I bought some keyboards!

[PRISONER 24601]

Hey, cool right? Yeah I know. Keyboards sure are great, aren't they?

Sure wish I could actually use some of these instead of just pretend typing on them. It's fun to play pretend!

Here's a rundown of what I picked up yesterday:

Apple Extended Keyboard M0115 w/ ALPS of some kind. Feels clicky and tactile.

Apple Extended Keyboard II M3501 (sn:Axx) w/ ALPS... feel much softer than the M0115, I think they might be pinks, but they look cream colored. Feels tactile but less clicky.

Apple Desktop Keyboard (Part #658-4081, Japan)- Has some kind of orange ALPS lookin' switches, but I can't find much info on them.

Wyse terminal keyboard. On back: K/B, PCE, US DISTR #840358-01, black cherries. caps very shiny

Wyse terminal keyboard. On back: K/B, WY60 ASCII #840338-01, black cherries. This is the sweet funky lookin dude with the f16 key and the strange layout. Some shiny caps.

Wyse terminal keyboard. No markings. Dated 81.4.27? P/N 710772-01 though this may just be the casing, black cherries. no shiny caps, all mint cept a bit yellow.

All the Wyse boards have sturdy double shot keycaps, which feel great in comparison to the laser-etched, but cheapo feeling keys on my MX 11800. I'm totally in love with the AEK, and I'm on the lookout for a Griffin i-mate so I can use it daily. It's a ****ing BEAST.

here are some pictars:

ADK w/ orange thingies


2x Wyse boards, the AEKII, and a Genovation numpad with the loudest ALPS I have ever heard. They have like, 2 distinct clicks. Very cool.


Apple Desktop keyboard, AEK, Wyse 840358, MX 11800


ADK, and another of the Wyse 840358-1


AEK m0115 + MX 11800


Wyse WY60 + AEKII M3501


The AEK M0115... Ooh, I love this tank. Now I just need a Model M to compliment it. They would be like the odd couple!


A glamour shot of the browns in my MX11800 just for giggles.


The pictures are supposed to be BIGGER, but since my ISP won't host the pics properly, I had to settle for photobckt.

Hope you enjoyed, and I'd like to know what you guys think of my haul. I'd be glad to take more pics too! Not one of these keybaords is without a fat steel plate inside. hells yea.

Sigh.. I bought 6 keyboards yesterday.
I'M A MONSTER! DON'T LOOK AT ME! AVERT YOUR EYES!

[msiegel]

hey, that's the *good* Apple Desktop Keyboard!

it has the nice fast orange alps

[ch_123]

AEKII has Cream sliders. They're like the Black Alps but with rubber dampeners. The keycaps also make the switches feel better somehow (Compared with the caps of a Dell AT101W).

I think the original may have had white Alps. Be careful if you are removing Alps keycaps, they are easy to break. Best way to remove them is to get two screwdrivers and prise them up from each side.

If you are into modding, you can get an AT101W, and swap the switches with the AEKII as they are compatible. This is rather labor intensive though (think about 1-2 minutes to swap each switch, multiplied by 104)

In case you havent already guessed yourself, you can transfer the Wyse caps onto your Compaq board.

[ocdonkb]

Where did you get all these?

I'm still trying to find that "magical" office surplus warehouse that one day I can walk in and be greeted by rows and rows of sexy $2 keyboards.

Visits to the local thrifty stores haven't proved fruitful yet.

[microsoft windows]

I get old computer keyboards from the garbage at my workplace.

[ch_123]

I've gotten a few AT102Ws from my college, a single Model M too.

[microsoft windows]

I wish they still used Model M's at the place where I work. They beat those lousy black Dell keyboards which way about as much as a McDonald's hamburger.

[PRISONER 24601]

I'm thinking about transferring some Wyse caps to my compaq, but I'm in no rush.

Just glad to have a collection going finally. Now I just gotta get some premium boards and some Model Ms and I'll be off to a good start.

As for *where* I got them, it's a place called REPC... and it's less "rows of sexy $2 keyboards" and more of a "big pile of $1 keyboards grab n go"... The service is non-existent, the prices are low, and it's a warehouse setting with big costco rolling platforms to lug around. Just my kinda place.

I wish there was a way to get these terminal boards working with USB or PS/2 Oh well

[SCTony]

I have an Apple M0116 which has those orange thingies and they are a very nice switch. I would like an iMate as well - maybe one day....

[PRISONER 24601]

Here is the MX11800 w/ Wyse Doubleshot keycaps. The only ones that won't drop in are shift, ctrl, alt, and spacebar. To make it look better, I left out the rest of the side keys.





It's a subtle difference, but the keys make a totally different sound now, and it's exemplified when i click around on the tab, caps, ctrl, /, and tilde keys. It's a completely different "tone". The keys are a lot heavier, perhaps by more than a few grams. I like the feel a lot more. Totally glad I did this.

May not count as a 'mod', but I plan on painting this thing pretty soon (it's gotta match the rest of my stuff)

[PRISONER 24601]

Man, I gotta get a better camera. This thing is almost 10 years old now :*(

[rdjack21]

The pictures are supposed to be BIGGER, but since my ISP won't host the pics properly, I had to settle for photobckt.

Seeing that no one has mentioned this yet you can just upload them here. You can attach up to 5 images per post. But once you have attached them to one post you can refer to them or use them in any post. Scroll down a little on the Advanced edit page you will see a button labeled "Manage Attachments" us that to attach your pictures. But note your pictures are size limited I forget what the size limit is off hand but I post 1280x800 ones all the time. I think much bigger than that and you run into the limit.

You can inline the images into your message body in two different ways once your images are attached.
1) press the paper clip in the editor tool bar and pick the image you want to inline it will be placed where your cursor is. This places the BBCode [noparse][/noparse] into the editor for you. The limitation with this method is that you can only do this in the post that contains the attachments. So when someone quotes/replies to your message the images will not show up. Example:


2) Use the [noparse][/noparse] BBCode to do the same thing. You can get your attached images URL by opening the image in another tab (On Linux and FF that would be middle click the image name right above the "Manage Attachments" button) copy and paste the URL into your message editor. Advantage this type of inline image will show up when someone quotes your message. You have to use this method if you want to inline a image that is not attached to the post you are working on.
and an example (one of ripster's lego pictures attached to some message somewhere):


Hope that helps with the pictures.

[rdjack21]

Here is the MX11800 w/ Wyse Doubleshot keycaps. The only ones that won't drop in are shift, ctrl, alt, and spacebar. To make it look better, I left out the rest of the side keys.



It's a subtle difference, but the keys make a totally different sound now, and it's exemplified when i click around on the tab, caps, ctrl, /, and tilde keys. It's a completely different "tone". The keys are a lot heavier, perhaps by more than a few grams. I like the feel a lot more. Totally glad I did this.

May not count as a 'mod', but I plan on painting this thing pretty soon (it's gotta match the rest of my stuff)

I like it. I even like the off white keys. I guess I'm now going to have to find myself one of those Wyse boards so I can do the same to mine.

[rdh]

As for *where* I got them, it's a place called REPC... and it's less "rows of sexy $2 keyboards" and more of a "big pile of $1 keyboards grab n go"... The service is non-existent, the prices are low, and it's a warehouse setting with big costco rolling platforms to lug around. Just my kinda place.

Good ol' RE-PC...



Sadly for me, they tend to put a lot of their interesting keyboards on Ebay instead of in the stores, and they're much more expensive on Ebay.

Great place to browse, though.

[chimera15]

Is that keypad an ortek? oh genovation.

[ak_nala]

Original AEKs definitely weren't white Alps. They weren't clicky at all, just subtly tactile during the stroke (usually pink, orange or cream sliders, IIRC). The wonderful sound they make is all due to the resonance of the keys, the heavy curved plate and the thick case - a wonderful "Click-Clock" or "Thick-Thock" sound from bottoming out and back up again. They were indeed built like tanks.

The orange slider Apple Desktop Keyboard is what originally shipped with the Apple IIgs computers, and owes some of its form factor to the "Cassie" prototype boards discussed here.

Wish they had stayed with the original concept, because though they are nice and small with a good key-feel, that frame of plastic can make keys bind under certain conditions of age and/or use.

[SCTony]

Wow you nailed it ak_nala with that description. I like feel of the M0116 a lot, but I don't care for the slanted type-style on the keys.

[PRISONER 24601]

Original AEKs definitely weren't white Alps. They weren't clicky at all, just subtly tactile during the stroke (usually pink, orange or cream sliders, IIRC). The wonderful sound they make is all due to the resonance of the keys, the heavy curved plate and the thick case - a wonderful "Click-Clock" or "Thick-Thock" sound from bottoming out and back up again. They were indeed built like tanks.

The orange slider Apple Desktop Keyboard is what originally shipped with the Apple IIgs computers, and owes some of its form factor to the "Cassie" prototype boards discussed here.

Wish they had stayed with the original concept, because though they are nice and small with a good key-feel, that frame of plastic can make keys bind under certain conditions of age and/or use.

Thanks for the info, but my AEK has a click on the upstroke. I'm pretty sure of this. My AEKII does not have a click.

I really like the feel of all these apple boards that I picked up. I'm thinking about getting some silicone grease to loosen them up (after 20 some years a few of the keys feel stiffer than others). Other than that, they're tip-top.

The ADK reminds me of my elementary school years. Ah, the memories.

[PRISONER 24601]

Also, I'm considering trading a few of these for something with blue cherries or buckling springs. Don't know if anyone here would be interested...

[PRISONER 24601]

Seeing that no one has mentioned this yet you can just upload them here. You can attach up to 5 images per post. But once you have attached them to one post you can refer to them or use them in any post. Scroll down a little on the Advanced edit page you will see a button labeled "Manage Attachments" us that to attach your pictures. But note your pictures are size limited I forget what the size limit is off hand but I post 1280x800 ones all the time. I think much bigger than that and you run into the limit.

You can inline the images into your message body in two different ways once your images are attached.
1) press the paper clip in the editor tool bar and pick the image you want to inline it will be placed where your cursor is. This places the BBCode [noparse][/noparse] into the editor for you. The limitation with this method is that you can only do this in the post that contains the attachments. So when someone quotes/replies to your message the images will not show up. Example:


2) Use the [noparse]

Show Image

[/noparse] BBCode to do the same thing. You can get your attached images URL by opening the image in another tab (On Linux and FF that would be middle click the image name right above the "Manage Attachments" button) copy and paste the URL into your message editor. Advantage this type of inline image will show up when someone quotes your message. You have to use this method if you want to inline a image that is not attached to the post you are working on.
and an example (one of ripster's lego pictures attached to some message somewhere):
[ig]http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=5094&stc=1&d=1255283877[/img]

Hope that helps with the pictures.

haha oh wow. thanks. I'm used to forums having a "host your own images" policy these last 5 years or so. Didn't even bother to check.

[PRISONER 24601]

Good ol' RE-PC...

Show Image

Sadly for me, they tend to put a lot of their interesting keyboards on Ebay instead of in the stores, and they're much more expensive on Ebay.

Great place to browse, though.

I built one of my first computers there when it first opened, been one of my fav places ever since. The renton location is a bit bigger than seattle, but I think seattle has better finds.

[ocdonkb]

I built one of my first computers there when it first opened, been one of my fav places ever since. The renton location is a bit bigger than seattle, but I think seattle has better finds.

Count yourself among the lucky ones... down here in southern California we're not so fortunate to have a store like this, at least I haven't found it yet.

[PRISONER 24601]

Count yourself among the lucky ones... down here in southern California we're not so fortunate to have a store like this, at least I haven't found it yet.

I find it hard to believe that one of the most populous and tech-friendly areas in the world doesn't have a single used computer junk warehouse. I would look harder.

Then again, maybe seattle is just lucky.

I think everyone has places like PC Recycle, little shops that deal in used/vintage gear... but those places are overpriced and usually run by the most disgusting scam artists you'll ever meet.

[itlnstln]

Does he have cleavage like the guy in the pic?  That would be scary.

[hyperlinked]

Does he have cleavage like the guy in the pic?  That would be scary.

It's not cleavage. He's really buffed and he's wearing a pirate shirt. I think that guy used to work at the 7-eleven around the corner from me.

[itlnstln]

It looks like he needs one of these.  There was a guy wearing one of these at a disc golf tournament I was playing in.  Styling aside, they do look pretty rugged.

[PRISONER 24601]

I want some new keyboards dammit.

I'm throwing a few of these keyboards up on the Marketplace to raise money for some keyboards.

If you want one that I haven't listed, or if you want to trade, PM me.