Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

**** Update 4 (Sept 23, 2015): To resolve the issue with Windows 8 and Windows 10 repeating key issues when you hold a key down for longer than a few seconds (such as when playing a game, or when holding down (resting on) shift, control, or alt while thinking something through outside of a game), go into your Device Manager and find the entry for the keyboard. If you have installed the driver, it will show up as the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard, if not it will show up as "Microsoft Hardware USB Keyboard". Right click it and choose "Properties", and go to the Power Management tab. Uncheck the box "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". This will resolve the problem. I now love this keyboard and don't mind the smaller F1-F12 keys, and they rarely stick anymore now that the keyboard is fully worn in. 5 stars. --- Original Review, 4 stars --- Before getting this keyboard: I'm a programmer, and spend a large part of my day at the keyboard. I have arthritis in my right shoulder, so using a computer for extended times can be painful if I have to use the mouse. One day that it was particularly bad, I spent a long time trying to find a keyboard that got rid of either the central arrow/navigation strip or the numpad (why are there both, right next to each other??) so that the mouse could be positioned closer to the keyboard. The awkward angle of keyboard and mouse positioning aggravates my pain. I'm a long-time user of the Natural and Elite keyboard lines from Microsoft, all the way back to when they had the large pyramid arrow keys. Each iteration seemed to make the keyboard larger with more keys I didn't use. The latest favorite was the 4000 since the older Natural Elites became harder to find and even more difficult to connect to my newer systems. I found this keyboard before it had been released, and told my boss he was going to be getting me one as soon as it came out. I'd been watching every day, and finally got one. The good: This keyboard is a pleasure to use. The pain in my shoulder has all but completely receded after using it for a week, as I don't have to lean my arm out as far to grab the mouse. I like the feel of the keys overall, and in less than a week I've acclimated to the repositioning of the home/end/pgup/pgdn keys. The arrow keys are conveniently placed, as well. I finally have the mouse 6" closer and that makes a HUGE difference. I particularly like the new positioning and size of the delete key. The bad: As a developer, I make heavy use of the Function keys. These keys would be fine if they were consistent in pressure and feel to the rest of the keyboard. They are not. They feel like cheapo plastic keys (which they are, I suppose), and don't press consistently. The pressure to trigger them is not consistent with the rest of the keyboard, and half the time I go to use one I didn't press it hard enough. As you'll see mentioned if every other review of this keyboard, the media Play/Pause key requires you to toggle the Fn SWITCH to the "weird" mode, use the media key, and switch back. At first I thought that wouldn't be a big issue, but apparently I used the play/pause key more than I realized. No problem, I thought. I'll just go into the super macro Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard program and remap it. Ah, too bad, so sad. There are a total of 6 keys that can be changed, and almost all of them just disable the key not actually change its function. If you go into the help, the help describes how to create macros, command bindings, etc. But apparently you only get that functionality on older keyboards - not this one. As a note, I had to put the USB transmitter on the front USB port of my computer. When it was on the back it just couldn't handle traveling the 2 1/2' to my keyboard through my desktop. It can handle the 2' from the front, though. Apparently there is a VERY short range on the wireless. Conclusion: Overall, I really like the keyboard, and I especially like the lack of shoulder strain and pain. When it bothers me enough, I'll figure out a solution like using Autohotkey to bind a different hotkey to play/pause media player and Pandora. While I don't like the way the function keys feel or operate, I've been remapping my stuff that uses those keys so maybe I'll get to the point I can just leave it on the weird media mode all the time. **** Update: I bought a 2nd one for home. The right spacebar key fails to work intermittently, which is very annoying since I hit spacebar solely with my right thumb. My first one works perfectly, so it's definitely something to be aware of. I remember reading a review by someone else that said they have issues with the right space key, too. There aren't many of these keyboards out yet, so with the small sample size, and two people having the issue, just be aware you might have the issue, too. When I say it fails intermittently, it's somewhere between 1-2 times every minute. **** Update 2: Replaced the keyboard because it was getting steadily worse. New keyboard works as well as the one I have at work, and is rock-solid. One suggestion I would make for people buying this is to get a USB extension cable to plug the transmitter in to. The transmitter is really weak and you can put the transmitter next to the monitor or something so you have the very close proximity to the transmitter, and still have the advantage of wireless. I now have my home machine set up this way and it is working awesomely. I got the idea from seeing a co-worker's Logitech mouse setup that came with a USB extension cord. Now that I have used a third keyboard like this, I have observed one major thing: all of them have consistently sticky F-keys (they stay pressed because half the button gets stuck in the pressed position). The newest one I received also has a slightly different (more obvious) texture on all of the keys of the keyboard, especially the F-keys. The F-Keys still press like cheapo buttons, and still stick (less often so far), but I like the actual tactile feel of them more. While I was waiting for my replacement keyboard, I was using my Microsoft ergonomic 4000 keyboard again. I was surprised by how much I noticed the stiffness of the MS 4000 keys, because I'd never considered them stiff before using this keyboard. And even when I used the sculpt all day and the 4000 at night I didn't really notice it. But after going a few weeks of using the sculpt, the difference was very clear. Finally, I have set up AutoHotKey at this point for my media play button needs, and that works out great. **** Update 3 (Feb 12, 2014): (now resolved in Sept 2015 update) I still love the keyboard more than half a year after purchase. When using Windows 8 I found that some keys wouldn't properly detect that I'd lifted my finger off the key (Key Up) even though the key was no longer pressed. This was bothersome at work, but a quick "Undo" would fix the repeated keys. At home, however, it was causing problems with games and voice chat push-to-talk. It seemed to be universal to any key I pressed for longer than a few seconds (like holding down a key to fire a gun or hold push-to-talk). The system wasn't getting a Key Up message. I upgraded my system from Windows 8 back to Windows 7 due to some other serious issues I was having with Windows 8. All of my key repeating issues disappeared (except the sticking Fn keys, of course, which is a physical design flaw issue). My work machine with Windows 8 still has the "not recognizing key up" issue, and so does my co-worker's system. I did not install the keyboard driver on Windows 7, so it might also be the keyboard app that is causing the problem. All of the Windows 8 machines have it installed (because it auto-installs itself when plugging in the keyboard on Windows 8). So it might be a driver issue, too.