I tried the Logitech S 530, the Kensington SlimType and the MacAlly IceKey, but none of them felt as good as my Kensington StudioBoard. Unfortunately, the KSB is misbehaving rather badly, with keys sticking and key combinations not working. I contacted Kensington support, and they are sending out a SlimType as a replacement. I’m not thrilled about this solution. For one thing, the SlimType is half the price I paid for the KSB, and it is not even a full extended keyboard body. However, the keys do work…
Matias offers the same physical keyboard as the Tactile Pro, but they are out of stock until March and I’ve been unable to locate one.
Running out of options and since it looks like getting another mechanical keyboard will be pretty tough, I decided to give the Apple keyboard one last shot. Not an hour after I started using it, I started getting pain in my forearms (just like the SlimType and the IceKey). I think it’s because the back of the keyboard rises at such a steep angle (forcing my hands to angle upward).
Luckily, the solution I used for the SlimType and IceKey also works with the Apple keyboard. I propped up the front of the keyboard about 3/8″ with some business cards and it’s not too bad at all now.
A week later, I’ve pretty much gotten used to the key action, though I do miss my nice mechanical key switches. I need to get a more permanent shim for the front than the stacks of business cards though. 
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Sam D adds this Comment:
Alex,
I had a similar issue and I use the little clear rubber feet that you can get for a laptop to raise it up (though I got some at the hardware store) the hard part was getting some that were not too big and looked as nice as the keyboard
Sam D
January 9th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
Good idea!
January 9th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Michael Scott adds this Comment:
I find the Apple keyboard’s keys are too stiff and I have to put too much effort into pressing them! No quibbles with my Apple laptop’s keys though - love them!
January 9th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Bill Bradford adds this Comment:
If I’d only known - I gave away a Studioboard Mechanical a couple of weeks ago because I hated the shape of the Enter key!
The Tactile Pro (and I suspect the Kennsington SBM) is made by STRONG MAN ENTERPRISE CO. LTD - in fact that’s the ID I see when probing the USB bus with a Tactile Pro attached. Matias is just hyping and marking them up (I notice they’re now $149 - mine was $99 a couple of years ago).
My current keyboard is a Unicomp “Customizer 104″ with USB interface. Unicomp took over the making of the “Model M” clicky IBM keyboards from Lexmark, and their 104 is perfect as the Alt and Windows keycaps can be swapped and the keys remapped using the Keyboard preferences in OSX. This gives me a “good old” Model M with the extra keys I need on the Mac.
January 9th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Bill Bradford adds this Comment:
One other note - if you miss the Apple Extended Keyboard, why not use one with an iMate? I did that for a while and it worked fine. The only problem I had was that the “feeler bumps” on an AEK are on the D and K keys instead of F and J like a normal keyboard, so I had to take a razor blade and scrape them off those two keycaps in order to properly touchtype.
January 9th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
Michael– I had the same complaint until I tilted the keyboard back.
Bill–
Thanks for the tip on the Customizer 104 though.
January 9th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Hellmark adds this Comment:
I’m currently wanting to buy the 104 key Customizer, and apparently they’ve stopped making it in the last few weeks. All they have left in stock are black ones, and an email from them said they’re switching over to other basis for those (the Endora Pro and SpaceSaver). Both of its replacements don’t have the heavy frame of the Model M, but does have buckle springs too. Those will be available in beige shortly. This is really kinda upsetting because I’ve been wanting a Customizer for use on my mac.
The 101 key Customizer is still available, but useless to those who use a mac or need the winkey.
If anyone knows where I can find the 104 key customizer in beige, let me know.
January 31st, 2007 at 12:40 pm
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[…] used the old standard Apple keyboard for a couple of weeks after my Kensington StudioBoard went tets up, but had to junk it when my forearms and wrists […]
August 7th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Michael H. adds this Comment:
Are you going to try the new keyboard Apple released with the new iMacs?
I tried it out in the Apple Store, and it was OK for my tastes — not great, and I miss the slight concavity that normal keyboard keys (and my MBP keys) have. I’m just not sure I want to throw down the $$ for a Matias Tactile Pro, though.
August 13th, 2007 at 8:37 am
Jake adds this Comment:
I liked the first version of the Matias Tactile Pro well enough, but since then I’ve tried version 2.0 and didn’t much like it. Now I’m on a Customizer, but I stumbled on this site while looking for ways to clean it (the backspace key has become squeaky with use). If you have any thoughts regarding how this might be accomplished, I’d love to hear them!
April 28th, 2008 at 8:06 pm