is perennially popular with people who type a lot on a computer, with 15-25 year old examples going for up to $100 and actually getting used with modern computers. People love it because it is Solid, Heavy, ultra-accurate, with double action keystrokes.
What other old computer peripherals are used (or usable) with modern computers without heavy-duty custom interface engineering, or what old peripherals have you used with significantly more modern computers? It’s ok if the usage is primarily for giggles, e.g. “You got a 2009 laptop hooked up to a 1985 Commodore floppy drive, and are actually using it to save documents? Wow, you have too much time on your hands.”, but bonus points for setups that actually have significant utility.
There are no hard-and-fast rules as to what constitutes a modern computer or an old peripheral - be reasonable and use your judgment.
Some people with carpel tunnel and movement issues prefer this discontinued Logitech trackball “marble” mouse and will pay big bucks on eBay even for used ones.
Another vintage keyboards you’ll hear about is the Apple Extended Keyboard II. I’ve got one, found new in the box with no yellowing at a thrift store, and have an ADB-to-USB adapter to make it work. However, I keep it stored away; I use a Matias Tactile Pro at home instead. Why? The AEKII is practically investment-grade.
The Northgate Omnikey is another legendary old-school tactile keyboard.
Supposedly there’s a few high-end CRT monitors that still command big bucks among the DTP and design crowd.
Someone else posted a link here a few days ago, worth repeating in this thread (thought it’s not exactly what the OP is describing): Recreating the Legendary Commodore 64
Similar to the model M, I use an Apple Extended Keyboard with an ADB->USB interface. Same kind of bucking spring mechanism and big, heavy construction.
I’ve recently purged a lot of my really old legacy gear. Watching “Hoarders” on A&E tends to get me to do that. For example, I got rid of the six drive SCSI tower connected to my game pc. Held a whopping 4.5 gig of data. You can get USB thumbsticks with more capacity than that in the checkout lane of the grocery store, and those won’t dim the lights when they power up.
Oh, I do still have an AGFA scsi scanner that I use. That’s not really retro, though. I mean, it’s old, but it was top of the line when it came out many moons ago, and still outperforms a lot of the consumer grade scanners out there.
