Jeg har været en stor fan af Microsofts^(Microsoft) ergonomiske tastaturer lige siden jeg så den første generation af Natural Keyboard i 1994. Da jeg skriver meget, og normalt omkring 110 ord i minuttet, har den ergonomiske form gjort en stor forskel for mig . Men jeg ved, at den fulde ergonomiske form ikke er for alle, og der er en klar læringskurve, når du først prøver en. Microsoft har andre ergonomiske tastaturer, og det så for mig ud, som om Sculpt Touch Keyboard ville være en perfekt model til en, der ønsker et mere håndvenligt layout, men ikke ønsker at gå hele vejen til Natural^{(Natural keyboard)} -tastaturserien. Så jeg var meget interesseret i at prøve det og se, om det, jeg troede, var korrekt.

Microsoft Sculpt Comfort - ud af æsken^(Box)

Lad mig lige gå på en tangent et øjeblik for at vise dig mit skrivebord. Ja, jeg elsker naturlige tastaturer^{(Natural Keyboards)} . 🙂

Jeg kunne ikke finde nogen gode unboxing-videoer til dette tastatur. Microsofts^(Microsoft) egen produktguide er her^(here) , og den indeholder en kort videom i Silverlight . Du skal installere det, før du kan se videoen og genstarte din computer, for at Silverlight - installationen kan gennemføres med succes.

Men lad os vende tilbage til Microsoft Sculpt Comfort - tastaturet: her er boksen - endnu et eksempel på Microsofts^(Microsoft) attraktive emballage. Gå ikke efter kvaliteten af ​​mine mobiltelefonbilleder, tak!

Og her er indholdet af kassen – tastaturet, den trådløse dongle og en kort instruktionsguide på flere sprog. Der er en grund til det blå klistermærke på mellemrumstasten, og det kommer jeg til om et øjeblik. Tastaturet i sig selv er overraskende tyndt og let. Jeg var bekymret for, at den måske ikke ville blive på plads, mens jeg skrev, men den har flere gummierede fødder, der holder den sikkert på plads.

Når du vender tastaturet om, vil du se en stribe papir med en pil på stikke ud af batterirummet. Denne er placeret for at forhindre, at batterierne løber tør, mens tastaturet venter på at blive solgt. Endnu en gang er det Duracell- batterier, som burde holde et godt stykke tid.

Du kan også se de små fødder, der vipper ud for at hæve forkanten af ​​tastaturet, og en kontakt med ikoner, der får det til at se ud, som om det er brugt til at låse og låse tastaturet op. Jeg vil også tale om disse ting om et øjeblik.

Installation af Microsoft Sculpt Comfort i Windows 8

For at installere tastaturet tænkte jeg, at det eneste, jeg skulle gøre, var at finde plads til det (det var det sværeste) 🙂 og sæt derefter den trådløse dongle i. Installationen på netbook'en var dog noget mindre end vellykket. Det blev ikke installeret automatisk; Jeg var nødt til at ringe til muse- og tastaturcentret^{(Mouse and Keyboard Center)} . Da jeg gjorde dette, sagde Enhedshåndteringen^{(Device Manager)} , at den downloadede og installerede filer, og så forsvandt den, og Muse- ^(Center)og tastaturcentret^{(Mouse and Keyboard)} fortalte mig, at jeg ikke havde nogen Microsoft -enheder tilsluttet.

Jeg prøvede fejlfinding uden held og fandt ud af, at Microsoft ikke leverer drivere til dette tastatur på deres websted. Som et eksperiment prøvede jeg dog at røre ved de forskellige taster, og tastaturet så ud til at virke.

Så brugte jeg den prøvede og sande fix-Windows-tilgang med at lukke computeren ned og genstarte den. Denne gang, da jeg tjekkede Enheder^(Devices) , dukkede tastaturet op. Men ikke ved navn, bare som et generisk trådløst tastatur.

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Og jeg fik stadig beskeden fra Mouse and Keyboard Center , at ingen Microsoft -enheder var tilsluttet. Ikke desto mindre virkede tastaturet, med undtagelse af én tast, som jeg vil forklare, når jeg taler om tastaturets funktioner.

Installation af Microsoft Sculpt Comfort i Windows 7

At installere på mit Windows 7-skrivebord var lige så forvirrende. Jeg fik beskeden om, at enhedsdriverne var installeret korrekt, men da jeg åbnede Muse- og tastaturcentret^{(Mouse and Keyboard Center)} , dukkede Sculpt Comfort Keyboard ikke op (mit gamle Microsoft Natural Keyboard gjorde det). Jeg bad Windows om at finde det nye tastatur, og efter lidt dukkede den trådløse transponder op, men ikke selve tastaturet.

Microsofts^(Microsoft) hjælp sagde at sikre, at ingen anden enhed forstyrrede, så som et eksperiment tog jeg stikket ud af mit naturlige tastatur^{(Natural Keyboard)} , som jeg havde sat til side i stedet for at afbryde det. Dette gjorde ikke nogen forskel, og Muse- og tastaturcentret^{(Mouse and Keyboard Center)} sagde nu, at jeg ikke havde nogen Microsoft -enheder tilsluttet.

Ikke desto mindre virkede tastaturet. Alt jeg kunne gøre var at trække på skuldrene og komme videre.

Jeg lavede lidt research, og det ser ud til, at der ikke er nogen specifikke drivere til det, fordi dette tastatur kun har brug for generiske tastaturdrivere. Derfor bør du tilslutte det, genstarte computeren, og det bør opdages om kort tid og fungere godt, selvom det er identificeret som et generisk tastatur, ikke som Microsoft Sculpt Comfort . En mærkelig tilgang fra Microsofts^(Microsoft) side, men det betyder, at den også burde fungere godt med Linux og Mac OS^{(Mac OS X)} X.

Installation af Microsoft Sculpt Comfort i Mac OS X

Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Keyboard^{(Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Keyboard)} installeret som ethvert andet ikke-Apple-tastatur. Der er en proces, hvorved OS X genkender, hvordan tastaturet fungerer. Alt du skal gøre er at trykke på de taster, du bliver bedt om at trykke på.

Så fortæller du det, hvilken slags tastatur du bruger, og du er klar til at gå.

Som forventet fungerede tastaturet også godt i Mac OS X , selvom Microsoft ikke siger, at de yder officiel support til dette styresystem.

Skriver væk på Microsoft Sculpt Comfort

Sculpt Comfort Keyboard^{(Sculpt Comfort Keyboard)} har et meget let tryk (jeg bruger det til at skrive denne anmeldelse). Du behøver ikke at banke på det, hvilket forhindrer dine hænder i at blive trætte. Skift^(Shift) , Enter , Backspace og Delete - tasterne er særligt store, hvilket helt sikkert bidrager til den generelle brugervenlighed. Lige^(Right) over det numeriske tastatur vil du se en vippekontakt.

Dette lader dig indstille tasterne på den øverste række til at være det sædvanlige sæt funktionstaster eller et særligt sæt Windows 8 -kommandotaster. Nogle af ikonerne for Windows 8 -kommandoer er ret kryptiske.

Fra venstre mod højre er de start/pause (for videoer), lydstyrke fra, lydstyrke til, højere lydstyrke, søg, del, enheder, indstillinger, swipe fra venstre, venstre sidebjælke, (den næste tast gjorde ikke noget, så jeg ved ikke, hvad ikonet repræsenterer), og stryg ned.

Microsoft flyttede også Indsæt^(Insert) -tasten, som skifter mellem Indsæt/Overskriv, til denne række, og du skal have kontakten i " F-tasten^(Fkey) "-positionen for at dette skal fungere. Jeg tror ikke, at mange stadig skifter mellem indsæt og overskriv, men det virker synd at gøre det til et enten-eller-valg.

Alle nøgler reagerede korrekt. Med kontakten i Windows 8 -positionen gjorde alle de mærkede taster, hvad de skulle gøre, bortset fra den ene tast, jeg noterede ovenfor. De var meget praktiske, især søgetasten^(Search) . I Windows 7 , med den kontakt i Windows 8 -positionen, som jeg forventede, gjorde ingen af ​​den øverste række af nøgler noget, med undtagelse af PrtScn- tasten (meget nyttig til at tage skærmbilleder) og Calculator- tasten. Jeg drejede kontakten til den anden position, og tasterne fungerede som funktionstaster, plus at lommeregnertasten^(Calculator) stadig var aktiv.

Interessant nok var Windows 8 -indstillingen på ^{(Windows 8)}Mac den , der virkede, og den nøgle, der ikke virkede på Windows 8 , gjorde faktisk noget – den flyttede alle de åbne vinduer væk fra skrivebordet ( Mission Control ). Ved at trykke på swipe-ned-tasten skiftede til Dashboard (widget-parkeringsskærmen, som jeg faktisk aldrig har brugt).

Det lille ikon til højre for vippekontakten er en batteriindikator. Jeg tror, ​​det er meningen, at det skal indikere, hvornår dit batteri er ved at være lavt. Det lyste kort, da jeg trak strimlen af ​​batterierne og har ikke gjort noget siden.

Tastaturplacering^(Keyboard) på et skrivebord er et meget personligt problem, og der er flere muligheder.

• Du kan placere den fladt på dit skrivebord, hvilket giver tasterne den minimale ergonomiske form. Midten af ​​tastaturet hæver sig lidt op, og tasterne er arrangeret i en blid kurve, der efterlader dine hænder i en mere afslappet og naturlig position.
• Du kan vinkle forsiden af ​​tastaturet lidt opad med de nedfældelige fødder. Det er den position, jeg har brugt i årevis. Det ser ikke intuitivt ud, især for en som mig, der lærte at skrive på en standard skrivemaskine, hvor forsiden af ​​tastaturet er lavere end bagsiden, men det er meget behageligt og hjælper med at holde dig fra at bue fingrene op, hvilket kan bidrage til håndledsproblemer.
• Du kan have den polstrede hvile foran på tastaturet, eller du kan tage den af, hvilket gør tastaturet endnu mindre og lettere. Det er det, låse-/oplåsningskontakten i bunden er til. Du skubber kontakten til oplåst position og holder den der (den låser ikke), mens du trækker den polstrede støtte af. Det er lidt af en kamp, ​​og jeg er ikke sikker på, hvorfor kontakten ikke låser i den ulåste position. Og da fødderne er på den polstrede hvile, mister du muligheden for at hæve fronten af ​​tastaturet, hvis du tager den af.

Og så er der den delte mellemrumstasten. Dette er en funktion, jeg ikke har besluttet mig for, da jeg blev lært at trykke på mellemrumstasten kun med min højre tommelfinger. Hvis du holder de to halvdele af mellemrumstasten nede i tre sekunder, kan du bagefter bruge venstre halvdel af den som en tilbagetast. Jeg tror, ​​den generelle idé var at gå tilbage med venstre tommelfinger. For mig, efter alle disse år som berøringsmaskinist, er det ingen opgave at trykke på tilbagetasten i dens sædvanlige position. Dette kan være en funktion, der er mere nyttig for folk, der ikke har haft så meget øvelse i at slette fejl, som jeg har. 🙂

Konklusioner

Microsofts^(Microsoft) designteam har tydeligvis lagt mange tanker i designet af Sculpt Comfort Keyboard . Det er dejligt let at bruge og byder på en masse meget nyttige funktioner. Jeg er ikke sikker på, hvorfor tastaturet ikke blev korrekt identificeret af begge Windows -systemer. Det gjorde ikke noget i sidste ende, for tastaturet fungerede fint på trods af, at det ikke fik officiel anerkendelse, men manglen på korrekt identifikation forbliver et puslespil. Jeg tog "hvis det ikke er i stykker, lad være med at reparere det" og fortsatte.

Dom

Hvis du leder efter et ergonomisk tastatur, men ikke ønsker at lave en stor ændring fra det standardlayouttastatur, du nu har, burde Sculpt Comfort Keyboard være en meget nem overgang at lave. Kvaliteten af ​​udførelse og design er fremragende, og selve tastaturet er ikke dyrt, især med alt hvad du får, når du køber det. Giv det dog lidt tid, især hvis du er en maskinskriver. Dine fingre vil højst sandsynligt ikke finde de rigtige steder med det samme, men det bør ikke tage lang tid at få styr på det. Jeg var i stand til at skifte fra Natural Keyboards mere ekstreme ergonomiske layout til dette på få minutter.

The Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Keyboard Review - Is it a Good Keyboard?

I havе been a major fan of Microsoft's ergonomic keyboards evеr since I saw the first genеration Natural Keyboard in 1994. Since I type a lot, and usually at about 110 words a minute, having the ergonomic shape made a lot of difference for me. But I know that the full ergonomic shape is not for everyone, and there is a definite learning curve when you first try one out. Microsoft has other ergonomic keyboards, and it looked to me as if the Sculpt Touch Keyboard would be a perfect model for someone who wants a more hand-friendly layout but doesn't want to go all the way to the Natural keyboard series. So I was very interested to try it out and see if what I thought was correct.

The Microsoft Sculpt Comfort - Out of the Box

Let me just go off on a tangent for a moment to show you my desktop. Yes indeed, I love Natural Keyboards. 🙂

I could not find any good unboxing videos for this keyboard. Microsoft's own product guide is here and it includes a brief videom in Silverlight. You will need to install it before you can watch the video and reboot your computer in order for the Silverlight installation to be completed successfully.

But let's get back to the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort keyboard: here is the box - another example of Microsoft's attractive packaging. Don't go by the quality of my cell phone photos, please!

And here are the contents of the box—the keyboard, the wireless dongle and a brief instruction guide in several languages. There is a reason for that blue sticker on the spacebar, and I will get to that in a moment. The keyboard itself is surprisingly thin and lightweight. I was concerned that it might not stay in place while I typed, but it has several rubberized feet that keep it securely in place.

When you turn the keyboard over, you'll see a strip of paper with an arrow on it poking out of the battery compartment. This is placed to keep the batteries from running down while the keyboard is waiting to be sold. Once again, they are Duracell batteries, which should last quite a while.

You can also see the little feet that flip out to raise the front edge of the keyboard, and a switch with icons that make it look like it's used to lock and unlock the keyboard. I'll talk about these items in a moment as well.

Installing the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort in Windows 8

To install the keyboard, I thought that all I had to do was find space for it (that was the hardest part) 🙂 then plug in the wireless dongle. However, installation on the netbook was somewhat less than successful. It did not install automatically; I had to call up the Mouse and Keyboard Center. When I did this, the Device Manager said it was downloading and installing files, and then it vanished and the Mouse and Keyboard Center told me that I had no Microsoft devices connected.

I tried troubleshooting with no success, and found out that Microsoft does not provide drivers for this keyboard on their web site. As an experiment, though, I tried touching the various keys and the keyboard appeared to be working.

Then I used the tried-and-true fix-Windows approach of shutting the computer down and restarting it. This time when I checked Devices, the keyboard showed up. But not by name, just as a generic wireless keyboard.

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And I still got the message from Mouse and Keyboard Center that no Microsoft devices were attached. Nevertheless, the keyboard did work, with the exception of one key, as I'll explain when I talk about the keyboard's features.

Installing the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort in Windows 7

Installing on my Windows 7 desktop was just as confusing. I got the message that the device drivers had installed successfully, but when I opened the Mouse and Keyboard Center, the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard did not appear (my old Microsoft Natural Keyboard did). I asked Windows to find the new keyboard, and after a bit, the wireless transponder showed up, but not the keyboard itself.

Microsoft's help said to make sure that no other device was interfering, so as an experiment I unplugged my Natural Keyboard, which I had set aside rather than disconnecting it. This didn't make any difference, and the Mouse and Keyboard Center now said that I had no Microsoft devices connected.

Nevertheless, the keyboard was working. All I could do was shrug and move on.

I did a bit of research and it seems that there no specific drivers for it, because this keyboard only needs generic keyboard drivers. Therefore, you should plug it in, restart the computer and it should be detected shortly and work well even though it is identified as a generic keyboard, not as Microsoft Sculpt Comfort. A strange approach from Microsoft's part but this means it should work well also with Linux and Mac OS X.

Installing the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort in Mac OS X

The Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Keyboard installed like any other non-Apple keyboard. There's a process by which OS X recognizes how the keyboard works. All you do is press the keys you're asked to press.

Then you tell it what kind of keyboard you are using, and you're set to go.

As expected, the keyboard also worked well in Mac OS X, even though Microsoft doesn't say that they provide official support for this operating system.

Typing away on the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort

The Sculpt Comfort Keyboard has a very light touch (I am using it to type this review). You don't need to pound on it, which keeps your hands from getting tired. The Shift, Enter, Backspace and Delete keys are especially large, which definitely adds to the overall ease of use. Right above the numeric keypad, you'll see a toggle switch.

This lets you set the keys on the very top row to be the usual set of function keys, or a special set of Windows 8 command keys. Some of the icons for the Windows 8 commands are rather cryptic.

From left to right they are start/pause (for videos), volume off, volume on, volume louder, search, share, devices, settings, swipe from left, left sidebar, (the next key didn't do anything, so I don't know what the icon represents), and swipe down.

Microsoft also moved the Insert key, which toggles insert/overtype, to this row, and you need to have the switch in the "Fkey" position for this to work. I don't think many people still toggle between insert and overtype, but it seems a shame to make it an either-or choice.

All the keys responded properly. With the switch in the Windows 8 position, all the labeled keys did what they were supposed to do, except for the one key I noted above. Those were very handy, especially the Search key. In Windows 7, with that switch in the Windows 8 position, as I expected, none of the top row of keys did anything, with the exception of the PrtScn key (very useful for capturing screenshots) and the Calculator key. I flipped the switch to the other position and the keys worked as function keys, plus the Calculator key was still active.

Interestingly, on the Mac the Windows 8 setting was the one that worked, and the key that didn't work on Windows 8 did actually do something—it moved all the open windows off the desktop (Mission Control). Pressing the swipe-down key switched over to the Dashboard (the widget-parking screen that I've never actually used).

The little icon to the right of the toggle switch is a battery indicator. I think it is supposed to indicate when your battery is getting low. It glowed briefly when I pulled the strip off the batteries and hasn't done anything since.

Keyboard placement on a desk is a very personal issue, and there are several options available.

• You can put it flat on your desktop, giving the keys the minimal ergonomic shape. The center of the keyboard rises up a little and the keys are arranged in a gentle curve that leaves your hands in a more relaxed and natural position.
• You can angle the front of the keyboard slightly upwards with the fold-down feet. This is the position I've been using for years. It doesn't look intuitive, especially for someone like me who learned to type on a standard typewriter where the front of the keyboard is lower than the back, but it's very comfortable and helps keep you from arching your fingers up, which can contribute to wrist problems.
• You can have the padded rest on the front of the keyboard, or you can take it off, making the keyboard even smaller and lighter. That is what the lock/unlock switch on the bottom is for. You slide the switch to the unlock position and hold it there (it doesn't latch) while you pull the padded rest off. That's a bit of a struggle and I'm not sure why the switch doesn't latch in the unlocked position. And since the feet are on the padded rest, if you take it off you lose the option to raise the front of the keyboard.

And then there is that split spacebar. This is a feature I haven't made up my mind about, since I was taught to press the spacebar only with my right thumb. If you hold down the two halves of the spacebar for three seconds, afterwards you can use the left half of it as a backspace key. I think the general idea was to backspace with your left thumb. For me, after all these years as a touch typist, hitting the backspace key in its usual position is no chore. This might be a feature more useful to people who haven't had as much practice erasing mistakes as I have. 🙂

Conclusions

Microsoft's design team has clearly put a lot of thought into the design of the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard. It's delightfully easy on the hands and offers a lot of very useful features. I am not sure why the keyboard was not properly identified by either Windows system. It didn't matter in the end, because the keyboard did work fine despite not getting official recognition, but the lack of proper identification remains a puzzle. I took the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach and carried on.

Verdict

If you're looking for an ergonomic keyboard but don't want to make a huge change from the standard layout keyboard you now have, the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard should be a very easy transition to make. The quality of the workmanship and design is excellent and the keyboard itself is not expensive, especially with all you get when you buy it. Do give it some time, though, especially if you are a touch typist. Your fingers will very likely not find the proper places right away, but it should not take long to get the hang of it. I was able to make the switch from the Natural Keyboard's more extreme ergonomic layout to this one in just a few minutes.

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