Microsoft SideWinder X4 Keyboard Review

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(More customer reviews)I work in a dark room at night, while my spouse sleeps. Occasionally I need to hit a letter, function, number or some special key like "[". Being the poor typist that I am, this usually requires either trial and error or worse turning the light on enough for me to read the keys. The older I get, the more light is required to actually see the keys.
My search was for a well built backlit keyboard to help prevent my need for any other light source. There is another model the Microsoft Sidewinder X6 that seemed interesting, however on a search this model was available for pre-order and seemed interesting.
My need is not as a gamer, just a sometimes past bedtime typer. This keyboard comes with software from Microsoft and on the USB cable over the USB connector there is a piece of cardboard that says to install the software CD first. When opening the box, the CD wasn't noticed by me. However it was there. It installs Microsoft Intellitype. Which seems to do something for my PC, what I have no idea.
After software install on Windows XP, my old keyboard was unplugged and this new keyboard was put in. It has worked out very well. The color is a solid red, and it is easy on the eyes. This is an extended 102 / 103 key keyboard (it has some extra keys). There is a non-detachable numeric pad. There is also a non-detachable hand rest.
While the hand rest is comfortable, it would have been nice to have it removable. Space is an issue in the area of my keyboard, and the hand rest uses about 1/3 of the keyboard surface area.
The black for most of the keyboard is glossy, the hand rest is matte and has a textured feel. All keys are lit, with the exception of the space bar. The space bar isn't hard to find even in the dark as its a large area flanked by lit keys.
Only the tops of the keys glow, there is no light leakage on the sides of the keys or on the base of the keyboard. A choice of color would have been nice. Red isn't bad, I'd have preferred blue.
Some keyboards have a key to orient your hand for touch typists (usually a physical bump on the letter "J" if I recall correctly). This allows you to orient yourself to the QWERTY keyboard without looking. Unfortunately all keys are the same, and you must learn by use which key is where.
This keyboard is a bit louder than other keyboards. I do not much care for the noise. During long periods of typing, my thumbs seem to get a bit sensitive to the space bar. Overall when typing longish posts (like this review) my fingers get more tired on this keyboard than on my very old basic dell keyboard.
There are 6 keys labeled S1-S6 along the left side. Additionally there is a menu key on the lower right of the main keyboard close to the space bar. These are non-standard keys. What the S keys do I have no idea, the menu key seems to work like the right click button. Unfortunately hitting it a 2nd time doesn't undo the right click (it doesn't take down the menu).
There are also multi-media keys, for play / pause, skip fast forward, sound up and sound down also mute. There is a key that changes a light from one of 3 positions, I suspect its related to the game capability of this keyboard. There is also a key to set the light intensity. There are 3 levels of light plus and off, you change from one to the other by repeatedly hitting the light button. A final non-standard button is the calculator button, which launches the Microsoft calculator.
Overall it is a well made keyboard, a detachable hand rest would have been nice. My hope is over time the sensitivity to the space bar will decrease. Most of the extra keys are useless to me. I do really appreciate how well lit this is, and how there seems to be no bleed through of light between the keys.
I'm happy. Amazon sold this at a lower price than it is listed at today. Today it is listed at $59.99, my price was $45.10. For $45.10 this was a very good purchase in my opinion. With any luck as this device becomes a bit more mature the price will settle down.

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Microsoft SideWinder X4 Keyboard

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Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600 (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this keyboard as a replacement for the original one came with my HP computer which is a USB wireless. I liked the original one but it can't be used with rechargeable AA for a long time. I had to keep recharging constantly. And I didn't like the idea of wasting throw away batteries.
This new keyboard is just as compact and light as the original, it's a minimalist's dream. Key stroke is very quiet and requires very short stroke kind of like using a notepad keyboard. Plug & play operation is extremely trouble free, you'll need no instruction at all. Some of the photos I have seen showing PS2(old type connection) adaptor included but mine didn't include it, which wasn't an issue for me. There's a special key for "calc" but I didn't have a problem starting it in a couple of key strokes, so it's not a big advantage. Another feature is its "spill-resistant design". It's nothing more than a several slits under the keyboard. If you spill water, it may help drying quicker, for anything else, you'll have a hard time getting it clean, probably never completely like any other keyboard.
Over all, I like everything about this keyboard with no negative opinion. Only thing I don't know about it is its durability but from the way I feel, it seems well made and will last for a long time.
The photo showing on this page is misleading. It comes with keyboard only without a mouse.

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quiet touch keys, integrated water channels, Start button key for Vista, Calculator Hotkey and Media Hotkeys, USB-Connected Devices

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Microsoft Wired Desktop 600 with USB Port (Black) Review

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(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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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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