Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5000

Every computer user needs a comfortable keyboard and mouse, and it’s often cheaper and simpler to buy the two together in a set.

The Comfort Desktop 5000 pack from Microsoft includes a keyboard from the company’s Comfort Curve range and a matching mouse.

The keyboard doesn’t look particularly nice, especially given the rather high price, but works very well. Its slightly curved design is pleasant to type on, although the UK layout, with the backslash key to the left of Z, results in a ludicrously shrunken left Shift key.

A wrist rest at the bottom of the keyboard has a rubber-like coating that’s surprisingly comfortable when typing, and at the top of the keyboard is a row of huge buttons to launch common functions such as email. These are handy, but the row of function keys has been shrunk to make space for them, so it’s not a good choice for anyone who regularly uses those keys.

The included mouse has a symmetrical design, so it’s comfortable for both left- and right-handed users, with two small side buttons and a wheel that can also be used to scroll left and right. It uses Microsoft’s new Bluetrack technology, supposedly allowing it to work on more surfaces than a standard optical mouse – we had no problems on any surface we tried.

All in all, this is a perfectly good desktop set that’s more functional than it is pretty. The recommended price is too high, but it’s sold cheaper online.