Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite

by Microsoft

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 9.8 x 2.8 inches ; 3.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000JDFD
• Item model number: 286-00082
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Wow! Who could believe typing could ever be so comfortable? With the Microsoft(r) Natural(r) Keyboard Elite, it's a natural. No wonder it's the single best selling ergonomic keyboard on the planet. Put your hands out and type. Naturally. That's the idea behind the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite. It lets you work more comfortably by helping you type with your hands, wrists, and forearms in a more relaxed posture. Fits you, not the other way around. Bend your arms at the elbows and hold your hands straight out. See how your hands naturally position themselves at a slight inward angle toward each other? Notice how this angle matches the angle of the split-keypad on the Microsoft Natural Keyboard elite? That's no coincidence!

Product Description

Microsoft Natural Elite Keyboard - PS/2 - 104 keys - ergonomic - white - retail (pack of 5 )

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Little Keys, Bad Idea..., January 20, 2000

By 

"physics-r-us" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite (Personal Computers)

I bought the original MS Natural Keyboard because I was developing a slight RSI problem in my right hand. It was wonderful. Recently we purchased several new machines at work and ordered the Natural keyboards to go along with them. We got the N.K. Elite which is, in my opinion, a decided step backwards. The main alphanumeric keys are reasonable and still comfortable, but they feel mushy to me compared with the original. The Numeric Keypad is fine. However, the function keys are dinky and hard to hit, the home/end/pageup/pagedown group has been miniaturized and rearranged (for example, insert is located where page down used to be) which makes it difficult to hit the correct key without stopping to look and worst of all the arrow keys are tiny and arranged in an awful diamond pattern which seems (cynically) designed specifically to cause you to hit more than one arrow at a time. Hey, if one is good, more is better right?

I'm dumping this beast because the frustration level is quite high. I'll be replacing it with either a SmartBoard (from Darwin), the LogiTech ergonomic or the MS Natural Pro (although the extra application keys won't do me any good since I use this on a unix box).

In short, avoid this keyboard and get a slightly more expensive but considerably less frustrating one.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great keyboard, but it takes a little getting used to., December 4, 1999

By 

Steven M. Stedman (Ferndale WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite (Personal Computers)

The arrow keys take a little getting used to, but it is great on the wrists.

When I first started using this keyboard it was on my computer at work. For about the first 3 or 4 days, I had trouble with the arrow keys, and the 6 keys above the arrows (home, end, delete, page up, page down, and insert). The problem is that they are arranged different than any keyboard that I have used before. Once I was used to using this keyboard, I had a difficult time using my keyboard at home. Shortly thereafter I replaced my home keyboard with this one.

As far as key placement goes, the important things to know are:

1. The placement of the backslash key. I have seen this in a couple different places on different keybards. The Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite V2.0 has the backslash key above the enter key and below the backspace key. This allows for the larger backspace key. I feel that this is very important, since this is something that I have become very used to. Over the last 15 years, I have tried keyboards that have the backslash key next the the backspace key, and I just seem to make mistakes with that placement. Microsoft has done this one correctly (in my humble opinion).

2. The keypad above the arrows (home, end, delete, page up, page down, and insert) is arranged different that I have ever seen it done before. Usually this is a keypad that is 3 keys wide by 2 tall, Microsoft has changed the layout to 3 tall by 2 wide. This doesn't seem to perform any differently than the old way, it is just different (not good or bad, just different). This will take a little getting used to, but it works well once you have adapted.

3. The arrow keys. Until this keyboard, I have always seen the arrangement of 3 arrow keys across the bottom (left, down, right), with one centered above those 3 (up). This does it differently, there are 2 keys in the middle area (left and right) with a key centered above (up), and below (down).

I seem to be able to type faster using this keyboard than I have using other keyboards.

I used the original Microsoft natural keyboard, and it is elevated off the desk much higher. The older one had an option to raise the front of the keyboard, but this one only has the option to rais the back.

The lights for scroll lock, num lock, and caps lock are located in the center of the keyboard, in the break between the left and the right hand side of the home row. This is good because they are easier to notice than when the lights are in the keys or next above the number lock.

I use this keyboard on both windows and unix, and it works great.

I am not someone who has had problems with my wrists, but I do notice that it is just more comfortable.

If you spend much time at they keyboard, I would recommend this keyboard.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible alternate keys, December 14, 1999

By 

David Aronchick (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite (Personal Computers)

The keyboard is not bad as a whole, with most keys appropriately sized, and convenient. But the \ key is much too small, and the Windows key and the menu key are very misplaced and almost always cause mistakes. The should be outside the ctrl and alt keys, not interspaced.

Additionally, the cursor keys and the alternate keys (home, end, delete, page up, page down, and insert) are easily the worst i've ever seen. They're about as big as tic-tacs and completely out of order. It took me 2 months to stop making mistakes on them. Bad choices all around.