I've been using a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 and a basic Microsoft wheel mouse for as long as I can remember. This dynamic duo powered through whatever I threw at it up until two days ago when I was drinking a glass of water and a few drops trickled down into the keyboard. I grabbed some canned air, blew out the water, and hung it upside down to dry out. No such luck - it was dead. AGAIN. The exact same thing had happened before with an MS Ergo 4000 keyboard.
Now that I need a new keyboard, I may as well see if there's something better out there. Based on build quality alone, I'm pretty sure the MS isn't the best. The space bar was always very stiff and the pleather on the wrist rest wore off very quickly. My mouse is looking a little ratty, too, so I'd like to pick up a nice new ergo mouse to go with an ergo keyboard.
Oh, did I mention that I'm left-handed? Yeah, kind of makes finding an ergo mouse difficult.
But back to the keyboards for a moment. I'm looking for a split keyboard that might offer something above and beyond the MS Natural 4000. A little poking around has turned up two initial contenders - the Datadesk Smartboard and the Northgate Evolution. The Smartboard has non-staggered keys, uses mechanical switches, and carries a lifetime warranty. The Northgate seems to be built like a tank, uses mechanical switches, and includes a touchpad in the middle.
On the mouse front, I'm looking for something comfortable that I could still play FPS games with. I browsed some eBay listings and found three listings for left-handed mice, listed in order from cheapest to most expensive:
Cherry Ergo Shark
MiniCute Vertical Mouse
Evoluent Vertical Mouse 2
I've seen a couple reviews of the Vertical Mouse 2, but nothing on the Cherry or MiniCute. If I had to venture a guess on which one was the best, I'd probably guess the MiniCute because it has the highest DPI, contoured finger grips, and two main buttons rather than three.
So, what do you think about those? Are any of them good? Got any recommendations of your own?
EDIT: Well, since nobody had any suggestions I decided on my own to go with the Cherry Ergo Shark and one of the ORIGINAL Microsoft Natural Keyboards, brand-new and unused. I'll post reviews of both when they arrive.
Now that I need a new keyboard, I may as well see if there's something better out there. Based on build quality alone, I'm pretty sure the MS isn't the best. The space bar was always very stiff and the pleather on the wrist rest wore off very quickly. My mouse is looking a little ratty, too, so I'd like to pick up a nice new ergo mouse to go with an ergo keyboard.
Oh, did I mention that I'm left-handed? Yeah, kind of makes finding an ergo mouse difficult.
But back to the keyboards for a moment. I'm looking for a split keyboard that might offer something above and beyond the MS Natural 4000. A little poking around has turned up two initial contenders - the Datadesk Smartboard and the Northgate Evolution. The Smartboard has non-staggered keys, uses mechanical switches, and carries a lifetime warranty. The Northgate seems to be built like a tank, uses mechanical switches, and includes a touchpad in the middle.
On the mouse front, I'm looking for something comfortable that I could still play FPS games with. I browsed some eBay listings and found three listings for left-handed mice, listed in order from cheapest to most expensive:
Cherry Ergo Shark
MiniCute Vertical Mouse
Evoluent Vertical Mouse 2
I've seen a couple reviews of the Vertical Mouse 2, but nothing on the Cherry or MiniCute. If I had to venture a guess on which one was the best, I'd probably guess the MiniCute because it has the highest DPI, contoured finger grips, and two main buttons rather than three.
So, what do you think about those? Are any of them good? Got any recommendations of your own?
EDIT: Well, since nobody had any suggestions I decided on my own to go with the Cherry Ergo Shark and one of the ORIGINAL Microsoft Natural Keyboards, brand-new and unused. I'll post reviews of both when they arrive.
