Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Macally IceKey is Back... Black!, January 28, 2007
And hello, Dolly, is this keyboard ever sweet!!! If you've read all those glowing reviews of the white IceKey, rest assured that BlackIce is twice as nice.
From the glossy black casing with its silver Macally logo, to the sparkling key caps, this beauty gleams with elegance. The best looking keyboard Macally makes, it is easily on par with the Apple Pro. As well constructed as it is beautiful, the iceKey's chassis does not flex, and its two USB (1.1) ports with clear crystal end caps are sturdy and snug-- you can plug in any of those nifty little gooseneck devices without them keeling over. Both my new Plantronics headset and old AGFA scanner plug-and-played without a hiccup.
As for ergonomics: The iceKey has a flat surface like a laptop keyboard but with a slight rake, and can be raised in the back on two feet, rather than being curved like the Apple Pro. I worried at first that its keys would feel too shallow for my loutish fingers, that the advertised short travel distance would cramp my style. I was delighted then to find how comfortable and easy the iceKey is to work on, how crisp and responsive the touch. You can just slide your fingers over the keys, rather than having to lift them over the hills and valleys found on standard boards. Most importantly, the soft-click "scissor-key-switches" work flawlessly: I'm no longer experiencing any unintentionally repeating keys, a problem endemic to cheesy membrane keyboards.
The only little snafu I have had so far is that, while this Macally product miraculously came with an up-to-date driver on CD, the dedicated Volume and Eject keys would always stop responding at some point after my Mac starts up (the 104 standard keys would continue to work fine.) Found a partial solution: In Library/Preferences there is file com.apple.keyboardtype.plist-- It read Crashed, so I deleted it and upon restart the Volume and Eject keys now work okay unless I let my iMac sleep. [n.b.: Plugging this keyboard into a PC, you will not be able to use the dedicated Volume and Eject keys period, as Macally does not issue Windows drivers. However, if you run Windows on a Mac under Parallels Desktop, you should have all the Mac functionality.]
Other keyboards on the market compete with special features targeted to the Mac and OS X, but none of them match to the quality, design and performance of the iceKey. Those I tried out that sported USB 2 or extra media buttons all had spongy keys and seemed flimsy and/or clunky. And since OS X lets you assign application-specific actions to any key (from System Preferences/Keyboard & Mouse/Keyboard Shortcuts) all those extra buttons are pretty superfluous.
In short, the "killer feature" of a really great keyboard is... typing. In this department, Macally ices the competition.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
MacAlly IceKey Keyboard - outrageously cool product, March 8, 2007
I bought this Keyboard as a replacement for the original keyboard on my PowerMac, which I accidentally destroyed by spilling coffee on - and it is a major upgrade and improvement. Normallly we don't think of a keyboard as a 'key' component of our computers - it's just something we use to type in text or numbers or info or data. But some of us are writers and having a comfortable and functional keyboard isn't just a luxury - it's almost a necessity. Unlike the vast majority of keyboards for desktop computers, the MacAlly IceKey uses lower-profile keys - similar/identical to the ones found on most iBooks/PowerBooks/laptops - which have less vertical travel and clunkiness. Supposedly this is because they are made with a different technology, developed for the smaller laptop keyboards - using something called 'scissor switches'. Well, that's the technical stuff which I don't really undersand - but in real life, this keyboard ROCKS. It is hands-down (pun intentional!) THE most comfortable - easy-to-use - and easy-to-type-on computer keyboard that I have EVER used. Period. If you're used to traditional keyboards, it takes a brief period of time to reorient yourself to the ease of use of this one - the scissors-keys seem to require less energy to push down and type with - but once you get used to them (an easy process)....you will be amazed. Bottom line: if you work with words and type a lot...and have a Mac....this keyboard is the BEST. An additional plus is the cooler (in my opinion) black color - which is a nice contrast to the boring white/beige keyboards so many Macs and PC's use. Since most stores don't seem to stock MacAlly keyboards, I bought this one on faith - based on some glowing reviews it had received - and I'm happy to say...it's every bit as good...as all the other users who've written glowing reports of it...say it is. The choice of a keyboard, like many important things in life, is a personal issue - but...in my admittedly prejudiced opinion...this is the best keyboard ever made for Macs.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Super., July 21, 2007
I'm a Mac guy but I've always loved the keyboard on my ThinkPad. So when my new MacPro arrived, with a keyboard even crummier than the one that came with my G4, I set out to find something better.
I saw this Macally in a store and it seemed great. Although you can buy this item for less elsehwere I got it from Amazon to leave myself an out, in case it had to go back. Well it IS great. The touch is light as a feather, its quiet and it looks nice, too. Not everybody will like this type of keyboard but if you do, it is a huge upgrade from the standard Mac keyboard.
Two other plusses. Its corded so no problems with interference, sluggish performance etc. Even better, it requires no software. It does come with software but I'm not about to risk the inevitable conflicts in order to get a few speed keys.
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