EBAY WON OVER MICROSOFT (Microsoft Internet Keyboard)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	Microsoft Internet Keyboard
Date:	27/08/05 (216 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: super functionality.

Disadvantages: none.

I have bought an Internet keyboard and I am pretty excited about it. Perhaps not the most modern one on the market and not cordless either, but to me this little beauty is exciting.

I had a buck standard keyboard with my computer and it was beginning to look a little tired next to my new flat screen so I decided it was time to upgrade. Of course, I could have plumbed for a new keyboard, although I researched on Ebay and found this one at an amazing £5.00 which cannot be sniffed at. Even with the postage this works out less than Microsoft are asking for the keyboard, although their price is pretty good at £15.99

WHEN IT ARRIVED.

The keyboard was nicely packaged in its Microsoft box and had with it a CD rom that makes it work properly, i.e. links the keyboard to your internet browser to enhance your experience. I was quite excited about using this keyboard and plugged it in as per the instructions, and then loaded the CD rom and voila, I was taken through the initial registration and set up with no problems whatsoever.

The product comes with an instruction leaflet that is a little skimp to say the least but being although what I noticed straight away on just looking at the keyboard was the straightforward layout of special feature keys that tempted me to try them, instead of being vaguely aware of their existence. Instructions were as I say limited more to the connection of the keyboard to the system and were not really that essential as installation was simple.

The keyboard also comes with a health warning which was interestingly hidden underneath the keyboard, although your attention is drawn to it by a sticker on the lead which is easy to see. The health warning is really one that applies to any keyboard and not this one in particular about symptoms of discomfort associated with using a computer.

The keyboard is a light grey, has blue grey buttons for internet and special features and a blue grey detachable palm rest. It’s a nice shape, and the touch of the keyboard is much nicer than my old one. There are of course the numeric pad features that I am accustomed to and number lock which is normal on the right hand side of the keyboard, but I was rather interested not just in the feature blue keys, but where you have the letters, there are featured keys for working with whilst you work in word, and these were an experiment that proved very fruitful.

OK LET’S TRY THE BUTTONS, BLUE ONES FIRST

At the top of the keyboard you have a Back and Forward button. Obvious ones maybe for flipping backwards and forwards whilst browsing the internet. I found these a little cumbersome to start off with but it was my unfamiliarity that caused this rather than the functions themselves. Now, after using the keyboard for a while, I find that these are extremely good and that the Internet Explorer responds really quickly to the touch of the keys. One drawback here is that Microsoft did not think to put a refresh button. When you are working on auctions and need to keep up to the second with the prices that people are bidding, the refresh button is essential and I think that had they thought of this, then I would be more convinced about the Internet features.

The stop key works particularly well when you have pressed return too fast and want it to stop loading. I do this all the time by mistyping a password and then wishing I had not.

The Mail key. I was not sure how this would work and pressed it and up came my Outlook Express. Very clever, and response time quicker than my husband’s response time by far. If only life were all this easy. This is a useful key if you are a user of Internet explorer and I do use it though only on a limited basis since so many virus problems have hit the internet. I tend now to use online email accounts more, so I think that this button will have limited use for me.

The other internet buttons are useful such as favourites, web/home, and search and I tend to use the web/home button rather a lot because this takes me into my favourite search area rather than Microsoft’s own page which I find rather daunting to say the least.

Overall the internet keys are self explanatory and enhance your internet experience, although some are personal favourites and a few a little superfluous, depending upon the individual user.

ADVANTAGES OVER OTHER KEYBOARDS

Now here, when I first wrote the review, I wrote a list of features that this keyboard has and many computer literate readers found that my list was of little help. One of the features that I really do like about this keyboard is that it does not assume that you are computer literate. I certainly am a beginner, and would confess that I am new to control buttons, but what Microsoft have done is ideal for a person like me. They have labeled all the control keys and actually make the user curious about their use. Many of these probably existed on my Dell keyboard, although I was not pulled in and tempted to use them as the labeling was not there. I had no idea that different keys pressed after the control key did things like cutting and pasting for example, changing from ordinary type to bold or italic. In fact I am just discovering more features that make my computer experience a richer one just by using the keyboard and reading the front of the letter keys to see what the key does. The Dell computer keyboard had none of these hints for users with limited skill and Microsoft have won hands down as far as I am concerned because they have no assumed user skill.

There is a sleep button as well and Microsoft tell you that the efficiency of this button which puts your computer into standby depends upon your operating system and how well devices in your PC work with power management. This is all a little bit too complicated for me to understand, but with my computer, the button works, and I can leave the computer in standby.

I like the feel of the keyboard. The keys respond well and I can touch type easily, although I found that the return button was smaller than I was used to and this took a bit of getting used to.

THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS KEYBOARD

The keyboard software requires 35MB of hard disk space, and the keyboard is suitable with Windows 95 upwards and needs 16MB of ram. It has a PS/2 connector. A 486 or Pentium computer will allow this keyboard to be used.

MY CONCLUSION

Not only did this keyboard exceed my expectations, it actually got me using control keys that I would never have otherwise used. It is a user friendly keyboard and I believe would be a good one to train people on the use of control keys. These are such handy shortcuts when working in word, and I have found that they indeed make my experience of computing more enjoyable.

I have enjoyed my use of it tremendously and would recommend it to people who want to learn more about a keyboard’s shortcuts, and also to people like me, whose memory is not as good as it could be. Clear labeling has enabled me to familiarize myself with functions and not instantly forget where they are.

Cleaning could not be easier either and the keyboard is a robust beast and puts up with being turned upside down and brushed but also comes apart every six months or so for a proper clean.

I am impressed.

Summary: An enhancement of my computer experience.

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