Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000

I recently switched jobs and have come to realize how much I liked having the low-profile style keys that laptop keyboards. Most developers I know also share a similar view when they have to use a desktop computer for long periods of time.

For my new job I have a desktop, which is great since it's an Intel Core2 Duo with 3GB of RAM and 250GB HD of hard drive space along with a rather large LCD monitor (Dell 2007FP). The only draw back was the use of a regular (and somewhat cheap feeling) keyboard that came with it. If you've purchased a Dell system recently, you probably know the keyboard I'm talking about... the one that barely has any extra space between the keys and the edge of the keyboard itself.

After having used a laptop 90% of the time (my desktop at home uses a Sun Type-6 USB keyboard due to it's low profile keys) for the past 7 years, I quickly began to dislike it. So I went to a local office supply store looking for an inexpensive keyboard that had a wired connection with low-profile keys. Call me old-school, but I prefer wired keyboards since there is less of a chance that something will go wrong with them (driver issues, dead batteries, etc.)

There were several nice keyboards from Logitech and and others that had the low-profile keys, but most of them cost between $50 and $300 and were wireless. Then I found the Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000.

It's a low-profile, low-cost (~$20) keyboard that has minimal 'extra' buttons, requires no drivers in order to use all of the buttons, and was wired. I had used this keyboard in the past briefly when setting up a server when our KVM died and liked it a lot. The 'curve' in the title refers to the fact that the keyboard curves about 6-degrees from the center of the keyboard, resulting in a more natural (ergonomic) design for your wrists. I have tried the broken keyboard designs in the past, but I found them really frustrating to use since I am not a touch-typer (but getting there).

After having used this keyboard extensively for the past week, I would highly recommend it to anyone, especially since it is so inexpensive.