Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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99 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
With a Great Keyboard Comes Great Responsibility, February 13, 2008
The wafer-thin Apple Wireless Keyboard is aesthetically perfect and eminently usable, though it has a few minor flaws.
Visually, it exhibits a poetic, tasteful minimalism. It is surprisingly thin, and its unitary construction and brushed metallic finish project an air of solidity. Unlike other keyboards, the Apple Wireless Keyboard does not try to impress with garish, shameless decoration. Rather, its unadorned, utilitarian exterior suggests that this is a serious keyboard, for serious-minded people.
The feel and sound of the Apple Wireless Keyboard match its visual perfection. When pressed, the keys hit bottom with a satisfying finality (I have always detested those keyboards whose keys gently ease into the 'pressed' position without any tactile feedback). Typing on this keyboard produces a gentle clicking sound. It is not a grating, full-blown clatter, but more of a muted staccato.
The Apple keyboard is excellent from a functional standpoint as well. It does not exhibit the lag that can be so aggravating when typing on RF keyboards. It maintains a strong, persistent Bluetooth connection, and has a long battery life.
One of its most convenient features is the lack of inaccessible gaps between the keys. Not only is this aesthetically appealing, but it also prevents hairs, skin flakes, dust, and other types of nauseating detritus from accumulating inside the keyboard. This feature is indispensable for those of you who eat at your computers; no longer will your keyboard serve as a receptacle for the remnants of long-forgotten meals.
The Apple Wireless Keyboard does suffer from a few trifling imperfections, however. First, it does not have a dedicated 'delete' key. To trigger 'delete', one must hold down 'fn' and press 'backspace'. For those who use 'delete' often, this may be a problem. I have gotten used to it, but not so used to it that I don't occasionally lie awake at night wishing that my keyboard had a 'delete' key.
Second, the arrow keys are very narrow. This is not a huge problem for 'left' and 'right', but 'up' and 'down' are so close to each other that it is easy to accidentally hit the wrong one when in a hurry. People with ungainly sausage-fingers and people who drink too much coffee may be particularly susceptible.
Finally, the 'Caps Lock' key does not engage right away. Apple has incorporated a feature called "Caps Lock Protection" that is intended to minimize the inconvenience caused by accidentally hitting the 'Caps Lock' key. As a result, 'Caps Lock' will engage only if pressed slowly and deliberately.
For most people, Caps Lock Protection will probably be helpful (although it still seems vaguely paternalistic in its assumption that your keyboard knows what keys you want to press better than you do). However, for those who prefer to use 'Caps Lock' as an alternative 'Command' or 'Control' key, it may be somewhat inconvenient. It irks me that Apple chose to hard-wire this feature directly into the keyboard. It could just as easily have been implemented at the software level with an option to disable Caps Lock Protection and restore the once-proud 'Caps Lock' key to its former glory.
In conclusion, I recommend this keyboard to all people of good character and sober judgment. Use it wisely, for with a great keyboard comes great responsibility.
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47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful BT keyboard that doubles as a work of industrial art, September 29, 2007
After a four week wait, I received my Apple wireless bluetooth keyboard (shipped direct from China) a couple of days ago. Without a doubt, it has already become one of my all-time favorite Mac accessories in 20 years of Apple use.
Even if you've seen photos and read stats about its dimensions, that won't prepare you for how compact the keyboard is in person. It is spectacularly thin and minimalistic: if a keyboard could be called "beautiful," then this one is without a doubt a beauty.
Not only does it save an enormous amount of desk real estate, it manages to make the previous Apple keyboards (once upon a time fairly sleek-looking in comparison to other keyboards on the market) look dowdy, bulky and hopelessly outdated.
Much has been made of the lack of a numerical keypad: I see this is as a plus, allowing the keyboard to be highly portable and super small. If you truly need a numerical keypad, the wired version of this keyboard has one.
The tactile quality of the keyboard is great. It takes a while to get used to the different feel the keys -- they are flat rather than slightly concave -- but the overall feel and usability are an improvement.
The unit pairs up with your Mac seamlessly and there is no delay or lagtime in typing; the keyboars also wakes seamlessly from sleep at the touch of any key.
In short, I see no downside: it looks great, is stunningly thin and sleek, eliminates wire clutter, works wonderfully, and saves a lot of desk space. I can recommend it without reservation to anyone looking for a wireless keyboard.
Kudos, Apple, on an incredible job updating an everyday appliance most of us took for granted in such an elegant way that it doubles as a functional object of industrial art.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works with Windows Vista!, October 15, 2007
I'm a Windows user that likes Apple's design aesthetic.
This keyboard works fine out of box with Windows Vista on my Lenovo laptop. It pairs successfully with the built in Bluetooth device - and requires no special drivers.
I've since learnt that I do miss key buttons they've left out. Home, End, PgUp, PgDn and Delete are what I miss! I've used an advanced program - AutoHotKey to program Win+Key alternates for these missing buttons.
I now, like this keyboard :) but it's not for everyone who runs Windows.
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