DSI Compact Mechanical Switch Mac Keyboard with one USB port, USB Interface, SMK-88

List Price: $89.00 Discount Price: $85.99

Features:

• Sleek design matches with Mac.
• Advanced Cherry Mechanical switch technology.
• Comes with built in USB port on end for addition peripheral!
• Mac Compatible.
• NOT manufactured by Apple.

Customer Reviews:

Starting to really love the clickiness [Posted on 2007-06-28]
I bought this keyboard about 1 month ago, and though it feels kind of cramped at times, I'm starting to really love the light touch and clicky feedback. I used to use a Macally Icekey, but that's already been relegated to back-up keyboard status. It really is more satisfying to get a rhythm going on this keyboard.

The one downside I can think of this keyboard is its placement of the arrow keys directly under the enter key. I've hit that by accident plenty of times, though I'm slowly adjusting to it. Also, the sound volume keys are squeezed into the left side, and I sometimes slap those when I'm going for the tab. But overall, those are fairly minor quibbles because the key action is so responsive and consistent.

Mini Mac Keyboard [Posted on 2008-07-17]
compact Design with cherry Mechanical Switch. The foot print is good and it has all the keys and functions I needed for typing the college paperwork. It also has a USB pass through port. I took me a while to find a true Cherry switch keyboard and I don't know if there are anyone else making the keyboard with Cherry mechanical switch and DSI is the only company I have found that still provide the traditional mechanical keyboard. Good keyswitch feeling and good feedback. Great keyboard.

Mighty Mac Mini [Posted on 2008-07-17]
You have a Mac because you want more navigation, programing compatibility, and reliability; why settle for anything less in your keyboard. I was looking for a Cherry Mechanical keyboard and purchased the Black stem, MX switch SMK 88 from Dih Shin International. Not only is it compact and reasonably priced, it's the reason I was looking for mechanical switches...tactile experience!

best keyboard I've ever had [Posted on 2008-07-22]
This is the best keyboard I've ever owner, not too expensive and was delivered in record time....thanks dsi

Finally, a compact Mac keyboard with mechanical key switches! [Posted on 2008-08-13]
I've only been using this keyboard for about 8 hours now, but my initial impression is highly favorable. I love the key action. It isn't a "clicky" keyboard like the classic IBM "buckling spring" Model M, but its Cherry mechanical switches definitely have a more precise feel than your run-of-the-mill dome switches that are used with most PC keyboards nowadays. The key travel and pressure required feel just about perfect to me.

Also, I really like the layout. The size and positions of all the keys are just about perfect for a compact keyboard. The keyboard doesn't skimp on the size of the Shift, Delete, Return or modifier keys. I thought that the placement of the Up Arrow key being so close to the Return and Right Shift keys would be a problem, but I haven't had any issues with that so far.

There are a few downsides that keep me from giving this keyboard a perfect 5-star rating. First of all, the keyboard does not contain a USB hub. It does have a USB pass-through port, but I'm not quite sure what the point of that is. This seems like an odd omission for a relatively expensive keyboard. Second, it does not have a Num Lock key. It does have a set of keys that do double duty as a numeric keypad, but you have to press and hold down the Fn key to use them. Finally, there are 3 LEDs on the top right, but as far as I can tell, only one of them (the one that lights up for Caps Lock) ever lights up. This is a very minor detail, but as a design freak, these little things annoy me.

NOTE: Not all "Cherry mechanical switch" keyboards are the same. I learned this lesson the hard way when I purchased a Cherry G81-1800LUMUS-0 keyboard last week. The key action on that keyboard was just awful. It required significantly more force to press a key than any other keyboard I've ever used. After a couple days of using that keyboard, my fingers were tired! That's when I decided to place the order for the DSI SMK-88.

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