Microsoft Office Keyboard

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Nifty Keyboard from a "Keyboard Picky" User.
Review:

First of all, let me say that I am very picky about keyboards. I like a tactile feel and even like a mechanical key-click. This puts me in the minority, I know. Having said that, though, I admit to really liking this Microsoft Office keyboard (for the most part). The alpha section feels really nice. It's high-quality, and even though it's a bit soft for my touch, the keys have a very positive feel to them. I wouldn't call it mushy.

I like the roller bar to the left, which lets you scroll up and down the way a wheel mouse typically does. I also like having "Back" and "Forward" buttons over there on the left side. I haven't gotten the knack for using the "Cut," "Copy," and "Paste" buttons yet, however.

The extra buttons across the top are very handy... especially useful is the "Mail" button, which (on my machine) brings up Outlook Express.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this product. Unlike the other reviewer, however, I have to say I DON'T like the oversized delete key. It makes that whole section of the keyboard feel strange and unnatural to me. (Take a close look at the section of the keyboard where the "Home," "End," and "Page Up" "Page Down" keys are located and you'll see what I'm talking about.) Make sure you are willing to adjust to this before you purchase this keyboard.

Additionally, I would have appreciated some USB ports. A friend of mine got the Microsoft Internet keyboard, and if I had it to do over again, so would I.

Still, if you're heavy into MS Office... this is the one to beat!

I give it 4 stars... not 5, but only because of that "Delete" key weirdness. Overall, it's a dandy!

Rating:
Summary: What were MS thinking? I'm left scratching my head..
Review: A few other reviews have pointed out how important your keyboard is and I wholeheartedly agree. Keyboard & mouse form the majority of your interaction with your PC and it makes sense that they're spot-on. And since it's not exactly a "budget" item, from not exactly a "budget" brand, we're expecting a quality performance - right?

Well, this seems to be one of those occasions where some of MS's decisions seem to go against the rules of what Human Computer Interaction & Ergonomics have to teach us.

On the positive side, the keyboard mechanism itself is good - reminiscent of good cherry keyboards of yesteryear. However, despite the large footprint (thanks mainly to the 3" wrist rest that extends across the bottom and up the left hand edge) it's actually a compact keyboard... verging on cramped. Shame, that's a pretty major problem for a keyboard to have.

Yes, the "USP" is that they've introduced extra functionality - from extra buttons across the top (volume, launch word, excel etc.) to a roller unit with buttons on the left of the keyboard that allows you to scroll, cut, copy, paste, etc. Needless to say, you can configure and re-configure the buttons to suit your taste but most people will never delve this far and just accept it on default settings. And every MS office keybie user I know agrees with me. So why isn't it "right" out of the box?

Now, I could whine about the fact that the right-hand windows key is gone (probably because they couldn't afford the space - the distance betwen the right hand CTRL key and the left hand cursor key is the smallest of any keyboard I can remember), or I could moan about what they've done to the delete key - it's all very well they've made it double height but why did insert have to go far, far away? Or how the End key is where you'd expect pg up to be (they put an almost opposite function in it's place - nice design decision!) And I could bemoan the fact that, in default config, the function keys (e.g. alt+F4) don't do what you'd expect them to. For no good reason (they've mapped a specific Close key to F6, why not F4 where everyone's expecting it?) Crazy!

But the truth is, all of these foibles could be learned and worked around. But I want to make this point: you *can't* go drastically re-arranging keys on a keyboard like this. Why? Because you will be LOST if you have to use another (non-rearranged) keyboard again. So, you have to decide whether the extra functions here are worth having, versus learning a keyboard that may make using a normal keyboard a pain.

And as far as I'm concerned, the answer is an emphatic NO. Especially as logitech offer a keyboard with similar functionality, nice typing action and NO nasty unnecessary key re-arrangements. Try both and tell me you can honestly see why MS had to mess around with the tried and tested layout?

Rating:
Summary: M$ Monopolgy Act IV
Review: As a keyboard I found it fairly easy to use; however it really disturbs me how M$ uses every other product to bind the used into another product. IE is mandatory with M$ Office. This Keyboard makes you naturally a M$ Office user, etc.

I use Linux...totally M$-free and this keyboard makes ZERO sense as it seems totally ludicrous.

Still, if you've bought into the M$ doctrine, it's a good keyboard to facilitate M$ Office.

Rating:
Summary: M$ Monopolgy Act IV
Review: As a keyboard I found it fairly easy to use; however it really disturbs me how M$ uses every other product to bind the used into another product. IE is mandatory with M$ Office. This Keyboard makes you naturally a M$ Office user, etc.

I use Linux...totally M$-free and this keyboard makes ZERO sense as it seems totally ludicrous.

Still, if you've bought into the M$ doctrine, it's a good keyboard to facilitate M$ Office.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Keyboard!
Review: I almost did not buy this keyboard based on negative reviews by "power users". However, their negatives do not apply to the way I use a keyboard and I find a design emphasizing business use very appealing. Potential purchasers should evaluate this keyboard for themselves, and not simply accept what others say. This keyboard has much to offer for the right user.

1. The power users dislike the new Function keys. I never used the standard Function keys but find the enhanced keys are quite useful.
2. I find the re-arrangement of the control keys similarly useful, especially the larger delete key.
3. There are more advanced pure Internet keyboards out there, but the pre-programed Internet keys are actually useful and more than adequate for my needs.
4. Great feeling keyboard! This is subjective of course, but this keyboard does not have the ultra-light ... feel so common even in [other] keyboards. The keys feel just right, not too soft and with a nice positive feedback.

5. The Office hot keys are wonderful, instantly opening and switching between the programs I use most. And it includes keys to cut, paste, etc as well. This keyboard was designed for business use and there is no match for it on the market.

This keyboard seems to be a love it or hate it item. I understand that power users set in their ways will not like it. But for the rest of us, this is a truly outstanding keyboard. It is specifically designed for Office users and it does what it is designed to do. There are many business users out there that can benefit from the increased productivity it provides. It is good enough to justify throwing out a still functional but less beneficial keyboard and replace it with this one, even in a time of cost cutting. I vote with my money and I will be purchasing more of the Microsoft Office keyboards for my employer.

Rating:
Summary: What a bunch of great ideas. Very Helpful!!
Review: I had been using the Microsoft Internet Keyboard for several years. I enjoyed that keyboard but I never quite felt the keyboard was designed for the way I work. The Office Keyboard, however, very well may be as good as a keyboard gets.

The keys have a nice soft touch, but that's just the beginning. The best feature is the scroll button on the left. Not only has it sped up my internet surfing, its functionality has proven itself in almost all of my daily computing experience. It has a much looser scroll than I have found in a mouse so one can literally ZIP to the end of any page or document. Additionally, its location is near enough to the CTRL button to press CTRL with your thumb and scroll up and down with your finger, which zooms in and out in many programs.

The cut/copy/paste buttons have proven themselves very helpful. No more accidentally striking CTRL+C when I want to paste something! The application scroll buttons also nicely replace and enhance what I used to use CTRL+TAB to do.

Some reviewers poo-poo the enhanced F key functions. With the latest Intellitype Pro software, I have found that I can customize them very easily and set their functions to the tasks I use most frequently. (The defaults, however, were nicely chosen and I have found rare occasion to change them.) I am constantly opening, closing, and saving documents. I can now do this quickly without moving my mouse. Most of the button also work in non-Microsoft programs as well.

Contrary to others, I have not found that the enlarged delete button to be a problem. In fact, I enjoy the absence of the Insert button that I erroneously frequented prior to using the Office Keyboard.

Although this review has been overwhelmingly positive, I do not mean to presume that everyone will love this keyboard as soon as they take it out of the box. I am very picky about keyboards and usually get attached to ones I've used for a long time-vocational hazard, I guess. But I liked the philosophy of this keyboard, and although it took a while for me to get used to utilizing my new keyboard to its fullest, within two weeks of daily use this keyboard's functionality revolutionized my computing experience. This one is a keeper.

Rating:
Summary: Microsoft Office Keyboard
Review: I have only owned this keyboard for a couple of days and I'm totally awed by its comfort and efficiency. The feel of the keys is excellent, soft but very responsive. I have never been able to type so fast! I think the buttons across the top are very convenient and with my arthritic thumbs I am especially glad to have the buttons for Word, Excel (although I don't have Excel, so it goes to the Works Spreadsheet which suits me perfectly),and so on.

I greatly appreciate the ability to send, forward and reply to e-mail simply by hitting a key. And the Copy/Cut/Paste keys are lifesavers. Anything that helps me minimize mouse use is a major plus. Actually, if I were to set the numeric pad keys for use instead of the mouse I would probably never have to use the mouse at all except for right-clicking.

I really like the big roller on the left of the keyboard for scrolling up and down. My only suggestion for improvement would be to add an equivalent roller for horizontal scrolling.

The installation process was a breeze, and the Help information is clear and easy to use.

I haven't yet needed to change the assignment of any keys; they are set up appropriately for my use, but looking at the instructions which I printed out from the Help it seems to me to be a very easy process.

Rating:
Summary: Nice, but for me sadly unusable
Review: I originally bought this keyboard because it has lots of
buttons to launch applications that I use a lot, change/mute
speaker volume, and switch between applications. The keys
have a soft, positive feel. What I did not anticipate was
how a slight difference in the arrangement of the keys to
the right of the main section, compared to the "standard"
layout, could really mess up my work. I have been using my
new keyboard for a month, and I STILL hit "Home" when I want
"End", "End" when I want "Page Up" etc. The one good thing
about the new arrangement is there is no "Insert" key - I
used constantly to hit that by mistake with my previous
keyboard. In retrospect, a better solution would be to allow
"Insert" to be disabled.

Another difference is that the group of four arrow keys are
offset to the left of their normal position.

A couple of other gripes - The function keys are grouped in
threes rather than fours, which also leads to frequent mis-
hits. Also, by default the F-lock is off, which means the
function keys don't work as they would normally unless you
remember to set the F-lock every time you boot up.

Overall, I like the feel of this keyboard, and I love the
additional grey buttons at the top (fully reprogrammable),
but I wish Microsoft hadn't messed with the layout of the
other keys. Because that feels so alien to use, I am going to
try another keyboard - maybe the Microsoft Internet Keyboard
or one of the Logitech keyboards.

Rating:
Summary: set the record straight
Review: Just want to be clear:
One reviewer was gushing over the intellimouse and the keyboard "made" by microsoft, listen, Microsoft doesnt make anything. The Mouse and keyboard are made by other companies, (the mouse is from HP) M$ likes it and buys it and puts their logo on it.

Rating:
Summary: If only Microsoft were this innovative with their software.
Review: OK, no discussions about whether Microsoft is a monopoly or not (they are), whether they stifle competition (they do) or whether they act in the best interest of the consumer (they don't).

Based on the above sentence, you can imagine, how painful it is for me to give Microsoft a high rating and praise their innovation, but they truly deserve it with the Office Keyboard.
It is appropriate that Microsoft is the most innovative in those markets in which they face heavy competition. They were the first company to come out with the optical mouse (although Logitech quickly one upped them with a wireless optical mouse), and the first to add new features to the boring old keyboard.

The Office Keyboard won't be for everyone, and will be less useful if you don't use Microsoft Office. However, it has some great new features that will be useful to anyone, be it in the office or at home.

The keyboard is organized into three sections: 1) a traditional keyboard layout in the center, function buttons across the top, and navigation buttons on the left.

The main keyboard is the standard 101-key device with one noticeable change. The entire top row of keys has been remapped by Microsoft. This includes F1-F12, the ever popular Scroll Lock, and the Print Screen button. They concluded that no one ever uses the function keys that often, so replaced them with Microsoft Office functions. This makes a great deal of sense for F3-F12, which the average user has no use for, and Microsoft has wisely kept the F1 key as "Help", which leaves F2, in my opinion, as the big troublemaker. Frequent Excel users will have gotten used to using F2 for in cell editing, but now that key goes to the "Office Home" web page. However, most of the changes are refreshing, and for programmers (and Excel Macro wizards), the addition of "(", ")", and "=" above the Number pad is a welcome addition.

The top of the keyboard includes some convenient shortcuts, the majority of which you most likely won't use, and are ready to be "remapped". Microsoft allows you to take most of the custom keys on the keyboard and set them to any application or one of many pre-defined functions. However, it is very nice to be able to open the Calculator, Explorer, and Outlook with a touch of a button. You can also control your computer's volume and enter "Suspend" mode from the same row of keys.

The biggest improvement is that navigation area to the left of the main keyboard. Capitalizing on the scrolling mouse idea, Microsoft has added a scroll wheel about an inch in width to the direct left of the "Tab" key. This is a great way to scroll through a web page, and is much faster instead of using the mouse scroll button when you are typing. Additionally, the navigation area allows you to move backwards and forwards in web pages, switch between all open applications, and cut, copy, or paste a selection.

All in all this is a terrific keyboard, much as it pains me to admit it. :) However, it is the perfect testimonial for Microsoft's lack of innovation; they are at their best when they face competition. The one weakness that I would give this keyboard, is the bias toward Microsoft functionality (surprise!). Do I really care about visiting the Office Home page? Probably not, so Microsoft does need to work on making the assignment of keys more customizable. If there was also a LCD display with the new function of a remapped key that would also be helpful, as visitors to your computer are going to wonder why F1 does open "Help" as it says on the key, if you remapped the button.