Smartboard, Excellent Alternative to MS Natural (Score 2)

Datadesk technologies makes a very nice alternative to the MS Natural keyboard. It's called the SmartBoard. I bought a MS Natural the day they came out and used it for years. But I decided to try the SmartBoard and liked it so much I bought a second one and sold both my MS Naturals. If you like the MS Natural, then give this a try. It's better.

You can buy them at several places (distributors listed at the web site), but Microwarehouse is selling them for $80 USD.

The good:

1. Takes up less space than the MS Natural
2. Keys at the edges are wider, making typing easier (see web site for diagram).
3. Nice firm clicky keys instead of those dead sponge abominations on most so-called "soft-touch" keyboards.
4. Two control keys
5. Big backspace key
6. The windows keys (maps nicely to META)
7. Cursor keys are much closer to your fingers. This is really really nice. (see diagram to get the exact positioning)
8. PC and Mac versions.
9. I had a problem with one of my keyboards and they replaced it with no hassle or fuss or questions.
10. Mine came in a cool black color (bought it back when they were Darwin Keyboards, but I don't think they make black ones anymore).

The bad:

1. The +/= button is on the left, between the ~ and the 1. Weird, but once you get used to that it's no big deal (and you can always remap).
2. The home/end/pageup/pagedown/insert/delete buttons have been moved above numeric keypad. This saves space and makes it easier to reach the num keypad. The problem is that they don't do anything to differentiate between the home/end/pageup/pagedown/insert/delete keys and the numeric keypad. It's just one big grid. If you're going by feel you'll make a few mistakes. Again, it takes some getting used to.
3. The clicky keys means they are noisier than most "quiet" keyboards. I like this, but some people may not. The keys don't require much pressure and you know when you've hit them. Some people prefer the feel of the MS Natural. Not me.

You should check the website for full details, including photos. Having used these keyboards for the over 1.5 years I can confidently say these keyboards are a superior replacement for MS Natural keyboards. Highly recommended.