Microsoft Natural Ergo Keyboard 4000

It occurs to me that for the past decade or so I've been using Microsoft Natural Keyboards almost exclusively. When they first came out, the Natural Keyboards were annoyingly expensive -- far too much for a poor college student, so in those days I used the cheapest keyboards I could get. When I started working at Blizzard, I used the old IBM built-like-a-tank spring loaded keyboards and Logitech Mice before developing a bit of RSI in the shoulders and the wrists, and transitioned to using a Trackball (no more shoulder strain) and a Natural Keyboard. While having the Natural Keyboard definitely helped alot, I found that I'd destroy the Natural within a year or two, and then I'd happily plunk down more money for a new keyboard. One day I broke my keyboard, and found that Microsoft had switched their product line completely -- the Natural Keyboard was discontinued, and the Natural Keyboard Pro had taken its place.

The Natural Keyboard Pro kept the size and order of the keys as on a standard keyboard, but added in a layers of keys at the top of the keyboard to make web surfing easier (like back, forward, stop, homepage, etc) I could work with that, even though it basically meant I was sacrificing an inch of desk space for those extra buttons that I never used. In addition, it also served as a USB hub, which I appreciated greatly. And then one day the Natural Keyboard Pro was drenched with a Coke, and I needed a replacement. There was only one problem: The Natural Keyboard Pro had been discontinued, and it was replaced by the Natural Keyboard Elite.

My first thought was hopeful -- the Natural Keyboard Pro was definitely a step up from the Natural Keyboard (even if it did add useless buttons), but the Natural Keyboard Elite was a step backwards. For the gamer, the Natural Keyboard Elite is the embodiment of unredeemable evil. Not only are the arrow keys reduced in size to being half the size of a normal key, but the 6 standard layout keys (insert, delete, home, end, pg down, pg up) are not just shrunk, but rearranged as well. My wrist RSI got worse, and it was replaced after a few months with the Natural Keyboard Multimedia.

The Natural Keyboard Multimedia is, as far as I can tell, an evolutionary step backwards. For all its bells and whistles, the Natural Keyboard Multimedia is the hodge-podge of its fore bearers and its contemporaries. A line of useless keys at the top (to control opening "My Documents", "My Pictures" "Messenger" and other folders/applications), Function Keys (F1-F12) that don't work unless the "Function Lock" key is lit (and by default it is unlit), rearranged (insert/delete/home/end/pgup/pgdn) keys and arrow keys that are nice and big, and unlike modern keyboards, uses PS/2. This is the keyboard that I've been using for the last three years.

When I saw the Microsoft Natural Ergo 4000 had a $20 rebate, I bought one. It has the standard top row of useless keys (this one is favorites driven) and also includes excel keys for the equals sign, parentheses, and backspace located over the numeric keypad. There's also a zoom switch located in the middle, as well as back and forward web browsing buttons on the bottom next to the status lights.

The curve of the keyboard is different from other Naturals -- instead of having keys splaying out in an arc, the keyboard humps in the middle, as if the two parts of the keyboard were pushed together. They've also added a plastic/rubber/faux leather wristrest to the bottom of the keyboard too, and a riser plate -- the overall result is a more comfortable keyboard.

The home keys are back where they should be, and the arrows are nice and big, which makes it perfect for a gamer. The only feature this keyboard is missing for me is extra USB ports.