Keyboard Protection

[Moxxa]

Hi Folks,

 

We have quite a number of desktop imac's spread across the site, and everything is working fine.

However in one particular area, a "shared learning space" we are seeing a lot of damage to the keyboards.

 

It looks like it’s going to cost around £1,000 to replace all the damaged ones, but rather than just replace and have them pulled apart again I’d like to invest in a protection solution.

 

I've been googling around for keyboard protection but the only things I can find really are keyboard covers, which look rather nifty - but wouldn’t quite cut it.

Has anyone implemented or come across a form of protection that can't be removed by the little cherubs, stops keys from being lifted off while maintaining a sleek appearance as much as possible?

 

 

Many thanks,

[Zourous]

Never heard of anything like this, but would be interested if anyone knows of anything out there. You could just buy some cheap white PC keyboards. If they are going to wreck them regardless, it might as well be cheaply replaceable. We run Windows on our imacs so a PC keyboard can do the job, but not sure if there could be a key issue if you're using the mac os.

[Norphy]

The main difference between a "Windows" and a Mac keyboard is that the Mac keyboard has the F13/F14/F15 keys (which I've never seen used for anything and aren't on Macbooks anyway) and that the Alt and the Windows/Mac keys are the other way round. These can be swapped in software if deemed necessary.

 

The only thing you do lose are the keyboard based brightness and volume controls but that doesn't bother me that much on my iMac at home. Personally I'd just buy a shedload of cheapo keyboards and tell them that that's what they're getting until they can learn how to look after their kit.

[Moxxa]

Hi Zou, Norphy,

 

Thanks for the speedy reply. Unfortunately (as much as I would like to throw in some £3 Kensington’s) I need to replace these like-for-like. This particular area is quite the "show room" that is used to host all our community and open evening events - so needs to look the dog’s dangers.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Moxxa

[Zourous]

Would be a pain depending on how often the community and open evening events were, but could you not use cheap keyboards during the school day and then replace with the nice ones when needed?

[limawhiskey]

@Moxxa - did you ever find a solution?

[Zourous]

We got some of these from Amazon (unavailable at the mo) but try the link below for the same product. They are cheaper, look similar and I've had no complaints with any incompatible keys, although we do run windows on all macs.

 

Digiflex | Rakuten.co.uk Shopping: TRIXES White USB Slim Keyboard for Windows or Mac Plug and Play Free Cover