Microsoft Arc

According to Microsoft, the idea of a desktop has evolved since the arrival of laptops: it's not just a place to work in a single room, but a constantly changing environment.  Users not only depend on their computers in every room of the home, but also while travelling.


To meet these changing needs, the manufacturer has produced the Arc, an elegant keyboard that's small enough to be portable.  It's a mini keyboard with 'chiclet' style keys that's designed to be used with a laptop and comes with a mini dongle for connecting it up.

Note that it's made from glossy plastic which is easy to get dirty with greasy fingerprints.  If you're a clean freak, you might end up spending more time cleaning it than you do typing on it.

Handling


The compact, curvy form factor makes for comfortable typing, and your hands rest naturally on the keys.  However, size comes at a price: there's no numeric keypad and the arrow keys, which are often very useful, sit on just a single key.  Editing documents, browsing the web and anything else you can use the arrow keys for becomes a real struggle.  Some laptop keyboards have more well thought-out solutions.