I program.  A lot.  I type in a lot of code at work and at home as well, and I’ve had numerous flirtations with carpal tunnel syndrome in the past.  What finally cured the problem for me — and it was a dramatic cure — was moving to the Microsoft Natural Keyboard around 13 years ago.

Programmers get attached to their keyboards, and it’s no wonder; we type tens, possibly hundreds of millions of keystrokes on the things.  Switching keyboards is a big, big deal — nothing to approach lightly.  As an example of how particular we can get, note that the keyboards pictured to the right are recognizable instantly as examples of the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite model, which are inferior to the original models in key feel, function key size, and the layout of the insert/delete and cursor arrow key blocks.

Don’t mess with our keyboards.

The original Microsoft Natural Keyboard is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of keyboard design.  Nothing before or since matches its ergonomics, key feel, or spare layout and design.  I bought one for work and one for home way back in the day, and have used them for well over a decade now — they’ve outlasted at least 3 computers with never a problem.  I’m typing this post on one right now.  I have an Elite as a spare, but I try not to have to use it.

There’s only one problem; the original Microsoft Natural Keyboard is a PS/2-only device.  That’s not been a fatal problem even in the age of USB, as there are PS/2-to-USB converters.  However, either the converter or the new Dell I got recently (or both) are not fully compatible with the keyboard, as I get dropped keys when typing at speed, and it can’t handle interleaving multiple simultaneous keypresses very well, which affects ALT- or CTRL-key combinations and games.

So it was time to look for a new keyboard.

Of course, the first place I went was to Microsoft’s offerings.  After over a decade of complete satisfaction, I knew they understood what a programmer needs in a keyboard.  I also knew they had a suite of new keyboards, all of which natively supported USB.  After reading some reviews I went with the Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000, which seemed to be the intended successor to the original Microsoft Natural Keyboards.  I ordered it from Newegg, got it, and plugged it in.

With one exception, it’s really quite a good keyboard overall.  The key feel is OK, the layout is good (read:  familiar) — everything about it was acceptable, except for the spacebar.

The spacebar.  How could they screw up the spacebar?  When you type on an ergonomic keyboard, especially  a split one like the Natural series, the spacebar has to be wide to bridge the gap between the two sides of the keyboard.  For comfortable hand positioning, you have to have your thumbs on the very ends of the spacebar — it’s required by the very concept of a split keyboard.  So why would Microsoft make a keyboard with a single contact for the spacebar, and a cheap swaybar to try to balance the forces?  It presses OK in the exact center, but when you press on the ends, it sticks.  Badly.  On either side.

It’s a dealbreaker.  It may be news to Microsoft, but the spacebar is a commonly used key.  I’ve used it several hundred times in this blog post already, which is more than I can say for the ‘x’ or ‘q’.  So back the Natural 4000 went to Newegg, and I looked for another answer.

What I came up with in the end was a used Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro.  This model supports USB natively, has the same key layout as the original Natural, a good spacebar, and a bunch of extraneous buttons at the top that I just ignore.  Key action is OK; not as good as the Natural, but acceptable.  The function keys are the small Elite size, but I can live with that; I don’t use the function keys nearly as much as the spacebar.  And since older Natural keyboards are almost indestructible, it still works great.

I wish I’d found this one originally, as it was cheaper than the 4000 and I wouldn’t have lost the $18 on return postage and restocking fee when returning the 4000 to Newegg.  But even so I consider it a cheap lesson to learn.  The important thing is that I have an acceptable keyboard to use now; one that works well enough that it seems to blend into the background, and becomes something I can just ignore while I work.

Tags: Computer, Keyboard, Programming, Stupid