Hasta la vista Apple.
In my ongoing quest to banish every last piece of Apple’s awful hardware from the home, I have now purchased two non-Apple keyboards in the last six months, both my Apple wireless ones having failed in that period, refusing to pair with their respective computers. One was the white model the other the aluminum slim version. Looks great – but strictly for display only.
One replacement is wired and is the Kensington Slim Type for Mac. It comes with downloadable software for use with Macs and features proper scissor key mechanical switches for that traditional ‘long throw’ feel which those of us over 7 years of age grew up with.
The Kensington Slim Type for Mac keyboard
At $27 it has been working nicely for six months now and I even found a nice keyboard skin to keep it clean for some $10 more.
The other is the HP Wireless Elite. I have lost all trust in Apple’s Bluetooth as a wireless keyboard technology. The aluminum one which just failed was used with my home theater Mac Mini and would constantly lose pairing with the Mini, displaying an obnoxious message in the center of the screen in the middle of watching a movie. When I am luxuriating in the beauty of a Penelope Cruz or Kate Beckinsale on the screen, the last thing I need to be reminded of is Apple’s crappy products.
Having had good experience with the RF wireless technology used in the Microsoft Wireless Mouse I wrote of earlier I decided to stick with that technology and purchased an HP Elite RF Wireless Keyboard, my wild spending ($33) getting me a slim black keyboard with numeric keypad, an RF USB dongle and an ominous looking CD full of software for Windows users. I discarded the latter, plugged in the RF receiver to the back of the Mini, pressed a couple of keys as instructed and, hey presto!, a perfectly working keyboard which pairs instantly and avoids the need for that ridiculous “enter a number” pairing process dictated by Apple for its wireless garbage. The USB receiver is a little larger than the one for the Microsoft mouse and flashes a veritable klieglight blue diode every time a key is depressed, so either install it out of sight or apply a couple of turns of black electrician’s tape. A real genius designed that part. For reference, the keyboard is some 11 feet from the dongle.
The HP Elite RF Wireless keyboard.
No need to do anything software wise and the OS X System Preferences->Keyboard->Modifier Keys screen even allowed me to disable the Caps Lock button which I like to do as a matter of course. The volume and mute keys work perfectly and are well isolated top right for ease of use in the dark. Interestingly, the elegant gloss chrome side panels match the appearance of the Microsoft RF Wireless Mouse and the whole thing simply works out of the box and has yet to unpair itself. Quality of construction, fit and finish are beyond criticism and the keys adopt that short throw feel used in Apple’s current range. The keyboard comes with two AAA batteries installed and you can blow through two of these before you have equalled the cost of one piece of Apple’s jewelry. Recommended.