The Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite is the second in a series of ergonomically designed keyboards from Microsoft.Its split, gently sloped design allows you to place your hands, wrists and forearms in a natural position for greater comfort while typing. With its improved space-saving design, the new keyboard takes up less room on your desktop and fits easily into keyboard trays. The intelligent, ergonomic design of the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite allows you to type in a more natural relaxed position. The Natural Keyboard Elite is both PS/2 and USB compatible. The USB adapter (included) allows you to use your Natural Keyboard Elite with the latest PC technology.Designed for your comfort!
Wow! Who could believe typing could ever be so comfortable? With the Microsoft(r) Natural(r) Keyboard Elite, it's a natural. No wonder it's the single best selling ergonomic keyboard on the planet. Put your hands out and type. Naturally. That's the idea behind the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite. It lets you work more comfortably by helping you type with your hands, wrists, and forearms in a more relaxed posture. Fits you, not the other way around. Bend your arms at the elbows and hold your hands straight out. See how your hands naturally position themselves at a slight inward angle toward each other? Notice how this angle matches the angle of the split-keypad on the Microsoft Natural Keyboard elite? That's no coincidence!
1 Good for people who type and type and type and....
I've had this keyboard for about a year and use it for at least 8 hours a day while at work. I'm going to buy another one for home use too. I was having trouble with carpal tunnel, which was my primary reason for buying the keyboard. After about 6 weeks of using this keyboard I had fewer problems with my wrists. I haven't escaped it completely, but as a programmer that is something that will probably hang around for life.
Getting to know the repositioning of the keys was less agrivating than I thought it would be and I can still use both a straight keyboard and the ergonomic ones with very little difficulty when switching from on PC to the other.
Hooking it up was literally just unplugging the old keyboard and plugging this one in. After a year I've had no trouble with it.
If you type a lot, I would pick one of these up.
2 Great for people with large hands
This is the worlds greatest keyboard. Before I got it I had trouble using a keyboard due to the acute angle it forced my wrists into. With the Natural Keyboard I can type much faster and with no discomfort. There is of course a learning curve with it as with any new piece of equipment, but that is overcome with practice. Also the 6 key is not placed on the wrong side as one other reviewer claims, it is placed exactly where I expect it to be. I think any large handed person will quickly become very fond of this keyboard's layout.
3 Real gamers don't use arrow keys.
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.
4 Non-alpha keys re(dis)organised, as well as shrunken
While I do not personally own one of these myself, I have used it in a lab at my school. When available, I almost always choose the machine with the Natural(tm) keyboard, as it truly does make it easier to type, and less stressful not only on hand and wrist but on the shoulders, too.
However, as some have noted, the movement keys (arrows, home, end, pg up/dn, ins, del) are rather small compared to the average straight keyboard, and they're all reorganised, too. Apparently this has been fixed in more recent editions of the board, but on this one, the Insert, &c. block have been ordered into three rows of two, rather than two of three, and this can make finding the delete key by touch, for example, a little difficult. Not only have the arrows been moved into a cruciform arrangement, but they're also about half the size of the rest of the keys, which again makes them hard to find.
However, the keyboard as a whole is a responsive, pain-reducing, joy to use. Now if only their software were so good. . .
5 It works.
It dose what i need it to do.
6 Evolution Of The Keyboard, A Must For All Users
I was very skeptical about the whole "ergonomic" thing when I purchased this keyboard; I thought it was just marketing hype. It took a little to get used to but it really is more comfortable. I can type roughly 5wpm faster and my wrists feel much more comfortable. The only significant things I warn about are the different key configurations. Some people (mostly gamers) just can't live without the traditional "inverted-T" arrow key configuration. Also check out the augmented HOME END DEL etc block and the function key configuration that I'm still getting used to after six months. Again, it will take a little while to get used to, but after the initial breaking in period I'd bet 90% of people would love this keyboard. (...)
7 great feel, problem with arrow and shortcut keys.
This keyboard has fantastic feel to it. I did talk to many people who say that they just cannot get used to it. I am used to it and enjoying it after 5 minutes of use. I don't feel pain in my wrists anymore which is the big plus. However, this keyboard does have couple of immense mistakes in it's design of arrow keys and shortcuts such as "home", "end", etc. Arrow keys are not alligned in a usual way, they are much more compact as well as shortcut keys which is, for me, A BIG problem. For half an inch of space, this keyboard did lose a lot of points. Also, the keyboard is very high, which means that if you have a desk where the base slides, you are in truble. In all, this product does have an excellent feel as far as typing goes, however, there are many more flaws to it. Honstly I would rather buy Professional version of this keyboard, and pay more monay for it. That is why I give this product grade of three stars minus.
8 Only company available
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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...
9 Best keyboard ever
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...!
10 Hate Wrist Pads? Go Natural!
Personally, I love this keyboard. No one is more resistant to change than I am, so it is highly unusual for me to try, let alone use, such an untraditional-looking product. This keyboard does take a little getting used to--make no mistake about that. The hardest thing for me has been finding the "6" key (across the top)--it is on the left "half" of the keyboard, a fact which my right hand sometimes has trouble remembering. Yes, the arrow keys are a little small, and the Insert-Delete-Home-End-PageUp-PageDown keys aren't really "instinctively" positioned, but the Delete key is the only one of these that I use a great deal, and it is still at the bottom left of that set of keys, just where it should be. I use a standard keyboard all day at work, and I have no problems going back and forth between the two, so that should not be too big of an issue among prospective buyers of this product.
While I have no wrist problems, I know that I don't type "correctly." I have tried wrist pads before, and I utterly despise them. I am not the type of person to buy something because it is "ergonomic." Frankly, I bought this keyboard because it was "unusual" and because I still trust Microsoft's name on a product. As it turns out, I got a comfortable keyboard that just so happens to significantly help my typing posture--not a bad deal. You can buy a keyboard with a bunch of Internet and shortcut keys, but why waste money on those little extras? Give this keyboard a try, especially those of you who just can't stand wrist pads, and I bet you (and your wrists) will come to really like this product.
11 Warning - some keys too small
I've used the Microsoft Natural Keyboard for years and strongly prefer it over a standard keyboard. When I decided to replace my VERY UNergonomic HP keyboard with a NEW MS Natural Keyboard, the model I ordered was the Elite 2.0.
I was very disappoined to find many of the keys (function keys, Home, Page Up/Dn, End, Delete, arrow ...) were half-size keys. My fingers, which are of normal size, kept hitting the adjacent half-size keys, making it highly unproductive to use.
While the half-size arrow keys would also not appeal to gamers, I suspect they would also not like the Elite cross-layout of the arrow keys. I've read elsewhere that they prefer the inverted-T layout.
I would NOT recommend the Elite model with its pixie-keys to anybody.
You have been warned.
dickm
12 Very Comfortable
I think it is a great keyboard which is very comfortable to use. The placement of the Insert, Del, etc. keys is a little wierd, but in time you get used to it. I think the placement of the Arrow keys is well done compared to Standard keyboards.
All and all a very nice product and I recomend one to anyone (especially those having problems with their wrists).
13 MS Devolves Keyboard Design by 2 Generations
My original MS Natural wore out ... it survived four years ofvery heavy daily pounding, never once gave me tendonitis, which the old-style keyboards do, and basically was the best keyboard I ever owned. In a crunch to replace it, I asked the local supplier to rush a new one within the hour. They delivered the Elite.
I am furklempt. The first thing to know is that this design is not "natural". For that matter, its not really useful at all as a true "keyboard". The cursor and editing keys are Chiclets, poorly arranged, too small, and for all practical purposes useless. Those who work rapidly and without glancing at the keyboard will constantly find themselves pressing multiple cursor control keys at once. Your work rate will slow to snail's pace, you'll get to practice your entire vocabulary of curse words, and you'll experience stress levels you imagined happened only to other people.
Spend the extra [money] and get the full size version of this beast...I guess they now call it the "Pro". Yes its bigger. Yes it has a lot of useless "Internet" buttons to make it even bigger than it need be [Why? Why why why?]. But the ergonomics, the touch and feel, are worth every penny if you're planning any degree of daily intimacy with your keyboard.
Amazon.com, why is there no button to award negative stars? END
14 it's easy to get over the changes and then it's great!
I too was thrown off by the placement of the insert key, but as another reviewer said, that only took about a week (OK, so I'm slower than that other guy) to get use to. Other than that, I'm really happy with it. As for the small buttons, that concerned me at first, but I've found it comfortable to use them and I appreciate the small keyboard size that they allow.
I hate the fact that many upscale keyboards come with custom buttons (e.g. speaker volume, cd player buttons) that only work easily with Windows. The Natural Pro is guilty of this, but hey, MS makes these things anyhow. At least with the Elite, the only worthless key is the ubiquitous Windows key.
15 The Minature Version of REAL keyboards
My last keyboard was a Digital Research Erog Multimedia/Internet Pragramable Keyboard. After one of my parents spilled coffe on it I was forced to shop for another, and got the microsoft one. After using such a good ergo keyboard that was in the traditional design, I can't stand this one, the keys are too small on many parts, and arrow keys are a CRUCIAL part of first person gaming. There is no reason to have these keys so small, and rearanged the way they are. I also fail to see the reason for making the ALT and adjacent keys so large. Good for someone who uses spreadsheets all day maybe, but not very good for a gamer, I also don't like the small size of the enter key and the slightly smaller backspace than traditional IBM keyboards.
16 I don't know what these guys bought, but my Elite is awesome
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.
17 A good keyboard
I have used a Microsoft Keyboard for some time know and I have to admit to liking it. It has worked for me very well and I would not go back to a regular keyboard unless I absolutely had to. The ergonomic design really does make a difference; this is evident every time I have to type on a regular keyboard. I feel the strain on my wrists. The natural keyboard almost completely does away with this. I would recommend this keyboard and other like it. One of my complaints is that the keys do seem a little small for people with bigger hands, and the price is a little high. If you don't want to fork over $50 for a keyboard there are others out there that will give the same effect and wrist relief for much lowers prices.
18 Stuck keys, all of them
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!
19 Couldn't be worse
I've had carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists and needed an ergonomic kybd to hopefully prevent a recurrence, so our MIS group ordered me an ergonomic kybd. This one. I used the Elite for a day and then begged and pleaded for a MS Pro kybd -- one that you don't need to use a microscope to find the correct directional key or Alt key. They caved in and got me one, for which I am eternally grateful. This "elite" kybd is perhaps one of the worst -- and certainly not among the elite of its breed. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON IT! There are MUCH better kybds out there!
20 Little Keys, Bad Idea...
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.
21 Wrong...all wrong
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.
22 The good stuff from Microsoft
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?
23 Terrible alternate keys
The keyboard is not bad as a whole, with most keys appropriately sized, and convenient. But the \ key is much too small, and the Windows key and the menu key are very misplaced and almost always cause mistakes. The should be outside the ctrl and alt keys, not interspaced.
Additionally, the cursor keys and the alternate keys (home, end, delete, page up, page down, and insert) are easily the worst i've ever seen. They're about as big as tic-tacs and completely out of order. It took me 2 months to stop making mistakes on them. Bad choices all around.
24 A great keyboard, but it takes a little getting used to.
The arrow keys take a little getting used to, but it is great on the wrists.
When I first started using this keyboard it was on my computer at work. For about the first 3 or 4 days, I had trouble with the arrow keys, and the 6 keys above the arrows (home, end, delete, page up, page down, and insert). The problem is that they are arranged different than any keyboard that I have used before. Once I was used to using this keyboard, I had a difficult time using my keyboard at home. Shortly thereafter I replaced my home keyboard with this one.
As far as key placement goes, the important things to know are:
1. The placement of the backslash key. I have seen this in a couple different places on different keybards. The Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite V2.0 has the backslash key above the enter key and below the backspace key. This allows for the larger backspace key. I feel that this is very important, since this is something that I have become very used to. Over the last 15 years, I have tried keyboards that have the backslash key next the the backspace key, and I just seem to make mistakes with that placement. Microsoft has done this one correctly (in my humble opinion).
2. The keypad above the arrows (home, end, delete, page up, page down, and insert) is arranged different that I have ever seen it done before. Usually this is a keypad that is 3 keys wide by 2 tall, Microsoft has changed the layout to 3 tall by 2 wide. This doesn't seem to perform any differently than the old way, it is just different (not good or bad, just different). This will take a little getting used to, but it works well once you have adapted.
3. The arrow keys. Until this keyboard, I have always seen the arrangement of 3 arrow keys across the bottom (left, down, right), with one centered above those 3 (up). This does it differently, there are 2 keys in the middle area (left and right) with a key centered above (up), and below (down).
I seem to be able to type faster using this keyboard than I have using other keyboards.
I used the original Microsoft natural keyboard, and it is elevated off the desk much higher. The older one had an option to raise the front of the keyboard, but this one only has the option to rais the back.
The lights for scroll lock, num lock, and caps lock are located in the center of the keyboard, in the break between the left and the right hand side of the home row. This is good because they are easier to notice than when the lights are in the keys or next above the number lock.
I use this keyboard on both windows and unix, and it works great.
I am not someone who has had problems with my wrists, but I do notice that it is just more comfortable.
If you spend much time at they keyboard, I would recommend this keyboard.
25 Not worth it...
While the layout is ok, the buttons are too small. And who brilliant thought of rearranging 'Insert', 'Delete', and arrow buttons? I very quickly got sick of always hitting the wrong button. Microsoft should have kept the buttons together in the same place in familiar clusters. The previous version of Natural keyboard was much better, why did they mess with it?
26 Best Keyboard On The Market !
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.
27 Good idea ruined with funky arrow keys
I use an earlier version of the Microsoft Natural Keyboard at work and that's great. I use a similar keyboard made by a different company at home. I've used this redesigned-to-be-smaller version of the keyboard for about an hour or two, and that's more than enough time to get sick of the re-arranged arrow keys and the undersized insert, delete, etc. keys. If you use the keys between the alphabetic keyboard and the number pad at all, avoid this keyboard.
