Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600, UK Layout - White

I already have 1 of those (and had previously bought one for a friend), now I bought two, because the price's dropped a bit and my kids need decent keyboards.Pros:- quiet. My job is keyboard-based (lots of text to enter ;) and I had tried quite a few keyboards for quite tapping away, at the same time I thought it silly to pay 50 - 100 quid for a "silent" keyboard. There's nothing quieter I've come across, that this MS keyboard.- really comfortable, both in terms of key layout and the size. Excellent, large enter key. Left shift could be larger though- key characters don't wear off. I previously fell for a claim by Microsoft (which turned out to be a lie), that another MS keyboard have laser-etched key symbols, which don't wear off. They did, but on the one reviewed (and I've been using my old one for the last 2 years plus), they haven't worn (yet). Given the amount of workout they get from me every day - not bad- cheap. Can be had from GBP 7.50 to GBP 15- surprisingly useful set of extra keys (sound on / off, volume control and even more suprisingly - calculator key, which I never expected to use so oftenDrawbacks:- cable could be slightly more flexible (not a serious issue)- after that much use, my 2 year old, while still quiet, is louder than the new two we have just bought. Not loud, just louderComments: if only the MS could make a mouse that would much the keyboard, in terms of comfort of use. Unfortunately, the wireless MS mouse that came with the wireless MS keyboard, while comfortable to hold, was unusable due to wheel design (ratchet?), but I have found a cheap logitech job which works perfectly. Sorry about the off-topic :)Jan 2016 update. While I still use the same keyboards (minus the one I cleaned the keys off, and it wouldn't work ;) - I must add, that after much banging on the keys, what used to be a near-silent keyboard, has become (say, 2 - 3 years on) a typical clickety-click keyboard. Same comfort, but not quiet any longer.

UPDATE: a year later and this is still working perfectly. 10/10 would buy 100 more times.I'm an office administrator and at work I need a keyboard so I can comfortably type while still being more than arm's length from my laptop. This was a perfect answer! Long cable, quiet keys that don't click suitable for office work, soft press keys that are very easy on the fingers/wristsand not so small they are difficult to press or so big they are awkwardly spaced etc. It has kept very well over the last five months, being heavily used nine hours a day five days a week, none of the letters have rubbed off and all keys are still accounted for. I bought a previous cheap keyboard from eBay but it had keys in places other than where they were labelled, some just didn't work, they were loose, loud and took several pressed sometimes to make work right from brand new. This is completely the other end of the spectrum, everything works, smartly packaged instead of just tape and bubble wrap, high quality and all keys are properly and accurately mapped out. Very good quality considering it is at the very low end of the budget for keyboards.Postage was very prompt and for the money it was a great price. May not be suitable for gaming if you want programmable keys as there are none, it's very easy to use at work and take wherever you like as it's USB connection. Black and white design makes it look very smart on my desk and it's been so hard wearing that if it broke tomorrow I'd just buy another one. It may not be what you want for a home computer if you're looking for flashing lights, custom keys and clacking mechanical keys but it's been a great addition to my desk.Met every part of my expectations.

having only ever used laptop keyboards and cheap and cheerful keyboards that come bundled with desktops, i have to say that this is a drastic improvement on those, the keys are nicely responsive and have a pleasant feel to them, as in they have just the right amount of resistance without feeling too stiff.it doesn't require installation of separate software, just plug in and the drivers are installed automatically. the media keys are a nice touch, saving me having to flit between windows all the time, as is the inclusion of a numeric keypad (my laptop doesn't have one, making it a pain if i need to use the calculator, another useful feature is the inclusion of a calculator button which opens up the windows calculator)the only real negative aspect of this board is the clack the keys make, not a big problem in itself, but does lend a certain cheap feel to it, but if you take your time typing and use a firm touch it does go away, but who want's to type slowly just to keep noise levels down?i can't really comment on the waterproofing of this product as i don't tend to go around spilling fluids on electronics :D but its a nice idea and one that gives me the added security of knowing that if i do spill anything on it, it'll survive without any damage.it has a really handsome finish and although it is utilitarian in its style, it will compliment any computer that it will be paired with.the delivery was pretty good, not brilliant, but that was Royal snails (sorry, Royal Mails) fault as they didn't arrive at our house while 2:45pm, 3 days after the date upon which it was supposed to arrive, it came reasonably well packaged, not the best, but certainly not the worst (that award goes to certain sellers of hard drives)if you want a decent quality keyboard for under 20 quid, you won't go far wrong with this one. i highly recommend this to anyone looking for a low cost yet good quality keyboard.