[ebay] Wyse PCE AT 900840

[dante]

I can't stress how rare this board is.  I've never ever seen one in the last few years with being on GeekHack.  Wyse made only two PC compatible versions - one AT (this) and one PS/2 (900866.)

A fine addition to anyones collection.

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[dorkvader]

I think they're more common than that (I was able to find a few when I was first interested in the PC WYSE boards (back in 2011) ) but these are indeed quite uncommon. Not sure if it's worth the $125 starting bid for me though, since I can get the same functionality out of a normal WYSE board and a soarer.

I noticed it when it came up on my WYSE search. It's quite the find!

[dante]

I think they're more common than that (I was able to find a few when I was first interested in the PC WYSE boards (back in 2011) ) but these are indeed quite uncommon. Not sure if it's worth the $125 starting bid for me though, since I can get the same functionality out of a normal WYSE board and a soarer.

I noticed it when it came up on my WYSE search. It's quite the find!

I could never find any of these boards in the states - they would often be listed at a generic reseller site as in stock when infact they were not.  I imported a 900866 from China as they were the only source for these boards at the time - and even they didn't have the 900840.

I heard rumors that the 900866 had thin PBT's - since these are older maybe these have thicker ones?

[ebacho]

Is there a reliable way to determine thick/thin?  I've gone through 5-6 WYSE keyboards with vary combinations of thick and thin, some mixed on the same board, so it just seems rather haphazard.

[dorkvader]

I think they're more common than that (I was able to find a few when I was first interested in the PC WYSE boards (back in 2011) ) but these are indeed quite uncommon. Not sure if it's worth the $125 starting bid for me though, since I can get the same functionality out of a normal WYSE board and a soarer.

I noticed it when it came up on my WYSE search. It's quite the find!

I could never find any of these boards in the states - they would often be listed at a generic reseller site as in stock when infact they were not.  I imported a 900866 from China as they were the only source for these boards at the time - and even they didn't have the 900840.

I heard rumors that the 900866 had thin PBT's - since these are older maybe these have thicker ones?

I've never heard of a standard production WYSE with PBT at all. The company that is today SP made the keycaps for them and the PBT process is relatively new. I'm not sure what the purple wyse board used, but I highly doubt this has PBT.

That said, I haven't heard any rumors either.

Is there a reliable way to determine thick/thin?  I've gone through 5-6 WYSE keyboards with vary combinations of thick and thin, some mixed on the same board, so it just seems rather haphazard.

Interesting, all mine have been all of either one or the other. Usually it's only the older boards (WY-50, for example) that are guaranteed thick, from my experience.

[PRISONER 24601]

want!

[Findecanor]

I can't stress how rare this board is.  I've never ever seen one in the last few years with being on GeekHack.  Wyse made only two PC compatible versions - one AT (this) and one PS/2 (900866.)

A fine addition to anyones collection.

Indeed a nice keyboard ... but is it really that rare? You mean just the PS/2 version?
I have seen a bunch of Wyse PCE keyboards at Geekhack in the last years, and there was a pretty large group buy of Wyse keycaps last year although that was from several different keyboards.

There have been both Moogle and Tsangan kits for the PCE keycaps, and how many of those have not been sold?

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Show Image

Hmm.. That case is pretty yellowed while the keycaps don't look yellowed at all. The case should be pure white. The keycaps are ABS, so they can yellow.
I suspect that the keycaps could have been retr0brite'd but the case hasn't, or the keycaps are from a different keyboard, maybe from a PCE keyboard with Wyse terminal protocol which is  not as desirable.

The keycaps are very close, but not identical to Signature Plastics' contemporary keycaps. These can have struts inside the keys so they work with O-rings, while the keycaps you get from SP these days don't. (at least not those I have seen)

[ebacho]

Tsangans aren't particularly common anymore, and it seems that techkeys is sold out of moogles.  There are a few in the classifieds, but nowhere near as many as you think there are from what I can tell. 

If this particular board is the version with thick keycaps, it'd be slightly better, but not really a great deal in any sense of the phrase.  I've sworn off WYSE sets in general for now at any rate.

[dorkvader]

I can't stress how rare this board is.  I've never ever seen one in the last few years with being on GeekHack.  Wyse made only two PC compatible versions - one AT (this) and one PS/2 (900866.)

A fine addition to anyones collection.

Indeed a nice keyboard ... but is it really that rare? You mean just the PS/2 version?

I am sure he means the PS/2 and AT versions of the keyboard. THe terminal PCE KB is by no means rare and a WYSE enthusiast like the OP I'm sure knows that.

If this particular board is the version with thick keycaps, it'd be slightly better, but not really a great deal in any sense of the phrase.  I've sworn off WYSE sets in general for now at any rate.

I'm almost certain this keyboard was made long after WYSE quit sourcing the "thick" keycaps for their keyboards. From what I was able to determine, the "breakout success for wyse was the WY50 in 1983, and they didn't start making PCs until late 1987 or 1988. Given that some (most? all?) wy60 keyboards have thin keycaps, I strongly suspect they will also be found here.

[dante]

The Wyse PCE is not rare - but the one with the PS/2 is - and the AT even more so.

Perhaps you guys know of someone sitting on a stock pile of these, because I've never seen them up for sale.

I guess my point is - if you threw up a bunch of cash you could very easily find someone with a SSK fairly quick - WYSE PCE AT not so much.

[dante]

BTW: I'm not really a Wyse enthusiast as much as someone who gets his rocks off on the aesthetics of keyboards with a history of being used for terminals.