#MICROSOFT NATURAL LASER MOUSE 7000 PRO#

The idea behind the design is that it turns your wrist upward (almost, though not quite, like a handshake) and lets you rest your hand on the right side instead of putting pressure on the carpal tunnel area. The elevated mouse looks more like a piece of fruit than a computer accessory, and its buttons, wheel, and palm rest all veer toward the right side. (Though we'd still prefer to have a left-handed version, which Microsoft sadly lacks.) In fact, though wrist pain forced us to start mousing with our left hand years ago, we found ourselves eschewing our own Logitech MX610 left-handed mouse in favor of the right-handed Microsoft Natural Ergonomic mouse. Not that mousing is all that painful with the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000. Below the spacebar (and between the wrist pads) are two buttons-back and forward-that allow you to move between Web pages without having to reach for your mouse. In the area between the split keys resides a two-way toggle that lets you zoom in and out of the active page.

In case you forget what you've assigned to each button, the My Favorites button in the middle of the board calls up a window that shows you.

#MICROSOFT NATURAL LASER MOUSE 7000 PRO#

Five additional numbered buttons can be programmed (via the included IntelliType Pro software) to launch any software or open a file of your choice. A row of silver buttons at the top of the board comes preprogrammed to do things such as launch your default Web browser or e-mail client, control media playback, and open the desktop calculator. The keyboard also incorporates a number of features designed to cut down on mousing.

Even after prolonged use we felt we had to press just a bit too hard to type-not exactly ideal for a keyboard that's supposed to reduce repetitive stress injuries and certainly a deal breaker for anyone whose hand and wrist pain starts in their fingers. However, we were frustrated by the stiffness of the keys, especially the space bar. The keyboard's wrist rest is padded with a faux-leather cover that's preferable to bare plastic but nevertheless not as comfortable as the gel wrist rests you can get elsewhere.ДЄll these features add up to a rather comfortable typing experience after just a few days with the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard we came to prefer it to traditional keyboards for all our typing. You can further adjust the keyboard's height and angle via snap-up feet on the rear corners. An optional riser snaps under the front of the keyboard to create a backward slant that prevents you from flexing your wrists. The split design rises in the middle to keep your wrists and arms in a naturally rotated position. The design of the keyboard in the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 is essentially the same as the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, though the former connects to your computer wirelessly via a USB receiver.

These weren't enough to outweigh the other comfort benefits of the set's design for our moderately achy wrists, but they could very well be deal-breakers for those with more serious injuries. Our only gripes come from resistance: The keys feel just a bit too stiff, and the mouse scroll button requires just a bit too much force. We used the Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 with our primary computer for several weeks, and we're mostly pleased with the level of comfort it offers.

Microsoft natural laser mouse 7000