Sinclair ZX80 / ZX81 / Z88 Forums

Moggy wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:06 pm White key one just like mine, but if you give it some stick and not use it once a year like most people the legends come off faster than a hookers drawers and the crappy thin sliding switch contacts likewise (had mine 30 years along with other external keyboards so know the difference).

Memotech look the part but sorry have to disagree that they are the best, Fuller every time for me , they are shoddily built but the key action is solid and unlike the Memotech the contacts are not made out of cheese.

I wish I had remembered your sage advice when I clicked buy on this lot... Maybe the black keys version will fair a little better. If not I may be chasing you for repair advice!

On the plus side it is all boxed and lovely. No idea if any of it works though.

Don't get me wrong,Lardo, as from a collectors point of view they are an excellent acquisition but just not up to par mechanically.

The contacts apart from being very thin and flimsy seem to oxidise/wear quickly and this manifests itself after a time by certain keys needing a second or more firm press to operate and luckily I have spares to replace them, but in fairness my keyboards are used everyday and are well hammered as opposed to just typing "HELLO WORLD" once or twice then put back into the box.

The switches are a simple two piece press together fit that can be dismantled with a view to cleaning the contacts but be aware that they are an absolute pig to reassemble. The legends are just simply inked onto the key caps and in my case I used clear nail varnish to protect them but be aware also that too much painting with the brush smudges the ink so one quick sweep over the cap,let it dry and do it again should suffice.

One last thing. The don't play well with custom keyboard routines, just load up Toddy Forth and try typing commands at a normal speed and let me know how you get on? HINT you will use backspace quite a bit.

Well, all the stuff above arrived. Finally. I think they posted it in 1982.

The zeddy is DOA but the RAM pack works as does the keyboard. It may not be the best but it is pretty awesome!


At least compared to a membrane.

It came with the white outer box, inner box (near perfect), polys (near perfect), instructions and keyboard. This is also in pretty good shape - just a few scuffs underneath.