Micro Rave -- a nice Natural Keyboard knock-off
Pros:
ergonomic shape, wrist rest
Cons:
No USB connectivity
The Bottom Line:
This is a good keyboard for the price, and worth looking at if you want an ergonomic keyboard.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Like many techs, I have a tendency to recycle equipment if it still works. I've recycled CD-ROMS. I've recycled CD burners. I've recycled RAM.
And I've recycled keyboards.
My old keyboard worked after four years, but my wife decided that it was aesthetically offensive -- after four years it had gotten pretty battered and beaten. I opined that it worked.
Not far from us is a Big Lots store. Big Lots sells closeout merchandise very inexpensively. They get all sorts of interesting things in there, and it can be interesting to look sometimes. THeir electronic section often leaves much to be desired -- except for when you need items like mice (assuming you don't want anything fancy), USB cables, floppy disks...or keyboards.
Our first encounter with this keyboard came when her keyboard, after four years of loyal service, stopped working. Off to Big Lots I went, intending to get the first keyboard I saw. The first keyboard I saw was, indeed, the Micro Rave KB7800i.
This keyboard is pretty clearly a knockoff of the Microsoft Natural keyboard. The keys are split in the middle as you can see from the picture above. There is a built-in wrist rest which is convenient. (I stick to my squishy gel wrist rest, but the one that comes with the keyboard is nice.
The KB7800I has all the standard keys one would expect. Letters, numbers, F1 through F12. It also has keys for Power, Sleep, and Wake, so that it can take advantage of PC's that offer sleep mode and software-controlled powering on and off. This is a nice feature, even though my PC doesn't support it.
There is also a 'Windows' button with a rather XP-ish Microsoft logo on it and a button that allows you to manuever in menus. These are pleasant additions for the times when one's mouse doesn't work and one must use the keyboard.
It hooks up with your standard round PS/2 port. Quick, easy, no problems. The only thing that could've improved this keyboard would have been USB connectivity, which it does not have. No spiffy USB ports on the keyboard itself, no USB connectivity. Even so, this is a good keyboard.
Big Lots sells this keyboard for $15. That's a rare bargain. The normal retail price for this was $30, after looking online. That's not too bad for an ergonomic keyboard. It does provide all the benefits of the Microsoft natural keyboard for a little bit less, and only lacks the Microsoft name. (For some open-source fans, that might be a GOOD thing.)
If you are looking for a replacement keyboards, this is a viable competitor.
