Review: Tactile Pro Keyboard

Reviewed By: Kirk Hiner

Review Date: September 14, 2003 [updated September 21, 2003]

Product: Keyboard

Developer: Matias Corporation

Minimum Requirements: Mac OS X v10.1, USB port

Retail Price: $99.95

Availability: Out now

Matias is right, by the way. The Apple Extended Keyboard was "the best keyboard Apple ever made." It was comfortable to use, the keys were responsive, and it was tremendously sturdy. I got one with my 9600 back in '97 (or was it the 6100 in '94?) and it still serves me well.

Matias also claims their new Tactile Pro Keyboard is nothing less than the Apple Extended resurrected, as it's built from the same keyswitch technology that Apple used on the Extended. Is their claim accurate? Well, if you don't believe in life after death, this may just make a religious person out of you.

Let's talk about some things we don't understand. As Matias explains, "the Tactile Pro Keyboard uses high-quality Alps mechanical key switches with enhanced tactile feedback for greater comfort and faster typing speeds." Like many of you out there, I have no idea what "high-quality Alps mechanical key switches" are or why they're good, so I'll describe it this way; they click.

Although the current Apple Keyboard and most of the third party keyboards I've used have all been comfortable, they've also been soft. There's little action to them. To me, it's like the difference between playing a piano and synthesizer. The piano keys have more action to them. More bounce. It's easier to tell what you're hitting when, and therefore makes your playing more accurate. The same thing goes for the Tactile Pro Keyboard. The enhanced tactile feedback provides a better feel for what you're typing, therefore making it easier to type.

That sounds odd, I know, but here's how it became readily apparent to me. On my old Apple Keyboard, I frequently found myself missing capital letters. My rhythm on hitting the shift key was off. With the Tactile Pro, that happened much less often. Another problem that seemed to correct itself was mistiming the space bar. Perhaps the typo I make the most is hitting the space bar too late between words so that, for example, the phrase "majestic frigate" would become "majesticf rigate." The Tactile Pro helped me correct that.

Now, is there a scientific reason for any of this? Can I back any of my results up with numbers and bar charts? I don't think so. But, whether I'm working on an Applelinks review, my novels or my web design work, I've been hitting that delete key a lot less than I was before.

I have been dying in games more often, though. Not sure what it is, but I prefer the smoother touch of the Apple Keyboard when running through abandoned spaceships or launching battles in medieval England. The softer edges of the keys are also more comfortable for the sliding necessary when gaming, but hey, that's what the Nostromo n50's for, right?

For many Mac users, though, there's more to the keyboard than how it feels. The aesthetically minded will be pleased to note that the Tactile Pro fits in quite well with Apple's current sanitized designs. They keys are white and the casing is white and transparent, making sure all those dog hairs and Combos brand cheese filled snacks crumbs will be visible for years to come. The layout also closely mimics the Apple Pro Keyboard, with full-sized keys across the board, a complete row of 15 function keys, four arrow keys and a number pad. Number lock and caps lock are both indicated by a thin green light when active.

The Tactile Pro sports two USB ports, one on each side of the keyboard. Two latches on the bottom can flip open to raise the back end about 3/4 inch off the desk, and rubber pads towards the front of the keyboard and on the aforementioned latches help to keep the keyboard from slipping around. They do a decent job, although I still found I could perhaps too easily slide the keyboard around, especially while playing games.

Now, with any third-party Mac keyboard, there are two items that need to be addressed: power switch and CD eject. The Tactile Pro does have a power switch just above the F12 and F13 keys, but I haven't been able to get it to work. I've tried it on three computers with the Matias driver installed, and had no luck each time. The CD eject key has given me no problems, but be careful there. If you have a newer Apple computer with no CD eject button on the CPU, make sure you install the driver off the provided CD before unplugging your old keyboard. Otherwise, you won't be able to insert the CD in order to install the driver. If you have an internet connection, you can download the driver from the Matias website. Otherwise, you're caught in a classic Catch-22.

Installing the driver will also give you access to the volume control keys which, on all three computers with which this keyboard was tested, worked just fine. Speaking of volume, though, let's talk about the noise factor. After using the Tactile Pro Keyboard for just about fifteen minutes, one of my coworkers was stopping just short of demanding I take it home to evaluate it as the noise produced by the keys was distracting her from her work. Now, I didn't mind so much, because it gave her something other than the cool temperature in the office to complain about, but I could see her point. I dug out my old Apple Extended and used them side by side for a while, and the Tactile Pro is indeed quite a bit louder. I'm not talking headache-inducing levels, but it can be distracting to those not using it.

Matias claims that the Tactile Pro is just as sturdy as the old Apple Extended, and they back up the claim with a 5 year "few-questions-asked" warranty. They've also apparently adopted a "few-answers-given" policy as there's little to no information on this keyboard at their website.

In the end, it's the feel of this keyboard that's going to sell the most units. Provided you have better luck with the power button, you lose nothing by switching to Matias' Tactile Pro Keyboard...save for the $100. What you gain, though is potentially a higher degree of accuracy and improved speed, and that will prove to be tremendously important. Just make sure that, if you share an office, you let your coworkers borrow your iPod when you're into some heavy typing.

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