Regular readers know I'm always on the lookout for the "perfect keyboard", and readers of our June 2001 review on the DataDesk Mac 101E will recall we were waiting for the PC version.

Well, things change. Fall 2001 came and went. DataDesk has gotten cold feet about expanding into the crowded PC aftermarket before.

I started experimenting with USB keyboards at home to accommodate the little Sony Vaio laptop (because I still love it). At work, a coffee spill precipitated a chain of various cheap keyboard experiments.

Lastly, I've been watching repetitive stress injury (RSI) symptoms of my own for some years, and our boss has a full blown case of carpal tunnel, wrist brace and all. While I feel I've been able to walk the thin line (don't we all), I decided it was high time to get serious about the new ergonomic keyboard designs.

My company issued me a Microsoft Natural keyboard. I despise the touch and several other unwelcome features of yet another "this ain't Wendy's" product, but it forces me to type slowly because it has all the "natural feel" of a bag of soggy pistachio shells.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered the DataDesk SmartBoard for home use. It, much more so than the Microsoft product I use twice as much, is teaching me to enjoy the "natural" split keyboard. I still can't type as fast as on a "regular" keyboard, but then I'm not a touch typist at all. It may take me longer to retrain my fingers, but I could guess I'm back up to peak speeds of 40-50 wpm, so I can't complain.

I'm not going to waste a lot of time explaining the "ergonomic" keyboard rationale, which is available in so many places at the workplace and on the Internet, and is explained far better than I could do it. Suffice it to say, the split keyboard and skewed-inward key rows make sense to me, and generally feel more "right". Additionally, DataDesk claims a "smart" layout in which outer keys, the ones to which your fingers reach farther, are slightly wider. Makes sense, and it is working for me.

The SmartBoard is available in "PC" (OS/2 serial port) and USB versions. I ordered the USB.

This keyboard has the same "perfect touch" keys as the older Mac 101E. Already, I will not part with it. Based on this alone I'm awarding the product four stars. I recommend it for most or all home use.

I was disappointed in the non-support of some standard office keyboard features, which may make it less suitable for the workplace, especially, the technical workplace (such as mine). The rest of the review covers deviations from the "standard" keyboard I found unnecessary and inconvenient.

Between the "alphanumeric" keyset and the numeric keypad, most full-featured keyboards carry keyboards carry a group of six to nine extra keys.

My trusty KeyTronics has Print Screen, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break on the top row to the right of the PF keys. We use Pause/break quite a bit at work for PC 3270 terminal emulators. Everybody uses ALT-Print Screen to capture bitmap screen prints on a PC; on the DataDesk a tricky right shift/forward backslash is substituted.

KeyTronics also offers the standard Insert, Home, Page Up, Delete, End and Page Down keys, also in this middle key island. Once again, for the most part DataDesk offers this functionality with a right-shift key and dual-purpose numeric keypad functionality. I am not sure I could get used to this conveniently at work, where I also use these oddball keys extensively. I would dearly love to surrender the Microsoft board, too.

DataDesk's Caps Lock key is illuminated when active, but its functionality is the oddest I have seen yet. An LED embedded in the key itself will flash brightly when first pressed, but when locked reverts to a dull glow. To see whether you left the Caps Lock key on, you most remove your hand and crane your head to the left to peer directly down upon the key to see if it is lit.

Most irritating of all (to programmers and math types) is the relocation of the equals sign (=) over to the left of the keyboard number '1'. As long as I can remember, it has been just to the left of the backspace key.

A second Bronx cheer for the stoopid Windows Menu key, which is on the far left bottom where the control key is always located. I don't care how logical a keyboard redesign is, you can throw this one out the window (along with the Windows key, and the Mac "propellor" key).

I am already getting used to these oddities, but thanks for letting me vent. Most users won't use these keys that much, and overall this is a genuinely superior keyboard. Check out the DataDesk website today.

Alex Forbes ©April 29, 2002