I bought one of these today, to replace my MS 4000. I've had my eye on one since I first heard of them, and PC World had one in stock, so... I bought it. (Not sure how I feel about paying the RRP for something from PC World, but at least I didn't have to wait for delivery.) So far, it seems decent enough.
Mini bullet point review based on a few hours' use:
Good points:
- Separate number pad. I use the number pad just often enough that I miss not having one, but not so often that I really want it to take up space on my desk on a full-time basis. So I heartily approve of this. May it start a trend! (One plus point of the "interesting" design is that there's actually space for the number pad under the keyboard. So you can have it always close to hand without actually taking up any additional desk space.)
- Decent quality chiclet keyboard, with nice springy keys. Reminds me a bit of the Macbook Pro keyboard, but with a bit less weightiness to the feel. (I suppose because a plastic keyboard has a lot more "give" in it than a metal laptop.) I suppose this sort of keyboard won't be to everybody's taste, but I personally like it, and it is certainly quiet to type on.
- Tasteful compression of keyboard layout. No modifier keys required for standard operations, arrow keys are in the standard inverted T layout, movement keys are in mnemonic positions, and there's a (generously-proportioned) Ctrl and Alt on both sides.
- Split space bar feels very good, especially compared to the MS 4000 debacle.
- Keyboard is small enough to fit in a laptop-sized bag. (For me this will much reduce the size of bag I have to carry around if I want a decent working environment.)
- Good quality construction. Feels solid and heavy, and pleasing to the touch. The keyboard body is shiny piano black, and the keys are slightly textured. Wrist rest is nice, too. I always rated the MS 4000's wrist rest and this one feels just as good.
Bad points:
- Poor ISO layout. The left shift is much too small, and the Return key feels very far away. (Compared to the MS 4000, the keys are spaced slightly further apart, and by the time you get to Return these extra gaps have mounted up.) I quickly got used to this, but I can't help feeling that I'd be happier with an ANSI one.
- Undersized function keys and Esc key, that feel more like buttons than keys. I doubt the small size will bother me - though it's annoying - but the button-like feel might. I'll have to give it time. It certainly feels very wierd.
- It's rather expensive.
- The split space bar doesn't appear to be configurable. A shame, as its less-used half would make an ideal replacement for that distant Return key...
Overall - glad I bought it, even after paying the RRP, and could see myself buying a 2nd one.
Anybody got any suggestions on where to get an ANSI version from in the UK?
--Tom