When you are in the market for a new keyboard, or perhaps one for that Mac Mini (an essential additional purchase), there is certainly a lot to choose from. The natural direction to look is at the skinny Apple keyboards. However, if you have used a Mac for a long time, you will yearn for that Classic keyboard look and more importantly something that gives you proper tactile feedback. The USB 2.0 Keyboard we look at here from Matias, could be just the ticket.
This offering from Matias has some superb advantages and features, all of which can be had for a little over £25 in the UK and around $35 in the US. For this sort of price you certainly do get a lot for your money.
First of all you get what I would term as a proper keyboard. The keys are raised in such a way that it resembles that old Apple classic. The spacing is just right and the tactile feedback you get from each key is just right. There is also a full numeric keypad (which you would expect on a full size keyboard), but Matias go one step further... How often have you found yourself searching for that Euro symbol (€)? Well, I don't mind admitting that on more than one occasion that illusive symbol has escaped me. The Matias USB 2.0 keyboard has extra symbols printed on the keys. You get things like the @ € and ™ signs actually printed onto the number 2 key. This is repeated over the whole keyboard, with the relevant symbols printed on each key. Thanks Matias, this is a great time saver and worth the asking price for this alone.
You also get a full whammy USB 2.0 hub on the back of the keyboard. Older offerings from Apple let the side down here, with only USB 1.0 ports on their keyboards. Matias give us two USB 2.0 ports on the back and an extra one on the top of the keyboard, which is handy for USB keys, iPod syncing and the like... if you have an older generation iPod Shuffle you will find this brilliant. Over my test period this was really handy as I use USB flash memory keys quite a lot, so I did not have to stumble around looking for a spare port.
I like the USB 2.0 Keyboard from Matias a lot. It feels lovely to type on, compliments my Mac perfectly and puts those invaluable extra symbols at my fingertips. If you need a keyboard for your Mac, make sure this is on your shopping list.
Product: Matias USB 2.0 Keyboard (Mac)
Price: £25 (typical UK)
Supplied by: Matias Corporation
Contact: 1-905-265-8844 or info@matias.ca