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. 🙂
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
Good idea!
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! 🙂
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.
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.
Michael– I had the same complaint until I tilted the keyboard back.
Bill– 😥 Thanks for the tip on the Customizer 104 though.
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.
[…] 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 […]
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.
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!
I like the new Apple keyboard. I’ve tried lots of keyboards and found the Apple to fit me the best. I love the laptop style keys; here’s a review I found with some tips for getting it to work in Windows:
http://www.isyougeek[...]oard-review/
I had been long term user of IBM 101 keyboard (the famous Model M). For the record, my oldest Model M was manufactured in 1992.
I have been a heavy computer user but I had never experienced any serious pain before.
Since my fellows at work always complain about the typing noise (which is in fact terrible to others) generated by my keyboard, I decided to buy a Apple Keyboard (the model with Numeric keypad) 2-3 weeks ago.
Here comes the nightmare. I started developing pain in my back only 2-3 days since I swithced to the new keyboard. The pain further developed in a very short period. The pain in my back has increased to a level that I started having heat treatments at night. Pain also started to develop in my shoulders and neck.
Okay, the new keyboard is quiet and good looking and draws attention from my fellows, but so what? the pain’s mine. I mean the serious pain’s mine.
3 days ago, I switched back to my IBM Model M. I feel myself recovering (not that rapidly but I can feel it). I stopped having heat treatment last night. I hope the damange the Apple thing had done to me was not permanant.
And Apple, please, please, be responsible when you throw something to the market.
You are hurting people.