M2 on ebay.co.uk

[ed_avis]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171020651871

As far as I know this is a buckling spring keyboard, as the seller indicates.

[Dgsbllx]

Cheers, might have to put a bid in as I'm yet to try BS. Can't believe there have been 5 bids and it is currently at £1.70  )

[ed_avis]

The M2 is kind of buckling-spring-on-a-budget.  For your first ever a plain old Model M might be better and perhaps not any more expensive.

[Dgsbllx]

Ok thanks. There is no room for budgets in the keyboard world!

[fohat.digs]

The M2 could have been a game-changer, but it turned out to be a dog.

It is nice to have a small footprint, but they "cheapened" everything in the process.

Still, it is better than 99% of the keyboards on the planet.

[longweight]

All over this

[dorkvader]

Note that this has no metal backplate, and I believe the keycaps aren't compatible with other buckling spring keyboards. You may also have to repair the controller.

That said, the green alt is nice!

[Peter]

The caps are all 'one-piece' dye-subs, you can replace them with 'two-piece' caps and stems if you like ..
It's a somewhat cheaper and lighter version of a model 'M', but with a more 'modern' design and dimensions .
It's also relatively rare in ISO-layouts, most of them have  been 'recycled' years ago

[dorkvader]

The caps are all 'one-piece' dye-subs, you can replace them with 'two-piece' caps and stems if you like ..
It's a somewhat cheaper and lighter version of a model 'M', but with a more 'modern' design and dimensions .
It's also relatively rare in ISO-layouts, most of them have  been 'recycled' years ago

Is it true that the keycaps are a different shape? The DT wiki says they are lower profile and have a shorter and narrower stem.

Note that also on IBM BS keyboards, it seems to be random whether the keycaps are one piece or two. I have three F's from 1984, and two have one-piece, and one has two-piece. My 1390120 from early 1986 had one piece. My 1391401 from 1990 had two. It's like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get.

[Mikelittoris]

The caps are all 'one-piece' dye-subs, you can replace them with 'two-piece' caps and stems if you like ..
It's a somewhat cheaper and lighter version of a model 'M', but with a more 'modern' design and dimensions .
It's also relatively rare in ISO-layouts, most of them have  been 'recycled' years ago

Regarding replacing the caps with Model M two-piece, they tend to get kind of wobbly since they are much taller than the M2 caps.


And trying it the other way around, M2 caps on a M doesn't work either, they're to low and bottom out before the spring buckles.

Anyway, it's a nice board, i really like it. It makes a slightly higher pitched metallic sound compared to a Model M.

[Mikelittoris]

The caps are all 'one-piece' dye-subs, you can replace them with 'two-piece' caps and stems if you like ..
It's a somewhat cheaper and lighter version of a model 'M', but with a more 'modern' design and dimensions .
It's also relatively rare in ISO-layouts, most of them have  been 'recycled' years ago

Is it true that the keycaps are a different shape? The DT wiki says they are lower profile and have a shorter and narrower stem.

Note that also on IBM BS keyboards, it seems to be random whether the keycaps are one piece or two. I have three F's from 1984, and two have one-piece, and one has two-piece. My 1390120 from early 1986 had one piece. My 1391401 from 1990 had two. It's like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get.

I've got one of these as well as a model m, so i took some pics comparing them a while ago. My board is named N2 tough, but from what i can tell they're the same.

Model M top piece - Model M stem piece - N2 Cap

N2 on top of the M




I hope this helps,

Best regards Christoffer

[Peter]

Regarding replacing the caps with Model M two-piece, they tend to get kind of wobbly since they are much taller than the M2 caps.

Show Image

Anyway, it's a nice board, i really like it. It makes a slightly higher pitched metallic sound compared to a Model M.

True, 2-piece caps from a Model M are 'taller' and therefore more 'wobbly'.
That's probably also why IBM made them 'shorter' for the M2,  but the originals DO fit !
(In case you ever want to convert one to your National layout - Unicomp-caps will do the job, albeit a bit wobbly ..)

[lcg]

There's another one on eBay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190831117249