Author Topic: as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?  (Read 1774 times)

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Offline vibe

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Hi everyone! Lurked for a few days reading up...

Y'all should consider trying to make a keyboard decider flowchart with left/right branches?

After my third dell quietkeys just died in six years (didn't really die but certain keys stopped working even after cleaning) I've decided to try to get a "real" keyboard.

I have an old Model M sitting on a shelf, but I have never used it for more than a day, it's too loud and takes too much pressure IMHO.

Should I trade it to someone here to get my first experience with a real switch keyboard? Is that even feasible?

  • I'm not a gamer at all - but I am a coder.
  • I want quiet - slightly louder than quietkeys is fine but loud clack is distracting as heck to me.
  • I think I want linear from what I have read in the wiki.
  • I actually prefer ps/2 but it's not critical, usb if I have to.
  • I'm pretty sure I want numeric keypad as I use it on occasion.
  • I'd like beige/white but I guess that's gone out of style so I can compromise on that.
  • Budget is very limited right now.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Offline Deadly55

  • Posts: 44
as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 22 September 2011, 15:26:26 »
What no red  love? I can't read the choice for the browns and kro bits due to:

Yes I'm on a phone.

Offline vibe

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 22 September 2011, 15:27:05 »
I couldn't help but notice they mostly end in Filco, lol.  But thank you!

Not really ready to spend over $100 on a keyboard :(

But it did confirm "cherry mx brown" which I concluded from other reading around here.

Offline fohat.digs

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 22 September 2011, 15:28:24 »
I would be happy to trade you a beige Dell AT-101 with black ALPS sliders, straight up, for a Model M.

I also have an Apple 3501 with white ALPS, but it would require an ADB adapter, so that probably won't work.

If you are in the domestic US, we would each pay our own shipping of around $15

Harry
"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30

Offline vibe

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 22 September 2011, 15:30:22 »
Thanks Harry, something to consider - not sure if it's appropriate to do open trades in here outside of the classifieds?

Kinda just getting a feel for my options right now before I decide to either fleabay it or trade it here.

Offline fohat.digs

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 22 September 2011, 15:51:30 »
I don't have a lot of money to spend right now, either, so I was offering a transaction that did not include any cash or fees.

The time, effort, and fees make it so that it is not always worth the trouble unless the selling price hits a certain threshold.

I am also pretty new here, so somebody please stop me if I am about to break a rule.
"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30

Offline N8N

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 22 September 2011, 16:04:23 »
might want to figure what kind of keyboard that you want.  Sounds like you're looking for blacks or reds; you might be able to find an old Cherry brand board w/ blacks that someone might want to trade you.
Filco Majestouch-2 with Cherry Corp. doubleshot keys - Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Force with Wyse doubleshots - Silicon Graphics 9500900 - WASD V1 - IBM Model M 52G9658 - Noppoo Choc Pro with Cherry lasered PBT keycaps - Wyse 900866-01 - Cherry G80-8200LPBUS/07 - Dell AT101W - several Cherry G81s (future doubleshot donors) (order of current preference) (dang I have too many keyboards, I really only need two)

Offline vibe

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 22 September 2011, 16:09:51 »
By the way, is this anything special or just the average run-of-the-mill Model M ?

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/382/label1h.jpg

Offline vibe

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 23 September 2011, 05:31:56 »
This morning in desperation I took apart one of my dell quietkeys and cleaned the heck out of it and got it working again!

Whew - so much better than the cheap keyboards sold today.

There are several threads around here that agree it's one of the better rubber dome designs for low end keyboards.

But I am still going to upgrade to mechanical as soon as I can figure out what I want and can afford. Going to watch some more youtube keyboard videos.

What is the shortlist for cherry browns? Something old that I can get cheap to get my feet wet?

Offline Lanx

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #9 on: Fri, 23 September 2011, 06:46:23 »
scour ebay, i got 2 cherry brown boards for 25ish each scouring ebay for a month or so, one was new with a broken controller and one was used, otherwise pay around 100ish for the many options out there.

Offline N8N

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #10 on: Fri, 23 September 2011, 08:03:20 »
Vibe, have a look at seller "rawko" on eBay.  he sells used Cherry POS boards for cheap.  The G80-8200 aka MX8000 are NKRO over PS/2, have programmable and relegendable keys, and are dirt cheap when bought used (as in around $30-35 shipped.)  The downside is that while they are very close to a standard ANSI layout they have an ISO enter and backslash/pipe key, and they take up a lot of desktop real estate compared to, say, a Filco (but really, not so much compared to a Model M) due to the integral mag stripe reader.

I've got one with browns and one with clears; actually I posted the browns one for sale in the classifieds if you don't want to be arsed cleaning it up yourself.  (used POS boards tend to be chock full of chow and require a good scrubbing before use in civilized environs...)
Filco Majestouch-2 with Cherry Corp. doubleshot keys - Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Force with Wyse doubleshots - Silicon Graphics 9500900 - WASD V1 - IBM Model M 52G9658 - Noppoo Choc Pro with Cherry lasered PBT keycaps - Wyse 900866-01 - Cherry G80-8200LPBUS/07 - Dell AT101W - several Cherry G81s (future doubleshot donors) (order of current preference) (dang I have too many keyboards, I really only need two)

Offline Lanx

  • Posts: 1915
as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #11 on: Fri, 23 September 2011, 08:35:07 »
yea g80-8200's were the ones i got, really really ugly tho, imo and feel "plastic-y" but whatever it's cheap cherry browns.

Offline N8N

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as a keyboard newbie should I trade a model M or sell it and buy something?
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 23 September 2011, 09:03:52 »
I didn't say they were pretty :)  I do like the keycaps for feel better than just about anything else though.  For typing on the browns are OK if you like browns, but even though clears are my favorite key switch I didn't like the flex of the PCB w/ the heavier clears and ended up buying a Filco after using the POS board for a while because the plate mount is so much more solid feeling.  You just don't notice the flex as much with browns because of the lighter springs.
Filco Majestouch-2 with Cherry Corp. doubleshot keys - Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Force with Wyse doubleshots - Silicon Graphics 9500900 - WASD V1 - IBM Model M 52G9658 - Noppoo Choc Pro with Cherry lasered PBT keycaps - Wyse 900866-01 - Cherry G80-8200LPBUS/07 - Dell AT101W - several Cherry G81s (future doubleshot donors) (order of current preference) (dang I have too many keyboards, I really only need two)