third-party keyboard and mouse

Eduardo Kishimoto...

Most of those "others" are just as expensive as the Apple Keyboard. Expecially those that claim to be Mac compatable.

I think the bottom line is should you have a problem along the way, an Apple Keyboard may be the best investment to get you going. Keyboard shortcuts, expecially on startup, can be a real lifesaver.

...Ron

"But some of these third-party sets have an indication: “for both windows and MAC OS”, and some don’t. Does that mean that the ones without the indication will not work?"

It means that the ones with the indication that it is "for both windows and Mac OS" will work on both Windows and Mac but will generally have the Windows style keyboard.
About the time I ordered my Mini, I ordered one of the Windows/Mac compatible keyboards from one of the major online stores. I was concentrating on the fact that the KB was compatible with the Mac and not being aware of the keys being Windows style. It's a nice KB but I'm sorry that I didn't buy a dedicated Mac KB because I keep forgetting which Windows key relates to which Mac key. It's not a major hassle but an annoying inconvenience when referring to a Mac manual and having to translate Mac keyboard instructions to my Windows layout KB.

It's a cheesy way to go about doing it, but i recall a vendor selling little KB sticker/labels that won't come off from use, that allow you to label your keys for both normal mac and peecee usage, esp for those using kvm switches to run both a mini and another peecee with the same setup.

can't recall where i saw them, but it might help anyone out who is interested. i've also heard that the macally and kensington keyboards and mice style for the macs work great and match styling very well. extra $0.02... i've only seen them in stores, they look great, but i'm a fan of the keys/touch on my apple keyboards...

- jeremy

MRRW...

Well, to put it bluntly I cannot risk a flaky keyboard, or worrying if this or that will work correctly. If a problem happens that I need to boot from a CD or something I better have a keyboard that will do the job. Piece of mind comes only from Apple, accept no substitutes.

...Ron

I'd second that. My Macs rarely cause problems, but every now and then an Apple keyboard is needed to accomplish a CD boot or something similar.

I keep an Apple USB keyboard around for just that purpose - though I'm no fan of the quality of the keyboard for typing purposes!

Ron and Andy,
When you recommend using or keeping an Apple KB around for specific purposes, do you mean specifically an APPLE KB or as long as it is a Mac style KB such as Macally and Kensington KBs?
Thank you. 🙂

MRRW...

I mean a Genuine/Branded - Apple Keyboard. Those others may be fine for everyday use. Its when the Mac gets sick and needs to boot off a recovery disk or an Install disk is where you may find yourself in a pickle. You need special keyboard shortcuts that Apple provides in their own brand of keyboard.

Of course you can use the 3rd party keyboard till something goes wrong and pay an AppleCare provider a lot more money to get it going.

Warranty is good for only defects or a failure of a certain part. It doesn't cover corruption, maintenance issues, or your data for that matter.

...Ron

I have to say that I've found my Matias Tactile Pro to be fully compatible in the sense that if needed, it can boot to CD, single user mode etc - but at $80 it's more expensive than an Apple Pro keyboard, so unless you wanted one for it's key action (which is why I bought it), an Apple keyboard would make more economic sense - particularly picking up an older one off ebay or some such, just to keep on hand for those rare emergencies when nothing but a fully compatible keyboard will do!

AndyO...

Its interesting that you mention the Apple Pro Keyboard. (discontinued Summer 2002) Geez! Apple Pro Keyboard refurbs are running $90 or more. New $120 and up. Maybe looking over, We Love Macs Website - Keyboards, everyone can get the picture. Those are a must on the older USB Mac models and their price reflects that.

...Ron

Curious Ron, the keyboard that came with our G4 iMac is marked as an Apple Pro - which was, I think, listed as a $49 purchase from the Apple Store at the time, though perhaps not judging by the link! I've seen them on eBay for somewhat less since the price of the latest Apple keyboard was recently dropped. Speaking of which, even the $29 Apple Keyboard would be sufficient for emergency use - though after the comments I've made about that device in the past, I'd not suggest it for actual typing!!

The only Apple keyboards that are NOT capable of booting a modern Mac into the various modes are the ADB variety - which is a shame since the Extended II (with Griffin iMate) is still my choice for comfortable typing!

AndyO...

OOps correction. 2002 is my eMac M/Y as it should be June of 2003 when Apple Keyboard was released discontinuing The Apple Pro Keyboard.

If I recall right the original price on the Apple Pro Keyboard was $59 (Same as the Pro Mouse) but later dropped to $49 about a year after Apple came out with the White models.

I think users do not like the Apple Keyboard because of the USB ports being directly on the back rather than on the L&R ends. They don't work very well in keyboard drawers and one awkward (smack the computer) arrangment if I say so. With this in mind I see users wanting the Apple Pro Keyboard back or are willing to pay the piper to get one.

...Ron

It has to be said that the Apple Pro is also considerably better to type on than the model that replaced it - though sometimes I can't help but wonder if manufacturers have forgotten that's what keyboards are really for!!

The OP must be long gone & I don't know how pricing works in Brazil but when I order my mini I'm also getting a ($ 29.00 + free shipping) genuine wired Apple keyboard, the OS X world is fairly new to me the last thing I need is a 3 rd party keyboard.

AndyO...

I wonder the same at times. Case in point was the nice Apple II computers and when VisaCalc came out. (ouch, I show my age) Just a basic typewriter keyboard without a numeric keypad. The first 3rd party clone, Franklin Ace may have killed them both, if not had been stopped. It featured Genuine Industrial Cherry key-switches that had the numeric keypad. After the death of the Franklin Ace there was many 3rd party numeric keypads available to the Apple II(s) just to run such a hot app. Those needed to be tough as nails to pound in numeric data.

...Ron