Print Page - Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100

geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: Tactile on Sat, 04 July 2015, 12:03:56

Title: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: Tactile on Sat, 04 July 2015, 12:03:56

$85 + $15 shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-KEYBOARD-VINTAGE-1393656-1397050-15F6585-122-KEY-PS-2-/181724065198?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4f992dae

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: XMIT on Sat, 04 July 2015, 12:30:03

At this price you're probably better off buying from orihalcon. You'll get a board with a built in Soarer's Converter shipped for less than the price of this one pre shipping. Plus I'd ask the seller for a photo of the label on the back of the keyboard before buying. These are likely a Lexmark copy from the mid 90s.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: Tactile on Sat, 04 July 2015, 12:50:59

I was looking at the part number 1397050 & was under the impression that these "host connected" keyboards were more unusual than the terminal keyboards orihalcon sells.

Here's a discussion from a while back..

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=5264.0

...another discussion on Reddit

http://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/2e94xt/help_help_with_a_122_key_model_m_part_number/

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_3270_PC

...and here's an original ad...

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: Parak on Sat, 04 July 2015, 13:17:22

Yeah, these are pretty rare, in that this is the first I've heard of this particular PN - 3270 terminal emulator, with stepped modifiers, silver badged, PS/2. 1397000 and similar are rather more common, and I suspect these are the precursors especially due to the same FRU.

Otherwise the same as any other M :p

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: ander on Sat, 04 July 2015, 23:54:24

This actually seems like a dang cool deal, considering they're NIB and PS/2... If they were 101's they'd be upward of $200 each, wouldn't they?

Why did IBM go to such trouble to make them look like F-122s tho? Being PS/2, obviously they couldn't be used as drop-in F replacements.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: ander on Thu, 29 October 2015, 02:29:06

So, Tactile, you got one of these, right?

As the IBM describes, these boards were used with regular PCs running terminal emulation software, rather than with terminals connected to a single mainframe. So I assume they can be connected directly to a PC, like Unicomp's 122s? That's pretty cool. If they weren't NIB and priced accordingly, I'd get one too. :?)

The IBM ad is great. "These windows are available in eight colors." Shades of things to come, huh? (Hey, I guess that makes them windowshades.)

Quote from: XMIT on Sat, 04 July 2015, 12:30:03

At this price you're probably better off buying from orihalcon. You'll get a board with a built in Soarer's Converter shipped for less than the price of this one pre shipping. Plus I'd ask the seller for a photo of the label on the back of the keyboard before buying. These are likely a Lexmark copy from the mid 90s.

These aren't regular M-122s, so I doubt Orihalcon would have any. They may indeed be '90s Lexmark copies of F's, though. The seller says they're "from 1985", but it's quite possible they saw "©1985" on the labels and assumed they were made then. People often do that.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: rowdy on Thu, 29 October 2015, 04:34:44

Probably lucky I don't live in the US, otherwise I'd be buying a lot of these that crop up from time to time.

Fortunately postage for me is generally a bit silly.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 10:03:00

If there was a way to get in touch with the seller outside of ebay, I'd probably get one of these. Would be cool to have a battleship that just plugs up and works, even if its not an F. :D

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: Tactile on Thu, 29 October 2015, 10:13:29

Ander: Yes, I bought one. Mine came in the factory sealed IBM box & was made 28 Jul 1989. Mine has a lot of broken rivets but works perfectly. It does work as a PS/2 keyboard by just plugging it in. Some of the non-alphanumeric keys deliver different scancodes - I don't remember the details & it's not connected right now. I do have an AHK script I wrote....

Code: [Select]

;; Volume control
SC06B:: send {Volume_Up}
SC06A:: send {Volume_Down}
SC069:: send {Volume_Mute}

;; Launch Control Panel
SC05B:: run control

;; Device Manager
SC05C:: run devmgmt.msc

;; Mouse settings
SC05D:: run control main.cpl

; Bottom left key = Sleep
SC075::
; Sleep/Suspend:
DllCall("PowrProf\SetSuspendState", "int", 0, "int", 0, "int", 0)
; Hibernate:
;DllCall("PowrProf\SetSuspendState", "int", 1, "int", 0, "int", 0)
Return 

;; Move escape to the upper left key
SC071:: ESC


;; turn "Reset" into Left CTRL & "Enter" into RCTRL
SC055:: LCTRL
SC11C:: RCTRL

;; Change arrow key cluster to inverted tee
;; and the key above to home
SC062:: HOME

;; Numpad Enter
SC04E:: NumpadEnter


SC10F:: NumpadAdd

I don't remember if this is complete, but it should give some idea of what I needed in order to make the keyboard work. I'm not sure if it's clear from the above posts, but it has the Model F style legs, also.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: Tactile on Thu, 29 October 2015, 10:51:27

One other note: The seller just slaps the shipping label on the IBM box & ships it. If the box is important to you when buying one you might make arrangements with them to put it in an additional box to keep the original one clean of labels.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:28:51

Thank you for the additional notes! Good to know about the box and labels. Makes me wonder if the broken rivets were from shipping or were originally there. I'd definitely have them re-pack it as hard foam like in the IBM boxes doesn't absorb shocks at all.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: Snowdog993 on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:44:00

Quote from: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:28:51

Thank you for the additional notes! Good to know about the box and labels. Makes me wonder if the broken rivets were from shipping or were originally there. I'd definitely have them re-pack it as hard foam like in the IBM boxes doesn't absorb shocks at all.

Uh, what? I have had several keyboards shipped in their original boxes. They hold up nicely in them. Of course they would have the foam inserts. (Like in the original boxes!)

(http://i.imgur.com/Ma7FdGY.jpg)

This one was made for IBM by Lexmark.

(http://i.imgur.com/7E0ddEB.jpg)

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:58:15

Quote from: Snowdog993 on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:44:00

Quote from: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:28:51
Thank you for the additional notes! Good to know about the box and labels. Makes me wonder if the broken rivets were from shipping or were originally there. I'd definitely have them re-pack it as hard foam like in the IBM boxes doesn't absorb shocks at all.
Uh, what? I have had several keyboards shipped in their original boxes. They hold up nicely in them. Of course they would have the foam inserts. (Like in the original boxes!)

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/Ma7FdGY.jpg)

This one was made for IBM by Lexmark.

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/7E0ddEB.jpg)

They do hold them nicely, and the foam is perfect for them--except when they get dropped. Then most the shock gets transferred to the keyboard since the foam is so stiff.

It's always best to pack the original box in another box that has at least some sort of compressible shock absorbing material like foam peanuts, newspaper, soft foam, etc. This way, when (not if) the box is dropped during shipping, rivets won't get damaged from the shock. :thumb:

Background: I once owned an auto parts distributor where I would be shipping radiators all day long. We developed methods to secure these things against the ravage of shipping and learned a lot about packing along the way. We only had 6 that ever got damaged, and we shipped about 150/wk for over a year.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: Snowdog993 on Thu, 29 October 2015, 12:03:56

Quote from: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:58:15

Quote from: Snowdog993 on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:44:00
Quote from: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 11:28:51
Thank you for the additional notes! Good to know about the box and labels. Makes me wonder if the broken rivets were from shipping or were originally there. I'd definitely have them re-pack it as hard foam like in the IBM boxes doesn't absorb shocks at all.
Uh, what? I have had several keyboards shipped in their original boxes. They hold up nicely in them. Of course they would have the foam inserts. (Like in the original boxes!)

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/Ma7FdGY.jpg)

This one was made for IBM by Lexmark.

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/7E0ddEB.jpg)

They do hold them nicely, and the foam is perfect for them--except when they get dropped. Then most the shock gets transferred to the keyboard since the foam is so stiff.

It's always best to pack the original box in another box that has at least some sort of compressible shock absorbing material like foam peanuts, newspaper, soft foam, etc. This way, when (not if) the box is dropped during shipping, rivets won't get damaged from the shock. :thumb:

Background: I once owned an auto parts distributor where I would be shipping radiators all day long. We developed methods to secure these things against the ravage of shipping and learned a lot about packing along the way. We only had 6 that ever got damaged, and we shipped about 150/wk for over a year.

I've been pretty lucky then. Well, very lucky. Every board I have works perfectly and no damage. To give you an idea, I used to have my sig saying about all the keyboards I have. The pictures in my imgur site are just the tip of the iceberg.

Just one

...

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 14:58:38

It really depends on how rough the handlers are with packages. Some carriers and parts of the country are vastly better than others. Plus, it depends on the keyboard--I don't think I've got a single one with broken rivets (at least loose inside the case) and I found mine in a box moving box pack to the gills with keyboards.

I LOVE your collection. You have some great pieces and I know the quantity since I have almost as many as you do, but all just Ms or variations of the M.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: Snowdog993 on Thu, 29 October 2015, 17:03:34

Quote from: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 14:58:38

It really depends on how rough the handlers are with packages. Some carriers and parts of the country are vastly better than others. Plus, it depends on the keyboard--I don't think I've got a single one with broken rivets (at least loose inside the case) and I found mine in a box moving box pack to the gills with keyboards.

I LOVE your collection. You have some great pieces and I know the quantity since I have almost as many as you do, but all just Ms or variations of the M.

They are all Model M keyboards. Several of them are terminal boards. The 1394204, 1392595. 1395162 and the 1395665 are all ANSI terminal boards. The 1389162 was a 122-key terminal board that was converted to a 121-key ANSI USB board with the Colossus controller.
Two of them still have the stock terminal controllers in them, and I am thinking I may go Colossus with them in the future. No rush.

The 51G8572 and 1395162 are very similar to the 1391401. However, the 51G8572 has a standard SDL-PS/2 controller whereas the 1395162 has a terminal controller.

The 1370477 keyboards are the same as the 1391401 keyboards except both mine have single-piece keys. Still SDL-PS/2.

The 13H6705 and the 92G7461 are both Trackpoint II Model M keyboards. The 13H6705 is black and the 92G7461 is white. Nice keyboards.

The Lexmark 1398601 is just like the 1391401 except for the Lexmark logo on the left side.

The Lexmark 1397961 is the Lexmark SSK. (Lexmark logo on left side.)
The IBM 1392934 is an IBM SSK.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 18:13:54

Quote from: Snowdog993 on Thu, 29 October 2015, 17:03:34

Quote from: SamirD on Thu, 29 October 2015, 14:58:38
It really depends on how rough the handlers are with packages. Some carriers and parts of the country are vastly better than others. Plus, it depends on the keyboard--I don't think I've got a single one with broken rivets (at least loose inside the case) and I found mine in a box moving box pack to the gills with keyboards.

I LOVE your collection. You have some great pieces and I know the quantity since I have almost as many as you do, but all just Ms or variations of the M.

They are all Model M keyboards. Several of them are terminal boards. The 1394204, 1392595. 1395162 and the 1395665 are all ANSI terminal boards. The 1389162 was a 122-key terminal board that was converted to a 121-key ANSI USB board with the Colossus controller.
Two of them still have the stock terminal controllers in them, and I am thinking I may go Colossus with them in the future. No rush.

The 51G8572 and 1395162 are very similar to the 1391401. However, the 51G8572 has a standard SDL-PS/2 controller whereas the 1395162 has a terminal controller.

The 1370477 keyboards are the same as the 1391401 keyboards except both mine have single-piece keys. Still SDL-PS/2.

The 13H6705 and the 92G7461 are both Trackpoint II Model M keyboards. The 13H6705 is black and the 92G7461 is white. Nice keyboards.

The Lexmark 1398601 is just like the 1391401 except for the Lexmark logo on the left side.

The Lexmark 1397961 is the Lexmark SSK. (Lexmark logo on left side.)
The IBM 1392934 is an IBM SSK.

Yeah, see I have no variety like that. I have model M blue logo, white logo with and without sdl, and rubberdome. No variations for me at all. Ooo, but I do have a trackpoint model. I forgot about that one.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: ander on Sat, 31 October 2015, 06:32:42

Quote from: Snowdog993 on Thu, 29 October 2015, 12:03:56

I've been pretty lucky then. Well, very lucky. Every board I have works perfectly and no damage. To give you an idea, I used to have my sig saying about all the keyboards I have...

... | IBM 1389162~ 29-Apr-88 | IBM 1395162 26-Apr-89 | IBM 1395665* 19-Dec-89 | IBM 1393464 16-Jan-90 | IBM 1391401 30-Oct-91 | IBM 1391401 18-Dec-91 | +IBM 1391401~ 12-Mar-92 | IBM 1392595* 04-May-92 | IBM 1392934~ 05-Aug-92 | Lexmark 1398601 05-Oct-92 | IBM 51G8572 15-Apr-93 | IBM 1392595* 21-May-93 | IBM 1395162* 13-Jun-94 | Lexmark 1397961 03-Oct-94 | IBM 51G8572 04-Oct-94 | IBM 1370477 13-Feb-95 | IBM 1392595 17-Mar-95 | IBM 1370477 11-Sep-95 | IBM 13H6705 10-Jan-97 | IBM 92G7461 20-Mar-98 | IBM 1394204* 28-Jun-99 | Unicomp UNI0446 01-Dec-2014 | ...

Truly impressive, guy... I'm tickled to be able to claim to know you. :?)

Samir, if you haven't visited Wikipedia's "IBM Model M" page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard), you should. Be sure to scroll down to the section that says "Features by part number", then click the link that looks like this:

Part number [show] <--"show" is the link

It opens a huge table with details on almost all the known Model M variations. It's a helpful resource if you're considering buying any Model M's online—and just fun to look through, too. Deskthority's "IBM Enhanced Keyboard" page (http://deskthority.net/wiki/IBM_Enhanced_Keyboard) is also excellent.

Title: Re: Unusual (rare?) IBM 122 PS/2 keyboards NIB $100
Post by: SamirD on Sat, 31 October 2015, 10:38:58

Quote from: ander on Sat, 31 October 2015, 06:32:42

Quote from: Snowdog993 on Thu, 29 October 2015, 12:03:56
I've been pretty lucky then. Well, very lucky. Every board I have works perfectly and no damage. To give you an idea, I used to have my sig saying about all the keyboards I have...

... | IBM 1389162~ 29-Apr-88 | IBM 1395162 26-Apr-89 | IBM 1395665* 19-Dec-89 | IBM 1393464 16-Jan-90 | IBM 1391401 30-Oct-91 | IBM 1391401 18-Dec-91 | +IBM 1391401~ 12-Mar-92 | IBM 1392595* 04-May-92 | IBM 1392934~ 05-Aug-92 | Lexmark 1398601 05-Oct-92 | IBM 51G8572 15-Apr-93 | IBM 1392595* 21-May-93 | IBM 1395162* 13-Jun-94 | Lexmark 1397961 03-Oct-94 | IBM 51G8572 04-Oct-94 | IBM 1370477 13-Feb-95 | IBM 1392595 17-Mar-95 | IBM 1370477 11-Sep-95 | IBM 13H6705 10-Jan-97 | IBM 92G7461 20-Mar-98 | IBM 1394204* 28-Jun-99 | Unicomp UNI0446 01-Dec-2014 | ...

Truly impressive, guy... I'm tickled to be able to claim to know you. :?)

Samir, if you haven't visited Wikipedia's "IBM Model M" page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard), you should. Be sure to scroll down to the section that says "Features by part number", then click the link that looks like this:

Part number [show] <--"show" is the link

It opens a huge table with details on almost all the known Model M variations. It's a helpful resource if you're considering buying any Model M's online—and just fun to look through, too. Deskthority's "IBM Enhanced Keyboard" page (http://deskthority.net/wiki/IBM_Enhanced_Keyboard) is also excellent.

I just discovered the DT wiki page when looking for some info on my rubber dome M. Thank you for the wikipedia link! That's an awesome table of information! I'll have to check out all my part numbers in there someday when I take all of them, clean them, photograph them and then put them back in service.