Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard (K50-00008)

Rating:
Summary: Good... but for PS/2...ONLY ! ! !
Review: First, the warning...

Don't buy this keyboard if your computer does not have PS/2 ports. If you try to use a USB adapter, you will quickly discover that all of the programmable keys will not work. This is a major limitation that has caused a lot of folks to return the otherwise good keyboard. Microsoft and it's vendors really should do a better job of making this issue crystal clear.

If you have a PS/2 PC, you will find that the programmable keys and the flexible f-key assignment feature is very handy. Note: If you want to change the default f-key behavior, there is a registry fix available. Do some searching in the newgroups. Otherwise, this is a handy multimedia keyboard with all the appropriate controls.

The keyboard is somewhat light, however the click of the keys is solid and on the quiet side. The cable is reasonably long and the palm rest is firmly attached to the keyboard. Once the keyboard is in place, it tends to stay put.

Also note: This keyboard...as are most extended feature keyboards, does not register correctly with most KVMs. Though generic functionality is available, some issues, such as no variable key repeat rate, will dissapoint. There are a couple of other related problems, but not of Microsoft's making.

I give this keyboard 4 stars on the basis that though Microsoft has produced a good keyboard for the price, it does not thoroughly warn customers that they will lose some functionality if they try to adapt this keyboard to a USB-only computer.

Rating:
Summary: Finger strain relieved
Review: I bought this keyboard 2 months back. Until then I was using a normal keyboard. I used to be in great pain at the end of the day because of the strain in my fingers and fore arm. I had a bad habit of resting my hands on the desk while typing.

Now that I have been using it for sometime, I don't feel the pain anymore. This keyboard also solved the problem of resting hands on the desk while typing. I think partly because of the keyboard layout, not all keys can be reached when hands are at rest while typing.

Other Advs.

1. The layout of the keyboard encourages better keyboard fingering (typing). Which I think is one of the strong points of this product.
2. The multimedia features of the Keyboard are handy.

Disadvantages.
1. F Lock Key -- Key that toggles function keys between Function keys and one touch special functions. Its frustrating sometimes if you are a programmer.

2. The Home-End-Delete key Layout takes time to get used to. I miss the insert key. I strongly feel the Insert key need to be back in its position.

3. For me (may not be for everyone) the keyboard keys need a little extra force to type than I am used to. I generally use and love HP keyboards for that reason. The HP Keyboard keys are very soft and make the least amount of noise.

4. Again for me, I like the Enter key to be the reflected L-shaped key as it used to be on the old keyboards. Although I am used to the smaller size of the Enter key, I still like that one.

5. The characters on the keys are printed, I wish Microsoft would have done a better job by molding the characters into the keys.

Inspite of all these, I like the keyboard very much because of the absence of pain in my fingers.

Rating:
Summary: Still Feels Great
Review: I have owned one of the early editions of Microsoft's Natural keyboard, although not called "Natural" at the time, and have been very happy with it for a number of years now. This newer version of the Natural keyboard line feels just as good with a number of very well thought out imporvments. The overall size is something that I've noticed as soon as I put my hands on it with the overall width being about 3-5 inches more narrow and about 2 inches less deep. The key layout is now in a more declining slope (from spacebar to num-line) making a bit more comfort complimented with the fixed palmrest. For my own preference, the Delete key is now the same size as the Backspace key positioned vertically in the same spot making it much easier for quick referencing. Of course the multimedia hotkeys is such a nice addition including the fact that all they keys are programable. Most of the popular "ctrl" functions have been labled on the front side of the keys such as "copy" on the "C" key and "paste" on the "V" key especially nice for those that might forget from time to time. Also all the function keys include popular shortcut operations like "save." Normal usage of the function keys (F1, F2, F3...) will return when the Function Lock key is engaged, function lock is not on by default setting but can be when selected in the software.
Overall I like this keybard, it feels great to the touch, and the 6 key being on the worong side really doesn't bother me since I don't really follow all the proper finger position rules, ironic that I say that since I taught keyboarding for 2 years.

Rating:
Summary: Great Except for F-Lock
Review: I like this keyboard alot, i've been using it for a few months and I havn't had any problems so far. The F-Lock is a REAL annoyance though. I play online games and I like to take screenshots, sadly if I want to use the Print Screen key then I must turn F-Lock off, which means a whole lot of clicking the F-Lock on and off... You do get used to it though. They keyboard shortcuts are GREAT! I never used to use the Windows Calculator, I do all the time now because I can reach it with the click of a button.

Oh yeah, and you hands never get tired! I'm on the computer 3-5Hours a day, and I never end up with tired fingers!

Rating:
Summary: Works on Fedora
Review: I ordered this keyboard because I wanted an ergonomic style with a split keyboard. I had been looking for a while, and found that this one (...) so I ordered one for home and had work order me another. I'm running Fedora Core 2 at home, so I had expected to have problems with a Microsoft keyboard. I plugged it in, and the keyboard worked great! The task buttons at the top don't work, but I wasn't interested in those, anyway. All of the keys that you normally see on a keyboard work as expected. The one at work works fine too, but I have that on a Win 2000 machine, so that is to be expected.

I, too must voice a complaint about the F Lock key. You have to toggle it to use the function keys or the task keys, and also to use the insert or print screen button. Since the task keys don't work (until I get my hands on a good key map program), the F Lock key has to be pressed in order to use the function keys. The F Lock defaults to off, so it has to be turned on each time the computer boots up in order to use the function keys. I plan on mapping the task keys to their respective function. (Yes, I have multiple boot ups, I'm using a laptop!) It's really no more inconvenient than using the number lock button, but that can be set in the BIOS.

I'm also slightly irritated by the 6 being on the left. It's really not that big of a deal, but I don't understand why they couldn't have made it big enough to go across so that it could be accessed by either hand.

The block of keys that holds the home, end, delete, insert, and page up and down buttons has been re-designed on this keyboard. After using it for a week, I have found that I actually prefer this new design. (That's right, I like something Microsoft did.) The insert key is well out of the way so you don't accidentally press it when going for the delete key, which has been made huge. The home and end buttons are on a horizontal plane, which makes sense since that's how they work in most text/word processing programs; the page up is above the page down, which also makes sense.

All in all, not a bad keyboard. A few slight irritations, (...) I feel like I got a great deal.

Rating:
Summary: Good buy, but keyboard layout problems
Review: I purchased the K50-00001. The issues are the same, except #3 & 4 may have been fixed in the k50-00008 model. You may want to see the reviews for the k50-00001 also.

The keyboard is nice with very quiet buttons. It would have been an excellent keyboard except for a few design issues:

1. The "6" key is in the wrong place
2. The Delete, Insert, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down set of keys are in an non-standard layout. I end up accidentally pressing the wrong keys often.
3. The Function keys are not on by default.
4. You have to turn off the Function Keys to make the "Print Screen" key active. So when I want to do a screen-shot of a window, I have to first turn off the Function Keys and then do the Alt-PrintScreen key.

These design flaws are probably the reason the keyboard is on clearance for so cheap. Despite these issues, I think it was worth the money spent.


Rating:
Summary: What he said ... PS/2 ONLY; don't even try with USB notebook
Review: I wish I'd read the review below re: "PS/2 ONLY" before I ordered this keyboard, but unfortunately he hadn't posted it yet. :-)

I tried to use this with a Toshiba notebook that only has USB ports, using a PS/2 to USB adapter. No dice. I've tried various troubleshooting tactics, and still it won't work, giving me "USB Device Not Recognized" and "Unknown USB Device" messages. Internet and USENET message boards indicate that other people are having similar problems, but I haven't seen any solutions posted to them.

So I think I need to order a USB keyboard instead. I'm sure this keyboard is probably fine for PS/2 computers -- if anyone wants an unused one, I've got one for sale cheap.

UPDATE: I tried using it with a Targus USB Port Replicator with a PS/2 port (Targus model PA075), but without success. I was able to get the computer to recognize the keyboard, but shortly after beginning to use it, it would start acting up -- somehow it was sending a repeating key signal, which would lock up my applications until I unplugged the keyboard from the port replicator and restarted the laptop after a hard shutdown. So now I seem to have a barely-used keyboard AND a barely-used port replicator for sale cheap.

Rating:
Summary: Good Keyboard, but the
Review: Overall, I think this is a decent keyboard. The "natural" keys are positioned in a comfortable ergonomic location. There are many buttons that you can override with applications, or leave the default programs.

However, my main complaint is that the "6" key is on the wrong side of the ergonomic keyboard. It is on the left side. If you touch type, you may struggle with this like I do.

Another concern is that the "INS" key has been moved. This is also an adjustment for me. They have extended the "DEL" key to cover the "INS" position, and moved the "INS" function as part of "PRTSCRN" with the help of using an added key--function lock (or "F LOCK").

(...). I would still probably purchased it knowing the "6" key problem because of the low price. However, after seeing how much better I can type on an ergonomic keyboard, I plan to start looking for another keyboard that will have the "6" in the right place.

Rating:
Summary: pros and cons
Review: pros:
1. has some useful direct keys to start frequently used programs. I wish those keys were programmable, though.
2. I love the volume control on the key board
3. the sleep key is very useful, and I'm glad there's NO power off key so I don't have to worry that I might turn off the computer by accident.

cons:
1. weird "home, end, pageup, pagedown, delete" keys layout. need some time to get used to it, and then you need more time to get used to switching between this one and other keyboards in other places you work
2. key "6" is located for left hand, not right hand.
3. have to press F-lock to activate function keys. for programmers function keys are more useful than those email keys.

overall, it's a good one for general document processing, but not for programming.