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Author Topic: IBM Rubber Dome technology 18 years later  (Read 1548 times)

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Offline BucklingSpring

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IBM Rubber Dome technology 18 years later
« on: Sun, 17 February 2013, 11:41:45 »
(Sorry for the cross post, I thought this one was interesting enough have a thread for itself)

Today I decided to make a little experiment. Weight testing a rubber dome switch on a 1984 1995 IBM M 71G aka Quiet Touch vs a 2013 Unicomp QT Ultra-Quiet

So I just stacked a bunch of Canadian dimes on the E key (year 2000 and up = 1.75g)
(Used E since it is the most frequently used  in English)

1984 IBM M 71G aka Quiet Touch -> 36 dimes -> 63g
2013 Unicomp QT Ultra-Quiet       -> 32 dimes -> 56g

The IBM RD is ~11% stiffer after 29 18 years!!!! - But I don't know if IBM and Unicomp are using the same dome material.

IBM 71G - Sorry my camera didn't want to focus on the rubber  :'(


Unicomp QT Ultra-Classic

« Last Edit: Thu, 21 February 2013, 18:27:15 by BucklingSpring »
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Offline ch_123

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Re: IBM Rubber Dome technology 29 years later
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 21 February 2013, 09:20:55 »
Quote
1984 IBM M 71G

These things didn't enter production till the 90s, you should look at the manufacturing date, not the copyright date on the IBM logo.
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Offline BucklingSpring

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Re: IBM Rubber Dome technology 29 years later
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 21 February 2013, 18:25:22 »
I was surprised when I read the label - I read it a bit to fast and jumped to conclusions
OUPS - 1995 - I stand corrected  :-[

13987-0

Original Post corrected
« Last Edit: Thu, 21 February 2013, 18:27:50 by BucklingSpring »
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In memory of smallfry 1996-2013
Boards I own, click ->
More
Ducky x2 (9008G2 Pro PBT/MX Green and Mini MX Red), Matias x2 (QP and Mini QP Dampened ALPS), Topre RealForce x4 (87U 55g/Digilog case, 103U-UW & 104UG High-Profile x2), Filco Majestouch x2 (TKL MX Blue & V2 AI 104 MX Blue), IBM-M x2 (BS & RD), Unicomp-M x5 (BS black on black x2, BS Ivory x2, QT Ultra-Classic), Deck x4 (Legend MX Black & MX Clear, Hassium & Francium w/ MX Brown), DAS III (MX Blue), KBT Pure Pro 60% (MX Red), NMB-RT8256CW+ x2 (black space invader), XArmor U9BL-S (MX Brown) given for free to someone I hate, CM X2 (Trigger/MX Green + Storm TKL/NovaTouch), TVS GOLD (MX Blue) and a many many more (NMB, DELL, MS, ATT, KeyTronic, Etc...)

Offline h2gofast

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Re: IBM Rubber Dome technology 18 years later
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 27 February 2013, 21:44:41 »
I have a couple of these and they take a beating.  My little one throws his bookbag on it everytime he comes home from school.  Pop, snacks, the things an f'ing timex.
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