geekhack

geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: nubbinator on Sat, 13 June 2015, 00:17:01

Title: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: nubbinator on Sat, 13 June 2015, 00:17:01: Nice switches, less than awesome case/board it's attached to.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Midwest-Micro-Elite-Mechanical-Keyboard-KB-5181-/251993782405?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aabfff885
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: jbondeson on Sat, 13 June 2015, 15:46:45: I went ahead and bought it. Been looking for a reasonably priced Monterey Blue's board for a while!
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: fohat.digs on Sat, 13 June 2015, 16:04:00: $40 shipped is a good price. Considering that domestic shipping is always going to be $15, $25 for the keyboard itself is good.

And even if the switches are in bad shape, the caps are Alps-compatible, that alone is something.

Last, my Chicony boards have always had a blank rectangle where the label goes. A little color looks good there.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: chyros on Sun, 14 June 2015, 05:50:16: Quote from: jbondeson on Sat, 13 June 2015, 15:46:45
I went ahead and bought it. Been looking for a reasonably priced Monterey Blue's board for a while!
Congratulations, that's a very nice price. These switches are great!
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: False_Dmitry_II on Sun, 14 June 2015, 23:13:19: Will have to repair cord, tho.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: jbondeson on Mon, 15 June 2015, 11:50:16: Quote from: False_Dmitry_II on Sun, 14 June 2015, 23:13:19
Will have to repair cord, tho.
Yep, I saw that before I bought. I'll see how good of condition the pcb is in before I make the decision to restore or simply use it as a switch & key donor.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: nubbinator on Mon, 15 June 2015, 11:52:38: You'd have to either get another board with Monterey switches or make a custom PCB to use the board as a donor.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: jbondeson on Mon, 15 June 2015, 12:09:25: "Donor" was probably the wrong word since the SMK Alps are incompatible with other Alps, more like "sacrifice its guts for a custom."
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: fohat.digs on Mon, 15 June 2015, 16:46:58: Quote from: jbondeson on Mon, 15 June 2015, 12:09:25
"sacrifice its guts for a custom."

If you have any leftover Monterey blue switches, you need to keep them. There are probably people who could use some spares.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: False_Dmitry_II on Mon, 15 June 2015, 20:25:20: I'd certainly take some.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: Blaise170 on Tue, 16 June 2015, 08:47:20: I have a board with SMK Blues but the case and PCB are prettty janky. Do people ever buy just the switches?
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: fohat.digs on Tue, 16 June 2015, 08:51:27: Quote from: Blaise170 on Tue, 16 June 2015, 08:47:20
I have a board with SMK Blues but the case and PCB are prettty janky. Do people ever buy just the switches?

Only for repair jobs.

They don't fit any other standard chassis.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: Touch_It on Tue, 16 June 2015, 12:35:10: I had a monteray blue switch go bad on me. I'm to scared to try to open it up and repair. Thought about looking for a replacement, but figured it would be hard to find one.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: chyros on Tue, 16 June 2015, 12:52:08: Quote from: Touch_It on Tue, 16 June 2015, 12:35:10
I had a monteray blue switch go bad on me. I'm to scared to try to open it up and repair.
Yeah, I don't think there is a tutorial out there for repairing one, and from what I could tell at a glance, these aren't as easy to open up as Alps switches Oo . I'm not sure it's possible to open them at all without desoldering them, in fact.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: Blaise170 on Tue, 16 June 2015, 13:03:52: IIRC, it isn't possible to open up second generation SMK switches without destroying them. Soldering in a new switch is the best way to go in my opinion.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: jbondeson on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:22:45: Got the board last night (quick shipping for "Free Shipping"). Disassembled it and the PCB looks fine. The cord was cut (not yanked thank god) so the insides are perfect for me to replace with a PS/2 (it has an AT/XT toggle on the underside so I should just be able to just wire it up and go). The plate, keys and case are (shocker) dirty as hell so they'll all be getting a bath this weekend.

(http://i.imgur.com/QqsBkDg.jpg)

These feel of these switches blow away MX. I'm excited to try a few more alps varieties I have coming my way via XMIT & elecplus.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: digi on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:25:18: Quote from: jbondeson on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:22:45
Got the board last night (quick shipping for "Free Shipping"). Disassembled it and the PCB looks fine. The cord was cut (not yanked thank god) so the insides are perfect for me to replace with a PS/2 (it has an AT/XT toggle on the underside so I should just be able to just wire it up and go). The plate, keys and case are (shocker) dirty as hell so they'll all be getting a bath this weekend.

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/QqsBkDg.jpg)

These feel of these switches blow away MX. I'm excited to try a few more alps varieties I have coming my way via XMIT & elecplus.

I've never tried Monterey's but I tried Blue Alps when Akimbo did the Omnikey tour, they were very nice. The high actuation point is pretty cool.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: jbondeson on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:31:08: I'd love to get my hands on a blue alps board, but holy hell the price! :eek:
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: fohat.digs on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:38:43: Quote from: jbondeson on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:31:08
I'd love to get my hands on a blue alps board, but holy hell the price!

And, except for that stunning outlier that Chyros got a few months ago, they have terrible layouts, so they are being bought as donors.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: digi on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:39:13: Quote from: fohat.digs on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:38:43
Quote from: jbondeson on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:31:08
I'd love to get my hands on a blue alps board, but holy hell the price!

And, except for that stunning outlier that Chyros got a few months ago, they have terrible layouts, so they are being bought as donors.

+1
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: Blaise170 on Thu, 18 June 2015, 15:57:28: I don't think the layout on my Chicony 5161 was too bad when I had my board with SKCM Blues. Also Monterey blues aren't Alps switches, they are made by SMK and just Alps-mount.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: False_Dmitry_II on Thu, 18 June 2015, 16:58:41: Quote from: jbondeson on Thu, 18 June 2015, 14:22:45
These feel of these switches blow away MX. I'm excited to try a few more alps varieties I have coming my way via XMIT & elecplus.

I know, right? It is very nice.

Quote from: Blaise170 on Thu, 18 June 2015, 15:57:28
I don't think the layout on my Chicony 5161 was too bad when I had my board with SKCM Blues. Also Monterey blues aren't Alps switches, they are made by SMK and just Alps-mount.

Yeah, there are people who get annoyed at those who only use them as donor boards, simply because they usually have a higher build quality as well, and so they'd prefer restoring them directly and converting if needed.

There are also people who prefer the monterey blues over Alps, because the actuation is somewhat lower than normal Alps.
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: Blaise170 on Thu, 18 June 2015, 17:34:01: Yeah nothing wrong with the SMK, just saying they are not Alps compatible. :P
Title: Re: Micro-Elite KB-5181 Monterey Blues $40 shipped
Post by: jbondeson on Thu, 18 June 2015, 17:37:01: Quote from: Blaise170 on Thu, 18 June 2015, 17:34:01
Yeah nothing wrong with the SMK, just saying they are not Alps compatible. :P

Yeah, I'm just being intellectually lazy calling them alps rather than alps-style since the mechanisms are similar.