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Looking for a recommendation for a backlit keyboard that feels like Apple keyboards

M

mossme89

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 2, 2009
596
131
The fastest I've ever typed and the most accurate is on the keyboard of my MacBook Pro 15". I'm looking for something similar for my Windows PC but a backlight is a must (I often use the PC in the dark.)

if Apple sold a backlit keyboard, I would buy it I'm looking for a USB keyboard for my desktop with a backlight. I just want something that's easy to get used to coming from a MacBook Pro. I usually go back and forth from my PC to my MacBook and I always have to get used to the PC keyboard again.

It doesn't have to be top of the line, just around the price of the Magic Keyboard, so $100 or so.
 
mossme89 said:
The fastest I've ever typed and the most accurate is on the keyboard of my MacBook Pro 15". I'm looking for something similar for my Windows PC but a backlight is a must (I often use the PC in the dark.)

if Apple sold a backlit keyboard, I would buy it I'm looking for a USB keyboard for my desktop with a backlight. I just want something that's easy to get used to coming from a MacBook Pro. I usually go back and forth from my PC to my MacBook and I always have to get used to the PC keyboard again.

It doesn't have to be top of the line, just around the price of the Magic Keyboard, so $100 or so.
Click to expand...

I personally use Apples extended keyboard for my iMac (wired but with a lot of extra keys). Now, it isn't backlit, but there are three solutions for that.
1) DIY – Make it backlit! You can even do it better than Apple, since they use a single backlight for all the keys (except on the new MBP), and you can install one for every key.
2) [recommended] Learn to use it without light or looking at it. Once you get the hang of it, it's just in the fingers, and you can hit every single key without needing to see where things are and such.
3) [not recommended] Just have a light pointed at it...

Aside from that, I know of none that resemble the Apple one and also has a backlight. Most people really love mechanical keyboards of some sort though, so maybe look into that?
 
casperes1996 said:
1) DIY – Make it backlit! You can even do it better than Apple, since they use a single backlight for all the keys (except on the new MBP), and you can install one for every key.
Click to expand...

please enlighten how you can perform this DIY?
 
casperes1996 said:
I've never heard of a keyboard for Windows that doesn't work with Mac. Sure, the buttons have wrong logos, but aside from that it's all good.
Click to expand...
I'm not talking about simple keyboards like you might buy from Logitech. Most of these fancy-pants keyboards require drivers, which the manufacturer has not written a Mac version of, to control LED backlights, special button assignments, touch pads, etc.

The basic keyboard functionality works on any computer, of course. It's all the extra stuff I'm talking about.
 
MacGizmo said:
The basic keyboard functionality works on any computer, of course. It's all the extra stuff I'm talking about.
Click to expand...

Right, sure that's a fair point. But as far as what I've tried, Wine usually handles those programs just fine. Don't know if your experience on that front differs.

To be honest though (and this is entirely personal preference and not about functionality), I don't care much for most of that extra stuff anyway. System Preferences allows you to fiddle enough with how the buttons function, making custom shortcuts etc. and different backlight colours and such means nada to me, haha.
 
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