Keyboard Question

I'm a new mac owner, long time mac user being a music major at college. I have a macbook pro, and am looking into getting a keyboard and mouse. I didn't want to pay the premium for a mac keyboard. I saw this one on newegg, and liked the price, but heard some bad things in one review. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126182

The review says, "Cons: DO NOT BUY THIS. Two HUGE problems with this combo: 1a) If you disconnect the wireless receiver from the computer, and then reconnect it without restarting, the entire functionality is *crippled* and combination keys are worthless. For example, Apple + Tab outputs the German language grosse letter instead of switching applications. Also, none of the media buttons work. You *must* restart to regain this functionality. 1b) If you started your computer without the wireless receiver hooked up, the same problems in 1a apply, rendering the functionality worthless. 2) The main reason this product sucks. After a couple of hours using the mouse, your pinky finger becomes completely numb and begins to hurt tremendously. I do not have over-sized hands, they are normal. The mouse needs an extra half inch on its right side for your pinky to rest itself on and this problem would be alleviated."

Can anyone here confirm this? Have these issues been fixed since this was reported in September? Can anyone recommend any other keyboards? Is the apple one really the best option?

Also, I need the keyboard to have a numberpad. I use a music notation program called sibelius that utilizes the numberpad for note input, making working on the laptop a chore sometimes, definitely a productivity decrease.

I also considered just getting a seperate numberpad, but decided I could use a keyboard for ergonomics anyway.


Any suggestions and insight would be much appreciated.

I like Logitech's mice just fine, but their keyboards seem to leave a lot to be desired. And wireless keyboards in general just aren't a good idea. The batteries go dead at the least opportune time... bluetooth keyboards are useless until the OS booted to a point it can load drivers for them (and there are instances when you NEED the keyboard before then). But then you are pairing it with a Macbook, so I guess that's not especially important.

As for recommendations... well I've always been very fussy about keyboards even before I "switched" to OS X (I can't stand cheap ones with too soft a touch to the key presses), and I like my Apple keyboard just fine. I have the older "white" one, not the newer aluminum one though. If I was to buy a 3rd-party one, I'd seriously look at the Matias models. I've never used one myself, and they aren't cheap, but they are supposed to be very well made. They have a new folding model coming out which you may like since you are pairing it with a laptop.
http://matias.ca/products/index.php

Is there anywhere I can still find the old white apple keyboard? those seemed nice. I'm still on the fence about the new one. It seems too thin. It looks nice, but I'm not sure it will feel right.

White keyboard

Check out ebay

saxomophone said:

Is there anywhere I can still find the old white apple keyboard? those seemed nice.

Click to expand...

Amazon.com has them listed as still available.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000ACOBG/?tag=macforums0e4-20