Product Description

Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 has been expertly crafted to allow you to work in a more natural position. The new Gull Wing design features a 14-degree gable, a natural arc and a curved key bed - bringing the keys closer to your fingers to reduce reach and unnecessary motion, while encouraging a more natural typing position. It also comes equipped with an optional palm lift for a seven-degree reverse slope and a cushioned wrist rest that encourages better arm and wrist alignment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #146 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: N/A
• Brand: Microsoft
• Model: B2M-00012
• Released on: 2005-09-15
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: 3.00" h x 11.00" w x 20.00" l, 5.00 pounds

Features

• Cutting-edge design and improved performance for maximium productivity
• E-mail and Internet hot keys

From the Manufacturer
From the Manufacturer

Overview:

Make the move to superior comfort with this breakthrough keyboard design
Place your hands and arms naturally and comfortably with the Microsoft® Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. The improved split design encourages a more natural hand, wrist, and forearm position and its new curved key layout makes keys easier to reach. The Zoom Slider lets you zoom in for close-ups of Web pages, images, and more — with just the touch of a finger. And 5 customizable "My Favorites" keys give you instant access to the folders, files, and Web pages you use most.

Features:

Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard Design
The advanced design of the Microsoft® Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard promotes a more natural hand, wrist, and forearm position for greater comfort.

14-Degree Gable Advanced ergonomic design with enhanced slope reduces wrist pronation.		12-Degree Split and Natural Arc The split keyboard design encourages natural wrist posture, while mimicking the curved placement of the fingertips to reduce key reach.		7-Degree Reverse Slope Removable palm lift creates a reverse slope for a more natural wrist posture.

System Requirements: Windows Vista™, Windows XP Pro/Pro x64 Edition/Home/Media Center Edition/Tablet PC Edition, Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later 60 MB free or Mac® OS X v10.2x*–10.4x. Exposé™ will only work on Mac OS X v10.3** or later 30 MB free Powered USB port CD drive *Users of Mac OS X v10.2.x must install IntelliType Pro and IntelliPoint software before connecting the hardware. **Users of Mac OS X v10.3.x must upgrade to Mac OS X v10.3.9 before connecting hardware OR install IntelliType Pro and IntelliPoint software before connecting the hardware.

Customer Reviews

Best Overall Keyboard to Date
As a software developer, I am literally attached to my keyboard. On a typical day, I'll spend anywhere between 5-8 hours typing, so it's of critical importance that the keyboard I use is comfortable. As most programmers and typists can attest, the Microsoft Ergo series of keyboards is the best keyboard for prolonged use.

Having used the Ergo keyboards in some form or another for the past 4 years (most recently, the Wireless Elite set), I must say that this keyboard is a step above.

To begin with, the construction is very solid. There is far less flex in the plastic and the keyboard as a whole compared to my Wireless Elite. The wrist pad is made of a nicely textured faux leather material with a tiny bit of padding. It feels rather durable (not to mention comfortable). It's a good addition as one of my main gripes with the MS ergo keyboards was that it was hard to fit one of those gel wrist rests around the curved base of the keyboard.

Compared to previous MS keyboards that I've owned, the keys on this keyboard are very well damped in terms of the sound the produce. It's very muted, even with my hard strokes. One thing that will take some adjusting to is the increased curvature (along two different planes) between where your pinky and index fingers rest (A,F and J,;). Whereas the older keyboards have a relatively flat incline, this keyboard has a slight curve (concave). In addition, there is also a very subtle curve across the keyboard as well (a horizontal curvature), which seems a more natural fit for the shape of hands. Also of note is the fact that some of the keys have changed shape. Whereas previously, MS had kept the striking surface consistent across the different keys (even at the edge), this keyboard has several keys along the ridge that have different striking surfaces.

Interestingly, this keyboard also features the return of the front riser (available on the older versions of the MS ergo keyboards). Actually, in recent months, I've been doing exactly this, but with my own ad hoc methods :) This is a much better solution. The riser is easily removable for those that prefer the standard configurations.

Note that this keyboard is *USB only*, which means that it may be incompatible with some older motherboards. Not a problem for me as I'm using it with a newer laptop. The keyboard does come with software for the programmable keys and extra functions, but it's plug and play right out of the box with WinXP.

I also appreciate the new forward and back buttons for use with web browsing (work with no drivers). The zoom slider in the middle of the keyboard, however, seems inapproriately used. It would have been much more useful as a scroll slider instead.

Sizewise, it takes up slightly more surface space than my wireless elite, but is much, much thinner.

My only complaints are that the space key is a little bit stiff out of the box (maybe it'll loosen up a bit after usage), the distance from Ctrl to the number keys seems to have increased a bit (on the scale of millimeters, this is important for those of us hitting Ctrl+F5 quite often ;-), the Delete key is now the same size as the other keys in the cluster (which some people may prefer, but I need to adjust to due to the extra large delete key on the Wireless Elite set), the Enter key is slightly smaller (by 3-5mm), and the key response is not as "soft" as say the ones I recently sampled on the MS bluetooth keyboard, but still very comfortable.

Overall, a very high quality keyboard. If you can wait, there is sure to be a wireless version coming soon. But anyone that spends a significant amount of type working with computers will be able to appreciate the new layout after 1-2 days of adjustment to the new curvature. I'm very happy with my purchase and would highly recommend this keyboard to my fellow programmers :)

UPDATE: In the past few days, I've had an inquiry into whether I'm still satisfied with the keyboard. The answer is a big, bold *YES*. As I was telling a colleague, this keyboard simply rocks. I can type hours on end without pain. My "seat of the pants" impression is that I also type _faster_ with this keyboard. As I pointed out above, I think that most people will have to go through a period of adjustment to really feel comfortable and fall in love with this keyboard, even if you're coming from a previous Microsoft Ergo series keyboard.

Very happy with the keyboard
I just picked this up this afternoon and have been very pleased with it so far. I used it to replace a Microsoft Natural Elite keyboard. The wrist/palm rests feel very nice, and I like the fact that the keys are quiet - I'm trying to train myself to take notes while on the phone using the computer instead of using a pad of paper, and I find that loud typing while I'm talking on the phone can interfere with my hearing the other person, and with their perception of my attention. The software does seem relatively Spartan but to be honest I'm not a big user of customization features, so it doesn't impact my use of the device. In the past, I haven't even bothered to install keyboard driver software. The zoom feature works nicely in Firefox, I don't use IE much.

So, for my use - standard typing for many hours/day, minimal use of special features - it's a great keyboard. I'm glad it's got the older-style cursor key/insert-delete-scroll key setup, rather than the setup used on the Natural Elite, that I never did really become accustomed to.

Chances are pretty good I'll buy another one to use at home this weekend - I am really happy with this, enough so that I'm ready to give up the old ergo keyboard I've got at home that doesn't have the negative tilt but does have the arrow-key configuration that I prefer.

I realize that split keyboards are interesting to a minority of the population (and everyone should use what works best for them) - but if you're one of the split keyboard people, I suggest giving this one a try.

I love this keyboard!
I'm one of the many who have been typing for years; from college where I earned money as a typist, to secretarial work, and now as a software engineer and a part-time writer, so needless to say that my keyboard is basically a constant companion.

From years of typing I've come to learn my likes and dislikes of keyboards. I was one of those who ordered the very first Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard as soon as it came out, and I fell in love with it. After seven years, my faithful keyboard finally gave up the ghost and so I was forced to purchase another.

I was at first lured to purchase a different brand name ergonomic keyboard because it was cheaper, and boy did I regret that decision. Some of the keys were moved from their standard positions, the ENTER key was much larger, which meant the SHIFT key was smaller and the back slash key was moved to the last row. The spacing between the number keys was wider so I had to readjust my reach, and, to make things worse, the keys kept sticking. The whole layout was not to my taste.

In contrast, this keyboard is perfectly suited to me. The keys tap much softer which means my fingers don't absorb as much shock when I'm typing. I type over a 100 wpm and when your fingers fly over the board, they tend to tap harder. The keys are also laid out exactly how you would expect them to like any other keyboard. The shortcuts are my favorites where some are pre-set with others that you can set yourself.

Basically, I have no complaints. I'm very happy with my purchase.