Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I was looking for, ideally, an ergonomic keyboard with soft touch. Unfortunately after reading many of the reviews here on Amazon, it seemes to me that the two are mutually exclusive. (One of the most common complaints of ergonomic keyboards is that several keys either stick or require a harder-than-normal keypress.) I was also thinking of getting a freestyle solo keyboard, but most of them don't have the ten-key number pad, which is required for both my work and recreation. So I went in to Office Depot and checked out a bunch of the keyboards. My absolute favorite for softness of touch and shortness of keystroke was the Kensington Ci73:
Kensington Ci73 Wired Keyboard, Low Profile Design (K64397US)
Unfortunately many of the reviews I've read of this product describe total failure from within days to weeks. Even with all of the positive reviews the Kensington received, I wasn't willing to make a purchase with such a high chance of needing to be returned. Also, I prefer not to use wireless devices, as I don't want to risk signal loss (which at best is annoying, and at worst can get you killed in your favorite MMO).
The Microsoft Wired Desktop 600 was my second choice among the available keyboards. I bought one for home use last night and used it all evening with absolutely no pain in my hands or wrists at all. I came into work this morning and within an hour of using my work keyboard my wrists were hurting again, so I bought one for work too. It's extremely comfortable and I have no pain at all. It's also very quiet. The mouse click is a little louder than the normal HP or Dell mice but it's not terrible. Also the scroll-wheel is a little stiffer. I may go back to my old mouse, but the keyboard alone is worth the price!
The only warnings I have about this keyboard is for gamers: The ESC and Function keys are not like the normal letter and number keys, they're smaller and have a different key-press structure. As such, I highly recommend getting familiar with exactly how the escape key needs to be pushed *before* you get in a situation where you're mashing it because you just accidentally queued up a power that you didn't mean to. It's not difficult, it's just different, and you want to pay attention the first couple of times.
Also, the number pad zero key is lower (as is every key, since the whole keyboard is lower profile), which means if you're used to hitting number pad zero with your thumb, you'll need to do a tiny bit of adjusting there. (For perspective, I usually use the first joint in my thumb to hit the zero key, but now because it's lower I have to use the fleshy part of my thumb. Like I said it's not difficult, it's just a very small adjustment.)
I am extremely happy with this keyboard, it's so wonderful to be able to type without pain. Someone asked me if there was really that much of a difference with the soft touch, and YES, there definitely is! My previous work-keyboard didn't even seem all that stiff, but when compared to this keyboard the difference is noticeable. And of course, the most noticeable difference is that there's NO PAIN.
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Microsoft Wired Desktop 600 with USB Port (Black)optical tracking technology mouse, quiet touch keys, integrated water channels, Start button key for Vista, Calculator Hotkey and Media Hotkeys, USB-Connected Devices
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