Gadgetory

so it used to be that only secretaries and IT pros got carpal tunnel syndrome well fast forward a few decades and now it seems like everyone is on track to get some kind of repetitive stress injury and if you're shopping for a keyboard and mouse set to ease your pain Microsoft actually has a pretty good contender I'm Justin you for CNET this is your first look at the Microsoft sculpt ergonomic desktop this keyboard and mouse combo removes all the non-essential parts and they give you only what you need to type and click in a comfortable position that really takes the stress off your wrist so this is the keyboard here it's flat on all sides and it gradually rises in the center which forces your hands into a more natural typing position then you may be currently used to with your keyboard it also has a separate number pad here which makes the keyboard a lot smaller without it in fact it measures a little bit more than 15 inches across now typing on the keyboard is really easy your wrists find more relief on the soft padded rest down below and the option to use this removable riser bar on the bottom that actually pushes your hands up even further so this is also pretty clever Microsoft actually puts magnets on all the compartments including the riser bar and the battery door which makes them really easy to put on and off again you'll probably need a little bit of time to adjust to the new layout of the ergonomic keyboard though the cutout in the centre separates your hands a little bit more and since it's set up for use with Windows 7 & 8 you'll find a Windows Metro button next to the space bar instead of the start key you also get a set of shortcut buttons on top on the s keys but instead of an FN button on the bottom like we're used to Microsoft makes you alternate using an FN switch instead again it'll take a week or so to get used to so now onto the mouse this one's a new shape for the company and its circular rather than oval in terms of size it sort of feels like an oblong baseball in your hand with a cutout on the left side that acts as a thumb rest your hand should feel natural when you place them on the mouse though I wouldn't have minded some extra grooves for your index and ring fingers to rest now the biggest gripe I have with the mouse is that the top layer is covered with a shiny plastic that's really susceptible to fingerprints also the top tends to get a little sticky which may be a problem for users that tend to have sweaty palms now that is kind of gross but it's something you should before you buy you get the standard left and right clickers on the mouse as well as a notch scroll dial and a shortcut button that automatically fires up the Windows 8 Start menu there's also a button on the left hand side for your thumb that takes you back a page in your browser though I do wish that we're a little bit easier to press and neither the keyboard nor the Mouse have rechargeable batteries so you'll have to keep a stock of double-a and triple-a s around the house to replace them at a hundred and thirty bucks for the set I definitely would have liked to see some backlit keys and maybe some rechargeable batteries but aside from that this combo definitely accomplishes its goal to alleviate pressure off your wrists and get you used to a more natural typing and mousing position you can check out more details in my full review on SEANET but that's going to do it for me I'm Justin you you just took a first look at the Microsoft sculpt ergonomic desktop thanks for watching