i have a few apple extended keyboard ii that are in good working shape. i have considered purchasing an adapter to use them with usb, because i can remember absolutely loving to use these keyboards.
just happened upon the community, and figured i’d ask. is it more worth it to get something to adapt one of these keyboards?
for reference, at home i have more than enough space on my desk for a keyboard. at work, i wouldn’t mind finding a nice mechanical keyboard, as i type often and a bad keyboard infuriates me to no end, haha.
the AEK II is no slouch and is still considered one of the icons of the mechanical keyboard world – their only real shortcoming is Alps switches don’t do well with dust and dirt
- easiest is pick up a converter as @thejevans mentions
- take the time to do a full cleaning – remove and clean the keycaps and open up the switches and clean them out (Alps switches don’t require desoldering to open them up)
- if you want to really go deep into the rabbit hole (desoldering and soldering), then try to get one of elmo’s AEK II USB PCBs
great response! i think i may continue with cleaning up those keyboards and see what i’m working with. i’ve done some electronics soldering in my time (and built/set up guitar electronics quite a few times) so i’m sure it wouldn’t be too much of a step up if i had to do that.
on another note, any recommendations on what to clean the plastic with? they are quite yellow on the cases and space bar funny enough, and i’d love to see them back to their glory!
there are two primary plastics when dealing with keyboards, ABS and PBT
- ABS is really easy to work with and the first choice for doubleshot keycaps but it’s main shortcomings were yellowing under sunlight as it ages, not receiving dyesub printing very well (if at all), and showing shine after regular use
- PBT is very durable and doesn’t yellow with age, but only recently have companies had luck producing doubleshot keycaps, traditionally the legends were dyesub printed onto the keycap (dyesubbing works very well with PBT)
AEK II keycaps were PBT, but the case and the spacebar were ABS (PBT can shrink when molded which can lead to warping in longer keycaps – “banana spacebars”)
for general cleaning
- keycaps are best with just warm water, soap, and an old toothbrush
- for tough spots, a cloth with isopropyl alcohol will work just fine
- isopropyl is also easiest to work with when cleaning switches
for dealing with the yellowing, users on Deskthority came up with “retrobriting” (basically a timed bleaching using a hydrogen peroxide paste) – timing is finicky, best to under do things than over do things – you can usually find more up-to-date videos on Youtube