Apple Aluminum Wired Keyboard MB110LL/A
by Apple Computer
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Our Price: $64.99 Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Buy Used: from $24.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple Aluminum Wired Keyboard MB110LL/A
Customer Review: Fantastic keyboard, I love it
Summary: 5 Stars
When apple announced the new keyboards, I was excited, and mad. I was excited at this keyboard, the wired version, and was upset about the wireless, as it was not a full keyboard. The older model was fantastic, so I kept my wireless bluetooth, and bought a few spares before they went out of stock.
I recently bought a new macbook pro, and got this keyboard to accompany it (opposed to my wireless, or my wired saitek eclipse). This keyboard is very thin, very beautiful, and super sexy.
The design matches my macbook pro perfectly. It has 2 usb ports, so I can hook up my mouse, and tablet with ease with this keyboard.
The keys have this amazing texture, which I cant explain, you will notice it when you type. It is the kind of thing that makes you happy to have an apple product.
I use this keyboard in OSX and in VISTA. No problems, and with bootcamp drivers everything works the way you want (with exception to the eject key).
In System Preferences in Leopard, you can turn off the annoying feature that stops you from using the f9 keys. I run maya and photoshop, and have custom short cuts I use that use these keys with modifiers, and to use them, I have to turn off the auto functions, and remap OSX's shortcuts (I use command + option + control + the f key as I do not have this mapped in my software programs)
I also have special short cuts for spaces that I use with this keyboard.
This keyboard comes with a small cable, and has an extension that makes it bigger. This is fantastic. I use the regular cable when I'm using the keyboard with my laptop, and I add the extension when I have it hooked up to an external monitor.
I keep my mouse plugged into the keyboard (I use a logitech g9 as I find it far superior to the Mighty Mouse), this saves me from running another long cord across the room, and saves a USB port.
The keyboard is very functional, nice to type with, perfectly laid out, very thin and portable. Matches my macbook pro (the white keys are the same as the white apple, and the base color is the same as the color of the laptop), I keep the keyboard in the box when I transport it as the box is also small.
You need this version so you can have all the keys, a full number pad, and a more spacious design. It fits on my lap, and I use it all the time. I even play games with it.
If you get the wireless version, you will have problems installing OS X and or windows. You need a wired version over wireless to go with your computer. I still have my wireless, but It feels very old and clunky after using this for a month. I thought you could not have a better design than Apples Previous wireless keyboard, I was wrong this one is perfect. If they release a full-sized wireless, I will buy it and use it over this (but keep this as you need a wired keyboard for certain functions).
The wireless is too limiting, as it is smaller, cramped, and does not have all the features of this keyboard. You would need to get a mighty mouse with the wireless, otherwise you will need to run your mouse cord from your computer to wherever your mouse is, and that could be problematic.
Great keyboard, worth the price, I highly recommend. I do not recommend the wireless, it is not worth the extra cash, and I would not buy it if it were cheaper than this keyboard.
Customer Review: A HUGE Improvement over previous offerings!
Summary: 5 Stars
This keyboard is wonderful! As someone who uses a laptop a good deal of the time but also does a lot of typing on our two Mac desktops, I was constantly typoing when I would start typing on one of the PREVIOUS Apple desktop keyboards. I have always yearned for something that had more of a quality laptop feel, like my new Mac Book Pro 15" offers.
Gone are the clanking, clattering, plastic banging sounds of those traditional keys and the ergonimic adjustment I was constantly being forced to make when I would go from MBP to our iMAC or Mini.
This keyboard has a very solid feel to it. The keys are well damped and make hardly any sound when you type on them. This extended model provides me with everything I had before in terms of keys, PLUS Apple has added the same MODE control keys found on their current laptops. Keys such as brightness up and down, Expose, Dashboard, Play, Pause, FastForward, Rewind etc.
My only complaint about this extended model is that they MOVED the function key from the bottom left corner to below the F13 key which is on the other side of the keyboard! I can no longer hold the function key down with the thumb of my left hand while hitting the F1 through F6 keys with my left index finger. The smaller version does not have this change. The FN key is in the lower left hand corner where it should be. This has taken some getting use to, and I was forced to remap my Expose hot keys from F1-F3 to F16-F18. They are still on the right side, but because they are dedicated, the FN key is not needed to use them. I would have preferred having the FN key where it should be, but as I said, that is my only complaint.
I also purchased the smaller version of this keyboard for use on my Mac Mini. That really helped reduce the cramped desktop space in front of the 21" display, because I am using a very narrow end table to hold the display with the keyboard and mouse directly in front of it When using the standard keyboard, it had to hang off the left edgeof the table because it wouldn't fit on this table with any room left on the right for a mouse pad. Now with that little version of this keyboard, there is plenty of room to spare, and the beautiful design of these keyboards makes the whole workspace look more classy!
I don't understand the negative comments I have read on here about this or the other version of this keyboard. This new feel obviously takes some getting use to, but there really is no comparison between this new design and the old standard style keyboard Apple previously offered.
The most amazing thing of all is the PRICE! This thing is worth every penny of $[...] bucks! Heck, I would have paid more if I had to!
With Amazon's great return policy, you really have nothing to lose by trying one out for yourself.
Customer Review: Apple finally gets it right. (or at least good enough)
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a real hard-ass when it comes to keyboards. I think most keyboards available now are pretty terrible; spongy, vague key feel, too much force required, crappy feedback. That makes them hard to type on quickly, and tiring to use.
My favorite keyboard of all time is the original Apple Extended keyboard from 1989 or so, model M0115. It was this huge tank of a keyboard, weighed about 5 lbs., big, bulky, but had a fantastic key feel. It was easy to type fast on it. The pressure required was light, but definite, you *knew* when you'd hit the key by feel. But unfortunately they stopped making it, and they were ADB keyboards so an ADB to USB adapter is necessary to use them with a modern computer. Every keyboard they've made since then were worse, sometimes a *lot* worse.
Until now. This is a completely different keyboard, the keystroke is very short, the body thin, the dimensions smaller in all respects, while still being a full sized keyboard. I was skeptical that a keyboard with such a low profile design could possibly have a decent keyfeel, but it does. Pressure required is light, but there's a crisp, tactile "pop" or "bump" as the key falls into its "pressed" position. There's no doubt that I've pressed the key. Because of the lighter weight, I had to adjust my typing some (I was pressing too hard), but now that I have I really like this keyboard.
It has a few imperfections though:
- What used to be an "insert" key (just above "delete", to the left of "home") is now a "fn" key. This is annoying because if you run X-windows, "shift-insert" for "paste" doesn't work anymore, and the "fn" can't be remapped with xmodmap. Most people remap F13 to "insert" for this, which is ok, but not ideal. Obviously this doesn't matter at all if you're using a Mac.
- It seems to behave poorly with KVM switches. At least it behaves poorly with my cheap KVM switch. Sometimes the Mac won't recognize the keyboard, sometimes it will. The PC will usually recognize it, but not always. I never have that problem with other keyboards. It could be a
- The USB ports on the keyboard don't seem to be able to support very much power, which makes them only useful for a mouse. I haven't done much testing on that.
- No "power" key, but that's more of a problem with Apple hardware I believe, I think (but I'm not sure) the "power on from the keyboard" went away with ADB keyoards. If not, and it's still technically possible, Apple really should put it back and include a power key on the next generation of this keyboard.
Customer Review: I can't believe my keyboard survived!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this low-profile keyboard for nearly two years now, although I haven't felt compelled to write a review until today. In the past, I've gone through keyboards either by wearing the keys down with my fingernails or by spilling son it. Well, today I dropped a can of soda on mine, and I was sure that I'd blown it again. (Yeah, I know, I should learn from my mistakes!) Well, I quickly turned it face down and ran to get paper towels. Here I am, still typing on it. The keys are close enough together to keep most debris, even liquids, from entering the body. Of course, I may end up with sticking keys in a few days; however, the fact that it didn't instantly stop working says a lot about the superior construction of the keyboard.
After the liquid revelation, I decided to take a hard look at how this keyboard has survived over two years of daily work. Only two keys show signs of wear, the "s" and the "o." (I guess I have to stop typing "so"!) Everything else feels and responds as it did the day I bought it. The slender aluminum keyboard is only 1/4 inch, including the keys, at the bottom while the top where the USB ports are gets as wide as 5/8 inch. The top dimensions are 17" wide by 4.5" deep. The function keys are automatically set for calling up Dashboard, setting the volume and brightness, operating iTunes, and bringing up Exposé. In addition, there are two open function keys. Between the QWERTY and the numerical pads, there's an area for page, home, and cursor navigation, with three more open function keys. At the bottom/sides, you'll find two high-speed USB ports for wireless mouse transmitters, flash drives, and other devices. It connects to your computer or USB hub through a USB cable in the back/middle.
The edge of the keyboard is somewhat sharp, making it uncomfortable if you rest your wrists there. I recommend getting a wrist guard such as Textured Gel Wrist Wrest Black Lycra Material Feels Smooth. Typing is remarkably responsive and comfortable, although the nearly flat surface, without much tilt, may bother some people.
Although PC keyboards work with the Mac, the Apple keyboard works best simply because of keys such as the CD/DVD eject button and settings specifically programmed for Mac use. I've had other, less expensive (as well as more expensive) keyboards that don't integrate as well with the Mac.
-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Customer Review: Great for use on my PC
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm currently typing this review from my Apple keyboard connected to my PC and I couldn't be more satisfied with my purchase. This is easily the thinnest keyboard I have ever used, yet it has the best build quality. I'm used to thin plastic keyboards that ship with Dell, HP or Gateway computers that creek as you type and show wear patterns on your spacebar. No such luck with Apple. The keyboard is solid despite being thin. The keys are lightly textured, but don't quite have the rubbery feel of the Macbook keys.
Transitioning was a breeze and I was quickly typing at normal WPM speed with little hassle. Now I'm on a PC, so not all of the keys work out of the box, but if you have a Mac OSX boot disc, you can use bootcamp drivers to activate most of your keys in Windows. For example, F14 key becomes your Print Screen function and apple command becomes windows start key. If you don't own a Mac or don't have an OSX boot disc, I'm not sure how you would get around this. No matter what, as soon as you plugin your USB cable to your PC, Windows installs appropriate drivers that ensure your basic keyboard functions work without a hitch.
Cons:
- USB ports are recessed making them harder to reach when keyboard sits on flat surface
- Hard to carefully clean keys (be very careful not to get liquid or cleaner near the key recesses)
- White keys more likely to become dirty
Why you should buy a wired keyboard over the wireless keyboard:
- Numeric keypad
- No battery change required
- 2 USB ports located on each end of the wired keyboard
- USB connectivity means you don't need Bluetooth (for your PC especially)
- Wireless lacks center column buttons, ie home end fn page up page down
- Wireless shrinks the size of the arrow keys whereas wired keeps arrow keys full size
I regard this as an impulse buy as I was actually interested in the Magic Trackpad for my Macbook Pro. Along the way I stumbled over to the Apple Keyboard and checked to see if it was Windows compatible (and it is of course). After reading a few reviews, I picked up the keyboard after work at a local big box store with initials BB for full retail price (Amazon has a 3-5 day wait currently). It's a fantastic keyboard and I'm not sure why I waited so long to add it onto my Windows PC. Apple really has design and functionality nailed down to a science, PC manufacturers would do well to emulate their ergonomics and aesthetic design.