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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: robodean on Tue, 25 September 2018, 08:13:50
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Apparently I am the only one in the world who does not covet a mechanical keyboard.
Call me nutty, but I love the slim Apple aluminum keyboard.
BUT - I really need a tenkeyless version, with dedicated arrows keys (not tiny ones squished under the shift key)
A proper, slim, non-mechanical, tenkeyless mac keyboard.
help?
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Apple's aluminium keyboards (gen prior to the "Magic") are liked by many people, including mechanical keyboard enthusiasts here. :)
Tenkeyless low-profile is quite unusual unfortunately. People do ask for them now and then. I have seen only one that was bundled with a Samsung PC.
The so called 75% layout (https://deskthority.net/wiki/75%25) is more common among low-profile, but those are disappearing in favour of those squished arrow keys you mention...
Have you considered the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard (https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/business/sculpt-ergonomic-keyboard-for-business/5kv-00001)? It is a ergonomic keyboard that is raised in the middle but it is at least somewhat compact in width. The Alt keys can be mapped to Command in MacOS' settings.
I have only tried it once, but liked how it felt.
There are also recent lower-profile mechanical in tenkeyless form factor but they are nothing like regular Apple aluminium in key feel.
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The Apple keyboards feel nice, but besides the price, they are extremely fragile. Recycle centers are loaded with broken ones and frankly, other than an Apple authorized reseller in store display areas, I've never seen one that wasn't damaged in some way. Even looking Ebay, they are loaded with damaged ones.
I'm not aware of any decent traditional tkl format rubber dome.
Normally I would recommend a Logitech Illumined scissor, but they don't have one either. The one compact with normal buttons is the K400, but I reviewed that and I thought it was GARBAGE (rubber dome, and a bad one at that). Worse, for the cost of many of these, you can just buy a compact mechanical.
Check out the Logitech Illuminated line, which uses their scissor switches, while not a traditional tkl format, they do have compact models and the switches are considered some of the best scissor switches you can get.
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I doubt such a thing exists, especially outside of the mechanical world. The Mistel Sleeker would be perfect if you wanted a mechanical keyboard, since it's tenkeyless, Mac-specific, and even has an aluminum case that's a reasonable match for Macs, even though it's brushed instead of sandblasted. The closest you might be able to find is Apple's own Bluetooth keyboard. It's a tenkeyless model, but it does have the arrows squished under the shift key. They are in a proper inverted-T format, at least, so it could be worse.
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Ha! I saw in another thread (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=97493.0;topicseen) that the Samsung keyboard I mentioned above has been sold separately (https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Wireless-Keyboard-AA-SK6PWUB-US/dp/B00BCPJ8QE). Difficult to find it for sale anywhere though ...
I doubt such a thing exists, especially outside of the mechanical world.
There have been lots of tenkeyless PC keyboards that are not mechanical, but either not compact or not low-profile.
Every PC keyboard can also be used on a Mac: the Windows key is Command and the Alt keys are Option, and you can swap the logical interpretation of those two keys either in MacOS, or on newer keyboards: on the keyboard itself via a DIP switch or key combination.
The Logitech DiNovo Edge (https://deskthority.net/wiki/Logitech_DiNovo_Edge) is low-profile and was sold in a Mac edition... ten years ago, and is technically tenkeyless but far from compact. If you get one today, the battery and rubber trim would have deteriorated. They had on mine (PC version) that I got two years ago.
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http://www.keytron.net/
I saw this on Instagram ad LOL it's mechanical but it's slim and otherwise fit the bill, could take a look.
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Matias has a range of tenkeyless scissor-switch keyboards now!
Silver or black, wired/bluetooth, Mac/PC, RGB backlit/descent, but not all combinations.
* US and Canada: Matias (https://matias.store/collections/slim-aluminum-keyboards-1/tenkeyless)
* UK: The Keyboard Company (https://www.keyboardco.com/category.asp?sr=&path=Tenkeyless&man=Matias&lan=United+Kingdom&ss=de&rtv=100)
* Germany: MacLand (https://macland.de/de/produkte/artikel/MT1009SI-matias-aluminum-tenkeyless-usb-tastatur-ohne-zahlenblock-mit-cursor-funktionstasten-fuer-mac-silber)
* Singapore: MacShop (https://www.macshop.com.sg/products/wired-aluminum-tenkeyless-keyboard-for-mac-space-gray)
* Australia: Weston Tech (http://www.westontech.net.au/search.php?search_query=Matias%20Tenkeyless§ion=product)
* Japan: Diatec (https://www.diatec.co.jp/products/list.php?srch_txt=Matias&srch_title=%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2%E7%B5%90%E6%9E%9C)
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Looks like the Matias ones in the previous post would fit the bill perfectly. Another option you might want to look at is this Logitech: https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/k780-multi-device-wireless-keyboard?crid=27 (https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/k780-multi-device-wireless-keyboard?crid=27). It does have the smaller arrow keys, but otherwise it fits all your criteria and it looks pretty slick.