Trash talk this keyboard...please! (Lexmark Part #52G9700)

[Stupidface]

Yes!  This is your chance to help prevent a fellow GH-er from being wracked with guilt (or at least suffused with a mild sense of regret) after purchasing a keyboard unfit for purpose!

The keyboard in question is one of the Lexmark-produced buckling spring models featuring the blue IBM logo.  Sadly, it also features a permanently attached keyboard cable and one or two other cost-cutting measures designed to let Lexmark save a few all-important pennies on the cost of manufacturing this model sometime between 1993 and 1999.

Keying the part number into a GH search doesn't seem to yield much in the way of either praise or condemnation.  I do understand, at least, that this is a mediocre keyboard manufactured with an eye to cost as much as functionality.  However, with everything buckling spring-related priced through the roof right now (or so it seems), I cannot find fault with the idea of picking up one of these for light-to-medium duty.

But...perhaps you can, hence this post.  I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who has had firsthand experience with one of these, and who can articulate what they liked/didn't like about it.

Also: does anyone have a picture or two showing the inside of the keyboard where the keyboard cable is attached to the PCB?  I would certainly appreciate a glimpse of that so as to get a better idea of just how far the cost-cutting went on this.

[Tactile]

One added feature the late Lexmark boards have is the drain channels inside in case a liquid is spilled inside. I think there used to be a youtube video of someone pouring a glass of water into one without a problem.

Anyway... the big differences are simply that the plate inside isn't as thick as the earlier ones, and also the plastic case not as thick. There's no reason to pass it up if the price is reasonable. I've had a couple of Lexmark fixed flat-cable boards and the typing experience is the same as the earlier ones. They're fine.

[mrvco]

I expect you can find something relevant here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Chyrosran22/search?query=ibm%20buckling%20spring

[tp4tissue]

Well it's not an Ergodox,  nuff said..

[Leslieann]

Yes!  This is your chance to help prevent a fellow GH-er from being wracked with guilt (or at least suffused with a mild sense of regret) after purchasing a keyboard unfit for purpose!

Do you like Buckling Springs? Great, it's the next best thing to an earlier IBM Buckling Spring (it's the direct descendant).

The only reason to feel guilty is if you paid more than you could afford. Enjoy the keyboard.

[ddrfraser1]

Listen stupid face, these things are actually pretty ok. I’m actually looking forward to grease modding mine soon. Besides, I love Unicomp and all they do

[Stupidface]

One added feature the late Lexmark boards have is the drain channels inside in case a liquid is spilled inside. I think there used to be a youtube video of someone pouring a glass of water into one without a problem.

Thank you for pointing this out.  Your post reminded me of how, ages ago, I read about that very thing here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20020809105104/http://www.3m3718.com/bluelogo.html

I don't know if the 3m3718 site was popular in its heyday (circa 2005, I believe), but the site owner had a good writeup on Model M keyboards:

https://web.archive.org/web/20020806101057/http://www.3m3718.com/modelm.html

The Wayback Machine has archived a fair number of the pages found on the site...except, of course, the author's review of the 52G9700 keyboard:

https://web.archive.org/web/20020806101057/http://www.3m3718.com/m52g9700.html

...which would have been nice to see.  Pity.

Anyway... the big differences are simply that the plate inside isn't as thick as the earlier ones, and also the plastic case not as thick.

Right; I dimly recalled something along those lines.  However, it has been a while (longer than I would care to admit), and my recollector is not what it once was, so I am grateful to you for fleshing out what, for me, was little more than a vague impression.

I've had a couple of Lexmark fixed flat-cable boards and the typing experience is the same as the earlier ones.

Yes, I believe the amount of pressure to actuate a key on either a blue or grey logo Model M is the same: ~35 grams.

Thank you writing such a concise, yet informative reply; it was the very sort of thing I was seeking. [tips hat]

[Stupidface]

I expect you can find something relevant here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Chyrosran22/search?query=ibm%20buckling%20spring

Thank you for the link.  Alas, I won't have access to a YouTube-capable machine for a while, but when I do, I will take a look at those links.

Until then, I can only view pictures and text and must get along as best I can.  A sort of Amish Internet 2.0, if you will.

(I suppose that is why I enjoy reading geekhack so much: just about any browser, however antiquated, can handle the site.)

[Stupidface]

The only reason to feel guilty is if you paid more than you could afford. Enjoy the keyboard.

Apologies: I did not mean to convey the impression that I was looking for GH to assuage a case of buyer's remorse.  Even a chap like me who is well-noted for being deficient in good sense knows better than to ask questions after the fact, when the seller has already taken my money and disappeared into the distance. 

Rather, I was hoping someone like Tactile who has/has had one of these would be good enough to talk about their impression of it before I took the plunge; I have yet to purchase the keyboard.  Between what I knew before (or thought I knew), and the gaps in my knowledge that Tactile filled in, I now have a clearer picture of what I am being offered, and am less likely to do anything rash in my dealings with the seller. 

I would like to think that's the sort of thing geekhack is all about and I am always grateful when members throw me a clue brick.

Of course, this being GH, the talk concerning buckling spring keyboards tends toward the more prestigious and interesting models of the Model M (e.g. the SSK or the older, grey logo ones); this particular variant has not been discussed in years.  However, it happens to be of immediate interest because I am a "horses for courses" sort of chap, and am looking to pick up a #52G9700 keyboard for use in what you might call a "second-best" installation.  To my mind, there is not much point in risking the theft or damage of an older, more expensive keyboard in a second-rate installation when a newer model offers the same typing experience for less money.

Should I ever attempt to use GH as some sort of agony aunt because I did not see fit to perform due diligence before I purchase something, I can only hope you will set me right by grabbing the nearest wet noodle and flogging me with it until either the noodle breaks or teatime arrives, whichever comes first.