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Powerbook Keyboard Vs. iBook Keyboard Vs. Macbook Keyboard?

Joeytpg

Joeytpg

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 1, 2004
467
0
Vienna, Austria
Which one? (i believe the Aluminium Powerbooks and the MacBook Pros are using the SAME keyboard, so which one you like best?


my girlfriend had an ibook and the keyboard was "alright", better than ALL the PC keyboards out there, but i had an AlPowebook and that keyboard was BLISS!! i currently own a Blackbook and i REALLY dig the keyboard, but the powerbook's keyboard was by far the coolest/easiest/most confortable keyboard EVER.

YOU??
 
First time I saw the Macbook keyboard, I did not like it.
After trying for a few minutes, I changed my mind completely.
They are really nice ones.

I just wonder...how easy would be to fix its keyboard in case of need ?
Regular keyboards are easy to handle...maybe you have to disassemble
the whole case first to have some working free space.

S.
 
Everyone's a little different so I can't say which is best overall, but this is what I've noticed between the Powerbook/MBP and the Macbook Keyboards (never touched an iBook):

Powerbook/Mac Book Pro keyboard:
- keys are curved so your fingers "sit" into them better
- keys have a slight texture
- keys are more springy (more travel) so have a softer feel
- key presses are a bit louder

Macbook keyboard:
- keys are completely flat
- keys are smoother
- keys don't have as much travel
- key presses are quieter

Depending on typing styles, if your hand shoots all around the keyboard, you might prefer the MBP style. The MB is much nicer for slower typing, as I find that when I have to type quickly (i.e., copying text from a book), I get a lot of errors from mis-typed keys since it's harder to type by feel. It's nice though in meetings to type on the MB since it's much quieter. I've been in meetings where there's a MB and MBP, and you can totally hear the MBP guy hacking away from across the room (could just be the way he types though).
 
Digidesign said:
Everyone's a little different so I can't say which is best overall, but this is what I've noticed between the Powerbook/MBP and the Macbook Keyboards (never touched an iBook):

Powerbook/Mac Book Pro keyboard:
- keys are curved so your fingers "sit" into them better
- keys have a slight texture
- keys are more springy (more travel) so have a softer feel
- key presses are a bit louder

Macbook keyboard:
- keys are completely flat
- keys are smoother
- keys don't have as much travel
- key presses are quieter

Depending on typing styles, if your hand shoots all around the keyboard, you might prefer the MBP style. The MB is much nicer for slower typing, as I find that when I have to type quickly (i.e., copying text from a book), I get a lot of errors from mis-typed keys since it's harder to type by feel. It's nice though in meetings to type on the MB since it's much quieter. I've been in meetings where there's a MB and MBP, and you can totally hear the MBP guy hacking away from across the room (could just be the way he types though).
Click to expand...


mmmm interesting comparison. I hadn't thought about it THAT way, but you're very accurate. The Macbook Pro/Powerbook is still my fav. (by a few points only but still my fav.)

i wonder if the new macbook pro hardware design will feature a Macbook type of keyboard. Is the MAcbook Keyb. the FUTURE in Keyboard design? or was :apple: just being creative?
 
When I used an iBook, I loved the keyboard. Now that I'm on a Macbook, it's my favorite.

I find that whatever I use the most is where my loyalties lie.
 
i'm totally on the macbook. the pros feel too much like traditional notebook computers, which are too close together and causes me to slip and make errors easily. and the gaps make it easier for me to type with my big hands on the macbook. the pros don't do for me.

i think it's based on personal taste.
 
Am i the only one who thinks that the ibook spacebar was horrible? Maybe it was only my friends ibook (which he sold to me which I sold to somebody else), but the right of the space bar had some sort of flex cable passing underneath it and I could not get that side to work properly.
 
is macbook pro keyboard different to PB?

Just got a new (refurb) PBP core 2 17". Previously had 2 15" powerbooks, prior to that IBM Thinkpads. I find I'm missing typing a lot of letters. Words without "i"s, "o"s, "u"s etc. Now, when I push the specific keys deliberately, they connect. There's nothing totally "wrong" as such. But I still find I'm misspelling a lot. Which is strange. As the Powerbooks didn't do this. And the keyboard seems the same shape and size. Do any other users, have this? Or do any previous PB owners notice more "travel" on the keys? Or anything else that might explain it? I love this machine apart from this. But I write a lot of copy, so I need it to be accurate. If it is more travel - then maybe I'll learn over time just to punch harder. But I read one review that suggested keyboard quality had changed?
 
I have a MB and like other people I didn't like the keyboard at first but after using it for a bit I learned to really like it. I do really like the MBP/PB keyboard BUT I find the spacebar doesn't always work if you don't hit it right. So I really HATE that, and more things get stuck under the keys I find and make it stop working. I think that is mostly because when things do get under the keys it is harder to get it out, when with the MB you can pretty much blow it off yourself.

So I'm going to say MB because I have less problems with it. If there were equal or the same problems with the MBP/PB keyboard I would agree it is much better, but I can't agree at the time being.

As for the iBook... I haven't use one enough to be able to say I liked/disliked it... I like that it can come off, but typing with it I never took note whether is was good or not... so it is pretty normal.

The Stig
 
f1400 said:
Am i the only one who thinks that the ibook spacebar was horrible? Maybe it was only my friends ibook (which he sold to me which I sold to somebody else), but the right of the space bar had some sort of flex cable passing underneath it and I could not get that side to work properly.
Click to expand...

I've had several iBooks, never had that problem. You should pick up a new keyboard. They're readily available on ebay.
 
Digidesign said:
...I get a lot of errors from mis-typed keys since it's harder to type by feel [on the MB]. It's nice... to type on the MB since it's much quieter.
Click to expand...
Well I can't really say since I only started typing on my new MB for about twenty minutes or so, but I would agree w/ both of the points you made-- for some reason, the spaces between the keys are just distractiing enough (for now) for me to have some problems w/ typiing (and no, I don't hunt & peck or look down at the keyboard at least, not for lettering).

But the MB's keyboard is so quiet. I've had a 12" PB, the latest revision 12" iBook, and a good part of what sold me on the MB :eek: was they keyboard. I feel like it's a great compromise. iBook is noisy and has a lot of travel, PB was quieter than the iB w/ less travel, but the MB seems even quieter (or maybe it's just been too long since I've used a 'pro' KB. *shrug* And the MB also has just enough travel for me.
 
Yeah, Powerbook/MacBook Pro seem to have the same. I haven't used the iBook but the MBP is top quality!
 
I preferred my old MacBook keyboard over my current MBP one. The keys felt more solid, less springy. Also loved the look.

But before the MacBook I had an iBook, and that keyboard I remember as being even more springy. I think this was partly caused by the fact they made it so that you could remove the keyboard with the two little tabs at the top.

None of the current laptop models seem to support easily-removable keyboards now...
 
the macbook weirded me out at first not because of the feel but because of the look. the spacing between the keys just looked awkward, but they've since grown on me. i like that they look like scrabble tiles; i'm ever so tempted to write the points for each letter. i do, though, love the feel of the macbook's keys, and i always have. they feel solid, and it feels like i'm typing less on a laptop than it does the macbook pro. still, i hardly ever use the macbook keyboard, so oh well.
 
I prefer the powerbook/macbook pro. The macbook keyboard was harder to type on I found and I made more mistakes.

As for the external keyboards, don't like them at all! They feel really flat and mushy. Also the fact it doesn't have a palm rest.
 
I haven't typed extensively on the new macbook keyboard but from the little use I have given it, it seems far far better than the one on the macbook. For many years I had an ibook and I loved the keyboard on there, it was just perfect but this new macbook keyboard I absolutely loath. My typing speed is much slower and my number of errors have gone drastically up.
 
I just can't get over the feel of the macbook kb. It's so crisp, and it really makes me want the aluminum wireless, even though I have no use for it.
 
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