Sun Microsystems Type 4

keg0death

24 Mar 2020, 15:58

I have a keyboard here that I can't quite place. According to the label it is a Type 4, which has nothing on the wiki. I've attached pictures of the keyboard, switch and name plate. Anyone here have any experience with it? It feels wonderful and i love the layout, haven't tried the extra function keys on the left yet though.
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kralcifer

25 Mar 2020, 02:31

I can verify that the switches are Keytronic Foam and Foil. I have a few Keytronic boards. Here's a pic from one of mine:

Image

Aren't there any springs in yours?

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kralcifer

25 Mar 2020, 02:32

people also say that the keytronic keycap font is very recognizable

leoc

04 Jun 2021, 17:48

A very similar-looking but not identical board has just shown up on eBay, being sold as NOS:
sun type-4-alike.jpg
sun type-4-alike.jpg (247.51 KiB) Viewed 2159 times
It seems to be either a different variant of the Type 4, or a third-party replacement for one. Some more images:

[*] the underside label:
underside label.jpg
underside label.jpg (363.58 KiB) Viewed 2159 times
[*] the connector:
sun type-4-alike connector.jpg
sun type-4-alike connector.jpg (184.22 KiB) Viewed 2159 times
[*] a label on some box, suggesting that these were shipped from Keytronic to Elitegroup Computer Systems:
delivery label.jpg
delivery label.jpg (10.99 KiB) Viewed 2159 times
Even if it's not a first-party Sun Type 4, maybe it was manufactured by the same OEM?
Last edited by leoc on 04 Jun 2021, 18:08, edited 1 time in total.

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an_achronism

04 Jun 2021, 17:58

leoc wrote:
04 Jun 2021, 17:48
A very similar but not identical board has just shown up on eBay, being sold as NOS
That's hasn't "just shown up", those have been listed for weeks, possibly months. I nearly grabbed one but I'm pretty sure they're either rubber domes or foam and foil, and I'm pretty sure I'd hate foam and foil (I haven't confirmed by trying one but the cost of buying and shipping that to Scotland would have been excessive for what it is). I recently grabbed a Sun Type 5c as an alternative and it's a lot more of a looker, despite the rubber domes.

It looks like more of a modern board though, so I'm guessing despite the fact it's evidently intended for use as a Type 4 replacement / stand-in (as far as I could see), it's probably more similar to the Key Tronic E03633QLUKQ I have branded for HP / Hewlett Packard. Note the model number is a higher number than the E03633QLUKQ, which may (but does not necessarily) mean it's later than that, which would probably make foam and foil extremely unlikely. It's also worth noting that it looks remarkably similar to the HP, which would be another point for similar / equivalent rubber domes.

EDIT: And yes, since I just realised I didn't address this point, Key Tronic manufactured the (foam and foil) Sun Type 4 boards, if the DT Wiki is anything to go by. They also manufactured the Sun Compact 1, basically a TKL version of the Sun Type 5 / 5c, despite the latter being made by Fujitsu rather than Key Tronic. So I'm not surprised to see what appears to be a later board being manufactured by them for Sun.

leoc

04 Jun 2021, 18:05

an_achronism wrote:
04 Jun 2021, 17:58
That's hasn't "just shown up", those have been listed for weeks, possibly months.
The fifth of April, to be precise. In the grand scheme of things that is still pretty "just".

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an_achronism

04 Jun 2021, 18:09

leoc wrote:
04 Jun 2021, 18:05
The fifth of April, to be precise. In the grand scheme of things that is still pretty "just".
Literally 2 entire months ago. I'll just quietly disagree with you, hahah.


Both the NOS HP E03633QLUKQ manufactured by Key Tronic and may-as-well-be-NOS Sun Type 5c manufactured by Fujitsu that I have since bought instead of this thing were *significantly* cheaper than what it would've cost to get one of these to me. If they weren't charging so much shipping / import costs thanks to the eBay Global Shipping Programme, I would have liked to own one of these, but it'd be $91.01 in total, about £65. I paid less than that for the Type 5c and the HP added together. Sucks though, it is the sort of thing that I'd be interested in.

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