…but I don’t have a Mac. Still, who could refuse this?
The thing is, I don’t know if it works on a PC… and, if I can get a similar keyboard for cheaper. That is a bit more dough than I would like to spend on a keyboard, but I just went keyboard shopping and there are absolutely no keyboards that aren’t monsters with thirty five extra useless keys for controlling your media player, volume, CD rack, GPS system, alarm clock, and/or opens the cat flap.
I cannot stand those Mac keyboards. Every now and then I will have to use a Mac computer lab, and those keyboards drive me fucking insane. Why? Because the GODDAMN KEYS ARE TOO LOW. I’m used to my standard PC keyboard with keys that are big, thick, and make a satisfying “thunk” when they’re depressed. The keys on the Mac keyboard are so thin and low-profile that I feel like I’m walking on eggshells every time I type on them.
AND the outer “frame” is much much smaller, and wastes a lot less of my desktop real estate, which is running at a rather high premium at the moment.
I wants.
I’ve got one of those. It’s OK, I guess, but it’s way too large and the springs are too stiff. Even my MS natural 4000 (my main keyboard) has lighter keys.
The new Mac Aluminum keyboards have the same keyswitches as the plastic cased MacBooks, they use a simple “plunger” style keyswitch, and as such, feel rather mushy, personally, I can’t stand the Aluminum keyboards, yes they look nice, but typing feel is lacking
Now, the Mac keyboard I DO covet is my old Apple Extended Keyboard II, the old “Nimitz” keyboard with the nice, clicky Alps keyswitches, I have two of them and no, I’m never parting with them, they work just fine with my USB based Macs thanks to a ADB to USB adapter
they’re at least 15 years old, and have outlasted five of my Macs and are still going strong (they’re similar to the IBM Model M’s)
This post was composed on my trusty ol’ workhorse Nimitz, the old war-horse refuses to die
Oooh? Nimitz, you say? ADB to USB adapter? I have got to do some digging in the garage… Just about the first thing I did when I got my iMac was ditch the keyboard. For now, I’ve got a generic KeyTronic that’s tolerable.
I got a new Mac Pro last fall, and I love it, but I don’t use the keyboard.
I love the way the keyboard looks, I love the way the keys feel, I love slim design… so why don’t I use it?
I use the function keys A LOT, and on the Mac keyboard, you have to press a button to get the function keys to stop being media player commands and be function keys. STUPID! I’d rather have a keyboard that is backlit and has both function keys AND media player buttons.
(I just got a Mac Pro, and I have a MacBook; I don’t have problems with either, though I LOVE my Apple USB Exended Keyboard purchased about five years ago. I have more computers than a sane person would need, but I DO use all of them.)
A small company in Kentucky makes a Model M clone. They have a few different options (like pointing stick and trackball). They have USB versions as well: http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net//keyboards.html
Ah, great analogy. You could add the she’s a ditz because she has no depth like the Model M. I have two Model Ms: one built in 1991 and the other in 1984 that both still work great. The 1984 version has the old AT-style connector so to use it I have to daisy chain an AT-PS2 connector to a PS2-USB converter.
I still have my old ADB Apple keyboards, which I’d actually prefer to my current third-party keyboard, but all the ADB/USB dongles were ~$30. It that about right? Because they seem like something that should be about $2 plus shipping these days.