New Keyboard
clw
with the new iMac?
Is it prone to more typing mistakes for touch typists?
If you use a wireless keyboard can you still press the option key when
starting up and be able to choose your OS?
Is there a separate numeric key pad available to use with it?
Will it work with my old Kensington Expert Mouse?
TIA
Jolly Roger
clw <c...@ohsu.gov> wrote:
> Has anyone here experience with the new Apple keyboard that is standard
> with the new iMac?
>
> Is it prone to more typing mistakes for touch typists?
As a systems and application engineer, I am a software developer and
technical writer. So I type for a living. I find the latest Apple
aluminum keyboards an absolute pleasure to use. In fact I prefer it to
any other keyboard I've ever used - yes, even the old Apple Extended
Keyboard II.
> If you use a wireless keyboard can you still press the option key when
> starting up and be able to choose your OS?
Someone else will have to answer this, as I don't have one here at the
moment.
> Is there a separate numeric key pad available to use with it?
Not made by Apple. Personally I prefer the wired version, which you can
get with new Macs by asking for it specifically, I believe.
> Will it work with my old Kensington Expert Mouse?
In what way?
--
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David Empson
> Has anyone here experience with the new Apple keyboard that is standard
> with the new iMac?
An earlier version of it, yes. I have one on my Mac Mini.
> Is it prone to more typing mistakes for touch typists?
Seems fine to me after I got used to it.
> If you use a wireless keyboard can you still press the option key when
> starting up and be able to choose your OS?
Yes, as long as the computer is new enough for the firmware to recognise
that model of the keyboard. If you get one with a new iMac this won't be
a problem, but it might not be recognised by an older Mac model.
The first generation low profile wireless keyboard (which I have) came
out in August 2007, at the same time as an update of the Mac Mini and
iMac. I have the Mac Mini model from that generation, and my keyboard is
recognised at startup by that Mac Mini, but it might not be with earlier
models.
The latest revision of the keyboard was introduced with the late 2009
imac and Mac Mini.
> Is there a separate numeric key pad available to use with it?
Not from Apple. I haven't gone hunting for third-party options. Since my
main computer is a laptop (MacBook Pro) I got used to the lack of a
numeric keypad several years ago.
Apple has a wired version of the keyboard with built-in numeric keypad,
but they didn't do a wireless version.
> Will it work with my old Kensington Expert Mouse?
That should be completely unrelated to the keyboard. You can't plug the
mouse into the keyboard - it doesn't have any USB sockets. You would
have to plug the mouse directly into the computer (assuming it is USB or
wireless with a USB transceiver).
--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz
Howard Brazee
>Has anyone here experience with the new Apple keyboard that is standard
>with the new iMac?
Some people love them, others don't. I prefer the old Selectric
feel, and make errors with the aluminum keyboard that I don't make at
work. Maybe I need a stronger stroke. I am a fast typist.
--
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace
to the legislature, and not to the executive department."
- James Madison
Salmon Egg
> Has anyone here experience with the new Apple keyboard that is standard
> with the new iMac?
>
> Is it prone to more typing mistakes for touch typists?
>
I do not know specifically of that keyboard. If it is the "aluminum"
keyboards I now have, I have been bitching for about two years about
them. Because of the large virtually flat keys, I find it difficult to
touch type. It is just too easy for the fingers to catch adjacent keys.
Because of the flatness, I get little tactile feedback as to where I am
on the key until it is too late. Otherwise, I like it. I would like it
much better if the keys were trimmed by 3/32 of an inch around the
perimeter and the corners were more rounded. But style will win out over
function.
By the way, the "aluminum" keyboard is magnetic.
Bill
--
An old man would be better off never having been born.
Tom Stiller
Salmon Egg <Salm...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Mine isn't, although some of the material beneath the skin will attract
a magnet.
--
Tom Stiller
PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF
TaliesinSoft
(in article <SalmonEgg-5525B...@news60.forteinc.com>):
> I do not know specifically of that keyboard. If it is the "aluminum"
> keyboards I now have, I have been bitching for about two years about
> them. Because of the large virtually flat keys, I find it difficult to
> touch type. It is just too easy for the fingers to catch adjacent keys.
> Because of the flatness, I get little tactile feedback as to where I am
> on the key until it is too late. Otherwise, I like it. I would like it
> much better if the keys were trimmed by 3/32 of an inch around the
> perimeter and the corners were more rounded. But style will win out over
> function.
I have two Apple aluminum keyboards which I use in conjunction with my
MacBook Pro, the full size wired version which I use at home, and the small
size bluetooth version which I use when away from home.
I am a good touch typist, having touched typed since 1949 when I took a
typing course in high school. I have absolutely no problem with the aluminum
keyboards as far as positioning my fingers on the keys and getting an
appropriate amount of tactile feedback.
I somehow like to equate touch typing with piano playing, both depend on one
having a sense, pretty much without looking, as to where to land one's
fingers.
I have noted that a great many persons, especially those who are younger and
perhaps never had experience using a manual typewriter, rest their wrists
either on a wrist rest or on the fron surface of their laptop. In my opinion
that is a major impediment to proper typing where the fingers should be aimed
almost vertically down to the keys, not whee the fingers are laying flat on
the keys.
--
James Leo Ryan --- Austin, Texas --- talies...@me.com
Fred McKenzie
dem...@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
> You can't plug the
> mouse into the keyboard - it doesn't have any USB sockets.
David-
Are you sure? My Mac Pro is only a few weeks old, although a newer
keyboard might have come out later. It has USB sockets hidden under
each end of the keyboard. I had to search for them.
I can see where Apple might have eliminated the USB ports, since newer
machines are being shipped with Magic Mice. However, you can still
order an iMac with either the Magic Mouse or the wired Mouse.
Fred
Jolly Roger
Fred McKenzie <fm...@aol.com> wrote:
Yes, but the OP asked about the keyboard that comes with the new iMac.
As you can see here, that's the wireless keyboard:
The wireless version has no USB ports.
Salmon Egg
TaliesinSoft <talies...@me.com> wrote:
> I am a good touch typist, having touched typed since 1949 when I took a
> typing course in high school. I have absolutely no problem with the aluminum
> keyboards as far as positioning my fingers on the keys and getting an
> appropriate amount of tactile feedback.
>
> I somehow like to equate touch typing with piano playing, both depend on one
> having a sense, pretty much without looking, as to where to land one's
> fingers.
>
> I have noted that a great many persons, especially those who are younger and
> perhaps never had experience using a manual typewriter, rest their wrists
> either on a wrist rest or on the fron surface of their laptop. In my opinion
> that is a major impediment to proper typing where the fingers should be aimed
> almost vertically down to the keys, not whee the fingers are laying flat on
> the keys.
I am a reasonably good touch typist. My typing skill was developed just
like yours but maybe about two or three years earlier. That turned out
to be one of the most useful skills developed in high school. That also
makes me not young.
It is when I am tired that I make most of my typos. I have a tendency to
turn a t into a gt or a y into a yu, for example. I notice that when I
am on top of my form, I do hit the center of the keys. But when my
fingers drift off, I do not get the feedback. If smaller keys were to be
used, it would be easier for me to hit key edges and not catch an
adjacent key. The way this keyboard is designed, the old typewriter
bugaboo of pushing your finger between keys would go away. You would
just hit the aluminum between keys.
David Empson
> In article <1jbc50q.vy2us2nfwp36N%dem...@actrix.gen.nz>,
> dem...@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
>
> > You can't plug the mouse into the keyboard - it doesn't have any USB
> > sockets.
>
> David-
>
> Are you sure? My Mac Pro is only a few weeks old, although a newer
> keyboard might have come out later. It has USB sockets hidden under
> each end of the keyboard. I had to search for them.
That's the wired keyboard, which is USB. The wireless keyboard is
Bluetooth. It doesn't provide USB sockets for daisy chaining other
devices.
Re-reading the original post, I see that there may be a point of
confusion: clw asked about the "new Apple keyboard that is standard with
the new iMac", then goes on to mention "a wireless keyboard" in the
third paragraph.
The wireless keyboard IS the one that is standard with the new iMac. You
have to customize the order to request a wired keyboard (which doesn't
save any money).
I assumed the entire question was about the wireless keyboard.
If the question was actually about the entire range of keyboards, then
you are right - there are two USB sockets as you describe in both
variants of the wired (USB) keyboard.
> I can see where Apple might have eliminated the USB ports, since newer
> machines are being shipped with Magic Mice. However, you can still
> order an iMac with either the Magic Mouse or the wired Mouse.
--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz
Bob Harris
> Has anyone here experience with the new Apple keyboard that is standard
> with the new iMac?
Yes. I have a new 27" iMac with the wireless keyboard. I also
have a USB version of the same keyboard with the extra numeric
keypad (I've had that for a year).
For all intents and purposes, these are the same as a current
laptop keyboard.
I personally like the new keyboard. The only thing I needed to do
was stop "Pounding" on the keys, as they do not require a heavy
hand, and because they do not move nearly as far as a traditional
keyboard key, so your finger bottoms out sooner.
> Is it prone to more typing mistakes for touch typists?
I like it very much. In fact I got it because on a traditional
keyboard, I kept failing to get the Shift key depressed in time so
I was frequently typing my own name in lowercase. The traditional
keyboard shift key wanted more pressure than my poor little pinky
finger would deliver while trying to keep up with my fast touch
typing.
> If you use a wireless keyboard can you still press the option key when
> starting up and be able to choose your OS?
While I do have a wireless keyboard with my iMac, the reality is
that I've had it for about a week, and have not needed to boot
while holding the option key. Sorry. I'm assuming it will work,
but I cannot give you first hand confirmation.
> Is there a separate numeric key pad available to use with it?
First of all, just like the current MacBook and MacBook Pro
keyboards, they have the numeric keypad overlaid into the may
QUERTY keyboard via the 'fn' key.
fn+6 == Clear
fn+7 == 7
fn+8 == 8
fn+9 == 9
fn+0 == /
fn+- == _
fn+u == 4
fn+i == 5
fn+o == 6
fn+p == *
fn+j == 1
fn+k == 2
fn+l == 3
fn+; == -
fn+. == .
fn+/ == +
fn+left arrow == Home
fn+right arrow == end
fn+up == page up
fn+down == page down
Second, if you order your iMac via the on-line Apple store, you
can choose which keyboard you want, including a wired USB keyboard
that includes the numeric keypad.
Like I said I have one of each, and I like them both.
> Will it work with my old Kensington Expert Mouse?
Your mouse is independent of the keyboard. I have a Logitech MX
wireless mouse with its own USB dongle, which is driven by the
USBOverboard drivers. Works great. Again, totally independent of
the keyboard.
Bob Harris