Microsoft Internet Keyboard

It's easy to think of your PC's keyboard as the least important part of your computer system. When buying a new machine, a faster processor, more memory and a bigger monitor all take precedence, and chances are, you're still using the cheap and nasty model that came bundled with your machine.

But it's only when you experience a really good keyboard, like this latest Microsoft offering, that you realise just how lacklustre your current keyboard is by comparison.

For starters, the Internet Keyboard looks the part. Its curvy white and purple contours would be a welcome addition to any desktop, and the keyboard itself is not only responsive but also surprisingly quiet to type on.

To make typing more comfortable, it comes with an easily removable wrist rest which makes the keyboard deeper than some other models.

To live up to its 'Internet' moniker the keyboard has added Internet functionality, in the form of 10 blue buttons along its top. Some of these correspond to the navigation buttons at the top of your browser screen (Back, Forward, Stop). Others take you to your homepage, search engine or Favourites folder. Importantly, all are customisable via the Keyboard Properties program in the Control Panel.

We found the My Computer button the most useful, because with several windows open at once, returning to the desktop to double click the My Computer icon can be a pain. The Web/Home and Mail keys, used for launching your Web browser and email software, were also well used.

=If you spend a lot of time typing, there's no excuse to not treat yourself to a new keyboard. But you can't help feeling that many of the Internet keys are no more than gimmicks.

Contact Microsoft 0345 002000

Minimum requirements 486MHz PC, Windows 95, 16Mb RAM, 35Mb free hard disk space, CD-ROM drive, PS/2 connection, Web browser and Internet connection.

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