Digital Innovations 4250100 Black 16 Function Keys USB Wired Contemporary Multimedia Keyboard

Pros: Decided to roll the dice on this unreviewed KB because it was one of the only ones I could find that met all of my picky criteria, particularly regarding modifier key layout (ctrl keys roughly equidistant from home keys, basically). Also, it was on sale at the manufacturer's website for 10 bucks. So far so good!

1) I can press the control keys on either side with the palm of my hand from home position. This is very important to me even if it doesn't matter to anyone else. A lot of keyboards have an utterly pointless second Windows key on the right side, or have one of the modifier keys uselessly extended just to get all of the keys on the right side to line up. This throws off the symmetry and makes it hard to hit the modifier keys on the right side consistently and comfortably. This keyboard doesn't do that, mercifully.

2) Function keys are properly spaced every four keys to allow for touch typing. Seems there's a trend among KB manufacturers these days to run them all together.

3) One-key-tall enter key with backslash/pipe key in the right place and a double-width backspace key. All as it should be, yet hard to find for some reason.

4) Full numpad

5) Media buttons

6) Keys feel soft and are fairly quiet. Remains to be seen how this will change with age.

7) Keyboard is pretty thin

8) Has a nice modern look

9) Seems to be fine for general gaming--e.g., no hiccuping when holding W to run forward.

Cons: These are pretty minor, so I'm not removing an egg.

1) Being a full-size keyboard with a palm rest and the media buttons on the sides, it has a very large footprint

2) Media buttons feel somewhat cheap and don't give very good feedback.

3) The button for the web browser has the Internet Explorer icon rather than a generic globe. Feh!

Other Thoughts: Given how picky I am, I would have happily paid full price for this, so the discount was merely a pleasant surprise. If you, on the other hand, are not as picky as me and can no longer get this for 10 bucks, I'd suggest looking elsewhere. There are plenty of good keyboards out there in the ten to fifteen dollar range.