| Poorly designed spacebar makes this a no go |
| I have used MS ergonomic keyboards since they came out with the original. I ordered this set to replace my Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 which is the same keyboard except that it isn't wireless. Since I wanted to get the Natural Ergonomic Mouse 6000, I thought I'd upgrade the whole shebang.
The mouse is fabulous. It is responsive, smooth, quick, and places my wrist at a more natural angle. No pain. I have never been happier with a mouse. Did I say I am thrilled?
The keyboard. I didn't play with the keyboard for a while since it is identical to the 4000 that is my favorite keyboard. I was more concerned with the mouse. When it came time to get back to work, I was in for a surprise. They have changed the design of the spacebar.
To press the spacebar, one has to move one's hands out of the ergonomic position to reach the center of the spacebar with one's thumb. The sides of the spacebar do not work. Even then one has to pound the spacebar... a light touch won't get it. It doesn't have the smooth feel of my 4000; instead it makes a loud thunk when depressed. What's the point of ergonomic if one can't maintain the correct ergonomic position?
I called MS tech support thinking the keyboard defective. After going through 3 people before finally getting someone with possibly some knowledge, I was told that I wasn't used to ergonomic keyboards. Obviously, that is their pat answer. When I finally got it through the guy's skull that I have used ergonomic keyboards for years and years, he said the keyboard may be defective.
I've filed a return request with Amazon. I was going to try to continue using the kb until the replacement arrives, but after an hour of pounding the space bar with my thumb, the thumb was cramping, my wrists hurt, and I had to yank out my trusty 4000. It may have a wire, but it's the best keyboard on the market, imo.
I'm hopeful the replacement fixes the problem, but after reading the sticky key issues here, I have my doubts. I now wish I'd done a return instead of a replacement.
If this is the norm for this keyboard, I do not recommend it. The mouse though, I give a 5.
| | Keyboard--3.5 stars, Mouse--4.5 stars |
| I purchased this set for work because I enjoyed using them at home. I have a desk job where I use a computer all day. In brief, I love these ergonomic devices.
The mouse I give 4.5 stars. Both the mouse at work (and the one I own at home) are amazingly comfortable to hold and use. When you let your hand lay over the mouse, it positions your wrist in what I think of as a "handshake" position rather than flat on the desk. This takes about a week to get used to, but after that it's amazing how much better that angle is. It's a mouse that has a bit of "meat" to it, so it's better for my big hand to hold on to.
The mouse has a smooth-scrolling wheel, great for productivity (though bad for FPS games). Pressing the scroll-wheel for a middle-button effect is very hard to do with this particular wheel, but that's not much of an issue, as one of the two thumb buttons can be reassigned to the middle button functionality via the Microsoft software.
The keyboard I give 3.5 stars. It's wonderfully ergonomic and comfortable to use, but the "wireless" part of the equation makes it work a bit erratically from time to time. I type very quickly, and the keyboard will occasionally just lose keystrokes... or briefly stop receiving input altogether. I much prefer my home setup, where I have the Microsoft Natural Mouse hooked up wirelessly, and the Microsoft Natural Keyboard hooked up via USB.
| | The microsoft desktop comprises of two things, the natural laster wireless 6000 (baseball mouse) and the natural wireless keyboard. The keyboard is really well built; it's not too loud and just like any other microsoft ergonomic keyboard, is a real joy to use. They even fixed the 'F-lock' problem that plagued previous models. The mouse is also really well built. However, its really different from any other mouse in the market...it has a baseball like shape that curves the wrist when you grasp it. Initially (for two or three days) it actually hurts the wrist, but after that it becomes quite comfortable to use. The only gripe about the mouse is that it is a bit heavier than most other mice, even wireless ones. Even without the 2 batteries, it's quite heavy. Lastly, after 2 months of daily use (8+ hours/day), the battery still shows up at about 70 to 80% so thats good.
As a whole, one problem that has emerged recently is that sometimes the pointer or keystrokes lag. It wasn't a problem earlier on, but lately it's quite noticeable (and annoying). Maybe its a driver conflict, but it seems like wireless interference.
Overall, I'd recommend the mouse/keyboard combo to anyone if they are willing to pay the steep price for it.
| | MS wireless keyboard & mouse review |
| Keyboard - great design, feel, functionality -- the negitive is the wireless function kept losing connection -- I had to move my move my computer from the floor to on top of my dest for it to stay connected. The mouse is good - I am use to the MS trackball which I like better - but my trackball is not wireless so I am giving the mouse a try.
| | Very pleased with Keyboard/Mouse |
| I ordered this keyboard and mouse set to replace an older Microsoft ergonomic keyboard. I was quite pleased with how comfortable the keyboard felt, the hand rest on the keyboard is leather-like vinyl and soft to the touch. The noise from the keyboard is more muted than the previous version that I had. The mouse looks like it would be awkward, as it is stubby and tall, but I found it very comfortable to use. The thumb cavity on the side of the mouse is a textured plastic which provides a bit of gripping ability.
Among the strong points in the keyboard and the mouse:
-There are five buttons at the top of the keyboard which can be customized to run a command (command line with agruments even) to open a program or perform an action. This was a pleasant surprise
-The mouse controls (scrolling wheel which can also be pushed side to side, L and R mouse buttons and two buttons above the thumb) can be customized. Mine are set to copy and paste which I find convenient but there are an array of options.
-The single RF receiver handles both the mouse and the keyboard, so only one USB port is taken up by the two devices. The absense of clutter on the desktop is great!
-The scroll wheel on the mouse doesn't feel like you scroll in 'notches' or clicks.. but is a smooth scrolling experience
Among criticisms I have:
-The 'B' key gets partially wedged from time to time under the faceplate. The key can still be depressed and this 'stuck' position doesn't result in stutter B's, but still can be annoying.
The space bar is curved and can be a bit clunky when pushed on the extreme left or right side by a thumb... works but is it makes it the noisiest key on the board.
-The function keys on the keyboard start out mapped to commands but this can be shut off by depressing the F Lock key (thank God!) so you can have regular F1, F2, F3... behavior
I spend a lot of time at the keyboard and this one is definitely the most comfortable one I've used.
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