Macenstein

It has been well documented that my love of blogging is rivaled only by my love of UTZ cheeseballs. This unfortunate battle for my affection has often left my MacBook Pro caught in the middle, with cheeseball encrusted keys. So when the good people at iSkin asked if I wanted to check out their new line of stylish MacBook Pro keyboard covers, I said “sure!”( with a muffled mouth full of cheeseballs).

Above: The MacBook Pro. Part of this complete breakfast! (Oh, admit it, you’ve wanted to do this too…)

Even if you do not eat cheeseballs while typing, odds are finger oil, dust and dead skin WILL eventually discolor your keys and work their way into your Mac. And if you work in a saw mill, forget it. That’s where the ProTouch Vibe comes in. The Pro Vibe line of keyboard covers are very similar to their other Pro Touch covers, the main difference being the four colorful “bubble-themed” graphics printed on them. Like all the iSkin Pro Touch covers, the Pro Vibes are constructed of a thin, flexible high-grade silicon which has been embedded with a Microban® antimicrobial concoction. This isn’t so much to stop germs and protect YOU from the swine flu so much as to protect the Vibe from bacteria which might discolor or stain the cover over time.

The Pro Vibe is designed to fit perfectly on your MacBook Pro’s keyboard, and it does. You basically just lay the cover down, starting on one side, and the gently massage the cover over the keys, making sure it makes a snug fit. After that you can just leave it on. Closing the MacBook is not a problem, and unless you do a lot of upside-down shaking of your MBP with the lid open, it likely will never move.

The printed characters on the Vibe are slightly larger than on the Mac’s actual keys underneath, which may be a plus to the more optically challenged. In addition, iSkin has printed the “Shift, Control, and Command” icons on the keys as well, in case you have trouble keeping straight the symbols for keyboard shortcuts. Another nice feature is that the silicone cover dampens typing noise slightly as well, in case you do a lot of typing in church, or while lying in a sleeping child’s crib.

Since the whole idea of the Vibe is to keep your keyboard clean, it stands to reason that it would get dirty. Luckily, the ProTouch Vibe is designed to be very easy to clean. Just lift the cover up, run it under the tap (or use some mild detergent if you are particularly messy), dry thoroughly, and you’re ready to reapply.

Issues

While I enjoy the ProTouch Vibe, after about 3 weeks of use I have come up with two issues which may or may not be issues to you, depending on how you use your Mac. The first issue is that I found that typing on the Vibe takes a bit of getting used to. While it is a thin material, and one that feels nice to the finger tips, it is just thick enough (or just rubbery enough) to cause me to make a few more type-o’s than I used to (which was a lot to begin with). After the first weeks I found the number of type-o’s lessened, and I have decided you basically just need to press a little harder than you do when typing without the cover. Most of my mistakes were key presses that did not register, usually on the far sides of the keyboard. The more I use it the less of an issue it is, but it’s just something to keep in mind lest you buy it and become discouraged early on.

The second issue is of more importance to me, as I live and work in a dark cave, far from human contact and standard wattage bulbs. The Vibe does not let the MacBook Pro’s backlit keyboard to shine through in low-light situations, so if you do a lot of nocturnal typing, you may find you need to temporarily remove the iSkin in order to see the keys.

One final thing worth mentioning is that while the iSkin covers your keyboard completely, the track pad is still exposed, so to quote General Tagge: “it is possible, however unlikely, they [rebel dust] might find a weakness and exploit it.” (only the coolest of readers will get that).

Conclusion

In addition to being a great way to both protect your Mac’s keybaord from snacking debris, construction dust, and bird droppings, the iSkin ProTouch Vibe keyboard cover for MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air can also be used to give your Mac’s monochrome design a much needed facelift. Costing $34.99 and available in 4 colors, the ProTouch Vibe may take a little getting used to, and does block out the Mac’s backlit keyboard, but if you work in a high-dust area, or are just a slob in general, you’ll want to pick one up.

Price: $34.99
Pros: Cool colors give your MacBook a facelift, does a great job protecting your Mac’s keyboard from oil, dirt, and dust
Cons: No backlit key support, typing can take a little getting used

(*Note: Macenstein was given the above product to review from the company and did not pay for it).