Author Topic: Unicomp Warehouse Liquidation (Read 15774 times)

Xonar · « **on:** Sat, 23 July 2016, 00:33:44 »

http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Surplus

Dunno how often unicomp does this but it's a nice opportunity to score a NOS industrial gray case, though it has the blue standard IBM logo rather than the nice raised black and silver industrial logo. The model number on this case is 1394942 but I thought this would have been from an industrial M13(?) I picked one up for the hell of it.

y11971alex · « **Reply #1 on:** Sat, 23 July 2016, 02:58:16 »

It makes one think what Unicomp must have in their warehouses. Maybe even a spare 2260 Display Station.

SBJ · « **Reply #2 on:** Sat, 23 July 2016, 04:02:15 »

Quote from: y11971alex on Sat, 23 July 2016, 02:58:16

It makes one think what Unicomp must have in their warehouses. Maybe even a spare 2260 Display Station.

That would be amazing.

supamesican · « **Reply #3 on:** Sat, 23 July 2016, 09:58:04 »

Ugh that $20 case is sooooooooooooooo temping! but I dont have the money right now

Wobbled · « **Reply #4 on:** Sat, 23 July 2016, 18:18:35 »

Glad I signed up to GeekHack now, or else I would've missed this. Just bought myself an industrial case!

aptivaboy · « **Reply #5 on:** Tue, 26 July 2016, 18:05:56 »

Probably a dumb question, but where does one get the innards for one of these cases? Building an essentially new Model M does appeal to me, but where to get the actual electronics and such on the inside? Clickykeyboards has a few things, but certainly not all.

Many thanks,

Bob

chyros · « **Reply #6 on:** Tue, 26 July 2016, 18:08:20 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Tue, 26 July 2016, 18:05:56

Probably a dumb question, but where does one get the innards for one of these cases? Building an essentially new Model M does appeal to me, but where to get the actual electronics and such on the inside? Clickykeyboards has a few things, but certainly not all.

Many thanks,

Bob

Take Model M
Throw out case
Take industrial case
Stick in Model M innards

PROFIT

aptivaboy · « **Reply #7 on:** Tue, 26 July 2016, 18:14:30 »

Ah, I see!

Capitalism is a beautiful thing, isn't it?

I just wonder whether the case has a label with a, "born on," date as that would doubtless increase the value. Since its a bare case, I'm guessing not. Still, I've been wanting another Unicomp with custom keys and this may be a nice chance to grab one. Buy a modern Unicomp, buy the grey case, swap out the parts, and voila!! Does that sound okay?

aptivaboy · « **Reply #8 on:** Tue, 26 July 2016, 18:18:25 »

PS. It looks like the closest modern Unicomp to the grey case on sale is their "Classic" model. Does this sound accurate?

mike52787 · « **Reply #9 on:** Tue, 26 July 2016, 19:08:34 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Tue, 26 July 2016, 18:14:30

Ah, I see!

Capitalism is a beautiful thing, isn't it?

I just wonder whether the case has a label with a, "born on," date as that would doubtless increase the value. Since its a bare case, I'm guessing not. Still, I've been wanting another Unicomp with custom keys and this may be a nice chance to grab one. Buy a modern Unicomp, buy the grey case, swap out the parts, and voila!! Does that sound okay?

It should be just the plastic parts, add your own lock light sticker, badge and birthday sticker.

E TwentyNine · « **Reply #10 on:** Tue, 26 July 2016, 20:21:53 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Tue, 26 July 2016, 18:18:25

PS. It looks like the closest modern Unicomp to the grey case on sale is their "Classic" model. Does this sound accurate?

The old cases use the large center controller, the newer Unicomps all have the small controller over the numpad.

A number of differences: diff controller, diff LED overlay, different wire routing out the back. Don't know if that smaller controller will properly mount in an old case.

All that might be surmountable, but it'll never look like the original due to the LED's and the hardwiring.

You're better off finding an old white IBM M and dropping its innards into the grey case if that's the look you're going for.

aptivaboy · « **Reply #11 on:** Wed, 27 July 2016, 20:53:57 »

I've emailed Unicomp asking if they can build up a new keyboard with the old grey case. If they say yes, I'll post their response here for those who don't want to do the surgery.

If yes, I can foresee a grey case, white legend keys with red characters, grey shift/enter/etc., keys, and maybe a light purple or blue escape key. This is all fantasy at this point, but we'll see.

Xonar · « **Reply #12 on:** Thu, 28 July 2016, 12:14:37 »

Mine arrived today.

I'll be transplanting an '88 Model M's guts into it.

CPTBadAss · « **Reply #13 on:** Thu, 28 July 2016, 12:22:07 »

Nice find.

As a slightly related aside, I don't live that far away from Unicomp. Always wondered if they would give me a tour.

aptivaboy · « **Reply #14 on:** Thu, 28 July 2016, 17:51:20 »

What do you guys thing would look better with the grey case, the Unicomp white legends with blue characters or red characters? I'm torn...

jwaz · « **Reply #15 on:** Thu, 28 July 2016, 17:55:43 »

Quote from: Xonar on Sat, 23 July 2016, 00:33:44

The model number on this case is 1394942 but I thought this would have been from an industrial M13(?) I picked one up for the hell of it.

It would have space for the mouse buttons if it was an M13 case no?

aptivaboy · « **Reply #16 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 01:19:00 »

Here's what Unicomp said:

Quote

"Yes the covers we are selling have the room for our traditional 101 layout.

We have removed a plastic ridge on the inside of the cover to allow the card to fit correctly.

Unfortunately as the covers are no the 103/104 layouts will not fit. however, you could possible cut off the two areas on the cover were the 103/104 keys would be and it would fit."

So, it looks like you can use modern Unicomp Classic innards with the older IBM grey case. I just ordered a traditional pebble/white Classic which I'll strip out and put inside the grey case. I also ordered some brilliant white key caps with red lettering to use as the legends. That should make for a nice color combo.

Robert

E TwentyNine · « **Reply #17 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 08:45:30 »

Well that's good. I didn't notice the extra LED cuts in the pic, so maybe they were planning to do a limited edition M-I run at some point and decided it was just simpler to sell the case itself.

But it would have been nice to have an official back label with an industrial part number.

Quote from: aptivaboy on Fri, 29 July 2016, 01:19:00

I also ordered some brilliant white key caps with red lettering to use as the legends. That should make for a nice color combo.

Hope you didn't forget to order the space bar.

Snowdog993 · « **Reply #18 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 16:58:31 »

*cough*

Mattr567 · « **Reply #19 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 17:02:43 »

Quote from: Xonar on Thu, 28 July 2016, 12:14:37

Mine arrived today.

Show Image

I'll be transplanting an '88 Model M's guts into it.

Cool! I bought one too, its coming tomorrow.

fohat.digs · « **Reply #20 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 18:18:53 »

I got mine yesterday. Sweet! I never expected to get an industrial because I wasn't going to pay the premium. And having a black label instead of the blue one makes all the difference.

My plan was to put Lot_Lizard's kit into it, but that would mean Dremel work and the tab holes might gape, so I will probably just use standard vintage M internals.

aptivaboy · « **Reply #21 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 19:05:59 »

Quote

Hope you didn't forget to order the space bar.

Nope, I didn't. Do I need to? The case is for a 101 key layout and I ordered a 101 key Unicomp Classic, so it should be possible to just swap the one into the other.

digi · « **Reply #22 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 19:07:33 »

Where dat SSK industrial case doe?

aptivaboy · « **Reply #23 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 19:25:58 »

Huh?

I take it you're asking for the link, so here it is:

http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Surplus

digi · « **Reply #24 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 20:31:22 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Fri, 29 July 2016, 19:25:58

Huh?

I take it you're asking for the link, so here it is:

http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Surplus

Huh?

fohat.digs · « **Reply #25 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 20:37:33 »

Didn't someone say that they were sold out?

I pounced on this the minute I saw it even though it mostly drained my Paypal account.

After someone posted this in public, I think that it was only a matter of hours.

Mattr567 · « **Reply #26 on:** Fri, 29 July 2016, 22:04:11 »

Quote from: fohat.digs on Fri, 29 July 2016, 20:37:33

Didn't someone say that they were sold out?

I pounced on this the minute I saw it even though it mostly drained my Paypal account.

After someone posted this in public, I think that it was only a matter of hours.

Same here. Looks like 4-5 people got one including me. Idk if they are sold out or not. Still shows on their website for now.

aptivaboy · « **Reply #27 on:** Sat, 30 July 2016, 02:28:18 »

I checked my purchase confirmation and it lists one "1394942 Cover Group 101 Key Industrial Gray," so it looks like I did get one in the nick of time. You had me worried!

As another poster said, it makes you wonder what else Unicomp has sitting in their warehouse...

klennkellon · « **Reply #28 on:** Sat, 30 July 2016, 04:00:06 »

Pay day came too late.

Off to raze more ALPS boards.

E TwentyNine · « **Reply #29 on:** Sat, 30 July 2016, 07:22:05 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Fri, 29 July 2016, 19:05:59

Quote
Hope you didn't forget to order the space bar.

Nope, I didn't. Do I need to? The case is for a 101 key layout and I ordered a 101 key Unicomp Classic, so it should be possible to just swap the one into the other.

Not the case. Your brilliant white keys. They don't come with a space bar.

aptivaboy · « **Reply #30 on:** Sat, 30 July 2016, 11:16:24 »

Ah, I didn't understand now, thanks. No worries, I was planning in using the 101's keys for the non-legend keys, including the space bar. The legend keys will be nice and bright while surrounded by the more subdued traditional colored keys.

fohat.digs · « **Reply #31 on:** Sat, 30 July 2016, 11:36:23 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Sat, 30 July 2016, 11:16:24

surrounded by the more subdued traditional colored keys.

Traditional IBM colors are called "pearl" and "pebble"

Mattr567 · « **Reply #32 on:** Sat, 30 July 2016, 15:22:03 »

Hell yes! So worth it

losing_ctrl · « **Reply #33 on:** Sat, 30 July 2016, 22:28:48 »

Well that came out super nice!

rowdy · « **Reply #34 on:** Sun, 31 July 2016, 03:31:06 »

An Industrial case, how nice

Oh ... International Mail - Priority $81.45

aptivaboy · « **Reply #35 on:** Sun, 31 July 2016, 11:16:49 »

Ouch. Is that shipping or shipping with import duties? Either way, that's painful.

Beautiful keyboard! I'll have to get a bright space bar, methinks.

thatsmrdoctortoyou · « **Reply #36 on:** Sun, 31 July 2016, 11:48:36 »

Oh man... that industrial case is pretty tempting!

Snowdog993 · « **Reply #37 on:** Sun, 31 July 2016, 12:11:47 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Sun, 31 July 2016, 11:16:49

Ouch. Is that shipping or shipping with import duties? Either way, that's painful.

Beautiful keyboard! I'll have to get a bright space bar, methinks.

*cough*

fohat.digs · « **Reply #38 on:** Sun, 31 July 2016, 12:18:12 »

Quote from: thatsmrdoctortoyou on Sun, 31 July 2016, 11:48:36

Oh man... that industrial case is pretty tempting!

I think that they were gone within a few hours of being posted on DT.

aptivaboy · « **Reply #39 on:** Sun, 31 July 2016, 13:15:13 »

Still listed as of this morning: http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Surplus

No idea if Unicomp is just being slow to remove it from the webpage, but its there as of now.

thatsmrdoctortoyou · « **Reply #40 on:** Mon, 01 August 2016, 00:42:53 »

Quote from: fohat.digs on Sun, 31 July 2016, 12:18:12

Quote from: thatsmrdoctortoyou on Sun, 31 July 2016, 11:48:36
Oh man... that industrial case is pretty tempting!

I think that they were gone within a few hours of being posted on DT.

Definitely wouldn't surprise me, although it does appear as though there may be some still available... I'll put in an order and see what happens

thatsmrdoctortoyou · « **Reply #41 on:** Mon, 01 August 2016, 00:49:14 »

My order went through! Hopefully this wasn't a fluke and there are still some available. I'll update the thread if I get a refund in the coming days

thatsmrdoctortoyou · « **Reply #42 on:** Mon, 01 August 2016, 11:13:06 »

Shipping confirmation received! It seems there are still some industrial grey cases for the 101 key model-M's.

E TwentyNine · « **Reply #43 on:** Tue, 02 August 2016, 11:15:58 »

I ordered mine a few days after it was announced, along with some other stuff. Got it today and the bonus item is the box it came in is perfect for keyboard storage, including the side pieces to hold the board.

aptivaboy · « **Reply #44 on:** Thu, 04 August 2016, 20:40:57 »

Yippee! Mine came today, along with two sets of keycaps, a donor Unicomp Classic, and a new LED cover. An odd thing, the LED holes look rough, almost like they were Dremeled out. I'm not sure if Unicomp did that or if it came that way from IBM. No worries, I can easily clean it up to allow the LED overlay to sit evenly. That sweet grey case which will soon be buckling springing away as soon as I can find the time to swap out the parts.

Bob

E TwentyNine · « **Reply #45 on:** Thu, 04 August 2016, 20:52:37 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Thu, 04 August 2016, 20:40:57

An odd thing, the LED holes look rough, almost like they were Dremeled out. I'm not sure if Unicomp did that or if it came that way from IBM.

Unicomp did that in prep for using the small over the numpad controller.

Someone mentioned it here or at DT, but it's pretty obvious custom drilled.

Mattr567 · « **Reply #46 on:** Thu, 04 August 2016, 22:48:37 »

Quote from: E TwentyNine on Thu, 04 August 2016, 20:52:37

Quote from: aptivaboy on Thu, 04 August 2016, 20:40:57
An odd thing, the LED holes look rough, almost like they were Dremeled out. I'm not sure if Unicomp did that or if it came that way from IBM.

Unicomp did that in prep for using the small over the numpad controller.

Someone mentioned it here or at DT, but it's pretty obvious custom drilled.

Yea, I put a small bit of duct tape on the new holes from the inside to prevent any light leakage through the label.

aptivaboy · « **Reply #47 on:** Wed, 05 October 2016, 18:12:13 »

Check out their page now: http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Surplus

It looks like they dragged some authentic 101 key IBM Model Ms out of storage. Some of Wordperfect lettering on the keys for those so inclined. Boy, that brings back some memories, Wordperfect on a 386...

Bob

EDIT: They're Lexmarks, but one of them has the IBM logo on the front.

y11971alex · « **Reply #48 on:** Wed, 05 October 2016, 18:54:11 »

Quote from: aptivaboy on Wed, 05 October 2016, 18:12:13

Check out their page now: http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/Surplus

It looks like they dragged some authentic 101 key IBM Model Ms out of storage. Some of Wordperfect lettering on the keys for those so inclined. Boy, that brings back some memories, Wordperfect on a 386...

Bob

EDIT: They're Lexmarks, but one of them has the IBM logo on the front.

I wonder what else do they have in their warehouses! SSK, Model F, beamsprings, 2250/2260, Selectrics...

E TwentyNine · « **Reply #49 on:** Wed, 05 October 2016, 19:01:47 »

Everything they have would be membrane M based, cap BS production was long done when they took over.

News:

Author Topic: Unicomp Warehouse Liquidation (Read 15774 times)