"vintage" computer parts store?

October 25, 2006 2:59 PM

I'm looking for a extremely old used PC component store in the Bay Area.

I'm looking for a number of old PC keyboards from the late 1980s, ideally pre-PS/2 ports. I'm hoping to find it at a used computer parts store, hopefully in the peninsula. Ideas of places that carry antiquated computer hardware?

posted by soda pop to computers & internet (8 comments total)

halted, weird stuff, surplus computers. google.
posted by joeblough at 3:09 PM on October 25, 2006

In my neck of the woods, there are a lot of extremely old PC components at the local secondhand stores (think donation outlets like Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, Savers, etc., not consignment shops).
posted by box at 3:27 PM on October 25, 2006

Convertors from PS2 to AT keyboard ports are sold for next to nothing on eBay. Are there any reasons why converting a run-of-the-mill PS2 keyboard to an AT port wouldn't work for you?

Also, flea markets. How many of them do you need? Do they all have to be of the same make?
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl at 3:39 PM on October 25, 2006

Weird Stuff hasn't been the same since it moved, but HalTed is still the wonderful place that it's always been, near the corner of Lawrence Expressway and the Central Expressway.

The Electronic Flea Market is also a prime place to look for old gear, and the stuff of Silicon Valley legend, but it only runs March - October, so you've got some months to wait.

It's no longer held at Foothills junior college, it has moved to DeAnza in Cupertino.

Also, if you or someone you know has a ham radio license, check into the 9am talk net on N6NFI/R. There are lots of people there with garages full of old gear waiting for a new home. Hams are packrats, and never throw away electronic stuff if they've got a shelf to put it on... but they'll usually be glad to hand it over to someone who plans to put it to use.
posted by toxic at 3:55 PM on October 25, 2006 [2 favorites]

Herr Fahrstuhl, the pre-PS2 reference is to date the keyboards: I am looking for keyboards as a props involved in a stunt where they risk destruction, and it's important that they be as time-period correct as possible.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.
posted by soda pop at 4:01 PM on October 25, 2006

Old IBM Model M keyboards should be relatively easy to find (hell, I'm typing on one right now).
posted by neckro23 at 7:31 PM on October 25, 2006

HSC or Wierdstuff. Probably your best bets. Neither are on the peninsula, though.
posted by drstein at 8:38 PM on October 25, 2006

Weirdstuff comes through in the clutch. Thanks all!
posted by soda pop at 9:05 AM on October 26, 2006