deskthority

Hi everyone, the pile of old computer stuff has come in and I figured I’d give y’all an update.

The mystery keyboard above the model m was a chicony KB-5161 with mitsumi miniature mechanical yellow switches. It sounds pretty meh but feels good. I took it apart and cleaned the shit out of it. Some of these switches are clicky like the tab and shift, but 99% of these keys are just tactile with no click. It sounds a bit “thoccy” IMO. (Hate using that word.) There is a small bump with a pretty quick drop off kind of like a single stage trigger on a rifle. I’m going to end up selling it to reimburse myself for impulse buying a model f.

I also got a btc-5100 which is the same story. It’s a rubber dome with slider and is definitely the best rubber dome I’ve ever felt. Its pretty tactile and stiff. Offered it to some of my friends and nobody wanted it so I’m going to sell it because I dislike small keyboards

The model m is a Lexmark model no. 82G2383 one with a blue badge and non detachable coiled cable. It feels and sounds just as good as my 1990 gray badge model M in my opinion. It’s also super clean and in great shape. It’s also going to be sold.

The two that I am keeping are the Unicomp mini-M and the think pad travel keyboard. The mini M feels similar maybe a bit better than both of my Model Ms, but the sounds is slightly different. It’s higher pitched maybe due to the smaller case. This board is kind of the whole reason I bought this lot. I'll post a typing video of these boards so y’all can hear. The Lenovo is a shitty scissor switch but it could be handy because it’s so small, and also I love old thinkpads so eh.

I also got a really neat PS2 to USB active adapter that I have no use for. It's a "network technologies incorporated". I forgot to take pictures of it but they're $150 new which is awesome because I'm selling it too. This connects new boards to old PCs and I'm trying to do the inverse so no need.

Lastly I got a Samsung CD-1464W monitor which is an old cga one from 1987. This thing is nuts and I’m not sure what to do with it. It turns on but I have no way of testing it. I know y’all are keyboard people not monitor people but if anyone knows anything about it that would be appreciated. If it’s worth anything I’ll probably sell it and if not I’ll give it to my uncle for his old Texas instruments computer.

Here is the typing video: https://youtube.com/shorts/hz6FBSoVq8M

Very nice. I agree with your assessment after watching the video. I’d definitely keep the Mini M. They aren’t for sale at the moment and a great keyboard. The Mitsumi sounds nice too.

I’m not a vintage computer expert but you should be able to sell the monitor. My understanding is vintage computer collectors value the original CRT displays. There’s a Facebook group for vintage computing and I’d guess you could easily sell it there.

Vintage computing guys should put down the YouTube and visit the recycling centre. I still have to dodge all those CRTs on my way to lobbing out the beer bottles at our local dump.

And no, I’ve never found a keyboard worth bringing home there. Apparently trashed Edinburgh belonged to HP and Dell. You can tell them peeking out from under, their bubble media keys crying out for a demented saviour.

Modtalk: shouldn’t this be in (or at least link to) the original thread? No one’s going to have a chance if they stumble into this in future.

Muirium wrote: 08 Oct 2022, 22:08 Vintage computing guys should put down the YouTube and visit the recycling centre. I still have to dodge all those CRTs on my way to lobbing out the beer bottles at our local dump.

And no, I’ve never found a keyboard worth bringing home there. Apparently trashed Edinburgh belonged to HP and Dell. You can tell them peeking out from under, their bubble media keys crying out for a demented saviour.

Modtalk: shouldn’t this be in (or at least link to) the original thread? No one’s going to have a chance if they stumble into this in future.

Lol I completely agree with you on that. So much cool stuff is not too hard to find if you look around, like CRTs. Also I went ahead and made a link to this thread on my old thread thanks for bringing that up.

Nice haul! Funny with the Mitsumis, my experience has been the reverse: sounds good, feels terrible.

goodwill_pillager wrote: 08 Oct 2022, 04:01 The model m is a Lexmark [...]. It feels and sounds just as good as my 1990 gray badge model M in my opinion.
[...]
The mini M feels similar maybe a bit better than both of my Model Ms, but the sounds is slightly different. It’s higher pitched

I've come to the same conclusions - recent Unicomps (and 1990s Lexmarks ... ) are top-notch and as good as the "original" to type on, but sound a bit different. Unicomps are somehow louder and slightly higher pitched. Of course, much of this is down to the inner "blanket" having been replaced by a thin rubber sheet and the backplate being a bit thinner.