iConnect: Matias Tactile Pro 2.0 Keyboard
If you’re old enough to remember the IBM Model M keyboards or Apple Extended Keyboards, they had the great Alps keyswitches built into them. These switches made a nice, yet annoying, clickity clackity sound that users have come to love. Now, Matias has recreated it for the Mac - it’s the Tactile Pro 2.0.
You may be thinking, wow - what a big feature, a keyboard making more noise than it should, but there’s much more than just that. The Tactile Pro 2.0 includes a USB 2 dock on the side - most keyboards only have a USB 1 low-power port. This USB 2 dock allows you to plug in an iPod, or digital camera directly into the keyboard.
One downside is that you have to plug a second USB connector into one of your Mac’s USB ports - and if you use a MacBook like me, all your ports are then used. It would have been better if they integrated the keyboard and USB hub into a single cable.
The Mac version also has the special symbols printed on the keys, which is extra useful for international currency, copyright symbols, and even the Apple logo.
Honestly, we liked hearing the clicking sound of the keyswitches and the Tactile Pro 2.0’s USB 2 hub was a nice addition, but the price might not convince you to buy this keyboard at a hefty $149.95. A PC/Mac version is also available in silver/black for the same price. Either version of the Tactile Pro 2.0 from Matias will be available in August 2007.
Depending on how you look at it, the keyswitches could be both a good and a bad thing, so we won’t put that as a pro or a con in our book.
Pros
- USB 2.0 hub is innovative.
Cons
- Hub requires extra port.
- Expensive.
Final Verdict
4 out of 5 stars.
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The IBM keyboards did not use Alps keyswitches, they used a patented IBM buckling-spring technology.
While the Matias Pro keyboards are better than most (I have one), they do not hold a candle to the genuine IBM keyboard of the past.
While the young lament the loss of the IBM Model M keyboards, the more experienced know that the keyboard of the IBM 3278 display station (late 70’s) was the true pinnacle of typing pleasure.
VidKid
It’s noisy and there’s no CAPS lock light. Way overpriced. Don’t press the power button down too far or it will stick. Why can’t anyone make a decent keyboard for the Mac?
I didn’t think much of the Tactile Pro 2.0, as I describe here. In short, it has too many of the flaws the original suffers from and too few benefits, particularly given its high price.