We’re taking another look at the Microsoft curve keyboard and accompanying mouse. The new curve is quite an overhaul over the older model and seems to be targeted more for mass consumption in terms of design. Whereas the old model was a split keyboard, the 6000 takes the curve and applies it to a standard keyboard layout. The result is a keyboard that looks less exotic and has a lower learning curve. Call it a standard keyboard with a bit of a curve to the keys.

In terms of ergonomics, I feel like this keyboard takes a small step backwards over it’s predecessor in order to appeal to a broader audience. To our more conservative readers, this keyboard presents a cheap & easy upgrade in your ergonomics without having to commit to getting used to an wildly different shape/layout. Most of the time when I try a new keyboard shape my typing speed is stunted while I get used to it, but the MS Curve 6000 is so close to a normal keyboard that the affect was very minimal. Being that it’s not a split keyboard and that the keys are flat; it’s less foreign at the cost of being less ergonomic.

Lets talk about the keys. Millions of key presses eventually add up, so the quality of the buttons themselves becomes important. I can’t find a spec for KOH on this guy, but I will say it has a pretty soft touch. What I really like about these keys over your standard keyboard is that the key press is somewhat dampened. Old school 1990’s clicky keyboards had a distinct click sound and they somewhat jarred your finger a little on each key press. With the MS Curve, the kickback is very smooth and minimal by design.. That means less stress on you finger joints and your muscles.

The mouse is quite comfortable, although, slightly larger than your average mouse. The neat part about this mouse is the design of the thumb rest. If you want to you can position you hand so that you don’t even touch the mouse pad, thus controlling it with your hand instead of your wrist. There’s a small extrusion to rest your thumb on. Some ergonomic mice are designed around this principal like the handshoe mouse. You can also place your wrist on the mouse pad and move the mouse with your fingers like most people do. The shape of the mouse works both ways. My generic advise is to change up your input devices or how you use them throughout your day to minimize the repetitiveness. This mouse works out fine in both positions which is uncommon and kinda awesome.

The other features on the mouse are great. The click is exactly what you expect from a typical mouse and the scroll wheel is butter smooth. Some mice have a lot of resistance on the scroll, but this one has almost no drag. While this mouse was designed with ergonomics in mind, it’s not quite at the level of specialization as some of the other mice we talk about on this site. I’d say it’s better than 85% of the standard mice out there.

While I try to keep reviews focused on the RSI aspects, I will say that while the keyboard works great on a Mac, the mouse get’s hung up from time to time. In windows it works flawlessly, so it’s probably just an issue with the Mac driver.

So, in conclusion.. If you’re looking for a cheap wireless keyboard & mouse setup that’s mildly ergonomically minded, you’re looking at a decent product. It’s easy to learn, better than your average peripherals, and it’s mass produced to the point of being very cheap. Amazon’s selling em for $63 a pop. If you have advanced repetitive stress injuries, you should be looking at some of the more specialized keyboards & mice out there. If you don’t have problems yet and want to be preventative or if your discomfort is light, then this is a decent choice for a keyboard. It’s cheap, has an easy learning curve, and it looks pretty normal sitting on your desk.

Several mice have attempted a design where the entire hand is supported by the mouse, therefore never touching the mousepad. The idea is that supporting the weight of your hand on your wrist and moving the mouse with your fingers can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome because your wrist is bent during use. The majority of designs on the market up til now felt like they were brewed in someone’s basement and manufactured with a little VC capital. The handshoe mouse on the other hand is the real deal, well made, and created by some researchers at a couple universities.

The first couple hours with the handshoe mouse are a little awkward, but afterward it starts to feel a bit more natural. It’s the first mouse we’ve heard of that comes in 3 different sizes for those with differently sized hands. When making a mouse that’s so highly contoured to your hand, I can see where providing different sizes of a mouse is important. I got the medium sized one.

One mouse I’ll compare it to is the Evoluent Vertical Mouse. The handshoe mouse is halfway between a normal mouse and a vertical mouse in that it tilts your hand about 30 degrees to the side. I found the angle to be just right. If fits my hand pretty much like a glove; more so than any other mouse I’ve ever tried. The upper part of your thumb kind of has 2 options for where it can go. The curve for your thumb is a little steep downwards, so you can place you thumb into the little nook or you can hold it straight. It’s the difference of having your thumb bent at a slight angle or straight, and both feel pretty good.

The takeaway is that the curvature of the mouse feels great. It holds my hand very close to the position my hands wrest naturally when sitting in a chair. They did their homework.

With the Evoluent vertical mouse, the bottom side of your pinky finger replaces your wrist’s job of providing an anchor for moving the mouse with the rest of your hand. The big jump for the handshoe mouse is that there is no anchor. Your hand is completely supported by the mouse. Your fingers have more dexterity than your arm in fine movements, so when using only your arm, your level of control is reduced. I wouldn’t recommend it to FPS gamers, but for day to day business people, I’d say it’s definitely livable. I had to reduce my mouse sensitivity a little bit in the computer.

The buttons are very solid and have a nice click to them. If you have severe ‘trigger finger’ then you might want something with a softer click. I will say the right button is softer than the left, so it might be a manufacturing inconsistency. The scroll wheel is the same story. While it’s has an excellent feel and is very high quality, it doesn’t exactly glide like butter like some mice. This is a mouse oriented towards relieving wrist pains & hand aches more so than trigger finger. For people with both trigger finger and wrist problems, you might consider this mouse in conjunction with perhaps a foot pedal for the mouse click.

The verdict? I like it a lot. The build quality is excellent and it has a nice weight to it. The downside is that it costs $130 which puts it in a whole different price bracket from other ergonomic mice. I think that for people who have wrist and hand pains in their mousing hand that this mouse should definitely be considered. Although expensive, it’s a lot cheaper than hand surgery, and the difference between it and a normal mouse is night and day.

Update: One week has passed and my hand feels great. My wrist pains have mostly subsided and my fingers aren’t cramping like they used to. I can’t help but feel like there’s really something to this design. I’m truly shocked at the results after just 1 week of full time usage. Occasionally because of the reduced level of control I get frustrated when I have to point on something very small, but most of the time I don’t think about it. Time will tell if this mouse is the magic bullet, but so far, we’re off to a great start.

Our expectations were pretty low for the usb heated mouse and rightfully so. Our theory for reviewing this mouse is to ask the question, “if heating pads help your muscles, does a heated mouse help your hand if you have repetitive stress injuries?” We put that theory to the test, and we were rather disappointed.

First off, the build quality is horrible. It’s light weight cheap plastic, and the mouse buttons kept getting stuck. It’s basically an unusable mouse because the buttons don’t respond well. For example, I’ll try to click on something and once I lift my finger, it doesn’t let up. It leaves me wondering, “did they test this thing before mass manufacturing?”

Lets talk about the heating element. It’s a small element in the middle that doesn’t get very warm at all. The heat is an on/off switch so it’s not like there’s adjustments to be made. I found the temperature to be luke warm, and overall a disappointment.

While I wont totally discount the idea of a heated mouse providing comfort to people with RSIs, in this case the mouse is such a poor execution that it’s just a waist of money. The poor quality of the buttons contradicts any benefits that the heat it provides might have. Sorry, the review stops at that. If I go crazy trying to use it after 5 minutes, it has failed. It’s only perk is that it only costs $23. I’m afraid being cheap doesn’t justify being useless.

Here at RSI Stuff we’ve tried several vertical mice from the Joysticks to the Plastics, but neither of them treated us as well as the Evoluent Vertical Mouse. The concept is simple, take a normal mouse, and turn it on it’s side so that you hold your hand in the handshake position. For some people, tilting their wrist to use a normal mouse makes it ache over time, and that’s exactly what this mouse aims to solve.

With a normal mouse your wrist sits on the table with your hand bent up, using your fingers to move the mouse around. With the Evoluent Vertical Mouse, your wrist no longer sits on the table because you hand sits on the mouse with you thumb as a brace. You actually move the mouse by moving your arm, thereby no longer stressing you wrist. Simply put, if your wrist on your mousing hand hurts, this is a good alternative mouse to try out and at < $70 on amazon, it's pretty affordable.

Here at RSI Stuff, the question is always: Is this the cure to my repetitive stress discomfort. As always it's neither black or white, although in this case we're pretty impressed. Let's talk about it:

For this review I'll mention two common types of pain from using a mouse. One is called trigger-finger where the mere act of clicking has made your index finger sore. The vertical mouse won't help you there because you still click just like any other mouse. The other common pain is from sitting your wrist on the hard table all day while you move the mouse. A common solution is to elevate your wrist to the same height as the top of the mouse (so your wrist isn't bent) with a mouse pad hand rest. Some people find those comfortable, and some don’t. If thats You, you should most definately consider giving the Evoluent a shot.

Yours truely has been on the Evoluent Vertical Mouse for 8 months and counting, and I’m pretty happy with it. It’s reasonably well made, lightweight, and comfortable to use for 8hrs a day. The scroll wheel leaves a little to be desired, but if your hand hurts, then the pros outweigh the cons. It does take a little getting used to, but it’s no where near as foreign as say an alphagrip and it feels fairly natural after just a couple days’ use.