I like my keyboards. The last time I used the keyboard that came with a computer was the custom painted one that came with an Alienware system in 1999. Since then I’ve gone through quite a few from Microsoft, Logitech and Kensington. The latest one I tried out was a Kensington wireless keyboard and mouse set from which I only use the keyboard. It feels nice to type on, nicer than the Logitech Elite, has a leather wrist rest built in, and is wireless.

Biggest problem is it’s wireless. The advertised range was 30 feet, but it’s never worked more than a single foot away from the receiver. As the batteries start to die down after a few weeks, I have to inch the keyboard tray more and more under the desk so it stays in contact with the receiver to type. Right now I’m typing with my hands completely under the desk — it’s good I don’t ever look at the keyboard anyway.

Given I’m a programmer, have e-mails from customers to respond to every day and papers to write for classes, you’d think I would just replace the keyboard with a decent one pretty quickly. Yet I’ve been waiting for a specific keyboard since I first saw it in September that was due in stores about two months ago. It’s the Microsoft Wireless Elite Desktop 7000.

It was due to go on sale by January but never showed up at a single store. Since there were never any corrections to the press releases with the release dates, I had asked one of the Microsoft recruiters if he knew anything about Microsoft Hardware and when it’d come out, and sent e-mails to Gizmodo and Engadget who somehow had gotten multiple samples for review. Nobody knew why they weren’t for sale yet, and I still don’t know, except that a few sellers just started listing it on Amazon Marketplace two days ago. I picked the one with the most reviews and ordered; hope it comes soon.