Original Apple keyboard or 3rd party?

[Haemoglobin]

Recently I have been mulling over the thought of swapping out my original B&W powermac keyboard for a mechanical usb keyboard.

I was just wondering what others use on their setups.

 

[Doq]

I have period-correct OEM keyboards for both the $6 eMac and the Beige Restoration Project, but if you want to make the swap then by all means go for it.

 

[haralds]

I have a whole collection of keyboards but find that due to using MacBook keyboards I am only somewhat proficient on Apple Magic Keyboards. I also miss the Touch ID on the others. I love the look and feel of the Hexgears keyboard I have. But typing on it is slow for me.

 

[eyoungren]

For me, I have found that the Apple Pro Keyboard M7803 in combination with a wired Mighty Mouse is what works best for me. Any desktop Mac I use has these. That includes the new M2 MacBook Pro work issued me. I am typing this in on that Mac using the M7803.

 

[Haemoglobin]

I'm currently using the keyboard that came with my B&W. Sadly some of the keys are a bit spongy, so it makes typing a little tedious. The apostrophe key in particular gives me grief. I've had it apart and cleaned it, but had to use super glue to keep it together when I tried putting it back together again.

I don't think I've ever owned a Pro keyboard, looks a little better quality to what I have.

 

[eyoungren]

I'm currently using the keyboard that came with my B&W. Sadly some of the keys are a bit spongy, so it makes typing a little tedious. The apostrophe key in particular gives me grief. I've had it apart and cleaned it, but had to use super glue to keep it together when I tried putting it back together again.

I don't think I've ever owned a Pro keyboard, looks a little better quality to what I have.

The Pro keyboard came out after the G3/G4 keyboard that you have. Yours is the one with the little narrow arrow keys right? People didn't like those keyboards. As my profession is graphic design, I did not either. Hard to use.

So, the third party industry responded with full size keyboards, which forced Apple to respond. The M8703 was the response.

 

[za9ra22]

I use USB mechanical keyboards wherever I can, simply because they work better for me, sometimes by a long way. But that's because my systems are for use, not ornamentation. If I owned vintage Macs for the sake of collecting them, I'd be keen to stay as 'original' as possible.

 

[Haemoglobin]

I bought it years ago to match my B&W tower, but honestly it's not a great keyboard. I can't speed type on it at all.

 

[eyoungren]

I was wracking my brain trying to remember the keyboard I was using (at work) in 2000-2001 before the Apple Pro keyboard came along.

Macally iKey. It was one of the few full sized keyboards at that time. Jobs wanted you to use the puck mouse and short keyboard that shipped with the G4. Customers weren't having it.

 

[Haemoglobin]

Random thought, can you use a USB windows keyboard in OSX? I was just thinking about the whole control+option+command keys and how they would translate over on a Windows keyboard.

 

[Tratkazir_the_1st]

in OSX?

This will work AFAIK. Usually WIN-key is translated as CMD, Alt - Opt. At home lays Logitech Internet Navigator Keyboard, which work at least in OSX. With Logitech software installed - keys works as they printed . (Keyboard is more than 20 years old but still works, only keys are yellow ).

 

[Haemoglobin]

I might give it a try, I picked up a really nice mechanical rgb keyboard at a charity shop. It was still in box, looks new. It's not a full keyboard, missing the number pad. But looks really nice.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I use all sorts of keyboards on my different setups. My fav Apple kb is the full size alu chicklet kb a1243 but I have many that I use from mechanical to membrane to Apple, IBM, HP to generic win kbs, wired and wireless.

If it’s for looks, use the correct kb it was sold with, if it’s for use, use what works best for you.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I was wracking my brain trying to remember the keyboard I was using (at work) in 2000-2001 before the Apple Pro keyboard came along.

Macally iKey. It was one of the few full sized keyboards at that time. Jobs wanted you to use the puck mouse and short keyboard that shipped with the G4. Customers weren't having it.

View attachment 2364890

I still want to add one of these to the collection.

 

[Haemoglobin]

Thanks to the feedback you guy's have given, I've bitten the bullet and bought an Apple Pro M7803 keyboard. It appears to be a relatively good condition, 1 owner, general wear and tear but sold as fully working. I do plan on using my QS for writing, so having a functional apostrophe key is sort of a necessity. At the moment it's a 50/50 chance it recognised my keypress, unless I really jab it. I've already had it apart for a clean, putting it back together ended up with glue being applied. So not really eager to crack it open again.

 

[Nermal]

Random thought, can you use a USB windows keyboard in OSX? I was just thinking about the whole control+option+command keys and how they would translate over on a Windows keyboard.

I realise it's moot now, but the modifiers (Control, Windows, Alt) map to Control, Command and Option respectively. This means that Command and Option are the wrong way around, so the trick is to go into System Preferences/Keyboard/Modifier Keys and swap them, then use a knife or similar to pop the keys off and physically change them around.

 

[eyoungren]

Thanks to the feedback you guy's have given, I've bitten the bullet and bought an Apple Pro M7803 keyboard. It appears to be a relatively good condition, 1 owner, general wear and tear but sold as fully working. I do plan on using my QS for writing, so having a functional apostrophe key is sort of a necessity. At the moment it's a 50/50 chance it recognised my keypress, unless I really jab it. I've already had it apart for a clean, putting it back together ended up with glue being applied. So not really eager to crack it open again.

I think you will find it one of the better keyboards Apple has made. We all get really attached to certain keyboards for various reasons, the M7803 is that for me. The design, function and feedback the keys give you is just right for me.

I hope you'll like it.

PS, the keyboard comes with this little foot. It's a plastic bar underneath that flips out. Sometimes, they break off so if it is not there (or broken) the keyboard is going to sit flat instead of slightly angled.

PPS, the USB ports are low power for stuff like mice or low power keyboard lights, etc. You're not going to be able to power an external drive, USB stick or so on through those. Just wanted to make that clear.

 

[Haemoglobin]

Looking at the photo's, I realised I've actually had one of these in the past but it wall all white, not the black key version. Sadly it went very yellow. I retrobrited the thing and after putting it back together the plastics had lost their smoothness. To be more specific, the plastic's looked fine to the naked eye, they'd returned to white, but the keys stuck when you pressed them as if they where coated in some sort of abrasive. I washed them several times, tried various things, but could not get it to work properly. Eventually it went yellow again, but I'd already shoved it in the attic until I came up with a solution, which I never did. Eventually threw it away last year, giving it up as a lost cause.

The one I've bought it complete, the guy said nothing is broken

 

[eyoungren]

Looking at the photo's, I realised I've actually had one of these in the past but it wall all white, not the black key version. Sadly it went very yellow. I retrobrited the thing and after putting it back together the plastics had lost their smoothness. To be more specific, the plastic's looked fine to the naked eye, they'd returned to white, but the keys stuck when you pressed them as if they where coated in some sort of abrasive. I washed them several times, tried various things, but could not get it to work properly. Eventually it went yellow again, but I'd already shoved it in the attic until I came up with a solution, which I never did. Eventually threw it away last year, giving it up as a lost cause.

The one I've bought it complete, the guy said nothing is broken

Yes, the white ones were much harder to find. But I'm partial to the black so had I been presented with the white as a option for purchase, I'd still have picked the black.

zen.state's avatar shows what he did with a white version and a black version of this keyboard.