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What do you guys think about this?

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 00:32
by JStew
photo (1).JPG
photo (1).JPG (334.6 KiB) Viewed 5219 times
Firstly, sorry for the poor image quality, and sorry for the lack of pictures. I bought this at a antique shop in my college town and i happened to leave it at my job there so it is not with me right now to take more/better pictures of.

I can tell you this:

1. It has white Alps switches
2. It connects via ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) which looks a little like PS/2 but different.
3. I think its an off brand replication of the Apple Extended keyboard.
4. It was never used, in perfect condition, but i was unable to use it since i don't have a Macintosh with ADB input.

Basically tell me what you guys think, i thought it was a cool find for just a couple bucks. I had never used Alps switches until i found this. So is there any way to completely remove the Alps switches from the board and move them to a new board? Are most Alps switches soldered in or can they be removed easier than that?

P.S. I'm sorry the image us upside down. :(

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 03:11
by ripster
Off brand?

Very nice copy if it is. Even nailed the Univers font.

And don't smoke that brand, bad for you.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 03:14
by Acanthophis
What I think? Rotating a jpeg isn't hard. :roll:
Fixed that for you.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 03:31
by ripster
?

Pic is fine. Your tshirt makes it look like you have a boner but no rotation problem here.
http://www.node.mu/2010/11/30/keyboard- ... -on-mk-96/

Macally MK-96 Also copied the fonts. Your splat looks off and no Apple Bite key indicates a clone.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 03:52
by JStew
ripster wrote:And don't smoke that brand, bad for you.
Ahh the legendary Ripster, thank you for noticing how dirty the floor is. This picture was taken in the sun-room of my college house that i share with a few roommates. When most of us are home for the summer the one or two people that stay over the summer don't clean as often. Hence the cool ranch doritos, american spirits, lighters, and pipe tobacco.

Anyways,

Yes the font is pretty, reminded me of using a Mac in my childhood, sort of nostalgic.

What is it you mean by my "splat" being off?
(Sorry, I'm new!)

And this was originally from a store, I'm guessing a lot like Fry's, Micro Center, or alike place, because the keyboard was branded with the store's name. Which escapes me now... :?

P.S.
Wasn't a boner, i assure you.

What do you guys think about this?

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 06:34
by captain
Splat is the Command key, because it looks like a cat went SPLAT. It's also st johns arms.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John's_Arms

Why not get an ABD-USB adapter and just use the keyboard?

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 06:55
by JStew
captain wrote:Why not get an ABD-USB adapter and just use the keyboard?
I looked up ADB - USB adapters and they were horrendously expensive... I couldn't justify the price considering how much i payed for the board itself.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 08:48
by Ascaii
They tend to pop up on ebay for about 25 once in a while. Look for a griffin iMate or a Belkin ADB USB converter.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 10:21
by Charlie_Brown_MX
Ascaii wrote:They tend to pop up on ebay for about 25 once in a while. Look for a griffin iMate or a Belkin ADB USB converter.
iMates show up very rarely these days, and in the two years I’ve had my feed set up to monitor them, I’ve only once seen them for less than £35… and I bought that one. The Belkin ADB–USB adaptors used to be freely available for around £15 on eBay, but went up in price and now I can’t find any on eBay UK.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 11:33
by Ascaii
Really? Rather strange, considering I bought one just a few months ago for 25$ before shipping...I will say it was not labelled as "griffin imate". The same seller had posted half a dozen, auctions were linked over at gh as well.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 12:03
by Charlie_Brown_MX
Ascaii wrote:Really? Rather strange, considering I bought one just a few months ago for 25$ before shipping...I will say it was not labelled as "griffin imate". The same seller had posted half a dozen, auctions were linked over at gh as well.
It depends which eBay you’re talking about. I thought you meant one of the European eBays. I got some for $25 apiece on eBay US a while back, probably from the same seller, but I had to organise a proxy and pay postage and customs on them, so they turned out to be a good bit more expensive as a result.

What do you guys think about this?

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 13:46
by captain
Y'all should disassemble one and post the schematic! :-)

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 13:49
by Charlie_Brown_MX
Well, USPS kindly broke the case on one of mine between the seller and my proxy, so I can take photos of its innards and post them. Schematics are a little beyond me, though.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 16:53
by ripster
DeathAdder wrote:What I think? Rotating a jpeg isn't hard. :roll:
Fixed that for you.

Perhaps you are suffering from The Thatcher Effect?

http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/v9 ... er_effect/
Image

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatcher_effect

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 17:03
by Acanthophis
Go troll someone else who falls for it...

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 17:18
by ripster
Rofl.

So anybody else see a rotated pic?

EDIT: Bwahahahah - I am on my PC and I do.

My iPad autorotates. Safari>Firefox?

Sorry DeathAdder, but normally I am posting here from my iPad.

P.S. Still looks like a boner to me.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 17:50
by Peter
Dye-sub caps ??

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 18:47
by JStew
I may dye the key caps... I've been wanting to try key cap dying for a while now and this one would be good practice.

I'll get this board back home and do some tinkering with it i think.

I still don't really want to pay 20$< for a converter to be honest... I don't want to use this keyboard that bad haha, it ll be a fun one to just tinker with and get some practice for future projects that i do.

And i just remembered that the bumps for finger placement are one the K and D keys not F and J. Just a little detail. Anyways maybe ill post more detailed pictures and take it apart and do a tear down this weekend after i get it back home.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 19:15
by off
ripster wrote:normally I am posting here from my iPad.
Yes, fix that.

Posted: 19 Jun 2012, 21:27
by ripster
Still England - Ukraine 0 to 0!

It's.....almost exciting!

I think it's the way the browser is handling EXIF data.

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 01:39
by itlnstln
Works in Chrome and the Android browser.

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 03:17
by TexasFlood
Works on my touchpad browser.

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 03:27
by ripster
Damn Firefox....

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=298619

Perhaps it truly is the PostPC era.

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 03:29
by TexasFlood
Working here on Firefox 12

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 03:31
by ripster
But do you guys see the boner or does this indicate latent homosexuality?

Anyway the best part if this post is when the OP called me "Legendary". Kinda like Tom Cruise in that gawd awful Ridley Scott movie.

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 03:38
by TexasFlood
I see my wife when angry, ripster-in-the-closet (like Tom Cruise in Southpark)

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 03:41
by ripster
Wait, but he never came out of that closet even with that wife pisser Kelly dude.

That was a Ripster Word of the day, urolagnia btw.

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?2199 ... post502300

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 03:47
by TexasFlood
ripster wrote:Wait, but he never came out of that closet even with that wife pisser Kelly dude.
And Travolta. But Tom comes out in the end and threatens to sue Stan, right before the credits roll listing only "John Smith" and "Jane Smith" in recognition of Scientology litigiousness.

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 03:58
by JStew
ripster wrote:But do you guys see the boner or does this indicate latent homosexuality?

Anyway the best part if this post is when the OP called me "Legendary". Kinda like Tom Cruise in that gawd awful Ridley Scott movie.
Lulz, I've been on Reddit a while, r/keyboards didn't really "do it " for me, passed through GeehHack, and settled here. So believe me, I've spent enough time around the dark keyboard-fetishist filled corners of the internet to become acquainted with you, Ripster. Maybe "legendary" gave you too much credit, but i love all of your work and the stuff you've done. And don't lie, you like your fame!

As for the whole boner situation... I don't know man, it was a big shirt, it bunched up at the bottom when i sat down for this picture.

Posted: 20 Jun 2012, 04:17
by TexasFlood
JStew wrote:As for the whole boner situation... I don't know man, it was a big shirt, it bunched up at the bottom when i sat down for this picture.
That's what Senator Anthony Weiner said (what are the odds to be caught in that situation with that name!?). And Brett Favre, and Senator Roberto Arango, and and...