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Sunday 14 August 2005

The best keyboard evah? [Brit]

The best keyboard evah?
This blog might possibly be properly categorised as "computing heresy", but the fact remains that after years of searching, I've finally found a keyboard that actually feels right, looks good, and is a joy to use.
Yes dear reader, the Apple Mac keyboard simply, utterly, rocks.
Believe me when I say, I've tried 'em all - from cabled, to wireless, from el-cheapo to keyboards that require a second mortgage - and none comes close to touching this puppy.
How much does such an object cost? (I hear you cry) - well, to you sir, £20 from PC World, so probably considerably less anywhere else.
I'm a confirmed PC user - I cannot stand the Mac platform as a rule, but when it comes to peripherals, Jobs et al just seem to get it. The keyboard ticks all the right boxes...
a) it looks the business.b) it has brilliant key transport, and good sized keys to boot.c) the slight curvature, the ergonomics if you will, make it extremely comfortable to use.d) it has two inbuilt USB ports, so I whack the mouse in one, and have another spare thats easy to get to (no fiddling round the back of my PC to plug things in).e) at £20 its stonking good value.f) it works with a PC instantly (including the built in vol +/- and mute keys above the numpad).g) if you want to use the extended keys (F13 and the special Apple key) then you can grab a free Apple keyboard -> Windows functions installer that handles existing and custom mapping.
I personally cannot ask for more than this from my keyboard, and so must simply blog about this revelation and recommend to all of you - if you want a new keyboard, and want a right good 'un, a Mac job is a five star winner.

13 comments:

  1. Apple make plenty of shit peripherals. Look at their attempts at making a better mouse for example. I use a microsoft natural keyboard, because I like the hand separation and size. Stops you bending your wrists, ace for a muppet like me who spends too much time on shit like this.

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  2. So does the key next to the space bar become the windows key then? Driver linkage?...

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  3. Indeed it does, the "Apple" key becomes your Start key.
    That linky to the Apple KB isn't up to date Spiny, as this up to date 'board has more than is shown there.
    As for drivers, it's essentially an MSI that installs a mapping utility that then makes the appropriate registry changes; its called Sharpkeys although there are others around too.

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  4. MSI? Makes you tacky leather sofas in an L-bend sort of thing?

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  5. What's wrong with the new Apple mouse? Think of how cool it would be as a game controller if every mouse came with a small built-in trackball like the Apple one!

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  6. The trackball seems a reasonable idea. The touch sensitive lid is a fekking awful idea though. Typical apple over complication for the sake of style.

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  7. Tough chioces abound. Overclockers have the Logitech Ultra-X Keyboard an OEM poor man's diNovo which got a pretty glowing review over at elitebastards.com.

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  8. as a mac user at work I really agree that the mac desktop keyboard is brilliant..
    But I just got 4 AMD machines for work, and the cheapest place we got a quote from was from our dodgy it supplier who sent us HP machines. (4 machines with cheapo LCD monitors for 1600 inc vat)
    The default HP keyboard is ace. Nice 'clicky' keys and the keys are well spaced apart and there seems to be good build quality, unlike the dell rubbish we normally use.

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  9. We need more Logitech options! So:Anyone tried out this monster?

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  10. Can "best keyboard" mean "bestest l33tarest hax0rer keyboard"?OOOOF!

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  11. There seems to be a few attemps going on worldwide to make more complicated keyboards with display devices on them. Lots of people want this to happen because it makes more expensive peripherals with higher margins. However it's just impractical and retarded in my view. You've got a big screen, that's what you're looking at, not the goddamn keyboard. I'm notching this useless development up with wireless keyboards and mice.

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  12. I tried out the new Apple mouse yesterday in a shop and wasn't impressed at all:
    1. The rollerball isn't a proper one, it only moves either horizontally or vertically.
    2. If you want to right-click you have to lift your left finger off the surface of the mouse as it uses trackpad-style sensing to tell which side you want to click on.
    3. The side buttons are badly positioned. I have to move my hand around a bit in order to squeeze the right place.
    So, no Apple mousey for me. I'm getting an Apple keyboard for my new PC though. :)

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  13. I have a thing about keyboards, according to my girlfriend, I seem to collect them. I bought this Apple keyboard Brit speaks of, online, and received it this morning. I like the key action, though I'm slightly confused by the placement of a couple of the keys, i.e. the at-sign is where the double-qoute should be (num 2) and visa-versa. I thought this was only the case for American layout keyboards? Brit, is this the same on yours?
    Windows assigns the characters normally, so muscle-memory won't have me making mistakes, but it's a bit confusing for others to look at.

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