robotics complex.
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There are several containers of used computer parts arrive at our city, sent from the US every 6 months. Most of them are old IBM, Compaq, HP and Dell desktops along with their original keyboards
I got two Compaq MX 11800s and 1 IBM model M that way.
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If you're in LA, go check your local electronics recycling places. Further north towards Northridge and Van Nuys, there are a couple of surplus parts vendors who reportedly have some pretty rare IBM junk.