Picked it up for $99 at the Apple Store in town. I'd read numerous reviews online that indicated that this keyboard was notoriously unreliable, but I figured that they were a) over-exaggerated and b) my proximity to the Apple Store would make it fairly convenient to return.

Well, as it turns out, the low G on the keyboard stopped working after a couple of successful uses. Not surprised, I spent the rest of the day playing with only 3 octaves (not that big of a deal). While inspecting the keyboard, I noticed that there were no warranty seals of any kind. I figured, before I return this, I'd love to take it apart and find out how it works and why it failed.

Overall, I'm impressed. I'd have thought that it mechanically and electrically would be much more complex. In reality, it is a fairly simple, robust unit. There's not a whole lot to go wrong: the hammer mechanism is more thoughtful than I would have expected, and there are no exotic parts, making repairs of the keyboard down the line very simple. With the exception of a single micro-controller, all of the electrical parts could be purchased at Radio Shack.

The sensor to test how hard you hit a key (velocity) is especially interesting. It is merely 2 buttons which are set to be hit at different times when you press the key down. That way, it can time the duration between the two button actuations to determine key velocity.

All things considered, this thing is far less than $99 in parts. I'd guess around $5 in bulk. There is quite a bit of assembly (nearly 50 screws!) so maybe labor is nearly as expensive as the keyboard, even in China. Higher-end keyboards, often costing $500, had better have some space-aged technology compared to this!

Anyway, I took the thing apart to figure out why the G key wasn't working. I noticed that there was a _ton_ of solder speckled all over the PCB from the wave-soldering process. Its not far fetched to think that the mess could cause a short-circuit, so I scraped it all off. I couldn't find anything mechanically wrong with the button mechanism. Digging deeper, I found an odd resistance across one of the switching diodes for the G key button. I can't measure it for certain unless I unsolder the diode, but I would guess that it is bad.

I think I'll go ahead and try to get a replacement from Apple before I try to repair it. I'm sure they wouldn't notice, but I don't really feel comfortable swapping out parts on a unit before I return it.