Filed under: iPod Family, Peripherals
Coming Soon: Keyboard with iPod Dock
Via XYZ Computing comes this interesting tidbit. The popular gaming peripheral maker, Razer, will soon be releasing a keyboard with a built-in iPod dock. It's likely to cost $99 and will have a number of programmable keys and will almost certainly be USB 2.0.
I generally don't like most of the 3rd-party keyboards on the market, which I think are universally ugly and uncomfortable, but I do like the idea of a having an iPod dock in my keyboard. Should be interesting; this is one I'll be watching.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ralph said 9:43AM on 3-16-2006
Give me an ergonomic version (a la the MS Natural Elite) and I'll buy two.
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Seth said 9:50AM on 3-16-2006
This seems like a bad idea to me. First, the iPod will block the lower portion of any LCD used with a Mac mini or laptop attached to a display. It looks like it will also block part of an iMac display.
And, if you're using an old, flat-panel iMac (with the silver arm), forget about using your CD drive.
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Shaaheen said 9:58AM on 3-16-2006
Easiest way to hit the iPod to the monitor, especially when you play Battlefield 42.
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Brian Short said 10:36AM on 3-16-2006
[this is bad]
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Marc said 11:02AM on 3-16-2006
It looks about 3 feet long and about 20 lbs. heavy -- in other words clunky.
Razer should have put the dock above the Escape key or above the number pad.
Plus, I second Ralph's comment on an ergonomic version! MS Natural is my keyboard of choice.
Wouldn't it be funny if there were a MS Natural Elite with iPod doc! Bill Gates would poop his pants.
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Jer said 11:22AM on 3-16-2006
I took a trip to staples to replace the aging ms keyboard used for my mac/win setup at work (via a KVM). Not because the 3yr old keyboard was bad, just because the mac driver from ms (version 6, only one runs on intel macs?) no longer thinks the keyboard exists.
First ms keyboard (wireless photo?) didn't work: wasn't in the driver's list and none of the expanded keys could be mapped nor could I swapp opt/cmd (start/alt).
Second ms keyboard (wireless multimedia) mostly works: volume controls and key swapping work, but none of the extra function keys can be mapped. I figure it's a driver issue (i.e. first version on intel mac) and will eventually be fixed.
The really strange thing is that with the new keyboard there is now a new OS X item in my system preferences: Ink. ???
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BobMac said 12:05PM on 3-16-2006
1. I hate white keys (they always look dirty...I know, I should just wash my hands more than once a week.)
2. Maybe it's the picture, but that thing looks huge.
3. My desk has an under-shelf that slides out which holds my keyboard. This ain't gonna work.
4. Apple keyboard + dock = $70.
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BobbyW said 1:03PM on 3-16-2006
It's very bad. I would HATE having an ipod stuck in my keyboard.
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C said 5:42PM on 3-16-2006
It's www.razerpro.com
[Not a big deal, or anything...it's just a typo.]
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Nick V said 4:09PM on 3-17-2006
I tried out a prototype of one of these things at Macworld SF and unlike all the nay-sayers I was quite impressed. It's not as gargantuan as some have commented it looks, really it's only slightly larger than a normal keyboard in the width dimension (from the spacebar to the F-Keys) because of the wrist rest and dock. The wrist rest is not as large as it looks from the picture above because the picture was taken at an angle.
The extra keys should be highly programable from what I've seen of Razer's software. Another nice touch is that the dock uses Apple's new-ish adapter system like the iPod Hi-Fi so you can get an insert for any dock-able iPod. The other thing I noted from the prototype was that the keys were half-height rather than being as tall as traditional Apple keyboard keys. This made it feel a bit like a laptop keyboard which actually feels a bit better in my opinion.
The two downsides in my opinion are the reduced size function keys and the reoriented help/delete/home/end/pageup/pagedown buttons, but both these changes should be easy to adapt my typing style to.
I'm not sure why everyone thinks that this will interfere with a display. I can see perhaps a laptop but all regular iPod are only 4.1 inches tall (minis and nanos are even shorter) and so with the keyboard it wouldn't be more than 5 inches off the desk. Aren't most monitors (including all the iMacs) taller than that? Even if not I'm sure you could put it on a stand or book to raise it up pretty easily.
All of this was simply observed from a prototype that was on a big metal frame to hold it up rather than a real unit attached to a computer so things may be different on the final unit, but I'm definitely looking forward to this device. Assuming it's well reviewed I'll be picking one up.
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mike said 10:28PM on 3-17-2006
Huh???
If the iPod video really comes out, this will look a little like an Origami.. plug into keyboard and you can play 32-bit games..
hrm... not where Apple's heading
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