hw
Apple Pro Keyboard
In summer 2003, I bought Apple Pro keyboard. I bought this very expensive
keyboard at local computer store selling Apples. This keyboard cost
slightly more than 3000 Kc, which was at that time some $100. Compared to
prices in Apple store in the U.S., the rebate which this company was
getting was quite big. (Maybe hence the name of the company :) If you are
local (Prague) Mac user, maybe you know the company I'm speaking about :))
I immediately started using it with my iBook and secondary monitor which proved very viable combination. However, after few months, my girlfriend managed to spill some water in it and I was so unwise that I tried to attach it with water inside and check which keys are working and which not. Ctrl + Alr + Command keys stopped working afterwards. I went to the store I bought this keyboard and demanded some repair. Me silly ! :) The technician told me that it is not possible to repair the damage. After some argument (Apple local techs/sales reps are most arogant techs/reps ever) I convinced him, that it is possible to repair it. He informed me, that this would be so expensive , that I would do a lot better if I bought brand new keyboard.
This reminds me of some dork with mustache
in other Apple local company who told me when I paid some not trivial
amount money for repair of my Powerbook 5300cs (wow, these were times!)
that it "mustn't be carried". Well, what are notebooks for, then ? :0
The dialog went like this:
me: "Well, I just traveled with this notebook in my laptop case and then it
stopped working"
him: "Hrmph, you just can't travel with this."
me: "Uh, oh." (I didn't know what to say to this nonsense)
(Powerbooks 5300cs have had issues with power connector due to bad
engineering. the needle inside the connector broke very frequently.)
After some googling, I found excellent Apple Pro keyboard disassembly page. Then I decided to repair my damaged keyboard. I ordered Xcelite screwdriver LN-1.27mm and bought conductive paint, then I spent several hours dissassembling.
The disassembly was quite tricky (you have to punch a hole in the plastic of the keyboard in order to find hidden screw). I tried to fix the 3-layer membrane with conductive paint with no effect. This whole effort cost me so much time, I decided to buy new keyboard. (As was the tech person saying) My old keyboard had black keys, which I really like, but the new Apple keyboards are shipping with white keys only. (I had again some weird experience when buying new keyboard) Not all keys from the old keyboard fit into the new, still, I'm satisfied with the result.
|
|
|
|
|
|
SGI boxen
In February 2004, I sold one of my SGI boxes. If you are located somewhere
around central Europe, be sure to compare prices before you got similar one.
Hardware related pictures:
These were taken approx June/2001 at dormitory in Prague.
(Hi andrew & salo!)
Others are random pix taken at the same dormitory
in the following years (2002).
|
|
|
