Posted by : Sherri Cornelius Sunday, March 7, 2010

This entire post was written while using my new keyboard for the first time, so it might be a bit boring. You’ve been warned.

So I’m working with a new keyboard, a real splurge. It’s a Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 3000 with a matching wireless mouse, and it has a great keystroke action. A huge improvement from the old Dell keyboard that came with my desktop machine. The coolest thing about this keyboard is that it has a tiny USB receiver which snaps into the bottom of the mouse so I don’t lose it. The keyboard is really light, so I can carry it around to use on any computer I want. Right now I have the keyboard on my lap while the laptop sits on the couch next to me.

And you might be wondering why the heck I would need a keyboard on the couch when I have a frickin’ laptop, right? Well I’m only trying it out on the couch, I doubt I’ll use it here on a regular basis. I’ll be using it mostly at the computer desk while writing. Using a laptop on a table can be ergonomically terrible, and I was developing pain in my arms and wrists and shoulders and back and neck…does that just about cover the entire torso?

Since I realized what was causing all this discomfort, I plugged in to the desktop’s keyboard and mouse, and while it helped with the discomfort, that stupid keyboard is a nightmare for a typist of any speed. The profile of the keys is a mile high, and they depress only if they are hit square in the middle, so that means I’m typing along, thinking I hit the keys and when I look up I see I’m missing every fourth letter. So I slow down and still end up having to backspace constantly to fill in missing letters. When I started shopping on the Internet the best one looked to be the Logitech Wave, with its gently rolling plane, but when I went to Staples to try it out the key action just wasn’t perfect. The one I ended up with has key action pretty much like my laptop, only maybe a little clickier, which is actually kind of nice.

The only bad thing about my purchase is that I chose a neoprene wrist rest, and the off-gassing is TERRIBLE. I doubt I’ll be able to use it. It needs to sit out in the sun and bake out all those noxious fumes.

But the keyboard, yeah, it’s great.

{ 6 comments... read them below or Comment }

  1. Glad you like the new keyboard. A change in your comfort level can have an immediate change on your output, or at least it has for me in the past. Can you take the keyboard upstairs to your office without having to take the entire keyboard up there? Hmm, that might be helpful.

    Oh, and I love the term off-gassing for some reason. :D

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  2. I know, right? As in, "We had Mexican for dinner, so I might be off-gassing later."

    I can take the keyboard upstairs easily, I assume as I haven't actually done it yet. The laptop weighs 8 pounds, so the extra pound and a half is nothing. Glad to see you around these parts. :)

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  3. Off-gassing? Is there anything you can do to speed that up? Like, cover the rest of the keyboard and sprinkle some cornstarch on it or something? Or Febreeze it?

    I'm glad you found something that helps with the pain you've been experiencing. :) Now you'll be typing like crazy!

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  4. Ooh, new toy! Sounds AWESOME! So does no arm and back and neck pain. I LIVE with arm, back and neck pain. Also butt pain, but we won't go there. Pain in other places, too, but again, this is family-friendly so I won't off-gas about it.

    :)

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  5. Seeing as how Febreze is one of the smelliest things in the world, I doubt that would help. LOL Nah, the only thing that possibly helps with off-gassing is heat and time. Since it's not an applied chemical but rather the actual substance breaking down, you can't clean it off. I had a pair of neoprene workout shorts once, you know the kind that's supposed to make you sweat, and they never did get unsmelly. So I'm not hopeful about this wrist rest.

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  6. Keep your gas to yourself, buddy. ;)

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