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Apple Extended Keyboard 2 mods

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aon:
Hi,

Today I ended up in a situation where I don't have a desktop machine at home, and since my laptop doesn't have a PS/2 port, the only keyboard I have that I can use it is the Apple Extended 2 I acquired a while ago, for the unbelievably steep price of 0.50EUR + shipping.

The first problem I noticed was that the blind marks are on the wrong keys, so I start typing from the wrong position and the text comes out as gibberish. This was a matter of just swapping the keycaps:




But there's more to it. I really like having Ctrl in the right place, i.e. where they usually put Caps Lock these days. On the Extended 2 the caps lock key actually locks down so I had to open up the whole thing, desolder the switch and put another switch to its place. I ended up swapping the Scroll Lock and Caps Lock switches, so now I have a locking scroll lock.



While there, I made Caps Lock a duplicate of Ctrl and swapped the command and Alt keys around, since I'm used to having my Alts next to the spacebar. Normally I would've done it in software, but since the  thing was already open, and I don't have any emotional ties to Apple hardware...



I reverted the swap on the right side a bit later, since I need to use the command key as an AltGr on this thing, because at least with the iMate the key labeled as AltGr produces the same keycode as Alt.

And here's the finished product:


It got a bit better, but there are better boards. The white Alps switches have a bit too much friction for my taste, although that might be an issue with this particular unit, and the iMate ADB->USB adapter I have seems to get confused when I type fast enough :)

I'm going to pick up my HHKB Pro2 from the customs in a few days anyway so this is just a temporary solution.

iMav:
A review from Finland!  Thanks for the contribution Aon.  We'd love to see a review of your HHKB Pro 2 once you get hands on it as well.

aon:
Hi iMav,

Yeah, Finland probably doesn't have that many keyboard enthusiasts :)

I'm typing this on my HHKB. We'll see if I can write anything objective about it, so far it's the best thing i've ever touched :)

itlnstln:

--- Quote ---the iMate ADB->USB adapter I have seems to get confused when I type fast enough :)
--- End quote ---


Are you sure that's not just your typing? :)

aon:

--- Quote from: itlnstln;7121 ---Are you sure that's not just your typing? :)
--- End quote ---


Quite sure :)

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