Where to look for Apple Mac keyboard specs/info?
iJohn
can always use a regular windows/PC keyboard with OS X, but if it
didn't cost me too much I think I'd also like to have the option of an
Apple keyboard in my parts box.
My problem is that I'm not having much luck finding out particulars
about the keyboards using Google. The best I could come up with is
this wikipedia article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Keyboard#Apple_Keyboard
What I'm looking for is a wired USB keyboard that supports USB 2.0.
One of the things I can't seem to figure out is whether a keyboard
comes with a USB hub and ports and, if it does, whether it supports
USB 1.1 or 2.0. The keyboards I've been thinking of are the A1048,
A1242 and A1243, but that's just an initial guess from looking at the
wikipedia article.
If I could find some general user impressions about the usability of a
keyboard or even just more detailed pics or, well, just about
anything, I think it would help. I'm in the waffling back & forth
research stage at the moment. The eBay auctions I've looked at so far
have all been the stereotypical eBay auction in that they offer little
to no info beyond a picture. <sigh>
-irrational john
pete...@cruzio.com
> What I'm looking for is a wired USB keyboard that supports USB 2.0.
> One of the things I can't seem to figure out is whether a keyboard
> comes with a USB hub and ports and, if it does, whether it supports
> USB 1.1 or 2.0. The keyboards I've been thinking of are the A1048,
> A1242 and A1243, but that's just an initial guess from looking at the
> wikipedia article.
The hubs within the Apple keyboards are 1.1.
iJohn
>
> The hubs within the Apple keyboards are 1.1.
>
Really? Even on the newer aluminum keyboards? They doesn't make much
sense to me. Oh, well.
-irrational john
David Culpepper
Christian Wacker
comparable to a keyboard on a cheap laptop) seem to be able to read at
2.0 speeds. They're aluminum full keyboards, with the shallow keys
(like I said, look like a cheap laptop keyboard). They do have a hub,
but aren't very kind when it comes to most devices except a usb mouse
or a very slim usb flash disk (So I always carry around a short
extension cord with me so I can use my Magnum when I want to)
Hope that helps
(On a side note, the one that I have with my eMac also seems to
support 2.0, but it's iffy)
> --
> To unsubscribe: hq-a+uns...@googlegroups.com
>
> HQ-A homepage: http://hackintoshq-a.blogspot.com/
> Options: http://groups.google.com/group/hq-a?hl=en
>
> Group files page: http://www.mediafire.com/
> login: hq...@googlegroups.com password: filespw
>
--
The blog is back. If you don't like it, don't complain, just comment.
http://www.the-pizzaboy192.co.cc/blog
iJohn
> Yes, here's what ASP has to say about my wired aluminum keyboard (model
> A1243). 1.5 Mb/sec is USB 1.1 standard.
> Apple Keyboard:
> Product ID: 0x0220
> Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
> Version: 0.69
> Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec
> Manufacturer: Apple, Inc
> Location ID: 0xfd220000
> Current Available (mA): 100
> Current Required (mA): 20
Huh, truly unexpected. And in light of Christian's post I'm not sure
what to expect any longer. Why would they add USB ports and NOT allow
them to exploit USB 2.0 external storage? Did someone at Apple say,
"Let's make these keyboards more useful! (But not TOO useful, of
course.)" ???
-irrational john
JR Holmes
Windows PCs is because they don't support the additional power that
most USB 2 ports want to provide. Seems reasonable to me.
Sent from mobile
David Culpepper
Kris Tilford
My wired aluminum keyboard model A1243 is listed in System Profiler
under the "USB High Speed Bus" which is the USB 2.0 bus, and it's
called "Keyboard Hub". My G5 supposedly only has USB 2.0 ports, but
these ports are often identified as "USB Bus" (USB 1.1), and sometimes
simply rebooting changes this from "USB Bus" to "USB High Speed Bus",
which I haven't been able to figure out any reason why, right now my
current belief is there's a bug in the way USB works on PPC G5s, but I
could be wrong. As an example, my G5 has only three external USB
ports, but System Profiler is currently showing 5 USB ports total, of
which 4 are listed as "USB bus" and only one is listed as "USB High
Speed bus". Currently the only item under a "USB bus" is the built-in
Bluetooth.
David Culpepper
Here's what the Apple store says about the newest version of the wired aluminum keyboard:
"Two USB 2.0 ports enable you to easily connect your Mighty Mouse as well as a high-speed peripheral such as a digital camera or printer.* Yes, we did think of everything.
*Devices that draw high power from the USB connection, such as iPods, hard drives and some flash drives, can only be used with the new keyboard when it is attached to the aluminum iMac."
mosslack
Just a message from mosslack...
TBIE - http://mosslack.blogspot.com/ <+> Hack List - http://tinyurl.com/2f6clso <+> Personal Blog - http://mosslack.wordpress.com/
Christian Wacker
on my USB drive (So that Mac OSX won't fill my main flash disk with
all those garbage files that it seems to fill most flash drives with)
and it'll load the whole file up in just under 10 seconds. USB1.1
can't do that.
> --
> To unsubscribe: hq-a+uns...@googlegroups.com
>
> HQ-A homepage: http://hackintoshq-a.blogspot.com/
> Options: http://groups.google.com/group/hq-a?hl=en
>
> Group files page: http://www.mediafire.com/
> login: hq...@googlegroups.com password: filespw
>
--
The blog is back. If you don't like it, don't complain, just comment.
http://pizzaboy192.wordpress.com
(co.cc is blocking my main domain =( )
pete...@cruzio.com
> The usual reason for the 1.1 status of keyboard ports on both Macs and
> Windows PCs is because they don't support the additional power that
> most USB 2 ports want to provide. Seems reasonable to me.
Plug a hard drive directly into a USB port on the back of a Hack and it
seemingly instantly transforms itself into High Speed.
Plug the same drive into the hub on the keyboard, and it remains at 1.1
speed.
The same restriction applies to thumb drives.
Some large capacity thumb drives will give an error indication if plugged
into the hub on the keyboard.
The bottom line is the keyboard's hub is restricted to low-power devices
and are forced to be low-speed whereas the mobo's ports are flexible and
can be low- or high-power and low- or high-speed.
John Martz
> What exactly do you want to use the keyboard hub for John?
For me it's more a question of added utility than anything else. I'd
want to be able to use a USB 2.0 flash drive or externally powered
hard drive by plugging it into the port. A flash drive shouldn't draw
that much power so I wouldn't expect it to be a problem for an
unpowered hub in a keyboard to handle. BWTHDIK?
I wouldn't consider using a separate, powered USB 2.0 hub. That's just
a personal preference on my part. For me it's a question of space. A
keyboard is (for me) something that is just ALWAYS going to be there
taking up space on the desk.
But adding a separate hub means finding space for it and routing the
power and other cords. And inevitably it would also mean moving it
around time and again to make room to squeeze something else onto the
desk. It's an additional nuisance whereas adding a USB port or two to
a keyboard IMO helps cut down on some of the potential desk clutter by
reusing already committed space.
Guess I'd best lower my expectations and just look at these keyboards
as if they had no USB ports at all. ;-)
-john
David Culpepper
iJohn
> For anyone interested, this is a great price:
> http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/MB110LLANBC/
Well, I don't know if I would call it a *great* price. For me it would
end up being about $36 with shipping.
But that's probably just the side of me that buys stuff for my Windows
PC whining. It's certainly a very reasonable price which is in-line
with the little experience I've had so far with keyboards on eBay.
Mac keyboards, even used models which Apple no longer sells, appear to
still go for a bit of a premium. At least buying from OWC I would have
not have to worry that some of the keys might not work and the seller
would refuse to do anything about it. ;-)
A used keyboard from OWC is certainly one of the alternatives I'll
consider. But I'm in no rush to do anything. This can easily wait
until after I've done my taxes ... or longer. (Note to self: HINT!
HINT!)
-irrational john