First Post + Keyboard Identification question

[002]

Hi Everyone,

It's my first post here. I haven't been lurking these forums for too long but I'm still very appreciative of the helpful information I've come across so far. In light of numerous positive and honest reviews of mechanical keyboards on these forums, I am now quite happily using a Filco with Blue Cherry MX's. It sure beats the Saitek Eclipse garbage I was using before :smile:

I wonder if any of you can help me identify the white keyboard pictured here?:

My apologies if this has already been answered before or if this is some sort of dud keyboard that everyone hates.

[NOMiS]

Pretty sure its a few gens old Apple keyboard.

EDIT: according to Wikipedia its a A1048 from around 2005.

[002]

cool!
Thanks for the fast reply.

[ak_nala]

A0128 - Apple's keyboard from 2003 to 2007 - a mediocre rubber dome board.

Generally considered not to be very good by Geekhack standards, but nowhere near Apple's worst. Serviceable might be an apt description.

[kishy]

...no, no no no. These are bad. Unusably bad.

The eMacs my high school had for the Media Arts program had these. They're very, very bad. Same goes for every keyboard that any iMac has ever shipped with.

I dunno, maybe I'm spoiled for buckling springs or something.

[microsoft windows]

I hated those crappy white Apple keyboards a lot. They're some of the worst ones ever made.

[Viett]

I'll use one of those at work every once in a while. They are far worse than regular domes. The Matias Tactile Pros are made to look similar, though, and they're white alps boards (the one in the picture is not one of these).

[ricercar]

Those white Apple "Professional" keyboards (and their black predecessors) are tactile ****, unless you like the feel of wet Kleenex tearing as you press it into Playdoh. Don't spend money on one; don't let anyone donate one to you. They reduce your life expectancy from frustration.

This is from a recovering Apple fanboy. Believe.

[kishy]

Those white Apple "Professional" keyboards (and their black predecessors) are tactile ****, unless you like the feel of wet Kleenex tearing as you press it into Playdoh. Don't spend money on one; don't let anyone donate one to you. They reduce your life expectancy from frustration.

This is from a recovering Apple fanboy. Believe.

I wholeheartedly agree with this message in full.

[ak_nala]

If you think that's bad...

Sorry, having used most of the older Apple keyboards at one time or another, the Mac Pro boards and presumably these that came right after (I've used several of the former but not the latter) are nowhere near as bad as it gets for an Apple board. They ARE serviceable. Not pleasant by any means, but significantly better than the original tiny iMac type boards that came with the hockey puck mice. Those are downright dangerous.

Then we get to the truly, truly awful Apple Design keyboard. Feels like a long dead, worn out Dell rubber dome right out of the box.

My daily driver is an original Matias Tactile Pro w/ real simplified ALPS (had to get it after suffering three months with the little monster that came with my G4 tower, then another few years dealing with startup delay issues with an eMate equipped AEK II), but I have family who still use the old Mac Pro boards (the curvy clear and white ones) and when I have to work with their computers I find that I don't hate them. I wouldn't want to use it every day or for extensive typing, but I don't find myself cursing at them with casual use, unlike the G3 iMac type and Apple Design boards.

Of course it's always possible the A0128's are worse than the similar curvy Mac Pro Keyboards, or that mine aren't as well worn as others have had experience with - and of course YMMV.

[kishy]

NO, NOT THE APPLEDESIGN KB. DON'T EVEN GO THERE.

Now, imagine this post in allcaps.

Edit: looks like you don't need to.

[ricercar]

Then we get to the truly, truly awful Apple Design keyboard.

*cough* Aren't those the split one with separate numpad, using mechanical Alps white? *cough*



EDIT: Guess not. memory's not what it used to be.

Still think the Apple Pro sucks more ass than the Apple Design.

[ak_nala]

Ahhh, the Apple Adjustable Keyboard - Pretty good, IIRC. Bit delicate and fiddly in construction, but kind of fun. Short throw Alps, I believe.

The Apple Design Keyboard, on the other hand, felt like it was "designed" by the Marquis de Sade with a touch and response only a true masochist could enjoy.

I have experienced few boards which were a total fail to such a huge degree. And it's not just the "tactile" experience of the thing (wet tissue paper would be a significant improvement). With the few I've had the displeasure to have experienced, even if you mashed the keys down, every once in awhile it STILL refused to register your keystroke. And god help you if you came to it from a mechanical like the AEK II, because sometimes you ended up missing whole words!

When a board fails to provide even a rudimentary degree of functionality for its intended purpose, it is unconscionable and unforgivable. And to top it off, though they were intended as a lower-cost alternative to the pricey AEK II, they were still pretty darn expensive - even more so in 1994 dollars.

At least with the Apple Pro Keyboards I've used they actually work and I don't have to put my fingers in splints afterwards. Obviously, if they've been used in a school setting then all bets are off with just about anything short of a Model M.

[kishy]

NO, NOT THE APPLEDESIGN KB. DON'T EVEN GO THERE.

Now, imagine this post in allcaps.

Edit: looks like you don't need to.

This guy knows what an AppleDesign keyboard is because he has one and took a photo of it...he even showed Geekhack!

Must be awfully embarrassed to have such a monstrosity...

Oh wait...