So how much did I miss out on this elecplus treasure trove?

[vivalarevolución]

I have been absentee on the forums recently. This elecplus treasure trove seems to the talk of the town. What did I miss? Were there some beam springs?

[sth]

16 clams
baked beans
fresh tomatoes
horse

[Madhias]

There were beam springs, NIB Model M's, SSK's, and much more! Great prices, conditions always as stated: dirty is dirty, normal is normal and new is new. I've ordered different keyboards, and more in the near future maybe...

[andrewjoy]

and 62 key F's don't forget them, how i regret not getting one but not enough money for 2 at the time and i wanted beamspring

[Muirium]

Beamsprings you say?



Check! (At my brother's, who, thanks to Cindy is beginning to have quite a collection in his own right!)

I also snagged:

An SGI

IMG_2860.jpeg (264.07 KiB) Viewed 19217 times

A Model M2

IMG_2849.jpeg (270.66 KiB) Viewed 19217 times

And a while ago, an AT:


And a $25 SSK:


No 62 or 77 key Kishsavers so far, but she did find a cache of the Looooooong 107 key KishUnsaver model. Along with some 50 key square ones. She may well have some left of both.



In fact, Webwit's just arrived:



So yeah, you missed a bit. But Cindy's still finding new stuff, so keep a look out before we all snatch more!

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Sausage dog keyboard :)

[webwit]

Good name! Better than KishUnsaver. IBM Sausage Dog.

[Madhias]

Always reminds me of Longcat:

[Muirium]

Like I said: Looooongkish. Keeps mice far away, all right.

[webwit]

Should keep some random guy's name out of it who at some point re-found one. Imagine if you'd had to call your beam spring keyboards "duckboards". Wait... I may be swayed.

[Muirium]

Not a fan of Kishy, eh? Honestly, I prefer a name I can remember over those IBM numbers. Never could keep a telephone number in my head (back when that was remotely useful) and every time someone refers to an IBM code I copy/paste into search because bugger me if I know what it is.

Dachshund is okay. But these 47… shit, looking it up now… 4704s are a family. Only makes sense to name them accordingly. And I do like the typically IBM logic of the Unsaver!

[vivalarevolución]

Well, if anybody gets tired of your beamspring, you know who to call.

[Compgeke]

Ghost Busters?

[andrewjoy]

As cool as the 107 is why would you need a keybord that long ? Ever!

[Halvar]

It's not that bad, just two more columns to the left than the standard Model M layout. The mouse isn't further away than on a fullsize Model M (if you're a right hander). We're just so used here to TKL or smaller layouts ...

[Muirium]

Yup, the lack of a function row across the top makes the board look longer than it really is. A standard Model M is almost the same size. Anyone got a picture to show this?

I like the whole Kishsaver family. The 62 key is, of course, an almost perfect 60% (all I could ask for is an HHKB style right Shift and Fn, but it's so close!), while the 77 looks a fantastic slim TKL. How I want one of those! The 107 is the line's answer to a standard 101 layout. Slim again, but loooooong. Depending how you look at it.

[quantalume]

The traditional response to the mouse being too far away is to blame the keyboard. The reality is that even with a 60% board, you still have to take your hand off the keyboard and then find home position again when you're done with the mouse. That to me is the largest factor resulting in reduced efficiency. Maybe we should blame the mouse instead and either try to lessen its importance by increasing the use of keyboard shortcuts or find viable alternatives to it. There are several designs for DIY foot mice out there (like this one) that I've been meaning to try. There is also the Leap device, but that also requires you to take your hand off the keyboard. Then there are the track point and track pad, but both of them are difficult to integrate with vintage keyboards.

[Muirium]

Well, there's the Rollermouse, of which I know very little…

http://deskthority.net/other-devices-f3 ... ollermouse


http://ergo.contour-design.com

[quantalume]

Hey, that rollermouse is pretty cool! I like the concept, and the roller could be built into the front nose of the keyboard. Pity it's so expensive.

[Muirium]

Right around the same price as an HHKB, so I see, although there is a "free trial" for the daring and curious!

One of the guys at Low End Mac has been using them for years:

http://lowendmac.com/misc/11mr/rollermo ... eview.html

To be honest, I haven't explored alternate pointing devices at all for myself, because my mouse and trackpad give me no trouble. Yup, I'm lucky not to have noticed any RSI. I'm keyboard heavy when it comes to working with words, and scroll heavy when browsing, so my hands have a fairly easy time. Certainly seen people switching between them far more frantically than I do!

The appeal of dainty keyboards for me is just as aesthetic and conceptual as it is about "reaching all the way to the mouse", which I plunk on the left when using a fullsize keyboard anyway. I don't like superfluous keys taking up space, wherever they may be. I'd lop the function row off my TKLs, if I had my way, and I just might try yet! Layers make a lot more sense to me than roaming around a larger keyboard.

[andrewjoy]

I have switched to a trackball ( only a slimblade) for everything apart form games and it is amazing , i never had rsi but my wrist would be a bit stiff sometimes , this has almost 100% stopped, i just need to get another for work. ( problem with that is i am moving to a new job and don't want to get something like a simblade if i have to be on the move as its not the best to throw in a bag. )

How is the ltrack-x vs the slimblade ? the ltrack is bloody expensive.

[mr_a500]

Well, there's the Rollermouse, of which I know very little…

http://deskthority.net/other-devices-f3 ... ollermouse


http://ergo.contour-design.com

I just got a Rollermouse, but it's this thing from 1989 (NOS, $15):

Rollermouse box.JPG

It looks like it's the original serial version of the DT225. It came with software - on 5 1/4" floppy! - version 1.0. Here it is compared with a newer DT225 (black ball from Microspeed trackball):

Rollermouse DT225.JPG

Surprisingly, the Rollermouse isn't as smooth as the DT225 and the casing feels slightly cheaper (usually older=better quality). Another visible difference is only 8 dip switches on the bottom instead of 12. I haven't opened it yet to compare the internals.

I bought this because it says right on the box that it contains software for PS/2. So I thought this would work with a serial to PS/2 adapter (some serial mouses do). Sadly, after getting the adapter I discovered that it doesn't work. In the manual, they mention serial version and PS/2 version. They supply the software for PS/2, but you need the actual PS/2 version. What a pisser.

[Muirium]

Points for the 5 1/4 inch floppy disk, but drivers? What is this? Windows 95!

[mr_a500]

They didn't have Windows 95 in 1989.

The drivers are for DOS. There are also menus for specific software. There's one for Lotus 123 and one for WordPerfect. (and various other crapplications)

[Muirium]

They didn't have Windows 95 in 1989.

Much better, they had this!

[mr_a500]

That was unbelievably lame. Typical Microsoft.

[andrewjoy]

get a real pc with a serial port

do serial mice still work in NT6 ?

[mr_a500]

Actually, I was hoping to use this on my Amiga. I've got a PS/2 to Amiga converter. So it would convert serial to PS/2 to Amiga. That was the plan anyway.

[sth]

this music is distressingly ominous! stay away from my t-bone with all that crunching.

oh dear the music becomes distressingly discordant with the introduction of the lyrics. i'm getting physically ill.

[Muirium]

Typical Microsoft!