IBM BS board w/trackpoint, $39 shipped

[ander]

I don't know what model this is—an M13? It's beige, with a trackpoint. Unfortunately the back label has either faded away, or the seller just took a bad photo, because it shows no info.

I'm guessing it's a relatively new board, since it has the logo on the LED panel rather than in the left corner. Maybe it's something crappy that no one wants, but at $39 shipped, it seemed worth drawing your attention to it:

[E TwentyNine]

I'd bet that's a Unicomp manufactured M13.  It is buckling spring.  Has the Unicomp trackpoint though which isn't as good as the previous generation.

[0100010]

Definitely a Unicomp.  Someone took a black marker to highlight the 'Model M' letters molded into the case.

[ander]

Obviously one they made for IBM, though.

So is it a Model M, or a Model M-something? That's what I wondered. Even though this doesn't look like it has the sturdiest build, M's generally had better builds than M-whatevers.

[REVENGE]

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=19519.0 - See item #8 for some pictures of what this keyboard looks like in detail.

Resistive trackpoint, sold as part of the IBM 3494 tape library. Since that entire system is now end-of-life as of January 2015, you can expect many more of these to pop up on eBay in the near future.

[figit090]

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=19519.0 - See item #8 for some pictures of what this keyboard looks like in detail.

Resistive trackpoint, sold as part of the IBM 3494 tape library. Since that entire system is now end-of-life as of January 2015, you can expect many more of these to pop up on eBay in the near future.

Just watched the promotional video on the 3494 and HOLY CRAP.  Never knew that existed.  What were they used for?  Banking server storage?  I don't know much about those "tapes," are they high capacity magnetic drives like giant floppy disks?  That's what they remind me of.

What shocks me more is you state "end of life" which prompted me to google these systems and I'm surprised at how much data Wikipedia says a large system can hold (2.1 exabytes, a term I didn't even know).  So what corporations used these and did you ever work with one?  Pretty cool stuff!  How much is one disk capable of storing?

Youtube video I watched featuring a terminal with a standard Model M:

[kishy]

Remember when I said I wasn't going to do this anymore?

Sigh. Oh well, now I have the beige one to match my black one.

[E TwentyNine]

Remember when I said I wasn't going to do this anymore?

Sigh. Oh well, now I have the beige one to match my black one.

Now you need an industrial one to round out the set.

[kishy]

Remember when I said I wasn't going to do this anymore?

Sigh. Oh well, now I have the beige one to match my black one.

Now you need an industrial one to round out the set.

Too rich for my blood...

[figit090]

Remember when I said I wasn't going to do this anymore?

Sigh. Oh well, now I have the beige one to match my black one.

Sigh? 
Now I don't have one at all...   

*Sigh*

[ander]

LOL

[E TwentyNine]

LOL

Maybe, ya know, don't LOL at someone missing out on the chance to experience the hobby?

[E TwentyNine]

Remember when I said I wasn't going to do this anymore?

Sigh. Oh well, now I have the beige one to match my black one.

Sigh? 
Now I don't have one at all...   

*Sigh*

The hard lesson here is bid what you think it is worth to you or grab a buy-it-now when it's reasonable.  Even your high bid of $22.66 +$9 shipping was only a few dollars less than the BIN price.

Kishy wasn't the only one to outbid you, and I'll guess his max bid was a bit higher than where he got it.   The price this went for was an absolute steal.

[kishy]

Remember when I said I wasn't going to do this anymore?

Sigh. Oh well, now I have the beige one to match my black one.

Sigh? 
Now I don't have one at all...   

*Sigh*

The hard lesson here is bid what you think it is worth to you or grab a buy-it-now when it's reasonable.  Even your high bid of $22.66 +$9 shipping was only a few dollars less than the BIN price.

Kishy wasn't the only one to outbid you, and I'll guess his max bid was a bit higher than where he got it.   The price this went for was an absolute steal.

I do apologize if I've killed someone's dreams of participating in IBM goodness...this board is functionally redundant for me but I've been finding myself using my black M13 quite a bit and would prefer not to wear off the legends...hence the desire for this one.

I have a number of projects on the go, some of which do surround fixing my website, so this will eventually find its way up there in all its disassembled glory. It's not the only keyboard awaiting that, though.

[ander]

Maybe, ya know, don't LOL at someone missing out on the chance to experience the hobby?

Nah, I'm not being callous... It just tickles me to see people as passionate about these things as I am. It was more a laugh of, "Wow, I feel halfway normal."

The hard lesson here is bid what you think it is worth to you or grab a buy-it-now when it's reasonable.  Even your high bid of $22.66 +$9 shipping was only a few dollars less than the BIN price... The price this went for was an absolute steal.

That said, you shouldn't beat yourself up if someone outbids you by a small amount. That's just how eBay's set up. There's no telling how high their maximum bid actually was, especially if it was for something worth considerably more.

[kishy]

I've been silent on this topic for a reason.



There is the remote possibility that my low expectations about the Unicomp TrackPoint are in fact not low enough and it really is supposed to wobble so loosely that it touches all the keys around it, but that doesn't change the fact it does not actually work.

[E TwentyNine]

I've been silent on this topic for a reason.

(Attachment Link)

There is the remote possibility that my low expectations about the Unicomp TrackPoint are in fact not low enough and it really is supposed to wobble so loosely that it touches all the keys around it, but that doesn't change the fact it does not actually work.

There's a chance it's the connector wiring and you can fix with some tinkering.   It's a part from Unicomp at worst if there's a problem with the stick - I doubt the TP controller is bad.

Even with the additional time and money it's a good price for an M13.

[ander]

Oops, sorry about that.