Loads of NOS US-layout USB keyboards SK8855 on eBay

[RealBlackStuff]

Just saw this: https://old.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comme ... ad_sk8855/
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/184859468046

Beware, they might be FAKES!

[m11k]

Are there fake versions of this keyboard? Seems too good to be true. I picked one up anyway, seemed worth the risk. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[RealBlackStuff]

They seem to be fakes, no arrows on the bottom-right keys!
Also, they are already gone (6 sold, 74 still available, but listing ended...)

[axur-delmeria]

I ordered one before it closed, and it arrived today.

Key actuation is crisp; they look and feel new. Key travel might be a bit shallower. Feels a bit different compared to my X220, but it may be due to the plastic casing being mostly empty space compared to the X220's packed interior.

The labels on the keys are just like the sample image. Ctrl and Alt keys are bottom-aligned unlike the Fn key. The PrtSc between the Right Ctrl and Alt keys is actually a Menu key (as it should be on the X220).

USB Vendor ID is 17EF (Lenovo), and Product ID is 6009 (ThinkPad Keyboard with TrackPoint). Middle-click behaves the same as the X220 keyboard, though I'm currently running Linux and have no time to test on Windows.

So while it may indeed be a knock-off, I'm just happy that I finally have a USB keyboard with Trackpoint.

[RealBlackStuff]

Glad it worked out for you!

[m11k]

I received one about a week ago as well. Keys generally feel pretty good. There's photos of a teardown of one here: https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comme ... _teardown/. The consensus seems to be that is is a genuine sk-8855, but with non-genuine keycaps and trackpoint nub. You can definitely tell the printing on the keycaps isn't quite right. I replaced the trackpoint nub with a genuine one. Overall it feels pretty good. It's not going to be a daily driver for me, so for something that will only see occasional use, I'm reasonably happy with it.

[axur-delmeria]

The slash / keycap popped out yesterday, revealing a red rubber dome underneath. I've yet to encounter red domes in any of my Thinkpad keyboards. Also, the metal retaining hooks looked thicker that the ones I've already seen. Is this an NMB keyboard?

[RealBlackStuff]

Rubber domes: Red = NMB, White = Alps, Grey = Chicony
The above applies to KBs of that era (T4x/T6x/xx00-xx20).

[dr_st]

Rubber domes: Red = NMB, White = Alps, Grey = Chicony
The above applies to KBs of that era (T4x/T6x/xx00-xx20).

Probably only to x00-x20. The NMB rubber domes on 4x/6x keyboards are blue.