Matias Tactile Pro Keyboard

I know what you're thinking: just what in Sam Hill tarnation are we doing reviewing a keyboard? After all, keyboards aren't hard to get a hold of. Hell, you can't even walk down the street these days without tripping over a keyboard, so what makes this one any different? Well, the long and short of the Matias Tactile Pro keyboard is that it isn't different, provided you're nostalgically stuck (as many of us are) several years in the past. And that's what makes it great.

As I approach my 32nd birthday this coming fall, it's only fitting to lapse into bitter old man mode to set up this review. Of course, as all such rants have to begin with a hearty "in my day," here goes: In my day, our Macs were beige. They sported SCSI hard drives and NuBus expansion slots. And in my day, our Apple-made keyboards cost $129 extra and made as much noise as a passing freight train. But damned if they didn't just feel spot on to use, which is why I recall them so fondly. Keyboards, at least in my opinion, have slowly but surely gotten worse over time, and even the ones that now sport an Apple logo don't quite measure up to what I consider to be the pinnacle of creamy keyboard goodness, the late, great Apple Extended Keyboard II. Well, the good folks at Matias remember those days, and, more importantly, they remember those keyboards too. So their gift to the world (such as it is, considering the list price is $99) is the Tactile Pro, which attempts to capture the best of the old without sacrificing the newer stuff we expect keyboards to have these days.

Is it for you?

One's opinion of a keyboard is bound to be highly subjective, so I'm not going to pretend that the Tactile Pro will be the right solution for everyone. After all, there are some folks who don't care what they type on, and there are some folks who are so hyper-sensitive to every single keyboard subtlety that their tendons scream bloody murder if everything isn't just so. That said, there are aspects of the Tactile Pro that will appeal to a large majority of users, so I don't think it's a stretch to say that the Tactile Pro may just be the perfect keyboard for most everyone. And yes, Windows users, that means you too.

The main draw of the Tactile Pro, as the name suggests, is how it feels. Again, I know I'm treading in a huge sea of subjectivity here, so please, bear with me. To put it into the most technical terms I know how, the Tactile Pro eschews the "smooshy" feel that is the hallmark of so many modern keyboards (including, sadly, Apple's current lineup) in favor of the "clackety" responsiveness that was such a pleasure to use in keyboards of the past. Each key has a noticeable "point of impact," for lack of a better term, that provides tangible (as well as audible) feedback once the key is fully depressed. So, in addition to having additional sensory clues as to when a key is actually depressed, it becomes a lot harder to accidentally hit multiple keys at once. The end result, at least for me, is that having all the additional feedback re-injected into the typing mix caused my accuracy to shoot way up. Hard numbers? I don't have 'em. I just know that I'm typing faster, and with fewer errors. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I wouldn't be at all shocked to find that increased productivity is a natural side effect of Tactile Pro usage for most folks.

While the huge selling point is how it feels, Matias has packed everything one would expect in a modern keyboard into the Tactile Pro, and even some things one might not expect. The Tactile Pro is clearly inspired by Apple's current Pro keyboard offering, right down to combination transparent and white plastic finish (fig. 1). It's smaller in size than I remember my behemoth Apple Extended Keyboard II being; the Tactile Pro is comparable to Apple's more recent models. And yes, "recent models" in this context happily excludes the 1998-1999 era Apple cra(m)p(ed) keyboard and hockey puck mouse. Good riddance to those, and I shall not speak their evil names again.

Figure 1: Looks like an Apple, but it's not!

Of course, the Tactile Pro packs the full range of keys, including the F13-F15 function keys Mac keyboards are sometimes known for. It also sports the volume up, volume down, mute, and eject keys Apple has included for some time now. Panther users will find these all work as they are supposed to right out of the box, and Matias includes software drivers that enables the functionality of these keys for Jaguar users. Plus, the Power key is back! No, it won't boot up your Mac the way the AEK2 used to, but pressing it does invoke the Shutdown menu like it does on PowerBooks (or the Power key on your Mac desktop itself). Other than these keys, there isn't anything inherently proprietary about the way the Tactile Pro behaves; all the standard key combinations that one can press while the system boots work as they're supposed to. There's also a 2-port USB hub built into the Tactile Pro (one port on each side, like the Apple keyboard), which is perfect for mice, drawing tablets, keychain drives, dongles, or whatever else you need quick USB access to.

The one area of differentiation in the features area that the Tactile Pro offers is that it also comes with labeled keys (fig. 2) that reflect the option and option+shift modifiers for each key. So, for example, the "k" key also displays the degree symbol (option+k) and the Apple character (option+shift+k). With Panther's burial of the KeyCaps utility, this is a very welcome addition indeed for those of us that need to access the modifiers on a regular basis.

Figure 2: The labeling of alternative characters is a great idea, and one that is especially helpful for Panther users who may be frustrated with how inconvenient it is to access the KeyCaps utility nowadays.

Windows users, rejoice

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: for the first week I had the Tactile Pro, I was using it on Windows XP. Scandalous! You see, I was forced into using my test PC for "real" work while my PowerMac was in the shop getting a new power supply, so the Tactile Pro got its first real workout during my week-long exile in Windowsland. The verdict? It's just as great over there as it is on the Mac, with a few caveats:

• The keyboard has a Macintosh layout, so you'll find that the Alt and the Windows keys are reversed, and there's no right-click key like on Windows-only keyboards. There are utilities one can use to remap and assign various keys, which is definitely a recommended course of action, to result in a standard Windows layout.
• The volume and mute keys work just fine in Windows XP (not in 2000, though), but the power and eject keys don't.

Now, you may be wary about buying a Mac-friendly keyboard for everyday Windows use, but you definitely can enjoy all the benefits the Tactile Pro offers with just a little OS tweaking if you're so inclined. I've done it, and I can say firsthand that it's a very viable solution.

Not without some issues

Even with all the fabulous things to love about the Tactile Pro, there are a few problems I've unearthed so far. The first one (though not for me) are the little plastic risers on the underside of the keyboard that one can position to give the keyboard an angular lift. There are two of these little buggers, one on the left and one on the right, and when extended you get that nice slope that some users prefer. The problem is that while you're pounding on the keys, the risers have just a little bit of spring in them that creates what is, in effect, a constant bouncing effect. It's subtle, but definitely noticeable. Fortunately, this isn't an issue for users like me who don't like their keyboard in lift mode, but it could definitely pose problems for those of you who prefer to have them extended.

Another issue was one of those "at first" things, and is one that has become less of a problem over time, but still is somewhat bothersome. I'm speaking about how the singular "point of impact" that gives the Tactile Pro such a great feel becomes problematic when keystroke combinations are used. Now, I don't know about you, but as a Mac user, I do have occasion to press the Command key plus another key at the same time to invoke shortcuts. I know, it's a radical habit, but it's a habit nonetheless. I find that often during the "heat of the moment," I've already pressed and released the Command key before I type the modifier key, so the stroke doesn't register. I'm several weeks into using the Tactile Pro, and it's an issue that hasn't entirely gone away, though it has gotten a lot better over time. Just a warning, I guess, because it hasn't been consistently frustrating enough to make me stop loving this thing.

The next item is obvious—the Tactile Pro is one noisy beast. Some folks may be in cubicle situations where a loud keyboard is a definite no-no, and others (like myself) have a dedicated cave where making noise isn't a problem. It's easy enough to ignore the clacks the Tactile Pro makes when you're the one making them, but others will definitely notice. So, on this issue, just be warned that a quiet typing experience is not in the cards as far as the Tactile Pro is concerned.

But by far, the biggest "oops" in the Tactile Pro is the Caps Lock key. It's not like the others—it's soft. It's altogether way too easy to activate accidentally during a trip to the "a" key, and that's inexcusable. There's nothing more train-of-thought-derailing to start "shouting" in the middle of a sentence, and it's an issue that caused me to hunt down a utility to disable the Caps Lock key entirely. To me, it's a useless key anyway, so I don't miss it. But for those who still rely on a functioning Caps Lock key, the softness of this one key could be a dealbreaker.

Summing Up

I've used the Tactile Pro for about six weeks now, and it's safe to say that I'll never go back to those smooshy keyboards I've had to endure for so long. The Tactile Pro is, quite simply, one of the finest keyboards I've ever used, and for someone like me who pounds on their keyboard extensively each day, the extra cost for something of this quality is completely justified (and yes, I purchased mine just like everyone else has to). The Caps Lock key fiasco means that it misses out on our highest rating, but an enthusiastic "Strong Buy" is definitely earned here. Unfortunately, hardware doesn't give you the option of a downloadable tryout version, so you'll have to take a leap of faith and bite the bullet if you decide that the Tactile Pro might be for you.

The Matias Tactile Pro keyboard is available now for a list price of $99, though it's easy enough to find in the $80 range at various resellers.

Filed under: Review on June 30th, 2004

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