Microsoft Surface 2 keyboard teething trouble

Microsoft’s second stab at making a tablet is a step up from the first time around. It is hard to find fault with the beautifully engineered hardware.

At least it’s hard to find fault with the tablet hardware. The Surface 2 keyboard is just a little too small and the keys a little too close together for comfortable typing.

It is cramped in a way that may remind you of netbooks find 11-inch laptops.

And that can mean strain problems.

You could argue the Surface 2 wasn’t built for professional journalists to sit hunched over typing at the keyboard for hour after hour.

I hear you. On the other hand whatever the designer’s purpose, that’s exactly what some people are going to do.

To be fair to Microsoft, I have to report I went through something similar when I first began using my iPad as a typewriter. It could just be an adjustment thing.

And I’m partly to blame. Sitting a desk doing nothing by typing for a couple of hours isn’t healthy no matter what equipment you use. Even so, this is something I’m going to need to keep a close eye on.

While we’re on the subject of the keyboard, I found I hit wrong keys more often than normal. I touch type so hitting the odd wrong key is normal.

Hitting the wrong keys can slow down writing as you go back to make corrections, so there’s a small productivity hit. When I’ve done this in the past I’ve found I quickly adjust to the new keyboard and things get back to normal.