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Microsoft Office Keyboard

Microsoft Office Keyboard

List Price: $39.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: average keyboard
Review: Overall Nice keyboard. I bought it to use at home with my laptop. Easy to plug in since it is a USB keyboard, but it has few problems.
Problems: The num lock turns off and pisses me off. The F-lock is another hassle since I cannot use the F keys when its turned off. Also, the end , home and page up & down keys are placed in a wierd way. I always hit the wrong keys.
Good things: The cut, copy paste buttons are great. If they were on the right side (since I am right handed) it would have been perfect. The scroller is also nice sometimes. The open application changing (alt-tab) shortcut is very convenient. I still haven't used it that much because I am used to changing applications the hard way, but this feature can be quite helpful. The = sign and parenthesis for excel are also helpful. I haven't gotten to use the top buttons that much. Basically, this keyboard tries to substitute a mouses work.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: average keyboard
Review: Overall Nice keyboard. I bought it to use at home with my laptop. Easy to plug in since it is a USB keyboard, but it has few problems.
Problems: The num lock turns off and pisses me off. The F-lock is another hassle since I cannot use the F keys when its turned off. Also, the end , home and page up & down keys are placed in a wierd way. I always hit the wrong keys.
Good things: The cut, copy paste buttons are great. If they were on the right side (since I am right handed) it would have been perfect. The scroller is also nice sometimes. The open application changing (alt-tab) shortcut is very convenient. I still haven't used it that much because I am used to changing applications the hard way, but this feature can be quite helpful. The = sign and parenthesis for excel are also helpful. I haven't gotten to use the top buttons that much. Basically, this keyboard tries to substitute a mouses work.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not totally bad keyboard
Review: Pros:
+Lots of extra keys on the left (Cut, Copy, Paste, Back, Forward, Change applications,....)

Cons:
-I hate the facts that the F-Lock key is OFF by default, you can't use your normal function keys (F1-F12) until you turn it on.
-Some keys are re-arranged (Home, End, Del, PgUp, PgDn, Ins) - annoyed the heck out of me

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Layout and 'features' sorely need rethinking
Review: The Office Keyboard is one of Microsoft's new breed of keyboards designed to be the better mouse trap. It manages to achieve this is many ways, while at the same time cursing the touch typist with slight modifications and new keys.

Mechanically, the keyboard is extremely nice. The keys press down easily and smoothly without a 'click' that you get with say IBM keyboards. The gray hand rest is nice, although some might find their hands sliding down the keyboard. (The keyboard is a solid unit with no removable pieces.)

The downside of the keyboard is added features that cannot be modified. The function keys are now grouped in three's instead of four's. The Insert, Home, Page Up, Delete, End, and Page Down keys of the standard 101-key keyboard have been twisted and bent into a new configuration. New keys have been added around the number pad. While all of these features may be nice, even the best touch typist is going to feel like all thumbs during the learning curve.

The worse new feature added is a dichotomy of the function keys. In one configuration, the function keys behave as they should. In the other, they perform various short cuts. The problem is that the keyboard defaults to the 'short cut' mode with may be counterintuitive. I am a function key junky, and I've been caught every single time pressing the buttons and getting some odd cut or paste. The software, as far as I and the general deja newsgroup search can tell, doesn't allow changing the default behavior of the keys to act as they should ... function keys. So I'm stuck with remembering to press the 'F-Lock' key each time I use the computer.

Buying this keyboard isn't going to be as radical a change as say a 'natural' keyboard (left/right hand keys separated by a large gap) or a Davorac keyboard, but in some ways it will be similar. If you need to move between keyboards a lot, you may find the adjustment difficult.

Regarding the... Editorial:
I wouldn't worry too much about the missing USB ports, as most keyboard usb ports are unpowered and of limited use. Items like scanners or printers may require a powered USB hub.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: worst wrist rest
Review: the wrist rest combined with the height makes this easily a really bad keyboard, i know they are probably trying to make you type healthy, but you want to type period comfortbale, people with small hands will hate this keyboard. I suggest you dont buy this, they wrist rest is hard any ways not even padded, its really overall very uncomftable and useless. I wan tto take out my saw and cut it off but i think ill do the 30 days and send it back to microsoft for a full refund.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Doesn't worth
Review: Things that annoyed me the most:
The "F-Lock" key is OFF by default
when this is off, you can't use your regular Function keys (F's)
(example, if your system requires you to press F2 to enter BIOS setup, you have to press FLock key and then press F2 within a few seconds before you miss the opportunity.
keys: Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Del, Ins are arranged unconventionally, this can throw you off when you're used to other keyboards.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is a wonderful keyboard--the Excel keys on the number pad are the best.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The BEST keyboard I've ever seen--for Microsoft and PS2
Review: This is definetely THE BEST keyboard I've ever used. If you're a Microsoft user, this is the keyboard to go.

Pro:
1) Convenient HotKey (eg. word, excelt, calculator), Application (Alt+Tab) key
2) It also have the wheel scroll thingy that you'd normally see in a mouse.
3) It is a quite keyboard. And I didn't expect for that.
4) It comes with UBS, you can use it for your gaming console.

Con:
I'm not so used to the fact that the "home", "end", "del", "page up" and "page down" key are not placed as usual keyboard. Other than that, there's no major problem.

Bottomline...how better deal can you find for a keyboard?

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Too many little-used features
Review: This keyboard is probably an excellent choice for new users or people who never developed the habit of using keyboard shortcuts. I am a power keyboard user (I use lots of keyboard shortcuts), and I hate most of the "special features" of this keyboard.

The default behavior of the function keys (F1, F2, etc) is all new. There's a special F Lock key you have to press to make them behave in the traditional way. To my great shagrin, the otherwise really great driver doesn't allow the F Lock key to be set to On by default, so you have to press it everytime you start up to use function keys in the traditional way.

The cursor control buttons (Home, End, PgUp, PgDown, Delete, Insert) is completely changed. Instead of two rows of three, it's three rows of two, kinda. The Delete key is double-sized, so it takes up two spaces, and the Insert key was thrown up to a new row of four keys above the number pad. I am a frequent ctrl+home/end and insert user, and my rhythm was completely thrown off with this keyboard because of the changed placement. I can't complain enough about the removal of the Insert key from the cursor control group.

The new left fin that has the new scroll wheel and silver hotkeys--Back, Forward, Cut, Copy, Paste and a double-sided Application Scroll (like alt+tab) is not the least bit handy. If you're a heavy mouse wheel user, you probably realize that wheels scroll whatever window the pointer is over, not the active window or the window with the cursor in it. The keyboard wheel is the same, so if your mouse doesn't happen to be pointing at the window you want to scroll, in order to use the keyboard wheel, you have to move the mouse pointer. Of course, then you might as well use the mouse wheel. I never use the wheel on the keyboard--ever. Wheel action is too closely tied to mouse action to separate the two.

The only "special feature" that I like alright are the very top hotkeys, although, I have Microsoft's Internet Keyboard Pro at home, and I like the hotkeys on it a lot better than on this one. Plus, it doesn't have the repurposed function keys or the rearranged cursor control keys.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Too many feature, not enough room
Review: When I first sat down with this keyboard I was in awe and not a little suprised to see so many buttons and the wheel.
Now I have to say that it types very well, but to be honest the keys are just to small, and I have small hands.
I think Microsoft or whoever they have contracted to build this spent to much time trying to figure out what else to add and not enough on trying to make it more comfortable.


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