Author Topic: Any fans of the old G4 PowerBook keyboards?  (Read 2570 times)

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Offline madmaxmedia

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Any fans of the old G4 PowerBook keyboards?
« on: Thu, 24 April 2008, 15:46:47 »
I thought those were the best notebook keyboards around, by far. The rubber domes were stiffer and not completely linear, and gave it a unique, lightly tactile feel. I also liked the scalloped keys, plus backlit keyboards are pretty. ;)

I just bought a used MacBook Pro, and unfortunately Apple changed the keyboard for the worse. The keys look the same, but the rubber domes are now soft and no different than any other notebook keyboard. But hey, you could light up a room with the backlight now.

The connector is different, so transplantation is an impossibility. Maybe I could remove the rubber membrane layer off an old keyboard, and do some surgery that way. I still have an old PowerBook keyboard I replaced due to some missing keys, the membrane part does appear to lift up from the base of the keyboard. Or probably not, I bet I'd mess up the backlight.

Offline Jaydoublem

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Any fans of the old G4 PowerBook keyboards?
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 24 April 2008, 15:49:36 »
I am still using mine and I'm loving it. However, most of the time I type on my apple extended II. I don't want to have my dirty hands sitting on the notebook all day.

There are some people out there that say the Macally iceKey has the same feeling as the Powerbook. Personally I have never tried it.

Offline iMav

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Any fans of the old G4 PowerBook keyboards?
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 24 April 2008, 18:29:42 »
I actually really like the MacBook keyboards.  Thinkpad keyboards come in a close second as far as laptop keyboards are concerned.

Offline madmaxmedia

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Any fans of the old G4 PowerBook keyboards?
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 25 April 2008, 17:04:05 »
Quote from: iMav;4187
I actually really like the MacBook keyboards.  Thinkpad keyboards come in a close second as far as laptop keyboards are concerned.

The MacBook keyboard is not bad (I used to have one too), they further improved the design in the MacBook Air and new Aluminum USB Apple keyboards. I think the keys feel about the same, but the base is a lot stiffer and gives these 2 keyboards a pretty nice feel overall. I bought one of the new USB Aluminum keyboards for home because it is pretty much silent.

The MacBook Pro keyboard isn't horrible, just not the same. (actually I'm not sure whether you mean the MacBook or MacBook Pro keyboard in your post! :))

Quote
There are some people out there that say the Macally iceKey has the same feeling as the Powerbook. Personally I have never tried it.

I think I've tried it before. The iceKey feels like a typcial scissor-switch keyboard, but didn't feel nearly as good as the Alu PowerBook keyboard to me.

Offline iMav

  • geekhack creator/founder
  • Location: Valley City, ND
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Any fans of the old G4 PowerBook keyboards?
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 25 April 2008, 17:10:06 »
Quote from: madmaxmedia;4203
(actually I'm not sure whether you mean the MacBook or MacBook Pro keyboard in your post! :))

Well, I DID say "MacBook".  And that's what I mean.

I'm not a big fan of the MBP keyboard.