Seeking mechanical keyboard with Apple A1242 layout or mapping suggestion.

[bmfay]

I recently purchased a Das Keyboard Model S mechanical keyboard and am having a very difficult time transitioning to it, mainly due to one feature.  I'm used to the keyboard layout on my MacbookPro which has a much narrower spacebar and has four keys to the left of the spacebar.  The layout can be found in a standalone Apple keyboard (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Apple_iMac_Keyboard_A1242.JPG) but I'm looking for a mechanical keyboard. 

The thing that kills it for me is having to slide my left-hand thumb over from the spacebar to the command key (control in Windows).  Copy/paste/refresh/new tab/folder/window, etc. adds up to several hundred times a day and every time it feels uncomfortable sliding that thumb over.  Some people suggest remapping Caps Lock to be command but I'm not sure I'm into that.  Please let me know if anyone is aware of mechanical keyboard with the above layout or has any suggestions.

Thanks.

[1pq]

You should take a look at the Leopold FC660M (if you like cherry switches) or the FC660C (if you want to venture down the dark and windy road of topre). I think it would be a little closer to your Macbook's layout.

I'm surpised you use the right command key for copy/paste etc., though. I only use the left, except for some weird shortcuts (like cmd + shift + ] in chrome).

[bmfay]

Thanks for the tips.  To clarify, I may have phrased things strangely, but I do use my left hand for command+whatever.

Those keyboard layouts look nice but really what's getting me is one specific thing which is that on all keyboards I can find except for Apple's the spacebar is quite wide, spanning on the left to about halfway underneath the the X key.  This is point of discomfort because any Command + operations went from comfortable to really awkward and it's unfortunate because I was pumped to make the transition to mechanical keyboards...

[dorkvader]

Those keyboard layouts look nice but really what's getting me is one specific thing which is that on all keyboards I can find except for Apple's the spacebar is quite wide, spanning on the left to about halfway underneath the the X key. 

You're correct, however the pure pro and filco minila both have smaller spacebars. I don't know if either suits your needs. Another option is to get a japanese keyboard.

Also, Tipro have a 3x or 4x spacebar. For refrence, your apple kb is 5x