Cat-waxing task of the day

[ksmith]

Giving the iMac's keyboard an alcohol scrub. I mean, I love my Macs, but the white keyboards are really, really an exercise in aesthetics over common sense.

Comments

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

When I was looking to purchase a new laptop this past winter, I had narrowed the choices down to an HP or Compac. The Compac had a silver keyboard and the HP had a black one. The black keyboard was the deciding factor. Smart monkey. I remembered all those disgusting taupe keyboards.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

The iBook isn't quite as bad as the iMac. Its keyboard is removable for cleaning, although I have yet to attempt this. It's also more a matte white/palest grey that doesn't show grime as readily as the iMac keyboard, which is shiny white.

I am seriously tempted to track down a keyboard cover, assuming anyone still makes them.

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

Removable!? What a cool concept!
Do you have any trouble with white glare off the keyboard?
That was another reason I steered clear of the silver grey keyboard.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

No glare issues. Just grime.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

And upon futher review, the iMac keyboard shows itself to be more matte than shiny.

It's also still dirty.

Oh well, I think they may be an Adesso Mac keyboard with touchpad in my future anyway. The wireless keyboard/mouse was neat for a while, but the mouse goes through batteries like anything, and my desk doesn't have a mouse platform, just the keyboard tray. The mouse is too high if I put it on the desk proper, and if I put it on the keyboard tray, I have to tilt the keyboard at an angle.

I like that Adesso...

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I recently bought a Mac - my first ever - and separately an ergonomic keyboard which came with a thin plastic molded sheet that covers it.

What word processing program do you use?

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I recently bought a Mac - my first ever - and separately an ergonomic keyboard which came with a thin plastic molded sheet that covers it.

Oh--could you let me know the model number/name?

I opted for the wireless keyboard/mouse combo. and while I like the convenience of being able to kick back, keyboard in lap, and not worry about pulling out cords, an ergo board would be nice. I had one with my PC, and it kept my shoulders from tightening up.

I should probably just Google "wireless Mac ergo keyboard" and see what I get.

What word processing program do you use?

Word for Mac. I bought Office X for Mac when I bought the iBook last year--it has Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Entourage, which is a mail/newsreader. You can also buy Word for Mac separately.

I've had good luck with it. I used Move 2 Mac to move all my images, Word files, and such from my PC to my iMac, and all my books and other files transferred just fine. No trouble opening files in either the iBook or the iMac. I don't know if you already know about Move 2 Mac, but it's a great tool.

FYI, Office X is an older version. I think there's one update ahead of it, and I've heard folks complain about it. They've gone so far as to uninstall it and go back to Office X.

Another FYI--there is a Mac users group on SFFNet that is visited by some very Mac-knowledgeable people. If you have a problem, it's a good place to try to find an answer.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

Keyboard:
Adesso AKB 805MAC

I like it, although the key action is quite light (I prefer a keyboard where you have to make heavier strokes). It's very like my Microsoft ergo keyboard for the PC, only it has extra Mac keys that actually work!

Move2Mac - wow, I hadn't heard of this, and I haven't even started the transfer process. Cool! Do I have to buy it? download it? Where does one get it?

I do have Word for Mac, but I have a particular dislike of Word. Right now, I'm leaning toward Nisus Writer Express if I can't get WP to work well on Virtual PC. Nisus can import WP files - clumsily if in wpd format or reasonably well (only without page numbering and header, for some reason) if in rtf format.

But I'm still undecided.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Info about Move2Mac:

Review: http://www.macworld.com/2003/02/reviews/move2mac/

Buy it from the Apple site: http://www.apple.com/switch/howto/software.html

If you check out Amazon, you'll see a *lot* of negative reviews. I personally did not have a problem with it--I learned about it from Ray Feist, who swore by it. What was even better was the fact that I had an old PC with no USB port--I was very happy to find that Detto made a Win95 version of Move2Mac with a parallel/USB cable. I paid about $45 for the program.

The things I was most worried about moving were the books and notes--those moved with no issues. It also moved my images and pictures. I don;t think it moved emails, but I didn't care about those. I backed up my entire PC hardrive on zipdisk prior to the move, so everything is as accessible as it can be.

I know some folks have issues with Word. I've used it all my working life, so it's the devil I know.

Thanks for the info about the keyboard. I prefer a lighter action myself--I'll reread something I just typed and find I missed letters because I didn't hit the keys hard enough.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Wow, Adesso also has a Mac ergo keyboard with a touchpad.

I'm a touchpad person.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Move2Mac info.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Adesso info. I just bought the ergo keyboard with touchpad.

Good ol' Torcon refund.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

There's a veritable Mac orgy going on around here. I started trying to talk my sister into getting one - she was receptive.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Just curious--why did you make the switch?

I had been considering Macs for a year or so, mostly in order to get away from viruses, spyware, and such. Got the iBook in Feb 2004 because the old Gateway laptop was on its last legs. I was planning on holding off on a new desktop until the old Gateway collapsed into a smoking heap on my desk. Then I saw the new iMac G5s. Fell head over heels, and that was all she wrote.

Except for the occasional inability to play some film clips and view the odd webpage, I honestly don't see a lot of difference. Some of the keyboard differences required some adjustment, but I coped.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I think mostly I just wanted a change.