The Microsoft Arc Keyboard is an elegant desktop PC keyboard with unique features and a high price to match.

The Microsoft Arc’s name comes from its curved chassis, which bulges upwards in the middle and slopes gently forward. This design makes the Arc pleasant and comfortable to use, as well as giving it an elegant, eye-catching look.

The typing action is one of the best we’ve tried. The keys have a light, finger-friendly texture and matt finish (the body surrounding them is a smudge-prone gloss black, while the rear of the keyboard is white) and click quietly in use. The minimal noise and reassuring feel makes typing on the Microsoft Arc Keyboard almost soothing.

One unusual element of the Microsoft Arc’s key layout is the directional arrows: the usual four arrow keys have been combined into a single concave-surfaced square button that can tilt in four directions, a little like the D-pads used on games console controllers. This takes some getting used to, but we think it’s a nice bit of lateral design.

This move – along with some other layout-pruning decisions, such as removing the right Ctrl and putting Page Up and Down keys upstairs, doubling up the F keys (F7 upwards require the use of the Function key) and bringing Del into the top row – helps Microsoft to keep the keys big and well spaced while maintaining the keyboard’s portable dimensions.

The Microsoft Arc Keyboard uses a 2.4GHz wireless setup, based on a tiny USB transceiver that, in another charmingly helpful piece of design, slots magnetically into the back of the keyboard when not in use.

The wireless signal appears to be powerful and reliable – Microsoft doesn’t specify a range, but it was going strong with the Microsoft Arc a good 10m away from our test system.

The Apple Wireless Keyboard is slim, sleek and very light, but it won’t be to everyone’s taste.

The Apple Wireless Keyboard’s slim, compact design is good for use at home – for example, we use ours with a Apple Mac minithat’s plugged into a flat-screen TV and used as a media centre in the living room.

The Apple Wireless Keyboard also has a set of function keys that enable you to control Apple iTunes and other features such as Dashboard and Exposé on your Mac. Its Bluetooth wireless technology enables you to use it with other devices that have Bluetooth – such as the Apple iPad – so it’ll be handy for quickly tapping out quick notes and emails on an iPad at home.

The physical beauty of the Apple iPad is its slick touchscreen interface married to an ultra-portable smart design. You can pass it round a group of people and it orients itself as the user sees fit – the view isn’t determined by the position of a laptop keyboard.

That there’s no bulky keyboard is both a joy and annoyance to heavy iPad users. When typing out long text documents the onscreen touch, virtual keyboard can be a pain, especially if you’re a proper ‘touch typist’.

Sena’s Keyboard Folio is a neat solution for those iPad users who love the touchscreen but sometimes want it to act more like a laptop.

The Sena Keyboard Folio turns the iPad into a netbook. It’s a luxury leather iPad case with built-in (removable) silicon Bluetooth keyboard.

Unless you’re a absolute pro on the iPad’s virtual keyboard the real keyboard is guaranteed to speed up your typing. It’s also more ergonomic, with the case boasting a collapsible back stand that mimics the setup of a traditional laptop. As well as the usual letter and number keys the keyboard includes handy Play/Pause, Forward/Rewind, mute and violume keys – and even a Command key with Apple’s little Command Key logo.

Each time you turn on the keyboard (it has an On/Off switch to help save power) you need to type in a unique passcode to connect it via Bluetooth with the iPad.

You charge the keyboard via its Mini USB port – a Mini USB cable is included. Sena claims the keyboard will provide around 45 hours of use, or 55 hours of standby time.

Of course, Apple offers its own solutions. The £57 Apple Wireless Keyboard is a better keyboard than the one in the Keyboard Folio but you still have to store and carry that around in a separate case, as it’s not integrated.

The Sena case not only incorporates the keyboard, with a stand for ergonomic use, but protects both it and the iPad itself in one integrated package.

For £56 Apple also offers its iPad Keyboard Dock, which does give the user a more comfortable typing experience but again demands a separate carrying case or bag. It also orients the iPad in portrait mode only, which is less laptop like.

And the Keyboard Folio is not any old iPad case. It’s based on Sena’s luxury Folio case, crafted from premium Napa leather that provides a soft layer to gently protect your iPad. Its designer looks are super-smart, and it features three credit card or business card slots.

The laptop-like back stand is complemented by the Folio’s standard landscape rest for watching videos or restful use.

The silicon keyboard is ultra lightweight so you don’t notice any great increase on a usual iPad case, although it is a touch bulkier.

The Sena Keyboard Folio iPad Case is available in black, red, tan and brown leathers.

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It’s never too late to learn to touch type, and Keyboard Pro offers an affordable and professional online course that makes it easier than ever

How quick is your typing? Some people hunt and peck with two fingers, others get up a fair speed with several active fingers, but still with eyes downcast to the keyboard.

Touch typing, once the preserve of stenographers and trained secretaries, is a skill to enable fast and accurate typing, and a skill that’s now more useful than ever in our PC-centric lives. But looking around the typical modern office, few people, it seems, have this oh-so practical ability at their, ah, fingertips…

Touch typing is about more than just speed, of course. It gives you the freedom to keep your eyes on the screen without making silly mistakes. There are even security implications; with your eyes spending more time on-screen, you’re more likely to notice out-of-place URLs in online phishing rackets, for instance.

If you’ve ever found yourself composing half an email in capitals because you inadvertently hit the caps lock key, read on.

Type like a pro

Many PC-based typing courses are made for students or children, with an overall style or graphical interface to match. Keyboard Pro from UK-based firm Future Learning Solutions is aimed at professionals who want to acquire the skill in a more suitable, but still accessible, manner.

Keyboard Pro is a cross-platform online service, based on Flash within a web browser, and priced at £34.95 for a single-user license. All the lesssons are hosted online, so you will need internet access whenever you start each lesson.

FLS claims you can learn professional typing skills in only 6 hours, although users may find the course best tackled in small lessons over a week or more rather than one intensive day. Spend one hour per day on Keyboard Pro, and you should complete inside one week.

When it first launched last year, the Keyboard Pro subscription allowed you to access the online course for 28 days – but this has now been usefully extended to 90 days, to accomodate the inevitable interruptions of modern life.

Read Reference & Education reviews at PC Advisor

To get started you simply log onto the Keyboard Pro site, where you start with a video introduction to the course, along with lessons in good posture and relaxation, before starting the training, finger by finger, key by key.

Each lesson is introduced by a pre-recorded but amenable female tutor who appears in a small window below the on-screen virtual keyboard.

As you progrees, she will frequently entreat you to not look down at the keyboard, as well as offer canned soundbites of congratulations at your progress, or encouraging reminders that you’ve almost finished the current lesson.

You can pause or interrupt a lesson at any point, with your latest position logged and ready to return to later.

Eight key stages are unlocked as you pass each level, starting with the first position ‘ASDF’ and ‘JKL;’ characters, all the way up to the number line. Punctuation marks and the most common special characters such as ‘@’, round brackets and the question mark are also covered. The only everyday keys you’ll have to learn yourself are Backspace, Return and Tab.

You must complete each of these eight sub-stages before you can progress to the next. To recap any lesson, you can return to an earlier stage whenever required.

Once you’ve learned the finger positions for unsighted, if slow, touch typing, it’s time to gradually speed up. The second half of the course aims to get you up to 30 accurate words per minute. Expect to get reaquinted with the works of Aesop from this stage!

And after that, it’s a matter of personal practice in normal daily typing, with speeds of 60 words per minute or more possible with familiarity.

Our only speed bump was an issue with subtly varying key layouts on different computer platforms. But this minor trouble of reversed ‘@’ and double-quote symbols is to be resolved in a version 3 update soon, which will ask the student before they start if they’re typing on a Mac or Windows PC. And there’s nothing in the current offering to impede any user once you recognise the variation.

We found the course very well designed and neatly laid out – suitably professional in its presentation in fact for corporate as well as private use. Its pacing was good, since it went at ‘our’ pace, which sometimes entailed a few days absence between classes. And all users who complete the course and a final speed exam are awarded a personalised diploma to print out.

Ultimately it was inspiring enough to teach this student the invaluable skill of touch typing. And hopefully saving us that chore of ever backspacing lines of capitalised text again.

Some laptop computers require you to gain access under the Acer keyboard in order to replace various components. The Acer Aspire 5515 has a keyboard that can be removed by the user in order to replace the keyboard or replace various components under the keyboard. Many Acer Aspire models follow the same method to get under the keyboard.

1 Turn off the laptop and unplug the power supply and any wired connections to the laptop. Open the laptop and tilt the screen back as far as it will go.

2 Carefully place the tip of the flat head screw driver under the plastic hinge covers of each hinge just below the screen. Pry them up gently and they will pop up off the hinges. Be careful as they are attached to the plastic panel above the Acer keyboard.

3 Slide the tip of the flat head screwdriver under the bottom edge of the small plastic cover panel above the keyboard. Slowly slide it along the edge, gently pushing the screw driver handle downward to push the plastic panel up. As you go along, small plastic tabs will unlatch allowing you to lift the panel off the laptop.

4 Use the Philips head screw driver to unscrew the one screw above the F5 key. This screw is viewable once the plastic panel is pried off the computer.

5 Lift the bottom of the keyboard up slightly to reveal the ribbon connector holding the keyboard connection to the circuit board. It will be located just above the laptop’s track pad.

6 Gently pull the two small tabs located on each side of the ribbon connector end closest to the circuit board towards the track pad. The ribbon will come free.

7 Lift the top of the Acer keyboard while pulling it up towards the screen until the area underneath the keyboard is fully visible.

The keys on your keyboard are sticking or your keyboard is stuck for a couple of years old and a few of the keys stick when you are typing? Sticking laptop keys are a common problem because of contamination build-up like dust and hair, spilled drinks, and the wearing out of factory lubrication. Laptop keyboards will not wear out if you clean and lubricate them properly. Then there is no need to spend the money on an expensive replacement keyboard with following methods to restore your laptop keyboards to the snappy and smooth performance.

Step1: Troubleshoot the Laptop Keyboard Sticky Keys
Clean the keys that have wires attached and some grease with cotton swabs and naphtha (lighter fluid). Remove all traces of the grease.
Use a small screwdriver to gently pop the sticky keys off of the keyboard and place all keys in a container. Spray with household cleaner and let stand for 5 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with hot water and place keys on paper towels to dry. Let dry completely.
Note: Be gentle pressure with the key in case of using excessive force.

Step2: Clean the Entire Laptop Keyboard
If it’s just on the surface of keyboard, you can gently try to pop a key off. Many times, the keyboard area is further protected underneath with a rubber or plastic membrane.  Clean up what you can. If they come off fairly easily, take a picture of the keyboard before you remove any more, so you know how to put them all back on. You can also lay them out on a surface, in order, as you take them off. Once you have access beneath the keys, clean all the dirty things out of the keyboard with damp cloths and/or cotton swabs. Also clean the keys as best you can. If you have the picture of the layout, you can just throw them in a colander and rinse them off with warm water in the sink for a bit. You may need to take the keyboard apart further to get all the dust or drinks out of the various layers. Please allow them dry completely.

Step3: Place all Rubber Components into the keyboard.
Install keys with wires. Make sure wire is secured in the key, usually snapped into place. Place ends of wire in the slots adjacent to the key location as you align the key. Firmly press down to snap the key into place. Install the rest of the keys by aligning and firmly pressing down.
Tips: Always read your laptop manually thoroughly before cleaning. Besides, laptops keyboards will have pop-off keys, so make sure you know before you try.