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Comment by dotancohen | Hacker News Reader

If you like those keyboards for the keys - and those Alps are the reason that those keyboards are still desirable today - then you might want to check out Matias. They have a terrific Alps clone. It feels amazing, and honestly the split Matias Pro has the best layout I've ever used.

That said, the quality is junk. Each $250 keyboard lasted me one year, no longer. That said, even with the high price and low service life, the Matias Pro is so much more comfortable than any other keyboard that I still consider it a good value for the money.

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The issues with Matias's build quality are one of the reasons I actually just went and bought a used Apple Standard Keyboard, one of the predecessors for the Extended Keyboard as described in the article. I'm typing on it right now. The thing is built solidly and the switches are still great after all of these years. The biggest issue was cleaning the thing, in all honesty. The Apple Standard Keyboard gets some flack for its odd key layout, but I spend most of my time in Vim anyway, so the layout actually works well for my workflows.

Yup, had a Matias Ergo Pro and it always broke. I had piles of broken Matias halves. However, since it used standard tripod screws on the bottom to attach the palm rest I was able to hack it to be vertical which was just glorious. https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79810.0 I used a Kinesis Freestyle before that and Ascent accessory which allows for 90 degree tenting is steel and 4lbs, not great for travel. I just checked, it's also over 220 dollars. Not great. The setup I linked to above would be the ideal vertical travel keyboard if Matias could make a reliable keyboard but they can't. I am out of ideas currently.

Not a split layout, but I made a 60% keyboard with Matias switches and Apple key caps. It's been my daily driver for about two years with no problems.

Shameless blog plug: https://nathandemick.com/2022/03/building-a-custom-apple-key...

love my matias ergo pro, but did have to replace two switches (soldered them myself) within the first few months (and it's been fine for years since)

the medium term reliability issues are such a shame, the design is so comfy

> Each $250 keyboard lasted me one year, no longer.

I'm rocking the same Happy Hacking keyboard since so many years I don't even remember how long. Eight years? I think Topre switches are rated for something insane like 10 million keypresses each key: forgot the actual number but it's just bonkers. I don't remember the actual price for I got a family member buying it for me in Japan but IIRC it was approximately $200 back then.

As a sidenote I've got that very same Apple Extended II model M3501, as the one in FTA, in my basement.

The HHK is nice, but I need Function keys and arrow keys (even if I mostly live in VIM). I don't like layers as some IDEs already have triple bucky key combos. And I far prefer a split keyboard, even the MS ergonomics are great (typing on a decade-old Pelvis now).

Matias makes a bunch of other Apple clone keyboards but the ones in question are the Tactile and Quiet lines. I thought they'd discontinued both, but it looks like the Tactile Pro is still available. The catch is those keys are NOISY. The Quiet Pro, which is much closer to Apple's Alps keycaps, seems as if it's still discontinued. Both were priced around $150 IIRC.

But, yeah, the longevity is shit.

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