Logitech Keyboard?

[ErikRS]

I'm gonna buy a new wired keyboard since my old Microsoft Comfort Curve
ND (ND = Nordic layout) is about running out of life though it's only 3
years old...

The 3 fully Mac compatible MS keyboars are still available, but I want a
keyboard that's more sturdy - just about the same as the old Apple
Extended II ISO...

Therefore I've been looking at some of the wired Logitech business
models and found that the "Logitech K280e Business ND" looks as this one
could be the successor, but not a single word whether it's Mac
compatible or not - neither as plug&play or with the Logitech Control
Center (LCC) controlpane.

The only thing in the factory description that might lead to think that
it is Mac compatible is that the keyboard is "fully RoHS compatible". -
Else the system requirements says WinXP SP2 and up + LinuxKernel 2,6 or
greater.

Does anyone here know whether the Logitech K280e is compatible /
programmable with the LCC (v.3.9.1 or newer) controlpane?

Cheers, Erik Richard

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erik Richard Sørensen <mac-d...@MOVEstofanet.dk>
NisusWriter - The Future In Multilingual Text Processing - www.nisus.com
Openoffice.org - The Modern Productivity Solution - www.openoffice.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[nospam]

In article <n7tgu1$jl1$1...@solani.org>, ErikRS <mac-...@is.invalid>
wrote:

> I'm gonna buy a new wired keyboard since my old Microsoft Comfort Curve
> ND (ND = Nordic layout) is about running out of life though it's only 3
> years old...
>
> The 3 fully Mac compatible MS keyboars are still available, but I want a
> keyboard that's more sturdy - just about the same as the old Apple
> Extended II ISO...
>
> Therefore I've been looking at some of the wired Logitech business
> models and found that the "Logitech K280e Business ND" looks as this one
> could be the successor, but not a single word whether it's Mac
> compatible or not - neither as plug&play or with the Logitech Control
> Center (LCC) controlpane.
>
> The only thing in the factory description that might lead to think that
> it is Mac compatible is that the keyboard is "fully RoHS compatible". -
> Else the system requirements says WinXP SP2 and up + LinuxKernel 2,6 or
> greater.
>
> Does anyone here know whether the Logitech K280e is compatible /
> programmable with the LCC (v.3.9.1 or newer) controlpane?

all usb compliant keyboards are mac compatible.

get whichever one you prefer.

[ErikRS]

Not that easy. - If it is keyboards with US / UK layout most of them are
compatible when you swithc system language to either US English or UK
English...

The problems come when you want language / region specific keyboards. I
have tried a variety of different both cheap and expensive keyboards,
but none of these would show the correct keys in the right places on the
keyboard. The most common problems are the $§, <>, €£ keys. These keys
may be available in quite different places and may even require the use
of the ALT or OPT keys...

Regular characters like the Danish/Norwegian æÆ, øØ and åÅ are always
replaced with äÄ, öÖ (some öØ, because the Ø also is the symbol for
diameter) and ¥¿.

Years ago - around OS 9.2.2 to 10.3.9 I used to use Logitech wired
keyboards. These always required the LCC to work correctly. From 10.4.x
to 10.5.8 on my MacPro I used the MS MediaPro 3000 keyboard - the best
keyboard next to the Apple Extended II ISO, but this MS keyboard has
been discontinued....

[nospam]

In article <n7tis3$r2i$1...@solani.org>, ErikRS <mac-...@is.invalid>

wrote:

> >> I'm gonna buy a new wired keyboard since my old Microsoft Comfort Curve
> >> ND (ND = Nordic layout) is about running out of life though it's only 3
> >> years old...
> >>
> >> The 3 fully Mac compatible MS keyboars are still available, but I want a
> >> keyboard that's more sturdy - just about the same as the old Apple
> >> Extended II ISO...
> >>
> >> Therefore I've been looking at some of the wired Logitech business
> >> models and found that the "Logitech K280e Business ND" looks as this one
> >> could be the successor, but not a single word whether it's Mac
> >> compatible or not - neither as plug&play or with the Logitech Control
> >> Center (LCC) controlpane.
> >>
> >> The only thing in the factory description that might lead to think that
> >> it is Mac compatible is that the keyboard is "fully RoHS compatible". -
> >> Else the system requirements says WinXP SP2 and up + LinuxKernel 2,6 or
> >> greater.
> >>
> >> Does anyone here know whether the Logitech K280e is compatible /
> >> programmable with the LCC (v.3.9.1 or newer) controlpane?
> >
> > all usb compliant keyboards are mac compatible.
> >
> > get whichever one you prefer.
>
> Not that easy.

yes it is.

> - If it is keyboards with US / UK layout most of them are
> compatible when you swithc system language to either US English or UK
> English...

all usb compliant keyboards are compatible.

> The problems come when you want language / region specific keyboards. I
> have tried a variety of different both cheap and expensive keyboards,
> but none of these would show the correct keys in the right places on the

> keyboard. The most common problems are the $з, <>, Аг keys. These keys

> may be available in quite different places and may even require the use
> of the ALT or OPT keys...

the only problems are those of your own making.

go to system prefs, click on the keyboard pref pane, click on the input
sources tab, add the appropriate keyboard layout and then choose it.
enable the menubar item if desired so you can easily switch.

some languages even have multiple layouts.

[glawrie]

On 2016-01-22 16:24:46 +0000, nospam said:

>> Not that easy.
>
> yes it is.

It isn't.

I had a Logitech K750 Mac keyboard for a long time, but eventually it broke.

When I went looking for another one, I couldn't find any at even
vaguely sensible prices. So (working on the 'All USB keyboards are Mac
Compatible' concept) I got a regular (PC) type K750. What could
possibly go wrong I thought... well lots.

The keyboard works on a mac, but the list of things that don't work
quite as they should is long - including the function keys and 'media
keys' having weird mappings that almost but don't quite work with Mac
settings, through to a host of peripheral letters being in the 'wrong
place' on the keymap - press a # and get ¢ and so on. Plus the numeric
keypad is totally not recognised.

I have got it to work after a fashion thanks to the wonderful utility
"Karabiner" which has allowed me to get it working pretty much as a Mac
keyboard should (luckily I touch-type, so key caps being wrong in
places is not a problem for me). But the problems reappear when I try
and use anything other than OS X - the Logitech utilities for K750 for
Mac don't recognise it as a K750, and in any OS running under Parallels
sees the 'pre-Karbiner' setup - so no numeric keypad and wierd function
key mappings. And of course, due to Parallels virtualising stuff, none
of the Logitech utilities in Windows can 'see' the keyboard either.

So - yes it types from the QWERTY area - but no way is it "that easy"...

My recommendation is to absolutely check that whatever keyboard you go
for is one that plays nicely with a Mac - ideally by trying it out, but
if not by getting some assurance from whomsoever you get it from that
you can return it if it doesn't play nicely.

HTH

[ErikRS]

glawrie wrote:
> On 2016-01-22 16:24:46 +0000, nospam said:
>> yes it is.
>
> It isn't.
>
> I had a Logitech K750 Mac keyboard for a long time, but eventually it
> broke.
>
> When I went looking for another one, I couldn't find any at even vaguely

> sensible prices. [...]

>
> My recommendation is to absolutely check that whatever keyboard you go
> for is one that plays nicely with a Mac - ideally by trying it out, but
> if not by getting some assurance from whomsoever you get it from that
> you can return it if it doesn't play nicely.

Thanks, that's about my own experiences. I have now sent a request to
Logitech asking for a confirmation on which systems and with what
software the K280e will work.

If the answer from Logitech is a no go, I think I'll buy the MS Comfort
Curve again. It's a good keyboard, but unfortunately not as sturdy as
I'd like it to be.

[jim]

ErikRS <mac-...@is.invalid> wrote:

> If the answer from Logitech is a no go, I think I'll buy the MS Comfort
> Curve again. It's a good keyboard, but unfortunately not as sturdy as
> I'd like it to be.

I have no idea if it'll meet your language requirements (some digging on
your part will be needed) but I've been running a Das Keyboard for a
couple of years now, and there's no way I'd ever change (willingly).

It's a microswitch 'clicky' keyboard (although they make quieter ones as
well) and very sturdily built. I'm fairly sure I could bludgeon someone
to death with it, then write up the incident report on it afterwards :-)

As for keyboard media controls not mapping - check out a bit of software
called 'Karabiner' from https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ - it allows
*extensive* keyboard remapping, although it does take a bit of learning.
Worth it though.

Jim
--
Orbiting inside the Roche Limit of sanity.

[ErikRS]

That may be something. There are two different Mac specific versions
"Das Keyboard 4 Professional Mac" and "Das Keyboard S Professional Mac".
Unfortunately it looks as if the Mac editions are US-only layouts. - All
other versions of 'Das Keyboard' are delievered with "Nordic" layouts,
so I think I'll contact the importer for the Nordic countries and ask,
whether this can be true or not.

Prices are in the higher end, but thinking of buying a new and cheaper
one apprx. every 2-3 years will quickly make 'Das Keyboard' cheaper in
the end.

Thanks!

[ErikRS]

OK, just to let you all know... I got the replay from Logitech today.
The Logitech K280e will not work with /any/ Mac OS or LCC ver. 2.x/3.x -
except for the basic keys - i.e. hte aA-zZ + the ciffers 1-0. Any
special keys like the Nordic characters + any other special characthers
will only work with WinXP SP3 and Linux Kernel 2,6+. - Also the keyboard
probably can't be re-mapped with any 3.-party tools.

That - maybe - leaves 'Das Keyboard' or one of the 3 Mac compatible MS
keyboards...

[glawrie]

On 2016-01-25 20:35:54 +0000, ErikRS said:

> OK, just to let you all know... I got the replay from Logitech today.
> The Logitech K280e will not work with /any/ Mac OS or LCC ver. 2.x/3.x
> - except for the basic keys - i.e. hte aA-zZ + the ciffers 1-0. Any
> special keys like the Nordic characters + any other special characthers
> will only work with WinXP SP3 and Linux Kernel 2,6+. - Also the
> keyboard probably can't be re-mapped with any 3.-party tools.
>
> That - maybe - leaves 'Das Keyboard' or one of the 3 Mac compatible MS
> keyboards...

Although I don't want to rain on Logitech's advice, the non-behaviour
described for the K280e matches pretty much what I saw with my PC
version K750 when I first connected it to Mac. However, provided I
limit myself to OS X, it is possible to get it to behave better using
the Karabiner utility. Karabiner is pretty stable, very clever if you
want it to be, and more importantly got my numeric keypad, function /
media keys working again. And it is free (donation-ware).
https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/

HTH

[ErikRS]

Sadly this won't help since I'm running only 10.6.8 and 10.7.5 on the
two MacPros. - Karabiner requires at least OS X 10.9.x or newer...

cheers, Erik Richard

[jim]

ErikRS <mac-...@is.invalid> wrote:

> Sadly this won't help since I'm running only 10.6.8 and 10.7.5 on the
> two MacPros. - Karabiner requires at least OS X 10.9.x or newer...

There's a version that works with 10.8, 10.7 and 10.6:

<https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/index.html.en>

Download 'KeyRemap4MacBook-8.4.0' (as that's what it used to be called).

[ErikRS]

jim wrote:
> ErikRS <mac-...@is.invalid> wrote:
>> Sadly this won't help since I'm running only 10.6.8 and 10.7.5 on the
>> two MacPros. - Karabiner requires at least OS X 10.9.x or newer...
>
> There's a version that works with 10.8, 10.7 and 10.6:
>
> <https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/index.html.en>
>
> Download 'KeyRemap4MacBook-8.4.0' (as that's what it used to be called).

OK, I didn't realize that it was/is the same as Karabiner. I think I'll
give it a try - at first hand borrowing a keyboard to see whether it'll
work or not - refering to the answer from Logitech Support.:-)

Cheers, Erik Richard

[jim]

ErikRS <mac-...@is.invalid> wrote:

> OK, I didn't realize that it was/is the same as Karabiner. I think I'll
> give it a try - at first hand borrowing a keyboard to see whether it'll
> work or not - refering to the answer from Logitech Support.:-)
>
> Cheers, Erik Richard

Be advised that Karabiner has about a billion settings and isn't the
easiest tool in the world to use, but it *is* worth putting the time in
to get it right. You can make your keyboard dance.