Keyboard Builders' Digest / History
Memorex Model 88
A photodump of my latest acquisition, a nice Memorex Model 88 key from 1987.
Published March 27, 2023
To tell the truth, I don't know much about this Memorex Model 88, but hey, it seems it's still more than the info available online, so I thought it's time for a photodump of my recent acquisition.
This may come in handy for someone spotting something similar in a classified ad.
That's exactly what I did, I found this on one of my local go-to classified sites, listed for just a few bucks. My heart quickened thanks to the non-standard layout. It was cheap so I had to hurry, haven't had much time for background research before it had been taken by someone else. (Don't do this, impulse buying is rarely a great idea.)
What I had to consider real quickly:
- Good omen: pre-standard layout, based on the photos of the original listing it looked very clean, NOS-state strengthened by the description – it came in its original box.
- Bad signs: no cable (why?), based on a Deskthority post possibly rubberdome.
Never seen a Memorex before, so all I found quickly was a Deskthority thread with a warning: most if not all of these are rubberdome. For some reason this seemed very unlikely. The layout is so much before-'84 and DIN standards that I couldn't believe it will be rubberdome. So regardless of the remark, I pressed the buy button (it cost me about $25 including shipping).
After just a few days it turned out I laid my hands on a very nice keyboard in almost impeccable condition, at least visually. It's from 1987, and I doubt it was ever used. However, it was definitely disassembled before, the cable was simply cut off and at least one chip removed – Why, Lord, why?!!
Spoiler: Rubberdome? Almost. :D It has individual domes.
More and higher-res photos on imgur.
Dating
Nothing handwritten inside, sadly. The case was cast in 1987:
And some components bear the marks of early-'80s:
Layout
88 keys, thus the model name. A 60% alphanumeric main part flanked by 8 keys on the left plus a non-standard arrow cluster and 12 function keys on the right. No number pad.
Keycaps
Doubleshot caps with beautiful fine lines:
And the individual domes (instead of springs):
A bunch of the keys has legends on the front side:
This last photo takes us to the switches.
Switches
Beneath the caps and domes there are foam and foil switches. Hm. I've seen these before.
Usually, the foam part decays over time and turns into dust… I'm not a big fan of the experience. But these are almost like new. It may seem some of them are missing, but those are dummy switches/stems without foams – a common approach in this era to address issues with larger keys without stabilizers.
Each switch has a screw hole (see top left corner), and the PCB is attached to the plate through a handful of screws in these switches:
By the way, the PCB was made by key tronic (or Keytronic?).
I have similar models, don't really like the feel, but the domes on this particular keyboard definitely improve the experience, which otherwise would be much scratchier.
Click & Buzz
Ha! I knew I saw something interesting before: a "click" key!
Combined with this buzzer they could have provided a soothing background music in the office. :) (I'll really have to fix the cable.)
Variable typing angle
You can adjust the typing angle with the mechanism in the photos below:
Default is 4 degrees, and there are "preset" values of 8, 11, 13 and 15 degrees.
Verdict
So it's definitely not rubberdome in the sense we use the term most of the time.
Is foam-and-foil any better or even worse? That's for you to decide. It's a nice display item, and I wouldn't use such a layout for daily work anyway.
As a recap, the main point of this post would be: If anybody tries to look for Memorex keyboards, there are not just rubberdome ones out there. (In fact, I've found some pretty cool Memorex boards since my first attempt to dig up some info about them. Definitely worth to keep an eye open for them in the future.)
More photos
Published on Mon 27th Mar 2023. Featured in KBD #117.
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