Hi, my name is Bruno, I'm french, quite "old", started computing on a ZX SPECTRUM (with a mod qwerty keyboard, not rubber, PAL TV/out and a small B&W TV lol), used to type on first IBM AT keyboards... I was an IT pro for a while, now a bit retired frome brute computing but still geek (gaming, repairing, training computing noobs^^).
Recently got an AZERTY IBM model M but it died due to water dropped on and that went inside contact films sandwich, tried to repair it for 45h, a nightmare, plastic rivets are definetively not made to be replaced by N&B. So I now know model M is mechanically durable but hates water : the BS little plastic hammers press a 3 layers contact films like on many non-mechanical keyboards. Mine was made in UK by IBM in 1995. In fact these model M (if a variant exists) do not exactly use IBM BS patent : the patent shows a conductive hammer used as an interruptor with 3 plots, and this is much better than what I found in the model M I had.
Anyway, I now love to gather old keyboards I can find for nothing like my latest Compaq RT 102 (with no windows keys and no euro symbol), it's using individual high-end dome switches and design quality is impressive : the space bar is even better than the one on model M, it has the switch, the usual metallic stabilizer, + a conic spring and 1 plastic clip on both ends... the metallic back pane is curved like on model M and the whole internal heavy part uses... plastic rivets
like for the model M, it's noisy but you don't have the same click feedback as on BS keyboards, but you don't feel it's rubberdomes, feels very close to black cherry switches with much less force needed. It's not NKRO but you can press almost all keys on one row at the same time and have them sent to your PC.
Bought some new MX keyboards on Amazon, a ThermalTake with black cherry switches, sent it back, one key was printed 90° clockwise... black switches but very cheap keycaps, light and letters look more like sticked than printed, than bought in place a Steelseries 6G V2, bad luck, one dead key : num pad 3, keeps sending "3" when released... sent back, got my money back thanks to Amazon policy but no longer want to hear about new "mechanical" keyboards, on most of them you pay for these expensive switches but rest of design is crap, none of them have a curved backplate as they solder switches on a PCB, well, bad global design IMO.
If any of you see any AZERTY (french layout) old IBM, Olivetti, Compaq or Silicon Graphics KB, I'm not rich but I'll pay for it
If you have any question about model M disassembly and cleaning or repairing, feel free to ask, I now know what to do and what not to do^^
I sold mine for parts 25 euro, should never have broken these plastic rivets... grrrr.
@webmaster : "A popular serial bus for keyboard connectivity:" hem hem... PS/2 is also using a serial protocol^^ (is this field really usefull ?)
(oups, sorry, you are right; PS/2 is serial but not a bus protocol, apologize)
