Take command of your keyboard experience in comfort and style!Discover the Microsoft Natural MultiMedia Keyboard, with one-touch buttons that take you directly to your favorite multimedia activitiesnavigate music and video clips, surf the Web, start many of the programs you use most, and more. With custom blue accents and a stylish ergonomic design, this keyboard adds dynamic features and vibrant looks to any desktop.
BenefitsConvenient Media CenterJust press a button to start many of your favorite media applications, navigate music and video clips, or pump up the volume. It's the easiest way to enjoy your multimedia experience.
Enhanced F KeysExperience a faster way to perform common tasks. Just press a key to open, close, save, and print documents, send and forward e-mails, and more. Switch between standard and enhanced function key commands, giving you more flexibility.
Vibrant Color and Ergonomic DesignStriking Looks - Vibrant color and design add personality to your desktop.
Ergonomic design - Split, gently sloped shape encourages a natural hand, wrist, and forearm position for maximum comfort.
Hot Keys - With the press of a button, you get instant access to Messenger, Mail, Internet, and Calculator commands. Hot Keys for My Documents, My Pictures, and My Music put the files you use most within easy reach.
1 This keyboard and the Pro side by side
This keyboard is a surprise. I am typing this with this new keyboard and with a perfectly good MS Natural Keyboard Pro right next to it. I never thought that any other keyboard could match the Pro but this is very close. The key action is actually better on this keyboard! I verified this by having my son try it out too (another Pro user). He types very fast and the first thing he did was turn to me and say "This is a great keyboard!" That agrees with what I felt. The keys are a little noisy but not as bad as the Pro. They definitely take an "off strike" better than the Pro does (The Pro will sometimes not recognize my off center press as it will hang a bit). The layout is exactly the same except for all of the media stuff on top of course. The keys are a little softer but in a good way. I actually prefer the larger delete key and never use the insert key. I will not type on anything but a split keyboard now and have been known to bring one with me when I go to a customer site.
Now the F-Lock problem for Windows XP... That is the one thing I do not like but it is a simple matter to fix. Go to Google and search on "F Lock Key Info". Open the site http://www.mvps.org/jtsang/flock.html. Download the 2gflockflip.zip file. Unzip the files and right click on the 2gfl-f.reg file and say merge (Say yes to the question- this is a very minor tweak). Reboot. Now the F lock key is reversed! The F keys work when the F Lock light is off and the other keys work when the F light is on. There is an undo file included (undo.reg) that turns things back to normal. I have done it and it works. Now get over it.
There is only one thing about the Pro that I am spoiled about and that are the little programmable grey buttons that I have mapped to Word, IE, Copy, Paste etc. I am going back but I will have several of these keyboards around for when my Pro finally dies. I just hope that the PS2 port is still on my regular motherboard upgrades.
Who would have thought?
2 Best Keyboard I've Owned
This keyboard is the best feeling and has a nice setup for a split-key keyboard. I have owned a couple different brands and this one is nice. As for the whole F-Lock thing, I think it is great. Yea it would be nice if Microsoft let you turn it off in the software somewhere but for the most part as long as you are not lazy it shouldn't bother you. What else can I say, I love it.
3 Another Example of Microsoft fouling a perfectly good device
While the ergonomic feel of the keyboard has a nice fit that I enjoy while typing letters, reports, and other word processing documents (why it actually received one star instead of none), I've encountered multiple issues with this keyboard.
1) The ergonomic layout actually interferes with my productivity while using Autocad. I'm one of those people that use Autocad with my right hand on my mouse and my left hand hovering over the entire keyboard. The vertical curvature of the keyboard makes more difficult to access the keys on the right hand side. However, this is really nothing more than a minor annoyance because the ergonomic layout actually increases my productivity within word processing programs.
2) I have a MAJOR PROBLEM with Microsoft's Function Keys, or the fact that the only way that I can use the Function Keys for the proper use in Autocad is by turning the F-Lock key on. But whenever I reboot my computer, something that happens almost daily because of Autocad limitations, the F-Lock is automatically turned off, and the only time I realize that is turned off is when Autocad becomes to have misbehave, ruining drawings, and forcing me to redo work. There is no software means to turn the F-Lock's default to on after a reboot except a registry hack if you're using the PS/2 version within Win2K or WinXP.
3) The multimedia keys like "play", "pause", "volume", and "skip" along the top of the keyboard do not work with Itunes. You can only use the "Media" key to open Itunes.
4) There is no seperate Insert key. Insert is located on the same key as Print Screen and SysRq.
5) You can't modify the multimedia keys for a particular program. They only modifications are system wide modifications, and the only modifications you can make are Microsoft's commands. However, you can open non-Microsoft programs with these keys.
6) The sleep key is a system defined key that cannot be modified, and it will place your computer into Window's Hybernate mood. This may be something that you want, but I avoid Hybernate as if it was the plague, and accidentally hitting this key shuts down my hard drive and makes it extremely difficult to reactivate the computer. I ended up covering this key with multiple layers of duct tape.
4 Great Keyboard!
I am a Technical Support guy and the PS/2 feature is great, with a USB keyboard you may have problems if you need to access the BIOS of the computer (you may need it if you need to do some Trouble Shooting). I am also a gamer (not a Hardcore one, but a gamer at least) and the design is great and also the pressure you need to apply to the keys is just the perfect one.
5 Awesome Keyboard
This is the single best keyboard made. All your tools are at your fingertips with one button access. Completely comfortable and ergonomic. This is an excellent keyboard. Well worth the money.
6 No USB connector
On the microsft site I got the idea this had a USB connector. It doesn't, and I had to return it.
They wouldn't let me post this with no rating, so I'm giving it 3 stars because of Microsoft's website error that cost me a few bucks in return shipping. The keyboard itself looks great, though of course I couldn't actually try it.
7 Rearranged cursor control keys and "F Lock" are an annoyance
This keyboard has a comfortable feel, but I prefer my 7-year-old original Microsoft Natural keyboard, as Microsoft has really fouled up the layout of this one.
The "home" and "end" keys have been moved, the "delete" key enlarged to twice its original size, and the "insert" key is entirely missing. What's more, the F keys have been replaced by Microsoft Office control keys (open, save, undo, print, etc.), and if you want them to act how they're supposed to, you have to manually turn on "F Lock" each and every time you boot--this key cannot be controlled by software! (There is a registry hack for Win2k/XP that can effectively disable "F lock" on the PS/2 version, but if you're using USB or another OS, then you're up a creek.)
It's a shame Microsoft had to add these annoyances to an otherwise good keyboard.
