I just bought a Microsoft Natural Keyboard!

[InlineFive]

All I fan say is weird. It's really akward using this for 6the time being. I keep missing the "T" and "B" buttons so far but I like it.

This is the Anand Approved model on the Christmas Wish List! w00t!

-Por

 

[jim1976]

It's the little things that make your day (and night) meaningful sometimes.
Seriously it's the only perfect thing I have seen Microsoft release

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: jim1976
It's the little things that make your day (and night) meaningful sometimes.
Seriously it's the only perfect thing I have seen Microsoft release

This basically completes my ergonomic system except for the mouse. So far I have...

Viewsonic VP171b LCD
Microsoft Natural Keyboard
Belkin Mousepad with handwrest
$80 ergonomic kneeling chair

It feels like I'm learning to type again.

 

[jim1976]

Are you still on a chair. Try thiswww.pyramat.com

 

[jim1976]

Are you still on a chair. Try this :beer:

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: jim1976
Are you still on a chair. Try this :beer:

I should get my brother that for Christmas! He's a gamer type geek...

 

[WobbleWobble]

Good buy. In my house, we have 3 MS Natural keyboards. The Original, Elite and Multimedia.

Best keyboards ever

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Good buy. In my house, we have 3 MS Natural keyboards. The Original, Elite and Multimedia.

Best keyboards ever

Which model is best? I got the multimedia model since it's all NewEgg had in stock. And another question, I'm trying to decide if I like the braces up or down, what do you have them at?

 

[Varun]

The biggest problem with the natural is that it is way too easy to type on. Ever since I got it I just can't seem to type on a regular keyboard anymore!

I love my MS Natural Elite, just wish it was the pro so they Home/Delete and arrow keys weren't crunched together.

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: Varun
The biggest problem with the natural is that it is way too easy to type on. Ever since I got it I just can't seem to type on a regular keyboard anymore!

I love my MS Natural Elite, just wish it was the pro so they Home/Delete and arrow keys weren't crunched together.

I don't have that problem with the Multimedia. However it's probably a beefed up variant of the Pro.

 

[thomsbrain]

i've used a couple generations of natural keyboards, some extensively, but i really prefer normal keyboards. actually, i really prefer laptop keyboards. the smaller and shorter the key travel the better.

 

[Dantzig]

Congratulations! Now you're spoiled and won't be able to stand regular keyboards anymore Once you get used to the layout, your typing speed should increase and typing should feel much more natural. I've owned the Pro, Elite, and Multimedia variants and liked them all. My favorite was the Pro because of the standard arrow keys and home/end/pg up/pg down/delete/insert layout. The Elite was good too, but the arrow keys and the keys above it were arranged rather strangely. I'm currently using the Multimedia. The only thing I don't like about it is that it leaves off the insert key and instead has a very large delete key.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I actually preferred the original Natural Keyboard. It had a normal key layout although the keyboard was a bit wider because of that. I didn't like the Elite because of the diamond shaped arrow keys. The Multimedia is my 2nd favourite, though I never really use the multimedia keys.

I like to have my braces up.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Double post.

 

[Nocturnal]

I've had nothing but ergonomic keyboards since Gosh knows when. I love them and could not live without them.

 

[0roo0roo]

how fast you adapt to the ergo keyboard depends on how messed up your fingering was on the normal keyboard i did some nonstandard stuff since i self taught.. kept reaching for the wrong keys with the fore fingers too

i got the multimedia ergo keyboard from ms, love the big multimedia keys too. not like the older ms keyboards with those absurd tiny nearly identical multimedia keys u have to squint at to identify making em useless.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
i've used a couple generations of natural keyboards, some extensively, but i really prefer normal keyboards. actually, i really prefer laptop keyboards. the smaller and shorter the key travel the better.

Yep. If you really want ergonomic, buy one of these and learn dvorak while you're at it.

Some other thoughts:

I really do prefer laptop-style keys; normal keys have such long travel and tend to get less fluid over time. For example, both of the keyboards I own (an MS one and a wireless logitech) have some keys that are sometimes a little stubborn to press because there is some sort of internal friction that appears after a while.

Normal keys also provide way too much resistance. I type all day long and my hands and fingers (especially left hand) are constantly bugging me to some extent (sometimes not that bad, sometimes really bad). Laptop-style keys are very flat and easy to press, your fingers are basically tapping instead of punching.

The ergonomic keyboards are HUGE which is a bit annoying. Somewhat related to this is the bastardized layout of the home/end/pgup/pgdn/insert/delete keys. They totally screwed it up, with no real benefit except saving a half inch of horizontal width. Laptop keyboards and the typematrix also move these keys around, but in those cases it actually saves you a very large amount of space so it's worth it IMO.

As far as the little stands underneath go - it's always best to have the keyboard as flat as possible. Actually, you want your wrists as straight as possible. You get carpal tunnel from having your wrists bent backwards for long periods of time while doing things like using the keyboard and mouse. Putting those stands up just makes it more likely that you will have your hands bent backwards, which has always made me wonder why the hell they were there.

I was originally thinking about getting this keyboard, but then I found the typematrix after much googling and research. Gotta get around to buying it, but the $100 price Q) has been making me procrastinate.

 

[Sid59]

i have the standard MS Natural Keyboard. It's god send. took a few days to get used to the layout but now im just as fast with a regular keyboard.

Everytime i have to use a regular keyboard, i start to cry. It's harder for me and i can feel the my shoulders and arms cringing because i have to squeeze my arms closer to type.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I guess switching between my natural keyboards at home, my laptop's keyboard and my work's normal keyboard, I can pretty much use any keyboard nowadays comfortably.

Now time to try those Dvorak keyboards people were raving about many years ago...

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I guess switching between my natural keyboards at home, my laptop's keyboard and my work's normal keyboard, I can pretty much use any keyboard nowadays comfortably.

Now time to try those Dvorak keyboards people were raving about many years ago...

They look pretty interesting that's for sure.

 

[Ionizer86]

Dvorak is an input standard. You can do it via QWERTY kbrd. See kbrd options in the ctrl panel and set it to dvorak.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
Dvorak is an input standard. You can do it via QWERTY kbrd. See kbrd options in the ctrl panel and set it to dvorak.

Fine, you go change around your keys to match it

They were selling years ago for a very large premium though. Supposedly you could type a lot faster with it, but I haven't heard of anyone using it.

 

[SUOrangeman]

Anyone know if the Wireless Desktop Pro works with non-MS operating systems? Or, is this set like the Bluetooth model which only works with Windows (and only XP, at that).

-SUO