Do MacAlly keyboards require drivers to function?

Question

I need to replace the keyboard on my iMac G5, and I'm considering the MacAlly keyboards, probably the iKey Slim as it's available for less than $20 with shipping and tax. It also has two USB ports on the back, which I need. My only hesitation is that I saw a review on Amazon that mentioned a driver problem. I'd prefer to avoid installing any drivers. The MacAlly site isn't of much help.

Can anyone tell me if MacAlly keyboards come with drivers? If so, are they necessary? If they are needed, am I best off buying an old Apple keyboard on eBay or is there another brand I should consider? (Kensington's Mac keyboard looks nice, but expensive.)

Answer 1

I severely doubt that you will need any drivers to make it work out of the box, as nearly all keyboards are just plug-and-play with the Mac, although it seems with this one you only need install drivers if you want to activate volume control and eject functionality. (if it's any help, the driver is located here). This driver appears to be rubbish, not very friendly and unreliable, so if volume control and eject keys are important to you, and you really want to avoid installing drivers, then you had better avoid this keyboard, in my opinion.

Replacements wise, Apple do great keyboards themselves, particularly the newer slimline style keyboards. These go for about £30-£45 on eBay. They do not, however, come in a wireless form with the numerical keypad, which I know will be a problem for some people. Apple keyboards come in laptop MacBook layout (wireless), MacBook layout (wired with extra USB port), and MacBook layout with numerical keypad (wired with extra USB port) variations. These all work right out of the box.

If you really want an Apple wireless keyboard with the numerical keypad, you can get help with that here.

In terms of others besides Apple's, I know logitech do some nice ones that work very well, but thats about all I can tell you I'm afraid.

Hope this helps.