« previous next »
Pages:  [1]     Go Down

Author Topic: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)  (Read 2589 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline wps

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 3
Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 05:32:46 »
After getting a mechanical keyboard for myself I don´t want anyone to have to use a membrane keyboard. So I would like to get a keyboard with MX blue switches for my parents.

They have a mac and need a scandinavian keyboard layout. Preferably with at least one usb port as well. That seems to limit my options quite a lot?

I found das keyboard have a mac version. I could probably get the additional scandinavian keys from somewhere else, but ideally all key caps should have the same design. Also is the in built usb hub 100 % reliable? If the keyboard takes 2 usb ports they would need to be able to use a mouse plus camera or iPod or kindle from the hub.

Any other suggestions?
Logged

Offline Cindori

  • Posts: 200
  • Location: Sweden
    • My Blog
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 07:41:30 »
Why do you need a "Mac" keyboard?

The difference between Mac keyboards and PC keyboards is that Mac keyboards have a pretzel icon instead of the Windows icon, on the Windows keycap. Nothing else!
Logged

Offline wps

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 3
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 08:01:12 »
Well, having a windows key plus loosing the "@" symbol to the left of the enter key could be enough to make my mom confused. Plus I assume a keyboard made with the mac in mind would have symbols for volume, brightness etc on the f-keys, like the keyboard they have now.
Logged

Offline Dajm

  • Posts: 59
  • Location: Bellevue, WA
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 12:35:47 »
Yeah, not having keys for volume control, disc-eject and brightness would be annoying.
Logged

Offline Findecanor

  • Posts: 5037
  • Location: Koriko
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 13:56:29 »
More things that differ between Scandinavian Mac and PC layouts:
 * The position of the Command/Windows and Option/Alt keys.
 * Which key is used for the @ character. Alt-' next to Enter or Alt Gr-2.
 * Mac has one more key on the numeric keypad. The + key is 1u on Mac, and 2u vertically on PC.
 * Mac does not have any Menu key on the space bar row.
Logged

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 15:10:49 »
Welcome to Geekhack!

Most Windows-style keyboards will work on a Mac (I am typing this on a Ducky Shine connected to a Mac mini).  F9 to F12 do Expose etc.

There is no eject key, however I am running an app that puts an eject button in the menu bar, and besides, I don't use the optical drive much anyway.

Oh and F1 to F7, when pressed in conjunction with the extra "Fn" key, do volume control, play pause etc.

Plus there is a switch under the keyboard that swaps the left Alt and Windows keys to match the Mac's Command and Option layout.

So pretty any Scandinavian layout mechanical keyboard should work, just that the key legends won't exactly match a Mac keyboard, but you should be able to get custom key caps for that.

When looking, I found that there are very, very few Mac layout mechanical keyboards at all.
Logged
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline polpo

  • Posts: 61
  • Location: Cupertino, CA, US
    • http://polpo.org/
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 15:14:45 »
There's the DSI Modular, which you can get with MX Blues. ANSI layout only, though. http://www.notestation.com/kb-modmac-u.htm

Also Matias is about to launch in the next couple weeks a new version of their Tactile Pro keyboard with newly-developed clicky, tactile ALPS switches. They don't have Scandinavian layout, but they do have UK and German layouts. http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32769.0

Both have USB hubs.
Logged
Matias Mini Quiet Pro / DSI SMK-88 (Cherry Black) / IBM Model M (10 Jul 86) / ThinkPad Travel Keyboard with Ultranav

Offline Cindori

  • Posts: 200
  • Location: Sweden
    • My Blog
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 15:45:00 »
Quote from: rowdy on Thu, 13 September 2012, 15:10:49
There is no eject key

you hold down F12
Logged

Offline i3oilermaker

  • * Vendor
  • Posts: 2362
  • Location: Chicago
  • techkeys.us
    • TechKeys
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 15:49:53 »
Logged

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

  • Posts: 1874
  • Location: Hertfordshire, England
  • RIP
    • Boring twaddle
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 13 September 2012, 16:08:54 »
I think having keys that don't do what's written on them is inevitable – Mac mechanical keyboards are scarce enough as it is. You can get Swedish/Finnish Majestouch keyboards in Windows ISO layout, and Mac OS X has a built-in facility to swap the modifier keys around (as Mac alt is one key left of PC alt).

The problem in the UK is that Mac and PC layouts differ: the Mac layout is closer to the US layout with @ and " as they are in the US, and swapping between a Mac and PC is a real pain. It looks like this may be less of a problem for Sweden and Finland as the PC and Mac layouts appear to be closer to each other than they are in the UK.
Logged
Bore Awards
Most Boring Person on the Planet – 2011 Winner

Offline wps

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 3
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 16 September 2012, 08:14:34 »
Quote from: rowdy on Thu, 13 September 2012, 15:10:49
Welcome to Geekhack!

Thanks!

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Thu, 13 September 2012, 15:49:53
How about the DAS www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-professional-for-mac/

This is my primary candidate and what I will get this if no better candidate shows up. Is it hard to "scandinavianize" it? What I need is an "å" to the right of the p, and "ø" and "æ" and preferably "@" to the right of the l. Will finding new key-caps suffice, or will I have to find a way to reprogram the keyboard as well?
Logged

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

  • Posts: 1874
  • Location: Hertfordshire, England
  • RIP
    • Boring twaddle
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #11 on: Sun, 16 September 2012, 08:31:37 »
WTF … that keyboard claims to be "5-key rollover" – non-diode keyboards are 2KRO, and USB is 6KRO+modifiers. Where did they get 5 from? Is that some sort of weird Mac limitation? That force curve seems out of whack too, as the downstroke line simply stops dead.

The main problem with ISO is that it has one more key (105 vs 104 for PCs) – you can use an ANSI keyboard with an ISO layout, but one of your keys disappears. I think ANSI keyboards lose \ with the UK (ISO) layout selected. You may need to install a remap program on the Mac to recover a lost key. I assume your parents won't be bothered about ANSI having wrong size, shape and position of keys?
Logged
Bore Awards
Most Boring Person on the Planet – 2011 Winner

Offline wasdkeyboards

  • * Commercial Vendor
  • Posts: 59
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #12 on: Mon, 17 September 2012, 18:56:04 »
We can make a keyboard for you to most of your specifications. You can start a thread in our subforum or send us a message through our website for more information. We don't have USB ports, so if you decide to go with the Das, we can always just make a custom keycap set for you that you can install onto your Das.
Logged
Questions and comments, please visit our Geekhack: WASD Keyboards Vendor Forum
WASDKeyboards.com - Custom Mechanical Keyboards

Offline Daniel Beardsmore

  • Posts: 1874
  • Location: Hertfordshire, England
  • RIP
    • Boring twaddle
Re: Mac keyboard with MX blues (preferably scandinavian)
« Reply #13 on: Tue, 18 September 2012, 06:15:11 »
Doh, forgot about WASD :)
Logged
Bore Awards
Most Boring Person on the Planet – 2011 Winner
Pages:  [1]     Go Up
« previous next »