Non-Apple keyboard

Though I have not tried this third party brand, Macalley brand you can check out their keyboards here http://www.macally.com/EN/?page_id=60

 

If you want a real great keyboard, and mouse combo Get the Moshi backlit keyboard, and Rat MMO7 mouse. Also get the Red Glide 9 aluminum mat. Fantastic combination! Can't be beat. Opps. Sorry didn't see you were trying to save money for a school. Thought this was for yourself.

 

I have a Macally iKey that I have used for 6 or 7 years. No problems. Company makes reliable and not expensive stuff for Macs.

 

If you want a real keyboard, get the Matias Quiet Pro or Tactile Pro with real keys and mechanical switches – they are so good that they don't need backlights, but they cost $125-150 and I doubt that his school would order 30 of them.


OP: If you're going non-Apple and your educational goal is not to deter your students from doing productive work on a computer, try to find something that has real keys with sculpted keytops. It's more comfortable to type on and more ergonomic.
The Matias USB 2.0 Keyboard for Mac and PC with Mouse for $36.50 would be perfect, it has both the keys for Mac and Windows in case you're running Bootcamp as well. Otherwise, there's also a version for Mac only with for $41 or just the Mac-only keyboard for $30. Just for the record, they don't have mechanical switches like the keyboard above, but they'll still be a pleasure to type on.

 

Sorry, Don't like fully stroke keyboards.

 

I have that keyboard and a RAT 7 that I bought back in 2011. The MMO 7 is making me jelly though.

What is that mousepad in the first 2 pictures?

 

Holy crap! That's a mouse?? I had to enlarge the images and swivel my head left and right a few times to see there is a mouse in there. Lol.

Do all those dials and buttons have a purpose?

 

That's just a cheap Disney cloth mouse pad. The red one is the Glide 9. Buy it! Best pad I ever used. It was designed for the twin eye laser of the Rat mice. Flawless tracking, and smooth movements.

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The mouse has 13 programmable buttons. I do professional 3d modeling, and animation, and use it to map my most used functions in Lightwave to the mouse buttons. It has completely changed how I work, and has greatly improved my work flow. Can't imagine working without it. The build quality is very impressive as well.