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Author Topic: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?  (Read 4313 times)

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Offline longface

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Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:20:50 »
I bought an Apple AEKII (Apple Extended Keyboard II) for just $2.  It seems to have a quieter type of ALPS switches.  It feels pretty nice to type on.  It has two ADB (Apple Device Bus) ports but no connection cable.

Then I spent $5 on a proper coiled ADB cable.  But I still cannot use the keyboard.  No computers these days have ADB ports any more.

The iMate ADB/USB adapters on eBay seem to cost around $30 - $40.  Now we are talking about 20x of the cost of the original keyboard.  :eek:

Should I spend that kind of money on just an adapter?  Or should I just give up and put this nice keyboard away, and not think about it any more?

I borrowed this picture from the almightly Mr. Internet:

« Last Edit: Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:50:03 by longface »
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Offline Megaweapon

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:30:25 »
So you will have put what, $47 into it?  In mechanical keyboard terms that is peanuts.

If you like the feel of the keyboard, go for it!

(Also the iMate adapter had a higher MSRP than that, so it is not some crazy collector price.)
« Last Edit: Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:33:53 by Megaweapon »
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Offline IvanIvanovich

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:30:45 »
I guess it comes down to how much do you like it's feeling? If you don't care for it much I guess investing more into it is not a great move. I don't know if it's any good, but there are cheaper adapter like this one.
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Offline longface

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:49:13 »
Quote from: IvanIvanovich on Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:30:45
I don't know if it's any good, but there are cheaper adapter like this one.

Thanks.  How did you find that one?  I searched for "ADB USB" on ebay and didn't see this one at all.

For less than $10, maybe it is worth a shot.
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Offline IvanIvanovich

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:53:20 »
I use same search term... mysterious. If you have your location set in Canada and the seller didn't select shipping there it might not show you results.
« Last Edit: Sat, 06 April 2013, 10:55:36 by IvanIvanovich »
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 11:16:40 »
Those double adapters are large but nice, I used to have one. My daughter is now using an AEK2 with my adapter, so I should get another one. They are good to have around.

Be patient and the "standard" iMates turn up regularly on ebay in the $20-25 range, don't pay much more than that unless you are in a hurry.

That looks like a very nice AEK2, usually they are very yellowed.
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Offline longface

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 11:23:01 »
Quote from: fohat.digs on Sat, 06 April 2013, 11:16:40
That looks like a very nice AEK2, usually they are very yellowed.

Thanks for the advice. 

The one in the picture is not mine.  I haven't taken any pictures yet.  Mine is slightly more yellowed than this, but not by much, and still comfortable to look at.
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Offline SmallFry

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 11:40:01 »
Hasu also has an ADB converter if you're up for soldering. :)
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Offline tricheboars

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #8 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 12:07:20 »
yea.... you should sell it to me.
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Offline Capitalistix

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 06 April 2013, 23:47:30 »
These early apple keyboards are the bomb! I have one and use it for Final Cut. I also have the m0116 version, the slenderized one with orange alps slightly stiffer than the AEK2. Its quite blissful to type on. I recommend you track one of those down as well since you can swap the adb to usb connector between the two of them!
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Offline 1391406

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 07 April 2013, 03:35:21 »
Personally, I thought the AEK II felt nice until I tried an AEK (M0115).
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Offline Donut

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #11 on: Sun, 07 April 2013, 15:26:24 »
One thing to be aware of with ADB-to-USB adapters — or at least the Griffin iMate and Compucable Mini-ADB which I have tested — is that the right Command, Option and Control keys give the same key codes as the left ones. That can be kind of annoying for general use on a PC.
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Offline jamdox

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Re: Apple AEKII - Is it worth all the extra money and trouble?
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 07 April 2013, 17:33:50 »
What's funny is that an ADB cable is actually just an S-Video cable.  But I agree with fohat, I got my iMate for $25 total off ebay, so you can wait for the price to go back down.  Or you could go for this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CompuCable-Mini-ADB-to-USB-Adapter-2-ADB-ports-NEW-in-Box-/111047602524?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19daf3f15c

And really, the model M keyboards are going to be $50 shipped, so by vintage keyboard standards even with the iMate thrown in, the AEKs are a good deal
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