Microsoft 4000
Denisha Cerniglia
I just got the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 and was curious about how the zoom feature was to work. I'm using Windows 7 and in Word, Internet Explorer, or when viewing an image the zoom doesn't seem to do anything.
The zoom lever on this keyboard is supposed to act something like control-mouse-wheel does in a Web browser or Microsoft Office products. You can flick the lever one way or the other and the text or picture zooms in or out.
Have you gone through 10 keyboards trying to find one that works or have you worn out 10 keyboards? If the later I would be looking for a more reliable product although I find that hard to believe as I am on my second Microsoft ergo keyboard in 10 years and this second one was a hand-me-down.
Have been a Microsoft Natural keyboard user for the best part of the last 20 years. Started with a Natural Pro, then the 4000. Have been using the newer Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard for the past 2 years. Have worn out the keycaps, but otherwise each keyboard has lasted several years of daily use.
Adesso has become a design manufacturer of computer peripherals and mobile accessories, including webcams, keyboards, mice, trackballs, touchpads, headsets, graphic tablets, document scanners, barcode scanners, receipt printers, cash drawer, hubs,...
it has a similar feel to the Microsoft. Going on a year so far with no issues. plus it can be paired to 3 Logitech unify receivers, so I can have switch between my desktop and laptop/docking station with the press of a button the keyboard.
The following list describes system error codes for errors 4000 to 5999. They are returned by the GetLastError function when many functions fail. To retrieve the description text for the error in your application, use the FormatMessage function with the FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM flag.
The join operation failed because the cluster database sequence number has changed or is incompatible with the locker node. This may happen during a join operation if the cluster database was changing during the join.
The cluster node was evicted from the cluster successfully, but the node was not cleaned up. To determine what cleanup steps failed and how to recover, see the Failover Clustering application event log using Event Viewer.
The request is invalid either because node weight cannot be changed while the cluster is in disk-only quorum mode, or because changing the node weight would violate the minimum cluster quorum requirements.
I was plenty excited when I saw Microsoft was releasing a new non-mangled ergonomic keyboard - the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000.Now that I own one, I'm not excited any more.I'm ecstatic!This keyboard is the natural heir to the obsolete but much loved Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro:The MS Natural Pro was discontinued in early 2001. After that, there were hardly any ergonomic split keyboards with standard PgUp/PgDn clusters. There were a handful of rare and obscure exceptions, but in general, they just weren't being made any more. This was a dark time for ergo keyboard enthusiasts who happened to be programmers.By 2004, people had started to mock my ugly-but-comfortable 1999-era Natural Pro. I had reluctantly switched to the Digital Media Pro after some flirtations with the Logitech Elite. But neither of these were ergonomic, and both had a very cheap feeling. They just didn't feel right to my hands and fingers.I'm happy to report that the Natural Ergonomic 4000 is a truly worthy successor to the Natural Pro. My fingers feel at home again! Here are the highlights:
- It's mostly black.* And black is way cooler than beige-y white.
- You can't tell from the pictures, but the palm rests are actually padded with some kind of leatherette or naugahyde. I know it sounds odd, but it's way more comfortable than any plastic palmrest I've ever used.
- This keyboard feels truly solid, like the old Natural Pro. So many wired keyboards are stuck in that disposable, plastic-y $19.99 low-end ghetto nowadays.
- The multimedia buttons at the top of the keyboard are radically simplified. Only the essentials (favorites, home/search/mail, volume, calc) are present. And they're more logically organized into three distinct areas. I love the favorites; that was the only good thing about the Digital Media Pro keyboard I was previously using.
- The otherwise wasted "dead" space in the middle of keyboard is put to use with the zoom slider, LED indicators, and back/forward buttons. I particularly like the LEDs being front and center so I can more easily see when caps/f/num lock is accidentally set.
- The Enter key got a little smaller. Many of the other keys got larger (tab, tilde), but Enter somehow got smaller.
- The keyboard has no USB ports. I can't really fault Microsoft here because USB ports are extremely rare on any keyboard these days. But they should bring it back, dammit, because it's so convenient to plug in your mouse or a memory card right on your keyboard!
- They dropped the sleep button, which is traditionally in the upper right of every Microsoft keyboard. Instead you get an extra row of numpad keys (equal, parens, backspace). I've never seen that arrangement, but I rarely use the numpad anyway.
- I'm not sure how useful the "dead zone" buttons (back/forward, zoom) will be. It's a bit of a reach. I never used the zoom/scroll functions located on the left side of my two previous keyboards. But I used to accidentally hit them when my fingers slipped. The odds of me accidentally hitting the dead zone buttons is nil. So this is a net gain even if I never click those buttons once.
Don't get me wrong, you can buy a "4000" branded keyboard - but it is a radically different design. And change is scary. So I'm buying up old models on eBay. If you have an old-verson MS 4000 in good condition, please let me know - I may need to stock up!
Loved this keyboard when I had one at work before going freelance - shame it did not follow me ? also loved my IntelliMouse back in the day - fair enough M$ do decent kit - my Logitech gear is not half as good.
I got a spare old-style MS 4000 keyboard last year, for when the keys on my current one have worn down completely. (S, C and L have lost their markings, D key will soon be joining them.) No, you can't have my spare! Typing is so much more comfortable on this thing, and I've used Keyboard Maestro to get the various extra keys doing useful stuff for me on my Mac.
You can reprogram the keys in Windows... but whether that's possible under Linux. I have no idea. Scroll jogger and back and forward were never my thing. I like the dedicated screen capture button on the new one.
Sadly, my 4000 died this year. It followed my Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro, and Natural Multimedia Keyboard. I'm now also using a LXM-00004. I keep forgetting about the emoji key and have used the Office 365 key maybe twice.
Sadly, my 4000 died this year. It followed my Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro, and Natural Multimedia Keyboard. I'm now also using a LXM-00004. I keep forgetting about the emoji key and have used the Office 365 key maybe twice.
Not sure under other OS, but calc begin replaced by search might not be an issue. On Mac OS here, you just type calculations into the search (Spotlight) and it gives you the result. I've taken to using that rather than opening calculator for almost all calculations.
It does seem an odd move, but my point was more that I rarely open up the calculator itself these days, the search function allows me to type in calculations and shows me the result. I don't know if Ubuntu's search does that.
the two follow ons are awful. the extra keys on the latest make it really awful to use. (Im down to my last working one and am wondering if i can cobble together my 4 broken ones into a working one)
One of the commenters complained about the letters wearing off the caps. My wife wants to replace hers for the same issue. I don't understand. I have used keyboards with missing symbols on the keycaps for years. Just cosmetic. Touch typists ought not to need them. The typewriters in high school had no letters on the keys.
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For about a decade, I have been using Microsoft's Natural Ergonomic 4000 keyboard. I started off with the wireless desktop set, which cost about INR 7,000. It only lasted for a couple of years. I shifted back to a regular keyboard for a while, but found it very uncomfortable, after having used Microsoft's ergonomic keyboard.
So, I bought the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Wired USB keyboard in 2013. However, this one started acting up in the first year itself. I took it to the service center. They kept it for a few weeks and then handed over a refurbished keyboard. This worked for a few months, but the same issue cropped up again.
The exact same issue plagues this particular keyboard model - from the wireless one to the two wired ones. All of a sudden, the keys stay pressed, even though none of the keys are depressed. Characters keep appearing on screen, without pressing any keys and random menus pop open.
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