The Model F AT is a nice "Vintage" item for collectors and people who can live without a Navigation cluster and don't mind large keyboards. The Model M Mini is the keyboard for people who use it every day instead of storing them in a box.
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So back to the original topic SKcheng got a great deal buying a $100 IBM Mini because he got to see it first and didn't pay shipping. If you want a Model F AT just to try a infinitesimally superior switch I wouldn't pay about $30 for one on Ebay. If you're patient they come up every so often mis-listed as "Model F" without the "AT" being in the search.
Max, you should try a Mini! It would make your comments more valuable in this post.
Yes, perhaps I will try a Model M Space Saving "Mini" keyboard. Why not, I've burned money on just about everything else possible.
Your 84-key PC AT is vintage because you decided to keep it in the box.
What do you think most people would consider any Model M keyboard (including the Unicomps) Umm....Vintage, retro, clunky, out of vogue comes to mind.
The unpopular layout of the 84-key Model F aside, you cannot possibly make a comment like "infinitesimally superior switch" with a straight face. Whether you love or hate the Model F key switches, the difference when compared with Model M key switches is anything but "infinitesimal". Dramatically different would be more accurate.
I will continue to pound away on my "vintage" daily driver 84-key PC AT keyboards in ignorant bliss while you pound away on your Model M Mini.
SK, after you get an IBM PC AT 84-key Model F keyboard in good condition, you let us know if the buckling springs over capacitive contacts typing experience is
infinitesimally different than your Model M Mini...with a straight face.
EDit: BTW, your messiah, the rip meister, held out for a sealed NIB 84-key Model F and shelled out about $500 in coin. Now his advice to you is "Son, don't follow in my fooliish ways and waste your hard earned money on a "vintage" keyboard. You should spend no more than $30." In the meantime, he stashed his 84-key away in the closet (taking extra care to keep the box in pristine condition) with the fiendish plan to sell it to a Japanese or Korean collector for thousands of dollars in about 20 years. Pure evil.