>Great! Check in with us in a week or so, after you've pounded at it a while.

Craig,

It's been considerably more than a week, but after about five months now I thought I'd share my long term experience with the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. Executive summary: I think it's great.

Initially I found it difficult to adapt to the location of the keys, which of course are not where one's muscle memory thinks they should be after years of using a conventional keyboard. In fact, this became so frustrating that I gave up on it after two or three weeks and went back to my old keyboard for a brief period of time. But then, something almost unrelated happened that made it all fall into place.

My son had a sports injury to his back for which we took him to the sports medicine clinic. While checking in with the clinic's receptionist, we noticed her computer monitor was raised up unusually high on her desk. Later, after dealing with the injury, the doc gave my son some general pointers for maintaining a healthy back, including some tips for maintaining good posture while using a computer. I mentioned we had noticed the receptionist's monitor being up so high, and the doc said yep, a monitor being positioned too low is one of the worst things you can do for your posture while using a computer.

When I got back to my office, I raised my monitor up as high as it would go, and almost immediately noticed a significant positive difference. I sat up straighter with shoulders back in a more comfortable position, which draws the arms back and the hands slightly apart, and the ergonomic keyboard suddenly felt like a natural fit. And it's been that way ever since.

Lesson learned: Position your monitor so it's at eye level when you're looking straight ahead while sitting up straight. Your back (and your keyboard) will thank you.

-Rick


>Great! Check in with us in a week or so, after you've pounded at it a while.
>
>>Craig and Tracy,
>>
>>I tried out the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 in the store this afternoon and it felt pretty good -- better than I remember liking the original ergonomic keyboard, but the difference could just be me -- so I bought it. I like the key action a great deal so far. My only initial gripe, and it's a minor one, is that the space bar makes a clicking sound while the other keys are silent. Maybe that's by design, though. Anyway I think I'll get used to this pretty easily. Thanks for the recommendation.
>>
>>To everyone else who responded to this thread, thanks for your input as well. This place is always a great source for good information.
>>
>>-Rick