Replacement keyboards are not the most exciting of PC purchases. However, a good quality keyboard that suits your style of typing can make you more productive as well as making your PC more pleasant to use, and cutting down on potential hand injury. This is especially true for users of notebook computers without numeric keypads.

The first thing we noticed about the Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 is that its keys are skewed upwards and outwards and that its letter keys are not all equally sized. This is intended to provide a more ergonomic experience for touch-typists. This sounds like a good idea in theory, but its design meant that the return key was positioned further to the right than usual, making it harder to reach with the little finger. Typists who only use two fingers may also find themselves missing keys and looking down at the keyboard more frequently due to the layout.

The notebook-style keys have a low profile, meaning they don't travel far when pressed – whether you like this or not is down to personal preference, although we find this style uncomfortable for long periods. This design means they don’t make the traditional clatter of a conventional keyboard, something we noticed during use. However, some of the keys – such as the shift and control keys – are much smaller than on a conventional keyboard which could be a problem for those with larger hands.

In addition to the standard keys there are several extras such as a volume control, forward and back buttons for web browsing, and with three programmable shortcut keys, but there’s no software included – you'll need to download the Microsoft Intellitype software to do so. The Comfort Curve uses a wire and a USB connection, making it compatible with all computers including notebooks.

It's also resistant to spills: the keys are rubber sealed so they're designed not to let in liquid. We tested this by pouring water onto the keys and, sure enough, it channelled out of the four outlets on the base of the keyboard, without causing any problems.

Vista compatible: n/a