11-12-2007, 05:52 PM

My family and I have been long time mac users. We have owned more macs that I care to even think about and have enjoyed them all until now. My problem is with the new macbook key board, I just can't get on to it. I have now had the computer for over 6 months and it's getting no better, I had hoped that I would go used to it in time but to no avail. It just feels like there isn't enough travel to the keys and they are in the wrong positions. Not only is my typing speed half of what it used to be on my previous ibook but I am constantly hitting the wrong key.

Aside from the key board I have also run into another problem with my mac book which is the lcd screen cracking. Now granted this is not entirely mac's fault but it cirtainly is not a difficult task to crack a macbooks lsd screen from what i have found. I would have hoped that they would have made them more durable as my ibooks were in the past.

Has anyone else suffered any of these issues?

11-12-2007, 09:31 PM

No one has any input?

11-13-2007, 08:34 PM

a lot of people swear by the the new macbook keyboard
Truthfully, I don' care for the macbook keyboard at all and like the keyboard on my pro much better.
However, I have only used the macbook keyboard once, and for only five minutes

11-14-2007, 03:05 AM

I personally like the keyboard on which I'm typing on now. At first it was a little awkward but now i'm used to it and prefer to use it over more conventional keyboards. However in saying that i could see how people wouldn't like to use it.
As for the LCD screen, i carry my macbook around college all day and it's held up well so far.

11-14-2007, 03:35 AM

Right from the first day of MacBook ownership i thought - this is how all keyboards should be made - basically i love it!

11-14-2007, 11:23 AM

i found my fingers would get caught on the corner edges of the PRO sometimes, but i liked the squishy feel of the pro.

the MB on the other hand, feels like little chicklets. still getting used to my MB, but overall, i like it more than the pro because of the lack of "catchiness."

11-14-2007, 01:50 PM

The Macbook keyboard (and it's direct descendant the flat aluminum external, both wired or wireless) is one of those love or hate kind of things. I'm ambivalent. I prefer my old school wireless external which I use at home, but at work I'll use the Macbook keyboard just fine. In fact I'm posting with it now.

If I had to use the built-in all the time I would be fine with it, but since I don't I'll use the external whenever possible. My main complaint with the built-in is you can press a key and register a felt click, but often even with the click I didn't push the key hard enough for the computer to register the character. This most often happens with the space bar when I'm sort of casually leaning back in my chair and I want to use it to page forward on a website I'm browsing. If I properly position myself over the keyboard it happens less often, but it happens enough for me to notice. Actually it happened a few times while typing this post, most notably the keys on the bottom just above the space bar. My finger didn't quite get enough purchase on the keys to type the character even though I thought I did.

My other complaint which is specific to the Macbook keyboard is the position of my palms astride the track pad. Depending on how my hands are arranged the heels of my thumbs will register on the pad and send my mouse cursor flying across the screen while I'm typing. Also since I have tap pad to click and two-finger right-click enabled, I'll often trigger a context menu while typing. To be fair, the track pad on my dell will do this too, but it's a little annoying.

My last complaint would be an application specific issue which is really more of a convenience thing. I use virtue desktops to do the Leopard Spaces like things with four virtual desktops. I have Mail and iChat in the top left screen, safari in the bottom left screen, iTunes and music editing stuff in the bottom right screen, and image editing stuff like photoshop in the top right screen. The key combo to switch to the respective screen is CTRL-SHIFT-arrow key. With my external keyboard I have a control and a shift key on both sides of the space bar, but the Macbook keyboard has them only on the left side with the arrow keys on the right. With my external keyboard I can do a screen switch with one hand since they're close enough together for me to reach all the keys. When I'm using the built-in at work, I have to use both hands. So say I'm taking a drink of soda and my wife IM's me while I'm on the web browsers, I have to wait until I've finished my swig so I can put it down to switch to the other screen. Granted I can use the mouse to hit the hot corner I set it to, but I'm very used to doing the keyboard shortcut.

Hey, you wanted to know, and we all know that Macs are all about convenience.

11-14-2007, 06:30 PM

sorry to say it dude but i love the macbook keyboard like u i moved from an ibook about 5months ago and for the first month had problems but i have even gone as far as getting one of the new apple keyboards as the spacing is just about the same as on my macbook

also i have been putting of getting a macbook pro as i love the macbook keyboard so much

11-15-2007, 12:35 AM

When trying the computers out at the store, I hated the MB keyboard enough to make me want to spend the extra cash on the MBP. But I wound up rationalizing the regular MB purchase, and wound up with that. After a few hours with it, to my surprise, I actually really like it. Maybe even more than the MBP keyboard. I'm thinking about upgrading to the Pro, as i'll be doing some video editing, and i'm worried I won't like the keyboard as much.

But that being said, if you've had the computer for 6 months and still hate it. I don't really see that changing at all. You can use an external keyboard, but other than that, there's not much you can do short of getting a new computer.

-Nick

11-15-2007, 10:17 AM

I prefer the Pro quite a bit... The new MB one is "ok" but I use a external whenever possible. Luckily I'm upgrading to a MBP soon, so I'll be good to go.