Date   : Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:13:20 -0500
From   : jules.richardson99@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: Easter Disaster

Alex Taylor wrote:
> 2009/4/18 Ian Wolstenholme <bbcmailinglist@...>:
> 
>> The keytops have been slightly redesigned on the Compact, they are
>> a slightly different shape and the font used is very slightly different,
>> but I'm not sure really why Acorn would have gone to the trouble of doing
>> this.
> 
> Just looking at the photos (which are very interesting by the way), it
> looks like the Compact keyboard is made by a different manufacturer.
> All the Master 128 keyboards I've dealt with have a green PCB with
> soldered-in keyswitches. That's brown and looks rather a lot like it
> might be a membrane keyboard - presumably because they can be made
> with a lower profile which allowed them to get all that in the smaller
> case.

I've seen lots of ex-school Master 128/512s with membrane keyboards - I'm not 
sure if Acorn sold them like that in later life, or if they're replacements 
from some third-party company. Either way, they're not nearly as nice to type 
with as the 'clicky' ones (IIRC they were made by Cheery though, as were the 
clicky type)

cheers

J.