Lazerwood Keys for Apple MacBook Pro - Walnut

My experience is listed by topic below.WHAT IS IT: For clarity about the product itself, these are neither new keys or just stickers. These are key toppers comprised of a thin layer of wood-veneer that is mounted onto a 3M adhesive strip and then cut to fit the shape of the keyboard keys. So, these key toppers have an actual thin wood veneer with adhesive backing. (Please note that I did not install these key-toppers until after I put a screen cover on my laptop to protect the screen. I don't know if the keys actually touch the screen when the laptop is closed, but in the event that this is the case I wanted the screen to be protected.) INSTALLATION: It is true that applying these adhesive key-toppers takes some time due to the precision required, but the whole project only took me about 1/2 hour. It's really more about just having the patience to do it then it is about the task being all that demanding. I did not find it to be difficult to remove the key-toppers from the adhesive backing prior to application (some people reported this problem).TIP: Due to the key toppers being very thin, I would suggest removing them along the wider portion of the key rather than the narrower portion as the wider portion will be sturdier and less likely to cause bending. (I.e. to guard against potential bending, remove the keys from the 'north' or 'south' side of the keys, rather than from the 'east' or 'west side'.)PROTECTION AND FEEL: I like the benefit of the added feel (or 'tooth') that these key-toppers provide while also protecting the keys. Keystrokes are just as crisp with the key-toppers applied. I used some of the leftover pieces to create small raised nodes on the "F" and "J" keys so that I know my hands are in the correct position to type (save what is leftover so that you can do this as well if you wish).VISUAL AFFECT: The visual affect really is better in-person than the pictures show. Even though I haven't had this installed for a long period of time, the product is noticed and receives a great deal of complements. When I use my laptop outside my residence, I am frequently asked questions by complete strangers about where I purchased this and the name of the company that makes these. The aesthetic created by the key-toppers looks good and people notice it. The lettering on the keys was a little bit light for my taste, so I used a thin-tipped permanent marker to darken just the letters a bit. It seems to have worked well and has made the keys easier to read at a glance. I must admit that I cannot understand why some people have reported that they cannot see the keyboard back-lit after installing these key-toppers. The back-lighting of the keys is still visible; what is not visible is the back-lighting of the key letters and symbols on the surface of the keys as the wood veneer toppers prevent the light from shining-thru. I can still see some of the back-lit area after installing the key toppers, although the light is a bit muted.VALUE: This is the hardest part of the review to write, because in the end it's subjective for each person. Also, with this product, one can't really get a sense of how it looks or any sense of how it feels (tactile sense) until after it's been ordered and applied. For me, I like both the aesthetic and the feel. The price is tough call. If I had to guess, there is probably a unit cost of about $3 dollars worth of materials here and let's be generous and call it $2 in labor costs. For the sake of argument, lets double this just to be safe and say the total unit cost for the manufacturer is $10. That's still $30 in pure profit. I work in hi-tech, and even our margins are not anywhere near 300%. The problem here is that no one else is making these. So, unless another company starts manufacturing this item, then there will be no price pressure on Lazerwood to reduce price. I think $40 is stiff--a bit too stiff. On one hand I like the product, but on the other hand I feel price-gauged.Also, I should note that more people comment on the notebook shell skin then the keyboard toppers. The notebook shell I purchased is available by XGear for any size and model of MacBook, and the notebook shell skin both covers a larger surface area of the computer and is more visible than the keyboard. For pure surface area protection, if I had to prioritize one product over the other--then I would prioritize the shell skin over the keyboard key toppers (but that's just my preference).I paid for these products for personal use and did not receive any compensation. In addition, this review was not requested by Amazon or by the manufacturers/distributors. If you have any further questions, please feel free to post it as a comment and I will respond if I can be of help.

I wouldn't call these "keys". They are wooden stickers that go on top of your existing keys. I was hoping to pop off all my plastic keys and pop in nice new wooden keys, this was quite disappointing. The keys also make the backlights useless. It takes me longer to find the keys to adjust volume, brightness, etc when using laptop in the dark. Since the key covers have some thickness to them, they make typing on my Mac feel foreign. I have been using them for a little over a week and my typing speed is definitely down.

I've had these vinyls for a year now, and in time it, the wood just get better with age. One thing I would of wished this product had was painting the characters on the keyboard or lining the characters because it's difficult to see the engravings. Overall, I would recommend this product to anyone if they're comfortable with the engravings being so light and not being able to see the letters.

They were nice and worked but didn't like that they backlit keyboard didnt work with these

Product arrived on time and was incredibly easy to apply. Worth the price and looks amazing!

I can't see the letters at all. I ended up removing them

These parts that cover your key look and feel nice.

I have a 13" MacBook Pro. I was looking at this technological marvel and I thought to myself, "I wish this looked more like a 1976 Chevrolet Chevette Estate Coupe." It was a chore to place each of the 79 tiny, industrial-strength appliqués, but I can't imagine a better way to get these accurately placed, either. It feels nice under the fingers, further dissipating the machine's heat so that it becomes kind of pleasant.