Review: Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 keyboard and mouse

Microsoft’s Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 is a keyboard and mouse set that's made for those with Windows Vista.

The keyboard comes with the new Vista logo Start button and with control buttons for Vista's Media Center software, including play and pause, which can be useful for controlling music and video on the PC from a distance.

Those who do not have Vista can still use the keyboard and mouse, of course, and the Start button will still access the Start menu, but the play and pause buttons are redundant.

Despite the ergonomic people-friendly design of mouse and keyboard, the packaging wasn't at all friendly, with a small fight required to get the thing unpacked.

Once we’d battled with the box, setting up the keyboard was extremely easy - all that was necessary to get it working was to put in the supplied batteries - and likewise the mouse began working as soon as we’d plugged in the USB receiver.

Ergonomic keyboards are designed largely to help prevent repetitive strain injury (also known as carpal tunnel syndrome) by raising the user's wrists a little and causing them to use more natural hand movements. Typical keyboards don't do this, and so provide poor support for the hands and wrist.

Unlike standard keyboards in which the keys lie flat, those on the 7000 are raised and are split down across the centre of the keyboard. In theory the keyboard should be raised so the typist doesn't straining their wrists, but plastic bar that attaches straight to the bottom of the keyboard to raise it also makes it quite uncomfortable, so much so that we had to remove it.

We found the rubber wrist rest, permanently attached to the keyboard, more useful at first. It is cushioned to support the wrists, but after sustained periods of typing we found that we were getting close to friction burns as the pad gets warm very quickly.

The 7000 mouse uses a laser to locate itself on the desk, meaning it is more accurate than a standard optical mouse. Despite its odd looks, it was very comfortable to use, something we put down to the large dent on the left-hand side in which the thumb sits easily. As well as a standard scroll wheel, the offers four-way scrolling making it very easy to scroll in-between documents. The mouse buttons are nicely responsive.

Although we were impressed with the mouse, the keyboard is the poorer half of this double act. The split design works as well as it has done on all of Microsoft's Natural keyboards, but the addition of the height adjustment bar didn't work for us.

Vista compaatible: Yes