Today’s Post is Brought to You by the Letter M

A few weeks ago I started having problems with my keyboard. It was intermittent, and not really a big deal. Mostly the right arrow key would randomly not work. Then it started getting less intermittent and more mittent? We’ll go with permanent since spell check seems to think mittent isn’t a word. I can live without the right arrow key, but then the letter “m” started acting up. Since my spelling is problematic I didn’t notice for a while, but it got pretty bad so that I had to really mash the “m” key. I tried taking the keyboard apart and cleaning the key and that helped for a bit, but then it got worse.

Finally sick of it I ordered a new keyboard on Monday. It came in this morning and I’m very happy. I can finally type mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, floor pie without causing a blister.

If you are wondering, I went with the Logitech Wireless Wave Combo MK550 from NewEgg, I’ve only had it for about 6 hours, but I’m already pretty comfortable. The keys a pretty low profile, but provide a nice “clicky” feel. It isn’t a sound so much as feeling like I’ve actually pressed the key. My previous key board didn’t have that feeling. If you are into pianos, it is sort of the difference in a keyboard with and without weighted keys. It just feels better.

There is a slight curvature to the keys. The documentation says this is because our fingers are different lengths, but I don’t know if I buy that since my fingers aren’t even while on the home row. The slight curve down allow my wrist to sit at a more comfortable angle than a traditional keyboard, but not quite as comfortable as the full ergonomic keyboards.

It has several handy buttons, including short cut buttons that can be customized. I can see myself using a few of them, but it would have been nice to have some macro buttons.

The mouse feels a lot like my old wired mouse in shape, but is a bit lighter. It has a back and forward browser button on the side that feels a bit in the way to me right now, but I’ll probably get use to it. Actually when I use it left-handed it feels great. The extra buttons are right by my ring finger for easy access without be obtrusive.

The main reason I wanted this is the wireless functionality. It is nice to sit back from my computer, but the distance of the receiver seems limited. If I turn to the right it loses connection on the keyboard even though the receiver is only a foot further away. Probably too many other things on the 2.4 frequency band around here. Setup was quick, and I have a good signal from the position I’ve found to be most comfortable for seeing my monitors and typing.