Across the top of the keyboard there are 15 customizable hot keys. At the far left, in order, there is Play/Pause, Stop, Previous Track and Next Track keys bunched together. Those default to controling your media player on your computer.
In the middle of the top row of hot keys there are 5 favorites buttons and a small button below them for adjusting the functionality of those 5 keys. When the keyboard is first plugged in and any of the favorites buttons are pressed a window pops up asking you to set the site/program/file that the key will link to. Very easy and quick! These favorites buttons can be very useful, in my case I have about 5 web sites which I visit a few times a day and accessing them is now as simple as pushing a button! No more lengthy web addresses to type in or searching in My Favorites!
After the favorites buttons there is another group of 3 black buttons. These being My Documents, My Pictures and My Music. When pushed, these default to the identically named folders under your user profile in Windows. Since all the hot keys are customizable I set those three keys to open up the Documents, Music and Pictures folders which I keep on another hard drive partition for faster access and backup reasons.
The final group of 3 black hot keys includes buttons for Mail, Web/Home and Messenger. Mail opens up your default mail application, web/home will open up your browser or home page and Messenger opens either Windows or MSN Messenger. Following all the hot keys at the far right of the keyboard are LEDs which indicate whether caps lock, scroll lock, num lock or F-lock are enabled.
As I mentioned, all the hot keys are customizable. This means that they don't have to open what they are set to by default. You can change them to open any file/document/webpage/program that you want.

(Top row of hot keys, click to enlarge)

Another feature starting to be seen on more and more new keyboards are enhanced F-Keys. When the F-Lock toggle key is pressed all the F-Keys will work like regular old F-keys. However, when the toggle switch is turned off all the F-Keys have another function that they double as. Some being, save, print, spell, new, open, etc. The F-Lock always defaults to being off, and you may think "Why have the F-Key functions turned off by default?" Ask yourself how often you actually use the software functions offered by pressing say the F1 key anymore? The new functions that the F-keys default to are a lot more useful. It takes a little adjusting to using them at first, but once you get them down, basic software functions will become alot easier and faster!

(Click to enlarge)

Along the lines of ergonomics, something much needed with the amount of time a person spends on the computer these days, the keyboard features a detachable palm rest. When attached, it keeps your hands at a comfortable level for using the keyboard helping to relieve strain on your wrists. For those who don't wish to use this feature, it can be easily detached.

Another notable feature of the keyboard is that the keys are very quiet when pressed. I previously had been using the original Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard 1.0A which I bought a day after it came out. When comparing the keys on this new Digital Media Pro keyboard to the original multimedia keyboard, the keys on this one are very quiet.

Installation:
The first step to installing the Digital Media Pro keyboard is to install the included IntelliType software before plugging in the keyboard. This will enable all the extra features of the keyboard to function properly. After IntelliType is installed you need to plug the keyboard into either a USB port or a PS/2 port using the included adapter.
After that, you're pretty much ready to go. You can go into the keyboard options under the control panel and customize all the extra function keys as you desire.

(Click to enlarge)

Testing:
There aren't a lot of tests that can be done with a keyboard for this category. I simply put the keyboard through lots of use, tried all the hot keys and played a few games. The keyboard itself is very comfortable to use and the included palm rest helps to eliminate strain on the wrists. The hot keys are all very useful, covering most of my day to day useage.

Conclusion:
Overall I loved the Microsoft Digital Media Pro keyboard. It's packed with great features including the Zoom Slider, hot keys, stylish looks and much more! If you are in the market for a wired keyboard I highly recommend this one.

Pros:
Zoom Slider
Many useful hot keys
Enhanced F-Keys
Quiet key operation
High-speed USB connectivity
Sleek looks

Cons:
None, Zip, Zero, Nadda!

Rating: 10/10

A big thanks goes out to the wonderful people at Microsoft/High Road Communications who provided the Digital Media Pro keyboard for review!

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