Apple Pro Keyboard

Logla · Sep 16, 2005, 12:25 PM

Oh joy of joys, I have fallen in love again with another piece of inexpensive hardware.

My old compaq keyboard was starting to grow old and I had gotten sick of some of the keys locking all the time so it was time yesterday to go and have a look for another one.

On entering the store I looked around at the bluetooth k/bs but decided I didn't really want a wireless one and then out of the corner of my eye noticed the wireless version of th apple pro keyboard.
I have always liked these with the white keys and minimal footprint so I took a closer look and found they also had the wired ones in at half the price of the wireless. 20quid and I was sold.

got it home, got it installed and it is wonderfull. I have never ever found a keybord this comfortable and easy to type on. With the old compaq, I was constantly making mistakes in typing and this only slowed me down. With the apple though I find I'm touch typing much quicker and I'm actually using the home keys properly.

The only gripe I have is that the eject key doesn't work until you install some extra software but that aint really a problem. The " and @ keys though are printed differently on the apple keyboard though compared to a normal PS/2 one. ie. number 2 on the kb would normally be printed with " but on this it shows @. Not too much of a problem either as I dont look at the keys when I type but I know its gonna confuse the hell out of my wife when she comes to use the machine.

mensan · Sep 16, 2005, 05:14 PM

Love.... oh my... I plainly understand you cause i am in love too...

With a keyboard! An Apple keyboard! An Apple Extended II that i bought a few months ago. It is a very old keyboard, about 15 years. I bought it for its great, really contemporary, look, its mechanical switches with maybe the best tactile feeling ever and its really simple-ergonomic design. And with the blue leds i put instead of the old green ones it really looks uniquely cool.

I strongly recommend it to everyone, not only vintage maniacs. If someone wants i would be glad to share my restoration experience from this keyboard with him.

Necrosis · Sep 16, 2005, 06:33 PM

I used one of these for quite awhile. As of today I still have it. Great kb but I missed the Print Screen key, and it's a bitch to take apart.

swimtech · Sep 16, 2005, 07:17 PM

The Apple Pro Keyboard is dreamy, but the precursor to it that came with the first and second generation Imacs was awful for typing - too small and not a good angle...

Glad its working with your PC - I never thought to try that even after all these years (I'm an Apple certified tech...) - cool!

Logla · Sep 17, 2005, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrosis

I used one of these for quite awhile. As of today I still have it. Great kb but I missed the Print Screen key, and it's a bitch to take apart.

All you need is the AppleK driver which remaps the F14 F15 & F16 keys to represent the PS/2 versions such as Print Screen and Scroll lock etc.

Works a treat.

Sep 16, 2005, 12:25 PM	#1
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 62	Apple Pro Keyboard Oh joy of joys, I have fallen in love again with another piece of inexpensive hardware. My old compaq keyboard was starting to grow old and I had gotten sick of some of the keys locking all the time so it was time yesterday to go and have a look for another one. On entering the store I looked around at the bluetooth k/bs but decided I didn't really want a wireless one and then out of the corner of my eye noticed the wireless version of th apple pro keyboard. I have always liked these with the white keys and minimal footprint so I took a closer look and found they also had the wired ones in at half the price of the wireless. 20quid and I was sold. got it home, got it installed and it is wonderfull. I have never ever found a keybord this comfortable and easy to type on. With the old compaq, I was constantly making mistakes in typing and this only slowed me down. With the apple though I find I'm touch typing much quicker and I'm actually using the home keys properly. The only gripe I have is that the eject key doesn't work until you install some extra software but that aint really a problem. The " and @ keys though are printed differently on the apple keyboard though compared to a normal PS/2 one. ie. number 2 on the kb would normally be printed with " but on this it shows @. Not too much of a problem either as I dont look at the keys when I type but I know its gonna confuse the hell out of my wife when she comes to use the machine.

Sep 16, 2005, 07:17 PM	#4
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 122 System Specs	The Apple Pro Keyboard is dreamy, but the precursor to it that came with the first and second generation Imacs was awful for typing - too small and not a good angle... Glad its working with your PC - I never thought to try that even after all these years (I'm an Apple certified tech...) - cool! __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Sep 16, 2005, 05:14 PM	#2
mensan DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	Love.... oh my... I plainly understand you cause i am in love too... With a keyboard! An Apple keyboard! An Apple Extended II that i bought a few months ago. It is a very old keyboard, about 15 years. I bought it for its great, really contemporary, look, its mechanical switches with maybe the best tactile feeling ever and its really simple-ergonomic design. And with the blue leds i put instead of the old green ones it really looks uniquely cool. I strongly recommend it to everyone, not only vintage maniacs. If someone wants i would be glad to share my restoration experience from this keyboard with him.

Sep 16, 2005, 06:33 PM	#3
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 129 System Specs	I used one of these for quite awhile. As of today I still have it. Great kb but I missed the Print Screen key, and it's a bitch to take apart.