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Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite 2.0

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite 2.0

List Price: $35.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Only company available
Review: ...

I found this keyboard to be very comfortable. The hand pains I have been feeling are starting to reduce. In fact, when I pretend to type in the "old" fashion of a normal keyboard the pain comes back. Of course, just about any ergonomically keyboard should produce the same results, but this is the only one I have tried and it does the job. If you have never typed on a keyboard like this you need not fear. It only takes a few minutes to get use to.

I do have 3 major complaints about this keyboard. The first 2 are basically what a lot of people have also complained about, and I knew about them before I bought it, but I decided to try it anyhow. The last one I noticed after buying the product. 1) The arrow keys are way too small. How small you ask? Try 1cm x 1.3cm as the measurement of the key's top surface. I don't know about you, but that's tiny and I'm not a big guy (5'7"). I knew it was going to be small, but that's really small. Luckily for me I don't use the arrow keys that much. They're also not arranged in the traditional inverted T formation (look at picture). It's easy enough to ajust to the new formation, but anyone who uses the arrow keys a lot might not like this combination of smaller size and new formation.

2) In that same area, the Home, End, Page Up, etc. keys are in a 2 column across by 3 rows high formation. Again, it's not a big deal for me because I don't use those keys often. In case you were wondering, they are also 1 x 1.3cm. While I'm mentioning sizes, all the keys in the top row (F1, F2, etc.) are also the same measurement.

3) It's not a problem for some of you, but for some who like to have the "back legs" of the keyboard extend you'll notice that the keyboard becomes too high to squeeze between the space separating the desk and the rollout keyboard tray. For those of you that do have this tray as a part of your desk, height of the keyboard is about 7cm with the back legs extended and about 5cm when its flat. If you are like me and like your keyboard lying flat then you shouldn't have any problems.

So in conclusion, if you don't mind the problems I've mention above then this keyboard is great. Also if you know for sure you won't like the smaller keys and changed key formations then you might want to think about the other Microsoft keyboard: Natural Keyboard Pro. Although, you'll be paying...more...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Wrong...all wrong
Review: After using the original natural keyboard, I was excited to get one at work. Unfortunately, they purchased a NK Elite. It's a perfectly fine keyboard...if you never use the function keys, arrow keys, or the alternate (pgup, pgdn, etc) keys. I realize that MS felt the need to scrunch everything down to fit the keyboard into regular sized keyboard trays, but this thing is just plain awful. Only purchase if you don't touch type. Go for the Natural Keyboard Pro instead.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I don't know what these guys bought, but my Elite is awesome
Review: Although everyone else here wasn't pleased with their MS Natural Keyboard Elites .. i was. :)

Most people complained that the function keys are too small and that the insert/home/delet/end/etc keys have been rearranged. This took me about two days to get used to and now I am able to type on both my keyboard and regular keyboards without any problems. The alternative to having smaller rearranged keys is to have a freakishly long keyboard that resembles most other "natural" keyboards.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best keyboard ever
Review: Being a professional Windows programmer, I'm no fan of Microsoft's, but this is a truly great item nevertheless. I've used all kinds of keyboards, from the cheap to the expensive specialty keyboards that are supposed to reduce injury. None were this good. It's more solid and quiet than any of them, and it's exactly what I want a keyboard to feel like. I just got it because it looked cool, but it really did end up reducing the strain on my arms from typing 15 hours a day every day.

Two things people complain about with this model are the small function keys and the modified arrangement of the arrow keys. I have quite large fingers, and yet I have never noticed any drawbacks to the small function keys. I like the reduced arrow keys because I never use the extraneous inverted-T anways (and I'm quite an avid gamer). Instead, I turn off num-lock, and use the keypad, because then I can reach home, del, ins, and all those keys immediately for superior cursor control.

I bought the Pro model, but it was not nearly as good as this Elite, even with its set of macro keys, because it feels hollow and cheap by comparison. The Elite also has a much smaller footprint, which means that you can switch between the home row, the keypad, and the mouse or tablet without having to move your arm as much. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you're like me, it is.

Now, if only they'd make a model with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Shift-Tab keys...!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The good stuff from Microsoft
Review: For professional typists, a natural keyboard is vital. Its key point is the possibility for hands to rest on the keyboard in their natural position, without need to curve one's wrists. One can then let his hands constantly in a ready position to type in a command, effortlessly. From this point of view, the size of the keys or their relative positions doesn't really matter. One eventually get used to it, and if you ask me, I like the feeling of this keyboard more than any other that I know. With it, my speed reach 122 words per minute. Any other keyboard reminds me constantly of its existence. This one is almost part of me.

Using it for UNIX doesn't spoil its capabilities. For instance, one of the window-keys I use as a shortcut for M-x under Emacs, and the Ctrl key position is so well fitting the hand's side that one has just to gently bend it to push the key, without any strain on fingers. Ctrl-a or Ctrl-e which require the same hand then go as one key. And what a more important key than the Ctrl one for UNIX people?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Real gamers don't use arrow keys.
Review: Here's a tip for all the gamers who are missing the full size arrow keys: leave your fingers on the home keys the way God intended and configure those keys within the game for movement. It's a much more natural possition, and it allows your hand access to the optimal number of keys for other functions in the game.

Arrow keys are almost obsolete with a scrolling mouse, and I don't miss the big space hogs at all. This is a good product overall, but I dock it one star for a mushy space bar.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Real gamers don't use arrow keys.
Review: Here's a tip for all the gamers who are missing the full size arrow keys: leave your fingers on the home keys the way God intended and configure those keys within the game for movement. It's a much more natural possition, and it allows your hand access to the optimal number of keys for other functions in the game.

Arrow keys are almost obsolete with a scrolling mouse, and I don't miss the big space hogs at all. This is a good product overall, but I dock it one star for a mushy space bar.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Little Keys, Bad Idea...
Review: I bought the original MS Natural Keyboard because I was developing a slight RSI problem in my right hand. It was wonderful. Recently we purchased several new machines at work and ordered the Natural keyboards to go along with them. We got the N.K. Elite which is, in my opinion, a decided step backwards. The main alphanumeric keys are reasonable and still comfortable, but they feel mushy to me compared with the original. The Numeric Keypad is fine. However, the function keys are dinky and hard to hit, the home/end/pageup/pagedown group has been miniaturized and rearranged (for example, insert is located where page down used to be) which makes it difficult to hit the correct key without stopping to look and worst of all the arrow keys are tiny and arranged in an awful diamond pattern which seems (cynically) designed specifically to cause you to hit more than one arrow at a time. Hey, if one is good, more is better right?

I'm dumping this beast because the frustration level is quite high. I'll be replacing it with either a SmartBoard (from Darwin), the LogiTech ergonomic or the MS Natural Pro (although the extra application keys won't do me any good since I use this on a unix box).

In short, avoid this keyboard and get a slightly more expensive but considerably less frustrating one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Stuck keys, all of them
Review: I can't believe no one said a thing about how easy these keys get stuck with time. After only several months of use nearly all the keys need to be pressed at the very center of them or else they just won't go down. This is most infuriating when you have to use the number pad a lot entering figures!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Keyboard On The Market !
Review: I have been using the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite V2.0 for over six months now, and it is by far, the best keyboard made. If you do a lot of typing, there is simply no substitute.

After going through roughly 5 different keyboards, the MS Natural Keyboard has won me over. Keystrokes flow smoothly, and my wrists never hurt, even after hours of non-stop typing.

I can't think of any cons with this keyboard. Just wish I had one at the office as well.


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