Microsoft Office Keyboard

by Microsoft

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005NVBO
• Item model number: E17-00002
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 23, 2001

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Microsoft Office keyboard's design encourages users to compute with both hands at once by including a left-side single touch pad. This feature includes a scroll wheel, cut, copy-and-paste hot keys, and an application toggle switch. Enhanced function keys (F keys) offer instant, one-touch access to common commands such as Help, New, Open, Close, Reply, Forward, Send, Spell Check, Save, Print, Undo, and Redo. You can also use standard F-key functions by pressing the F-key lock.

This PC and Macintosh compatible keyboard features 12 hot keys that launch your favorite programs and control volume or mute with a quick touch. The Office XP features provide two dedicated task pane and Office Home hot keys, making exploration of applications, Web help, and services simple. The keyboard uses a standard PS/2 or USB connection and comes with a three-year manufacturer's warranty.

Product Description

Single Touch Pad This unique power center gives you single touch access to everyday commands. With your left hand on the pad and your right hand on the mouse, you'll get more work done in less time. Internet Hot Keys Surf the Web right from your keyboard-Convenient one-tech keys let you go Back and Forward on the Internet. Scroll Wheel Move around in documents easily with out using the on-screen scroll bar. When combined with your mouse scroll wheel, you can navigate using whichever hand is free. Single Touch Keys Instantly Cut, Copy and Paste Applicaation Toggle Easily move between open windows with just a single touch instead of using ALT-TAB or your mouse pointer. Hot Keys Get instant access to the programs, commands and shortcuts you use every day, including Microsoft word, Excel, Web/Home, Mail, Calendar, Files, Calculator, Mute and Volume -/+. F Lock Key Press the F LOCK key to toggle between the standard and enhanced function key commands for increased flexibility. Enhanced F keys Use your F keys as you always have or use them to perform common commands printed right on the keys: Help, New, Open, Close, Reply, Forward, Send, Spell Check, Save, Print, Undo and Redo. Log Off Hot Key Log off Microsoft Windows quickly with the press of a button. Sleep Hot Key** Put your computer into "sleep" mode (such as suspend, standby or hibernation) right from your desktop, protecting your data and saving energy. Improved Number Pad Common numeric functions such as =,(,),BACKSPACE, and TAB are located right where you need them most above the number pad.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Nifty Keyboard from a "Keyboard Picky" User., March 20, 2002

By 

Jeffrey A. Smith "jasncompany" (Athens, AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Office Keyboard (Personal Computers)

First of all, let me say that I am very picky about keyboards. I like a tactile feel and even like a mechanical key-click. This puts me in the minority, I know. Having said that, though, I admit to really liking this Microsoft Office keyboard (for the most part). The alpha section feels really nice. It's high-quality, and even though it's a bit soft for my touch, the keys have a very positive feel to them. I wouldn't call it mushy.

I like the roller bar to the left, which lets you scroll up and down the way a wheel mouse typically does. I also like having "Back" and "Forward" buttons over there on the left side. I haven't gotten the knack for using the "Cut," "Copy," and "Paste" buttons yet, however.

The extra buttons across the top are very handy... especially useful is the "Mail" button, which (on my machine) brings up Outlook Express.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this product. Unlike the other reviewer, however, I have to say I DON'T like the oversized delete key. It makes that whole section of the keyboard feel strange and unnatural to me. (Take a close look at the section of the keyboard where the "Home," "End," and "Page Up" "Page Down" keys are located and you'll see what I'm talking about.) Make sure you are willing to adjust to this before you purchase this keyboard.

Additionally, I would have appreciated some USB ports. A friend of mine got the Microsoft Internet keyboard, and if I had it to do over again, so would I.

Still, if you're heavy into MS Office... this is the one to beat!

I give it 4 stars... not 5, but only because of that "Delete" key weirdness. Overall, it's a dandy!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a bunch of great ideas. Very Helpful!!, March 4, 2003

By 

Eric Nelson "alipius" (RACINE, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Office Keyboard (Personal Computers)

I had been using the Microsoft Internet Keyboard for several years. I enjoyed that keyboard but I never quite felt the keyboard was designed for the way I work. The Office Keyboard, however, very well may be as good as a keyboard gets.

The keys have a nice soft touch, but that's just the beginning. The best feature is the scroll button on the left. Not only has it sped up my internet surfing, its functionality has proven itself in almost all of my daily computing experience. It has a much looser scroll than I have found in a mouse so one can literally ZIP to the end of any page or document. Additionally, its location is near enough to the CTRL button to press CTRL with your thumb and scroll up and down with your finger, which zooms in and out in many programs.

The cut/copy/paste buttons have proven themselves very helpful. No more accidentally striking CTRL+C when I want to paste something! The application scroll buttons also nicely replace and enhance what I used to use CTRL+TAB to do.

Some reviewers poo-poo the enhanced F key functions. With the latest Intellitype Pro software, I have found that I can customize them very easily and set their functions to the tasks I use most frequently. (The defaults, however, were nicely chosen and I have found rare occasion to change them.) I am constantly opening, closing, and saving documents. I can now do this quickly without moving my mouse. Most of the button also work in non-Microsoft programs as well.

Contrary to others, I have not found that the enlarged delete button to be a problem. In fact, I enjoy the absence of the Insert button that I erroneously frequented prior to using the Office Keyboard.

Although this review has been overwhelmingly positive, I do not mean to presume that everyone will love this keyboard as soon as they take it out of the box. I am very picky about keyboards and usually get attached to ones I've used for a long time-vocational hazard, I guess. But I liked the philosophy of this keyboard, and although it took a while for me to get used to utilizing my new keyboard to its fullest, within two weeks of daily use this keyboard's functionality revolutionized my computing experience. This one is a keeper.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only Microsoft were this innovative with their software., January 22, 2002

By 

Jason Reedy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft Office Keyboard (Personal Computers)

OK, no discussions about whether Microsoft is a monopoly or not (they are), whether they stifle competition (they do) or whether they act in the best interest of the consumer (they don't).

Based on the above sentence, you can imagine, how painful it is for me to give Microsoft a high rating and praise their innovation, but they truly deserve it with the Office Keyboard.
It is appropriate that Microsoft is the most innovative in those markets in which they face heavy competition. They were the first company to come out with the optical mouse (although Logitech quickly one upped them with a wireless optical mouse), and the first to add new features to the boring old keyboard.

The Office Keyboard won't be for everyone, and will be less useful if you don't use Microsoft Office. However, it has some great new features that will be useful to anyone, be it in the office or at home.

The keyboard is organized into three sections: 1) a traditional keyboard layout in the center, function buttons across the top, and navigation buttons on the left.

The main keyboard is the standard 101-key device with one noticeable change. The entire top row of keys has been remapped by Microsoft. This includes F1-F12, the ever popular Scroll Lock, and the Print Screen button. They concluded that no one ever uses the function keys that often, so replaced them with Microsoft Office functions. This makes a great deal of sense for F3-F12, which the average user has no use for, and Microsoft has wisely kept the F1 key as "Help", which leaves F2, in my opinion, as the big troublemaker. Frequent Excel users will have gotten used to using F2 for in cell editing, but now that key goes to the "Office Home" web page. However, most of the changes are refreshing, and for programmers (and Excel Macro wizards), the addition of "(", ")", and "=" above the Number pad is a welcome addition.

The top of the keyboard includes some convenient shortcuts, the majority of which you most likely won't use, and are ready to be "remapped". Microsoft allows you to take most of the custom keys on the keyboard and set them to any application or one of many pre-defined functions. However, it is very nice to be able to open the Calculator, Explorer, and Outlook with a touch of a button. You can also control your computer's volume and enter "Suspend" mode from the same row of keys.

The biggest improvement is that navigation area to the left of the main keyboard. Capitalizing on the scrolling mouse idea, Microsoft has added a scroll wheel about an inch in width to the direct left of the "Tab" key. This is a great way to scroll through a web page, and is much faster instead of using the mouse scroll button when you are typing. Additionally, the navigation area allows you to move backwards and forwards in web pages, switch between all open applications, and cut, copy, or paste a selection.

All in all this is a terrific keyboard, much as it pains me to admit it. :) However, it is the perfect testimonial for Microsoft's lack of innovation; they are at their best when they face competition. The one weakness that I would give this keyboard, is the bias toward Microsoft functionality (surprise!). Do I really care about visiting the Office Home page? Probably not, so Microsoft does need to work on making the assignment of keys more customizable. If there was also a LCD display with the new function of a remapped key that would also be helpful, as visitors to your computer are going to wonder why F1 does open "Help" as it says on the key, if you remapped the button.