Readers of this blog know that I have many beefs with Microsoft, primarily over software and their overzealous patent protection/bullying of other organizations. However, please do not extrapolate my issues with Microsoft to the realm of hardware. I will say it loud and clear: Microsoft makes good-quality hardware.
I know a few people that use Microsoft webcams for video calling on the computer; the quality is certainly as good as (and in many cases better than) the quality of either my integrated laptop webcam or my Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX.
About 10 years ago, one of my relatives and one of my friends went outside of our house to the street across from ours, which was filled with construction workers building new houses on that street. They found, in the construction dirt, a Microsoft ball mouse. They brought it home, cleaned it a little bit, and started using it. It still works (and is being used) today.
Today, I was working in my college's library. I usually work at a computer that has a Dell mouse and keyboard. The Dell keyboards' keys are usually sticky to the point of near-uselessness, and the mouse surface is similarly sticky. Today, however, I used a computer with a Microsoft mouse and keyboard (which seemed to be as old as the other Dell mice and keyboards). Using the mouse seemed like using it on a cloud (no pun intended), and pressing the keyboard keys yielded a fluidity in the key motions that I have never seen before. (Even the Apple iMac's keyboard's (as there is an iMac in that workstation as well) keys aren't as fluid, and iMac keyboards are renowned for their smooth operation, long life, and quietness.)
So make no mistake: while I don't agree with (to put it mildly) Microsoft's software, policies, and stance on patents, I love Microsoft hardware. I think it's ironic that its hardware is this good, considering that it puts its software on other companies' hardware.
(UPDATE: An anonymous reader has pointed out (something that I remember hearing before but slipped my mind when writing this) that Microsoft tends to contract its hardware manufacturing to another company. In any case, that company makes good hardware!)
