Topic: Accessories
Date: August 14th, 2007
Product: Microsoft Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Provided by: Microsoft
Author: E.C. Elliott
Prices: $47.99

Anyone that uses a computer keyboard regularly realizes that to do so comes at a cost over time. The Price you end up paying is something called R-MSD which is short for regional musculoskeletal disorder (R-MSD), this disorder has various names and some of the other one are cumulative trauma disorder (CTD), and the one we probably hear the most about, repetitive stress injury (RSI).

So what are these abbreviations? They are "catch-all" terms that refer to a variety of soft-tissue ailments in the upper limbs such as tendonitis, tenosynovitis, rheumatism, and carpal tunnel syndrome, and are not specific medical diagnoses. That cause pain or discomfort that persists or impairs your normal activities or even prevents the individual from working.

So what causes these problems in the first place, age can be a major contributing factor but perhaps one of the biggest influences is the prolonged repetitive motion of any kind, particularly when forceful or associated with certain static body positions, can contribute to such conditions. One other thing that can contribute to this condition is having your hands in the wrong position on your keyboard which will cause undo stress.  Then combine that with the repetitive motion of typing for eight hours and you can see why you might have a sore wrist or forearm.

Today, we are going to review Microsoft Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, which is designed to take the pressure away from your hands and wrists and make typing an enjoyable experience. Besides being a keyboard that is good for you body, it also has wide selection of multi-purpose keys to make your Internet surfing faster, and more enjoyable.

• New! The advanced ergonomic keyboard design of new Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 delivers the ultimate in comfortable computing. The proprietary “gull wing” design brings the keys closer to the user’s fingers, reducing reach and unnecessary motion while encouraging a more natural position. The keyboard has an optional palm rest for a 7-degree reverse slope, which in a usability study was found to encourage better arm and wrist alignment.3 It also features a cushioned wrist rest that is 7 millimeters taller than the keyboard, which places wrists in a less awkward alignment.
  
• New! Easy-to-access forward and back buttons are located at the bottom center of the keyboard for more convenient PC navigation.
  
  
• Zoom Slider features effortless control of digital photos and documents with just the touch of a finger, delivering true compatibility between hardware and software. Simply push the slider, located in the middle of the keyboard, to zoom in and out when navigating large documents or images. It’s the perfect companion for digital camera owners, because 80 percent of them store or access their images on the computer.4
  
• My Favorites Keys deliver one-touch access to your most-used Web sites, files and folders. Simply push and hold the key to assign it to the current destination, just as you would with a car stereo’s preset buttons. The key assignments also move with the individual user settings. In addition, you can simply push the Show Favorites Key to reveal the current assignment of each of the five My Favorites Keys.
  
  
• Enhanced F Keys make it easy to complete common tasks with one touch. Keys are conveniently grouped according to usage patterns, such as New, Open and Close. You also can set traditional F Key functions with the F Key lock.
  
• Customizable Hot Keys, including Mail, Web/Home and Search allow you to quickly launch these programs with the touch of a button.

Instruction Manual Installation/Driver CD