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Multiple Keyboard Review for Apple computers

There are three items on a computer that we interact with on a daily basis: Keyboard, mouse and screen.

Of those three, my biggest hurdle by far has been the acquisition of a quality keyboard. I don’t feel that I am particularly hard on my keyboard, and I am not a super typist either, though I can do in excess of 60 words a minute touch typing on a typical day. There are days when my fingers are spastic and can’t find the keys, but we won’t cover that here. Worth mentioning is that I am a coder and not a writer as such. My style of typing will vary from those who do more writing. Here is a list of keyboards I have owned or used extensively, oldest to newest:

• MUSIC/SP terminal
• IBM XT clone keyboards (many)
• True IBM keyboard
• Mac Apple Extended keyboard II
• Apple G4 graphite keyboard
• Apple G5 white keyboard (2 of em)
• Macally iKey
• Apple iMac chiclet keyboard
• Logitech S 530 keyboard
• Tactile Pro II

One would think with all the fancy technology today, and judging by how much we use a keyboard, today’s keyboards would be far superior when compared to older ones.

Wow, have we got that theory backwards!

It appears keyboards are travelling along their own time-line. A time-line that is running at roughly 180 degrees to our own. The following keyboard list is in order of quality and usability from best to worst:

1. Mac Apple Extended keyboard II
2. Macally iKey
3. True IBM keyboard
4. MUSIC/SP terminal
5. Logitech S 530 keyboard
6. IBM XT clone keyboards (many)
7. Tactile Pro II
8. Apple iMac chiclet keyboard
9. Apple G4 graphite keyboard
10. Apple G5 white keyboard (2 of em)

Here is a review on each of these keyboards starting with the best:

Mac Apple Extended keyboard II

This was the first keyboard that came with my first Mac. At that point, it seemed that the keyboard time-line was running correctly, as the few keyboards before this one, were pitiful in comparison.

Pros:
The EKII had a great touch to it. Albeit a touch softer than the IBM keyboard I used, it is quiet and the tactile feel offers just enough resistance to let my fingers know what they are doing. The keyboard itself is solidly made and lends well to a feeling of quality and solidity.

Cons:
The only con I found in the EKII keyboard is that the top of the keyboard is rather large compared to current keyboards and uses up a bit more desk space than one would hope for. The overall height of the keyboard is a bit too high for my liking and demands a gel wrist support.

Conclusion:
Price is great on these keyboards if you can find one. A quick search of eBay shows a price range of $35-$50 for a used one. You will need to purchase the Griffin ADB-USB adapter which works out of the box with no additional software.

Macally iKey

This keyboard came into my life shortly after I got my G4 with the graphite Apple keyboard (See graphite keyboard review below).

Pros:
The touch and feel on this now unavailable keyboard were very similar to the Apple EKII. The case was solidly built and the tactile response was excellent. If this keyboard was still being made I would put it at the top of my list.

Cons:
Unfortunately Macally appears to have succumbed to selling keyboards of poor quality, though I have not tested the latest iKey 5 personally.

Conclusion:
I could not find the old iKey on eBay and therefore cannot suggest this keyboard as a viable alternative.

True IBM extended keyboard

My IBM keyboard with a PS/2 plug on it is sitting in the basement now collecting dust in my little keyboard graveyard.

Pros:
The keys are a bit nosier than on the EKII, but tactile response is very good. Like the EKII, this keyboard is solidly built, and has a feel of quality.

Cons:
Not sure if this keyboard would work well on a Mac. The height of the keyboard requires the use of a gel wrist support. No option key on the original models.

Conclusion:
There were very few of these available on eBay, but a price range of $5 – $15 seemed to be the flavour of the day. You would of course need a PS/2 to USB adapter.

MUSIC/SP terminal

Now, I am not sure how fair it is putting this keyboard into my review, but I have excellent memories of it. In the long narrow lab at Champlain College, it made for a noisy keyboard with exceptional response. When I was in the lab I frequently got looks and comments from lab partners (Hi Paul and Jean!) asking if I was playing around or really coding. For the record I was really coding. As the keyboard was built into the whole terminal, it definitely had a solid feel. By today’s standards it was a monster and would take a whole desk top from front to back, leaving no room for my gel wrist support.

Logitech S 530 keyboard

This is a wireless keyboard from Logitech that has a few nifty Mac features on it. In order to take advantage of all the features you must install a small preference pane, which is pretty straight forward.

Pros:
Most noticeable are the wrist support built into the keyboard, and the very low profile. The keys are extremely quiet, and the tactile response is not exceptional, but somehow, Logitech has made the touch good enough that after a few days of use, my fingers knew what they were doing. The Logitech keyboard has a few extra buttons which are programmable from the included software. With dedicated buttons for iPhoto, email and iTunes, including a volume up and down button. I really liked the volume controls, which made adjusting the volume of my music when the phone rang a simple one finger task, without the need for the mouse. The set comes with its own USB wireless fob that you can use on any Mac desktop or laptop. Both the mouse and keyboard have a fair amount of customizability to them through the included software.

Cons:
On the down side, this keyboard can only be bought with the matching mouse–quite an excellent mouse, and my personal favourite so far. Being wireless you need to power the keyboard with two AAA batteries which do of course run out once in awhile. In my experience, two rechargable NiMH batteries would last for about 2-4 months on one charge, which I found quite acceptable. As the batteries begin to get weak, the keyboard would slowly start to drop key strokes, so that coding became pretty much impossible. The over all feel of the keyboard is flimsy and lightweight, making the keyboard feel like a bit of a toy. The most annoying thing is that Logitech has decided across its entire keyboard line, to compress the keys slightly on the right handside of the main keyboard. The arrow keys are tucked into where the right hand control key usually is, and the home/end/pageup/pagedown keys are moved into a vertical stack instead of running horizontally above the arrow keys. Myself, I could never get used to this. The software you must install to take full advantage of the mouse and keyboard is somewhat buggy and causes tons of errors and warnings in console. The end users won’t see these errors, but will experience oddities in behaviour at times.

Conclusion:
The cost is $99US with the mouse, and for those looking for an okay wireless keyboard and mouse, this would be a good purchase. The strange key layout can be overlooked. If this keyboard came in a wired model, I would probably still be using it.

IBM XT clone keyboard

These old IBM XT clone keyboards are perhaps a bit unfair to put into the review as there are so many different makes. The ones I had over the years all fall into roughly the same category, which is mediocre.

Pros:
No real pro’s to these keyboards today.

Cons:
These keyboards, in an effort to offer affordable computers for people to buy, were normally not of a very good quality, and the tactile feel and response was so so.

Conclusion:
They are mostly cheaply made and offer no real reason for any one to want to use one. You would have to purchase an adapter which would probably cost more than a new Macally keyboard.

Tactile Pro II

When I first saw this keyboard advertised I thought it was too good to be true. I decided to research on the internet to see what others thought of the Tactile Pro II keyboard. Overall people seemed happy. Only a few complained about minor problems.

Pros:
This keyboard looks very much like an Apple Graphite keyboard from the old G4′s. The size is small, and there is a power button right on the keyboard. The quality of the case is sufficient enough to let you feel like you are using a top notch product. The tactile response on this keyboard is incredible. Possibly the best I have used. There is an optimizer button built into the keyboard when combined with other keys offers special keystrokes. The height is comparible to the Apple EKII keyboard and will make you feel at home. The layout is standard and offers the chance for you to type very quickly.

Cons:
Unfortunately this keyboards cons far outweigh the pros. Where to begin! First the caps lock key is replaced by the optimized button, which is not wholly bad, but takes some getting used to. The case although is solidly built is poorly finished. On the keyboard I received, there is what looks like paper stuck to parts of the interior around the edge which shows through the transparent case. The company claims that the keyboard has a built in extra USB port, but you can only use it if you plug in the extra USB cable, thereby using up two USB ports on your computer. The absolute worst thing on this keyboard are the ghost keys. This keyboard is filled with all sorts of ghost keys. For example, if you are typing really quickly, and press the letters K, I (eye) and L in a row, chances are a ghost O (oh) will appear. Basically any three keys in a triangle when typed quickly will include the fourth key that makes up a square of letters: DEF and R, FRE and D and so on. When I spoke with the company, they wanted me to pay for shipping to replace the defective keyboard. Unfortunately they appeared to know about the problem, and offered no guarantee that the problem would be resolved with a new keyboard. After researching this specific problem on the internet, I found a few people who said the ghosting continued with the replacement keyboard. Customer support at Matias is pretty poor. They did not answer a single support email. I was only able to get a response by calling them. They offered to take the keyboard back and refund my money if I paid for shipping.

Conclusion:
This is a very expensive keyboard at $150US plus shipping. Then having to pay for shipping to get a defective keyboard replaced really irked me. It is sad, as this would have most likely been my top pick had it not been for the absurd ghosting issues and then poor customer support. I can not recommend this keyboard based on my experience.

Apple iMac chiclet keyboard

Apples new chiclet style keyboard is a radical change in form and function of a keyboard. It is super slim and very small which make this keyboard stand out on its own.

Pros:
As mentioned already, this small keyboard is great for those with limited space on their desktop. The feel of the keyboard offers enough feedback that you can type fairly fast. The keyboard is well designed and well built. There are two USB ports built in which you will always find useful.

Cons:
For me the cons are the slimness and a lack of tactile response. The USB cable is also quite short, coming it at roughly 3 feet in length.

Conclusion:
For the price–free with the purchase of an iMac–this keyboard can’t be beat. If you spend a lot of time typing though, you will probably find yourself looking for a replacement keyboard soon.

Apple G4 graphite keyboard / Apple G5 white keyboard

The graphite and following white keyboard from Apple were very popular and offered a clean and functional keyboard to suit a Mac. I still have two of these keyboards kicking around in my spare parts box, and occasionally I pull one out to use on a laptop.

Pros:
These are fairly well built keyboards, with a new clean look to them. The tactile response is fairly decent, and of course all the keys you would expect for a Mac are there and in the right place. The height is good but a gel wrist pad is required for extensive work.

Cons:
As with most current Apple keyboards, the cable is a bit short. A major caveat to these models is their inability to function well for more than a few months. I found, at least on the keyboards I had, that after a few months the keys would stick ever so slightly if you didn’t have your finger land squarely in the middle of the key. Most annoying for me was the command and control keys. I tend to use either my thumb or pinky on the left command and control key, respectively. This meant my thumb normally landed on the right edge of the key, causing it to tip a bit and then stick. I found that I could pop off the keys and apply a bit of lubricant to the area where the plastic of they key and keyboard touched. Though I had to repeat this every month. After about a year I noticed that a lot of my keys started to stick ever so slightly. This meant coding could be quite frustrating. Of note, these keyboards also appeared to attract more dirt under the keys than all my other keyboards. Which might explain the sticking key issue above. To properly clean out the keyboard, I would have to remove all the keys and shake out the keyboard. So much for my computer hygiene!

Conclusion:
These were decent keyboards and I can’t say I would not recommend them. If you find one second hand for a good price, try it out first, and if it works well, get it. I have seen these keyboards on eBay for between $12 and $30.

My current keyboard of choice is an Apple Extended Keyboard II. Apart from the space bar occasionally dropping out–most likely something to do with the ADB-USB converter, I find the tactile reponse excellent and the overall solidity of this keyboard is preferable to anything on the market today. Most importantly is that this keyboard has proven itself to have longevity.

Logitech was offering to send me a demo of their Logitech DiNovo Edge for Mac keyboard, but after the offer they never followed up. I see that MacWorld has already done a review on the DiNovo keyboard, so hopefully Logitech will see fit to honour their commitment and send me a keyboard. Juding from my experience with the other Logitech keyboard I used, it looks like it could be promising.