Microsoft Comfort Curve 3000

We really liked the value for money offered by the Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard, but now that Microsoft has updated it, we were curious to find out more.  The new Comfort Curve 3000 turned out to be an excellent surprise: Microsoft has made an even better keyboard—without breaking the bank!

Things didn't get off to a good start, though, as we found two unpleasant surprises when we first saw the new keyboard:

• the earlier version used a matte black finish but that's been replaced with glossy black plastic that picks up greasy fingerprints and dust very easily;
• there are now only four media hotkeys, compared to the ten on the Comfort Curve 2000.

Silence!

We were much more impressed as soon as we started typing.  We were so delighted, in fact, by how quiet it was, that we took it around the office to let everybody else have a go.  We didn't tell them why—but the broad grins said it all.  One of the first reactions sums it up best of all: ''we're keeping that one!''  Unfortunately, though, just like all the hardware we test, the Comfort Curve 3000 has now been returned to the manufacturer.

The buttons are a little stiffer than usual, which some people don't like, but they're very resistant.  That makes them much quieter, right down to the space bar, a rare feat on an entry-level keyboard.  We're much more used to hearing keys bounce back with a plasticky click and hollow suspension, but that's just not the case her.

Once we had finished our ordinary tests, we put the Comfort Curve 3000 through another challenge by removing and replacing the keys.  We wanted to see if they rested on rubber or a mechanical system of plastic 'scissors', which is usually gentler on the keys but also more expensive to manufacture.  In this case, Microsoft has chosen rubber, but it's made a very careful job and the quality is much better than usual.

Design

It doesn't take long to get used to having six fewer shortcut keys.  Personally, we never used the Internet, Mute, Search or E-mail buttons, but the Back and Next keys are handy when you're listening to music or watching a video.  We can definitely make do with the four remaining options: Calculator, Play/Pause and Volume Up and Down (which of course can also mute the audio ...).


We were glad to see three LEDs at the bottom right to indicate the status of the Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock.  Some of the Comfort Curve 3000's competitors make do without which can be very frustrating.

That just leaves the curved layout of the keys, which is a virtual guarantee of typos during the first few days.  If you let a friend use your computer to check their mail, you can also be sure of a few complaints, too.

But with a little bit of patience, you soon get used to it.  It took us less than half a day to get the hang of it and we don't even have to look at the keyboard any more.  Switching back to a traditional keyboard is the hard part ...