The Sega HTR-2106 - Sega + IBM + Alps

webwit · 02 Feb 2011, 22:58

No full pictures yet, sorry, maybe over the weekend. Something about developing some forum and work eating up all my time..

The Sega HTR-2106 came with the Sega Teradrive, a "16-bit PC with an integrated Mega Drive, manufactured by IBM for Sega (...) only released in Japan."

The keyboard is also made by IBM for Sega, and has a unique Alps switch. More about that later. This is no ordinary Alps switch!

Unfortunately the LED area arrived with a hole in it. I think the seller ripped me off, because it would be hard to get that kind of damage during shipping through an otherwise undamaged box and undamaged foam. It's only the LED sticker, but it would be hard to fix, IBM LED stickers are bigger and slightly differently colored.

: sega1.jpg (187.74 KiB) Viewed 11330 times

: sega2.jpg (219.43 KiB) Viewed 11330 times

I took these for my shopping service, and they returned that they couldn't see anything wrong, if I would be so kind to encircle or point to the exact problem. So I did.

: sega3.jpg (243.27 KiB) Viewed 11330 times

sixty · 02 Feb 2011, 23:24

Such an awesome keyboard. I love the color scheme. The damage is a damn shame, maybe Chuck can print you a replacement label.... yeah right.

webwit · 02 Feb 2011, 23:30

It's easy to get a replacement label. If I want a 1000 of them.

daedalus · 09 Feb 2011, 18:51

Any pics of the switches?

webwit · 09 Feb 2011, 18:58

I wanted to do this last week, but the light was very bad whenever I had the opportunity. Now I get the glare from the flash of my cheap camera as seen above. I want to shoot a good series, also of the inside. Soon.. I hope.

sixty · 09 Feb 2011, 19:07

webwit wrote:I wanted to do this last week, but the light was very bad whenever I had the opportunity. Now I get the glare from the flash of my cheap camera as seen above. I want to shoot a good series, also of the inside. Soon.. I hope.

Get some of those lamps I got from Amazon. Best investment ever.

I broke one of the $30 lightbulbs on the first day, so all my pics have a shadow now due to only having one of them left, but oh well. Still good.

webwit · 09 Feb 2011, 22:07

Yeah I need to get some lamps at some point. Not from amazon though. They are fascists. I tried my local camera shop once, but they looked funny at me for not wanting their cheapest 500 EUR lamp.

bugfix · 09 Feb 2011, 22:39

webwit wrote:It's easy to get a replacement label. If I want a 1000 of them.

Come on, someone who has spent a gazillion bucks (rough estimate) on keyboards can stomach that

keyboardlover · 09 Feb 2011, 23:04

"gazillion" is an awesome word. I wish my paycheck said "1 gazillion dollars"

itlnstln · 10 Feb 2011, 11:33

keyboardlover wrote:"gazillion" is an awesome word. I wish my paycheck said "1 gazillion dollars"

Then you will come to the harsh reality that a "gazillion" doesn't exist when you go deposit that check. So will your landlord and creditors soon enough.

Julle · 10 Feb 2011, 14:22

keyboardlover wrote:"gazillion" is an awesome word. I wish my paycheck said "1 gazillion dollars"

You should demand your paychecks in Zimbabwean dollars.

sixty · 10 Feb 2011, 14:32

Or German Reichsmark!

Kept hearing this story from my grandma how she carried a whole hamper full of these 50 million mark bills to buy a loaf of bread.

keyboardlover · 10 Feb 2011, 15:30

If I'm not mistaken, "gazillion" = several (unknown number) bags filled to the brim with cash.

daedalus · 27 Feb 2011, 15:42

*bump*

Any pics?

webwit · 27 Feb 2011, 16:10

Hmm, I really need to buy a proper flash camera and/or lamps or move to a more tropical region.

Spoiler:

Actually it's one my desk right now.. it's begging for my attention.

spolia_optima · 03 Mar 2011, 22:50

I'd like to know more about these switches. Where's the update??

webwit · 09 Mar 2011, 03:45

These are very, very nice Alps. Bit strange though, the throw seems a bit shorter than for example a buckling spring, you have to like that. The click is very sharp and smooth as butter at the same time, with a nice click. Cherry Blues can't touch this. The design seems rather open, I wonder how good these switches can cope with dust.

sixty · 09 Mar 2011, 06:07

Looks awesome! I'm voting for SEGA replica Cherry MX set next!

daedalus · 09 Mar 2011, 20:23

webwit wrote:

Now, why does that look so familiar...

I see what you did there, Alps.

daedalus · 09 Mar 2011, 23:15

Btw Webwit - how stiff are these things?

webwit · 09 Mar 2011, 23:29

They are not, I estimate 50g for activation.

daedalus · 09 Mar 2011, 23:45

Wow, that would make it the lightest buckling spring implementation if that were the case. That said, I think it may be fair to say that below a certain point, a tradeoff between stiffness and tactility has to be made.

But here seems to be the secret sauce of the Alps BS -

There's a follower behind the spring that pushes it along as it buckles.

webwit · 10 Mar 2011, 00:36

Ah so that's what the slider to the right of the spring is doing.

daedalus · 10 Mar 2011, 00:53

From the patent -

"Moreover, since the spring is forcibly inverted, the overall length of the spring can be shortened to provide a compactness of apparatus"

Interesting patent. I intend on reading when I'm not half asleep as I am currently.

webwit · 10 Mar 2011, 00:58

This might explain the shorter throw. It's not dramatic (like laptop keys) but it's there.

sixty · 10 Mar 2011, 01:00

Sounds like the old cherry mx. Much shorter travel, but not too short.

sixty · 11 Mar 2011, 22:55

Here is a nice replacement for your LED label:

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=16142

What a steal!

daedalus · 12 Mar 2011, 14:41

If you look at the photos in the auction, you can see that the keyboard's casing has a pretty nasty crack in it.

The Wiki now has an Alps buckling spring description in it.

webwit · 12 Mar 2011, 14:50

At least it shows the damage. Mine had no LED damage in the small auction photos.

webwit · 12 Mar 2011, 14:51

I think the last complete system I saw auctioned went for $350 or something like that (it was the least powerful system), and I think the buyer later auctioned the keyboard to win something back.