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| Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite | 
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| Brand: Microsoft
Category: CE
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $28.85
You Save: $11.10 (28%)
New (51) Used (8) from $18.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  141 reviews
Sales Rank: 386
Platform: Not Machine Specific
Color: N/A
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Keyboard: QWERTY
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 18 x 8 x 2.2
nv:Keyboard Type: Ergonomic
Connection Type: USB
Warranty: 3 years warranty
MPN: A11-00337
Model: A11-00337
UPC: 659556585921
EAN: 0659556585921
ASIN: B0000642RX
Release Date: October 28, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Ergonomic design | | • | Built-in palm rests, adjustable keyboard legs | | • | Space-saving design | | • | PS/2 and USB ports ensure compatibility with newer and older PCs | | • | Works with most Microsoft MS-DOS and Windows platforms |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
To design a more comfortable keyboard, Microsoft conducted extensive ergonomic and usability research. The result is the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite. Its split, gently sloped shape encourages a natural hand position-so you can type more comfortably.The Natural Keyboard Elite allows you to place your hands, wrists and forearms in a naturally comfortable position. The built-in palm rest provides a comfortable place for your hands when you're not typing.
Amazon.com Product Description
Microsoft's Natural Keyboard Elite features ergonomic contours that comfortably accommodate not only your fingers, but your whole hands. A built-in palm rest and adjustable keyboard legs help you work in comfort, and two connection options give you the ultimate flexibility: either a round PS/2 port or a rectangular USB port for plug-and-play convenience with the latest PCs. With its improved space-saving design, the new keyboard takes up less room on your desktop and fits easily into keyboard trays. To use the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite, you need one of the following operating systems: Microsoft MS-DOS 3.1 or later, Windows NT Workstation or Server 3.51 or later, Windows 3.1 or later, and an available PS/2 or USB port (USB requires Windows 98, 2000, Me, or XP).
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| Customer Reviews: Read 136 more reviews...
Good, but don't get wet August 20, 2008
This keyboard is comfortable, easy action, works with my Mac. However, don't get any liquids in it, water included, no matter how little, it just can't take it and starts outputting multiple keystrokes for each single key you depress. Microsoft was good enough to replace the first one, hopefully they will replace the second too.
 A good buy for the price. August 14, 2008
After programming for 12 hours a day for 6 months with a normal rectangular keyboard in my lap, I found one day that it became so painful to use my hands I couldn't type. My back hurt terribly. I switched to a split keyboard and got a proper chair that set the keyboard at a height so my elbows formed a 90 degree angle - essentially following all the professional ergonomic advice for workstations that my research uncovered. After a few months I was back to normal.
Just look at your wrists when you type! If they are bent and you type a lot, how long do you think is it going to be before you are one of the many victims of repetitive stress injury? It's very sad that companies listen to the false propaganda that many furniture vendors tell them about workstations being "ergonomic". Just go on the web and look at the proper posture for a computer workstation. When you are young, your body can often tolerate lousy posture at a workstation but it may catch up to you. I hope that some of you will take steps to avoid injuring yourself.
I have tried several of Microsoft's split keyboards and found that the space bar and some other keys did not operate smoothly on several models so I returned them. This keyboard is not only less expensive than those, but all the keys operate smoothly and with a small amount of noise. I like having a little sound and tactile feedback to let me know that I've pressed a key. This one is just right. The space bar is well situated and works well. The slope of the keyboard is just fine - very natural.
I don't use any of the software bells and whistles for keyboards. They just never seem to work reliably and mess up the computer on updates, so I'm happy that this didn't come with a disc. In fact remember I said I tried one of the more expensive MSFT keyboards? Well now the software it installed cannot be deleted from my machine!
The reason for giving this three stars instead of five, is that the arrow key group, which I use frequently is made for people with very, very tiny fingers - mine are not) and so are useless for me. The last split keyboard I had was better designed in this regard, but they are out of business. So I use the arrow key functions on the keypad and am getting used to switching the NumLock button on/off.
Someone else mentioned that MSFT messed with the arrangement of the Home/End/Delete/Insert/PG Down/Pg Up group. I agree with their complaint. Besides making those keys smaller than older boards, I see no reason for them to have rearranged them, but I'm sure that in time my hands will get used to it.
One last word of advice. The wrist rest may seem like a nice feature, but it can lure you into a bad habit. If you rest your wrist on it such that you bend your hand up to reach the keys you may cause yourself some wrist problems. If your arms are at the right angle, and the keyboard at the right height you will find it is actually more comfortable to type without resting your wrists on anything.
So all in all, the keys operate nicely, it's reasonably quiet and seems that it will be around my office for quite some time.
It's a keyboard July 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Pros: sturdy board with good height adjustment; comfortable split that's not so dramatic to make changing from a standard keyboard difficult, but it has provided great relief on wrist stress; decent resistance in the keys (nothing too squishy); dual windows keys make it easier to continue using both left and right hand keyboard short cuts with a mac operating system (taking the place of the control key); non-skid feet on the front prevent the board from moving from a preferred position without a hard knock.
Cons: altered position of the arrow keys and home/end/delete/page/insert keys took some getting used too; "usb compatible" is an adapter plug (found much cheaper than the keyboard), not a direct usb plug to the computer.
 ergonomic correct keyboard July 10, 2008
saves your hands from crapal tunnel easy to use a pleasure to use destroys the basic dell keyboard 100 to one wont be sorry on this one dynamite product
A nearly perfect keyboard July 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
To be perfectly honest, my mom stole one of these from an office job years ago because they were just throwing it out, and she thought the design was cool. Little did I know, I was getting one of the best keyboards I've ever used.
First and foremost is the ergonomic design- it's really quite surprising how much hate the ergonomic design generates from touch typists who are unwilling to do any retraining. Trust me, it's worth the change, and it's really not that bad. I really wish more businesses would get with the program and get these keyboards- the amount of stress they take off your wrists is something you'll miss if you're ever stuck at a "regular" keyboard again- I've carried this keyboard with me when sometimes when I've done repair work for friends. In fact, this keyboard also promotes proper hand placement for typing, and you might find yourself typing faster overall after you adjust. Change to an ergonomic keyboard today, and you'll thank yourself forever.
A surprisingly good part of the keyboard is that it has no programmable buttons. Lots of computer users swoon over keyboards that give you one-touch access to your email or your internet browser- but in the long run, those buttons are more of a hassle than a help. Keyboard software can stop working, and potentially much worse, all those extra gadgets can make a more complicated keyboard incompatible with certain systems. This keyboard has only the basics, so it plugs in and works instantly just like any other standard keyboard. Because of this, my keyboard has outlived 3 computers at this point, and has worked perfectly on them all. I would say that this keyboard's excellent plug-and-play features make it "portable", but that's a bit of a misnomer as the ergonomic layout does make it bigger than most, and you will have to take that into account when looking at keyboard trays or desk space.
This brings us to the only real potential problem with the keyboard, which is that it might not be appropriate for gaming use. If you need to use the arrows extremely quickly for gaming or a similar purpose, the diamond requires your fingers to skip over each other going from up to down. Most games however use the WASD keys for the most critical aspects of the game, with the arrows being more secondary, making this a non-issue.
This is a more comfortable keyboard that's best for typing. It's not as good for some games, and it's not so good for travel. So long as you know what you're getting, this is an excellent unit, highly recommended.
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