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geekhack Community => geekhack Media => Topic started by: PortablePlatypus on Sun, 28 December 2014, 16:13:09
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Swung by a flea market vendor who I've bought close to a dozen keyboards off of and now that I know more about them, I found a bunch I missed. I'm having trouble finding some of these on ebay and could use help identifying/valuing these.
http://imgur.com/a/9R3rk#0
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The original Dell logo one is pretty sweet. Photo #14.
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1. Wyse - not worth much as a board, especially since it has broken caps. The switches, depending on whether they're old, "vintage," or new blacks can be worth up to $0.25 each if desoldered.
2. Dell AT101W - should have Black Alps. It's in rough shape, so I wouldn't put it at more than $30 shipped, probably less.
3. Junk
4. Commodore with beige tactile NMB Hi-Tek switches. Uses a proprietary interface, so it will require some work to make it work on something else. I just paid $25 shipped for a PS/2 board with beige Space Invaders. I wouldn't put it at more than that. It's really worth more to you as something interesting than to anyone else, especially considering shipping costs.
5. Packard Bell with, I'm assuming, linear White NMB Hi-Tek switches and missing caps. I wouldn't pay more than $25 shipped for it. Caps are hard to find for NMB boards, so that's a major ding against it that it's missing some.
6. Old logo Dell AT101. Based on the model number, it should have the less desirable Black Alps; however, it may have one redeeming trait if it has the dyesub PBT caps. Some might pay up to $50 shipped, but I wouldn't pay more than $40. That's all contingent upon the caps being dyesub though.
7. Should be an RT-101+ with beige NMB Hi-Tek switches. I'd say in the $30-40 shipped range, maybe up to $50 if you clean it up, it works, and someone really wants it.
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4. Commodore with beige tactile NMB Hi-Tek switches. Uses a proprietary interface, so it will require some work to make it work on something else. I just paid $25 shipped for a PS/2 board with beige Space Invaders. I wouldn't put it at more than that. It's really worth more to you as something interesting than to anyone else, especially considering shipping costs.
Pretty sure the Commodore is linear (white) space invaders. The pictures in the imgur album are just mixed up. Picture #9 showing the beige switch is from the same keyboard as picture #15.
Also, those old-logo Dell AT101s go for >$100 sometimes on ebay, though the ones made by Alps in the USA with salmon Alps switches are a bit more desirable than the ones made by Silitek in Taiwan with black Alps switches. From the picture I think the one the OP has might still be dyesubs.
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Could be. In either case, it's not worth much.
Old logo AT101s that go that high have Salmon Alps, not Black Alps. Some people put ones up with Black Alps for that price, but they never sell.
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Little bummed at these low evaluations. Hopefully I can make my $35 back and then some at least. These are all for sale if anyone's interested. Would rather not lose more money to ebay fees. Will also make a post in the appropriate forum.
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Thanks for all the help!
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For $35, this is a pretty good haul. The main reason you typically won’t see these going for $70+ each is that they’re mostly either relatively common (the Dell boards, the WYSE) or somewhat wacky layouts (the rest), and none of them is in especially amazing condition. If you want something to use yourself, I’d recommend either of those Dell boards as a host for whatever other Alps switches you can find, especially the AT101 if it has dyesub keycaps.
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$35 worth of experience trying different switches.
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Not a bad haul for $35. I would be happy. I still don't have any "Space Invader" keyboard myself.
Too bad about the Wyse's broken cap, and that it is so yellowed. The keycaps were made by the predecessor to SP, so they should be doubleshot DCS profile. 100% matching Tsangan kits have been made. Innards from the PC-compatible version can be transplanted into that case.
The DEC LK201 is only somewhat interesting in a historical sense, because it pioneered the inverse-T arrow key layout. Because DEC dominated the professional computer market in the early '80s days, many followed what DEC did.
It is supposed to be used with DEC terminals... and the switches have plastic springs. I haven't tried any myself, but I have heard that they don't feel very good.
The Commodore keyboard looks very much like one that was made by Cherry and has black Cherry MX switches and doubleshot keycaps ... except it isn't. Look here (http://deskthority.net/f-o-r-s-a-l-e-f58/commodore-mechanical-keyboard-hi-tek-switches-t5523.html).
Nice that you found an Old-logo Dell keyboard. Too bad about the black Alps. Some old logo Dells have Salmon/pink switches that are much nicer.