geekhack

geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: 486 on Thu, 03 May 2012, 05:05:04

Title: BNIB Model M 1997 by IBM Greenock 42H1292 $150- AUC
Post by: 486 on Thu, 03 May 2012, 05:05:04

Huh. Well this seller is enthusastic. http://www.ebay.com/itm/BNIB-ULTRA-RARE-SCOTLAND-UK-MFG-1997-IBM-42H1292-CLICKY-KEYBOARD-MODEL-M-/280874409144?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item41656b5cb8
The seller is wrong. This is not even close to been one of the last  42H1292 M's. Production of these stop in 1999. Proof:
http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cfm/fa/items.main/parentcat/9231/subcatid/0/id/406188
This is why you must research before listing.

Title: BNIB Model M 1997 by IBM Greenock 42H1292 $150- AUC
Post by: Heisenberg on Thu, 03 May 2012, 05:13:21

You gotta admire the gall, putting the reserve at $150 when it would probably only fetch that in the open on a good week. Then again it is made by IBM and not Lex/Uni so I could be talking out of my behind.

Title: BNIB Model M 1997 by IBM Greenock 42H1292 $150- AUC
Post by: fohat.digs on Thu, 03 May 2012, 07:43:47

I have had one 42H from Greenock, I think it was also a 1999 model, and it is the only M I have ever had with a controller problem.

Especially unfortunate, since those parts are not as easily interchangeable as most of the others.

Although I got it cheap enough that it was worth it for the keys alone!

Title: BNIB Model M 1997 by IBM Greenock 42H1292 $150- AUC
Post by: 486 on Thu, 03 May 2012, 16:53:02

Nice. How late in 1999 was this?  If it was past October 1999, that would explain it. As with most products that come within the last few months of a companies manufacture, the product is so rushed that it does not pass the quality check thorughly and may be why the controller failed..
I have heard people "claiming" to have a IBM produced in 2000 but I don't believe them. I read somewhere that the Greenock factory halted production in November and factoy closed in mid-Decmeber of that year. I do however know that M13's were produced until mid- late '98 because they had a contract with MaxiSwitch after Lexmark's contract ran out in '96.
So what this should mean is any  buckling spring keyboard post-2000 is a Unicomp. 1996 to 1999 can mean a very late Lexmark (mostly only Lexington), a Maxi Switch, Unicomp or a IBM produced keyboard (only at Greenock). 1992-1996 means either a Lexmark (Guadalajara or Lexington) or a Greenock IBM produced Model M. Pre-1992 mean either a Lexington, Greenock or Guadalajara IBM produced keyboard.