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Charles Moore Reviews The MacAlly iceKEY Slim USB Keyboard Plus more harmonizing Mac ICEessories
My benchmark for computer keyboard comfort is the built-in keyboard of the PowerBook G3 Series WallStreet laptop. Having battled typing pain for years, I’ve sampled a lot of computer keyboards -- “ergonomic” designs and regular layout. Some have been better than others, but for me at least, most fall short with respect to the critical aspect of touch. I find that the physical layout of the ‘board is a lot less important to my comfort than the action of the keys themselves. I prefer short-travel, very light touch, smooth and even response, and a soft landing, all of which obtain in the WallStreet keyboard, and to a lesser but still satisfactory extent in more recent PowerBook and iBook keyboards. Unhappily, most freestanding computer keyboards have a relatively long key travel and a somewhat stiff touch, and too many have an “over center” non-linear variance in resistance as the key is depressed, especially membrane type keyboards. Landing hardness varies, usually softer with membrane types and harder with mechanical key switches. The worst case in my experience is the little keyboard the shipped with the original compact Macs. These make my hands and arms go numb after just a few minutes typing. Why can’t someone make a freestanding full keyboard with key action characteristics like those of a PowerBook keyboard? - - I’ve asked rhetorically many times. Well, now someone has. The new MacAlly iceKEY keyboard features the same sort of short-travel scissor-cross type key action and thin key caps as used in the PowerBook and iBook keyboards. 
The Macally iceKEY Slim USB Keyboard is designed especially to match the style of Apple’s dual USB iBook and flat panel iMac. This week I’ve been testing the MacAlly iceKEY keyboard, and I can say without reservation or equivocation that it’s the most comfortable freestanding computer keyboard I’ve ever used, with the possible exception of the radical Kinesis ergonomic keyboard with its concave key wells and unorthodox form factor. I wouldn’t rate the iceKEY’s action quite as highly as that of the WallStreet keyboard -- the keys are a bit stiffer to depress and have a slightly more “snap” to their response, but this is an observation, not a complaint. They’re pretty darned good. The iceKEY is an excellent, comfortable keyboard, and very reasonably priced as well. 
Not only has the does the iceKEY feel good, it looks great too. I love white stuff, and the iceKEY’s glossy white finish matches the white case of my new “Opaque White” 700 MHz iBook exactly. It will also harmonize nicely with the G4 Power Macs, iMacs, and the eMac, And white goes well with the aluminum and titanium PowerBooks too. The iceKEY is slim and sleek in form factor, (making it easy to store inside a keyboard drawer) with an ideal near-flat orientation (there are fold-down legs to elevate the back of the keyboard if you must), and its profile is low enough to make a palm rest superfluous. 
It’s a full, 108-key Mac keyboard, although there is also an extra, apparently dead key to the right of the right-hand Control key. There are USB ports at either end of the keyboard, and a generously long main USB cable for plugging the iceKEY in. Bright green LEDs in the upper right hand corner denote power, Caps Lock, and Num Lock. Interestingly, the system requirements specify a minimum all Mac OS 9.2 or OS X 10.1.5, although I found that the iceKEY worked fine with my Pismo PowerBook booted into OS 9.1. 
The only significant complaint I have about this keyboard is that there is no power key. I have no hesitation in giving the MacAlly iceKEY a full 5-A Applelinks rating.
iceKEY Specifications: MSRP for the iceKEY is $59.00 For more information, visit: More Mac ICEessories One of the biggest reasons to use an external keyboard with a PowerBook or iBook is the improve the ergonomics, especially if you use your ‘Book as a desktop replacement computer. Because the laptop monitor is attached to the keyboard, if you place the computer high enough for a comfortable viewing angle, the keyboard will be too high for maintaining healthy wrist posture. Conversely, if you place the laptop low enough for the proper elbows-at-90 degrees-wrists-flat body English, your neck will be cranked down at an uncomfortable angle. The U.S. Center for Disease Control recommends against using laptops as primary computers unless they are used in a way consistent with neutral posture: “The monitor should be placed so the top of the screen is at or just below eye level when seated in an upright position...Maintaining neutral postures will reduce stress and strain to the musculoskeletal system.” Alan Hedge, Prof. of Ergonomics Cornell Univ.recommends: “Beg, borrow or steal an external keyboard and mouse for desk work. ....be sure to elevate and position the screen to approximate looking at a real monitor.” And the most elegant way to do that is to use a laptop stand. Here are three that will nicely compliment the iceKEY keyboard. MacAlly ICEStand/ICEStation MacAlly’s soon to be released ICEStand/ICEStation (the name seems to be in flux as yet) facilitates using your iBook or PowerBook like a desktop computer. ICEStand will raise your ‘Book to comfortable eye level, plug in a keyboard and mouse, and voilà -- you have a space saving desktop computer. And of course, it will harmonize perfectly with the iceKEY keyboard. 
Features 
MSRP: will be $19.99 Coming soon. 
You can check it out at: iCurve Invisible Laptop Stand The iCurve is a laptop stand designed specifically for the PowerBook and iBook. A study in minimalist simplicity, the iCurve has no moving parts, and indeed there is just one part at all -- a sensuously bent and curved (hence the name) single bar of crystal clear plastic that forms a skeleton platform on which a laptop computer can be perched. Its main purpose is to better position the iBook or PowerBook in your permanent desktop environment. It does this in several key ways: 
• The iCurve conforms to health and safety standards, making your laptop safer and more comfortable to use all day. The TCO 95 Ergonomic Standards recommend a height of 16” to 17” for the top edge of a users display. These standards also recommend a user remain at least an arms length distance from the screen. Both of these key ergonomic standards are made possible using iCurve in conjunction with an external keyboard. • The iCurve is specifically designed to position the top edge of the Apple PowerBook G4 at 16” high. This is exactly the same height as Apple’s 17” LCD monitor. It’s also about the same height of Apple’s 22” Cinema Display. This makes iCurve perfect for tiling the PowerBook with Apple’s LCD monitors. With Apple’s 23” HD Cinema Display - that’s almost 3.4 million pixels of side-by-side screen real estate!!! 
• iCurve elevates your iBook off your desk - freeing up significant desk space for a full size keyboard and mouse. Although you ‘can’ type directly on your iBook while it’s placed on the iCurve, the addition of a full size Apple keyboard and mouse makes for the most comfortable long-term desktop experience. A few more small details: 
Price $ 39.99 You can check it out at the Applelinks Store Lapvantage Dome An unambiguous tribute to the styling of the flat panel iMac, the Lapvantage Dome Deluxe is also highly functional, and the Dome shape makes even more sense as a laptop stand than it does as a computer case. 
For example, the Dome Deluxe stand swivels 360 degrees on its circular base, something an iMac doesn’t do. This is very convenient, as you can easily spin the laptop around to reach ports and bays on the sides and back of the computer. The Lapvantage Dome is also designed to allow you to tuck an external keyboard up to 3.5” under the platform. This keeps you close enough to your laptop’s screen for comfortable viewing while preventing back and neck strain. 
The Lapvantage Deluxe is height adjustable. The laptop platform, which is made from clear polished acrylic, and measures 13.5” (width) x 11.25” (depth) x .25” (thickness), is attached to a 4/5th size colored (white or black) sub-platform, with both components through-riveted to yet another, 1/3 size aluminum base platform, which is screwed securely to a beefy, anodized aluminum angled support our which intersects with and retracts into the domed base at a 45 degree angle. The support arm is slotted on its lower limb, so that it can be raised and lowered, providing a range of platform-adjustment from 4 3/4 inches to 6 1/2 inches. The arm is secured at these levels or anywhere in between with a comfortably-sized to lock knob at the back of the Dome base, making height adjustment quick and convenient. Features 
Price $ 79.95 For more information, visit the Applelinks Store: Quill Mouse The Mouse shown in the photos above is the Quill ergonomic mouse. It isn’t quite the pure white of the iceKEY and the iBook, but it’s an appropriate compliment to the iceKEY as it’s the most comfortable mouse I’ve ever used. 
The Quill mouse has been in development for over a year, and has been biomechanicaly engineered to help minimize Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) -- disorders that occur from prolonged, repetitious use of limbs, and in the case of the mouse overuse, the hands through to the shoulder. 
he Quill is a “Grip-Less” mouse, which means that that it allows you to move the pointer without holding it, so your hand is relaxed. The “handshake” position created by The Quill guides the user into having the forearm at the same height as the mouse. The Wrist Guide then maintains the arm/wrist/hand configuration within biomechanically sound degrees of flex. 
Most of the mouse tracking movement is made from the elbow and shoulder rather than from the wrist or fingers. It takes some getting used to, and is not as precise as fine motor movements of the hand, but it is less stressful and more comfortable once you have become acclimatized. The Quill mouse comes in both right-handed and left-handed versions. For more information, visit: Speaking of mice, MacAlly makes several mice that will harmonize thematically with the iceKEY keyboard. MacAlly iceMOUSE The iceMOUSE is a stylish & clean full size white color mouse with application-specific programmable buttons and scroll. 
Features: System Requirements: Specifications: MSRP $39.00 
There is also a smaller iceMOUSE Jr.. details here MacAlly USB H2OMouse 
Features: Ê System Requirements: Specifications: Colors: MSRP: $19.00 MacAlly ICEpad The ICEpad’a specially designed air circulating channels reduces heat build-up from notebook computers. It’s elastomer coated surface will grip firmly on any objects placed on top of the ICEPad. It can be used both on a desk or on your lap. 
Recommended for : iBook and PowerBook Users Features: Specifications: 
For more information, visit: MacAlly iceCAD Graphics Tablet An Ideal tool for Apple’s OS X 10.2 InkWell for handwriting recognition, freehand sketches, or to simply use with your favorite graphic applications such as Adobe Photoshop to retouch your photos 
Features Specifications: Tablet Ê MSRP $ 49.00
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