Matias Tactile Pro keyboard
Aug 8, 2006I spend a lot of time at the keyboard, often upwards of eight hours a
day. A couple of years ago I [blogged about
keyboards](http://www.lonsteins.com/archives/2004/12/29/keyboards/)
and how I love the rugged Type-M buckling spring design. I keep a few
around with PS2 and USB adapters for home and work but for the Mac, I
was using a vintage 1990 Apple Extended Keboard II. This keyboard is
often referred to as the “Nimitz”, supposedly after its codename
during development, and the name is apt- it is huge and overbuilt.
I’ve been using it with an [iMate adb-usb
adapter](http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imate/) for years
and while the setup was sometimes dodgy, it usually worked. The
keyboard is not as industrial as IBM’s best and after sixteen years of
intermittant use the spacebar is showing signs of wear and the keyboard
is
suffering key bounce and missing key presses. So it was time to
replace it.
But replace it with what? I got my hands on a new, sans box
EnduraPro/104 a few years ago and it was a good keyboard. I used it
until the rubber nub on the pointing stick wore out but it wasn’t the
Type-M. I’ve seen one and think the Avant is overpriced, even for a
niche product. So I gambled that the reviews and comments on the
[Matias Tactile Pro](http://www.matias.ca/tactilepro/) were accurate
and bought one from [Small Dog](http://www.smalldog.com), my favorite
vendor for things Mac-related. It’s not cheap, but I hoped that the
price was an indication of quality.
I’ve been using it for a couple of days and, yes, it is a quality
keyboard. The first thing that struck me when I took it out of the box
was that it was relatively light. The second was that the little feet
to change the angle have two positions- up and down- and they are
slightly springy. It’s different from my old Nimitz, a little firmer,
the keys slightly smaller and the travel is maybe a little shorter but
it’s as good and maybe better. It’s firm and loud and within a few
minutes I didn’t notice the differences. I’m not making any more typos
than I do normally and I appreciate the two integrated USB ports. Back
to back, I prefer the old Type-M but I prefer the Tactile Pro to the
Nimitz.
Well done, Matias.