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Author Topic: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)  (Read 3012 times)

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Offline jacobolus

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SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« on: Fri, 20 February 2015, 10:13:52 »
The same guy selling the old-label Dell AT101 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/271777856932) also has a bunch of SGI keyboards up for auction. All are very solid keyboards (the so-called “Alps bigfoot” series), with 101-key ANSI layout, and thick PBT dyesubs with kind of fun italic legends. These are pretty much the best Alps keycaps you can find, if you like a Windows/ANSI layout, and one of the nicest full-size boards overall. Both beige and gray fleck varieties are quite attractive, even when slightly yellowed, as some of these appear to be.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281601423762
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271777856931
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281601423766
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281601673536

ncbound1 also has one up for auction:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261785022053
« Last Edit: Fri, 20 February 2015, 10:15:45 by jacobolus »
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Offline chyros

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 22 February 2015, 18:03:47 »
Are these fundamentally different from AT101/AT101Ws in construction quality? They appear superficially to be mostly the same, but it's not easy to tell from just the outside of course.
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Offline jacobolus

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 22 February 2015, 18:45:54 »
They’re the same as the earliest Dell AT101s, made by Alps (the kind with the old Dell logo, dyesub keycaps, and salmon Alps switches). Later Dell AT101s and then AT101Ws were made by Silitek, and aren’t quite as solid.
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Offline Findecanor

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 23 February 2015, 06:40:57 »
It is important to know that some of these SGI Bigfoot keyboards have PS/2 and some use a SGI-proprietary protocol. This are both beige and granite keyboards with either protocol.
Both protocols use 6-pin mini-DIN connectors, and connecting a PS/2 host to a SGI-protocol keyboard could fry the keyboard's electronics.
It would be best to check the parts number, if it is available. The SGI-protocol keyboards also have ports on the sides for detachable cables and passthrough for mouse (like Apple ADB) where as the PS/2 cables are fixed in the middle with cable channels on the underside.

I thought all SGI Alps keyboards had "Ivory" dampened Alps switches, like those in most Apple Keyboard II.
Have SGI bigfoot keyboards with Salmon Alps really been spotted?
« Last Edit: Mon, 23 February 2015, 06:44:34 by Findecanor »
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Offline chyros

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 23 February 2015, 07:23:37 »
Oh! That's good to know, cheers! Would be a shame to have my computer instantly fry what is supposed to be a quite tough board. Have to say I didn't find my Alps AT101 to be all THAT much tougher than my Silitek AT101W - then again, I disassembled that board a while ago so I can't check that anymore now...
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Offline RoflCopter4

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 25 February 2015, 22:42:27 »
Oh god, now I would love to buy one of these. $60 for shipping though? Hell no.
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Offline chyros

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 26 February 2015, 03:00:38 »
Wow, these went for... quite a lot. is >$100 normal for these? Oo
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Offline jacobolus

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 26 February 2015, 04:01:42 »
Quote from: chyros on Thu, 26 February 2015, 03:00:38
Wow, these went for... quite a lot. is >$100 normal for these? Oo
Most of the ones I’ve seen in the past were more like $50–60 + shipping.
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Offline Findecanor

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 26 February 2015, 06:01:55 »
The SGI-protocol keyboard went for $66. ncbound1's keyboard still for sale is also SGI-protocol.

With this thread, the auctions have got more visibility than otherwise and some bidders that have pushed the price could have come from here. It is because of that effect that posting live auctions is forbidden on many other collectors' forums.
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Offline engicoder

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Re: SGI Alps boards (thick PBT dyesubs, dampened switches, very solid construction)
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 26 February 2015, 07:01:46 »
I was interested, but not at that price. It seemed like they all went two buyers who were having a bit of a war.
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