USB Dongle is broken - need replacement for Microsoft Sculpt Wireless Ergonomic Mouse and Keyboard

And how the company wants to win an alternative😉

Well, I can see a few options for you.

1. Look up the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard. It's wired and around 50 bucks (this and all following prices are from Microsoft US store. You may snatch better ones most certainly after some rummaging through internet).
2. Look up the all-new Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard. It's wired and costs 60 bucks. You also get the new Office and Emoji keys.
3. Have a look at Microsoft Surface Ergonomic Keyboard. Its sleek, metal/Alcantara leather, it connects via Bluetooth (bye bye dongles) and costs 130 bucks. Yes - the same as Sculpt Ergonomic (which is now at 110 bucks temporarily) but that one is worth 0 bucks the moment you lose the dongle.

Also, as you have mentioned your student status - couldn't something be figured out price-wise? Microsoft has some decent discounts for education sector... Maybe your school could be so nice to order for you if its students won't qualify for hardware discounts...

Hope everything will get sorted to an universal satisfaction. I can see Microsoft's point but agree fully that it should be mentioned in headline-style red bold letters in every single listing of Sculpt Ergonomic. And they might be a little bit more outgoing and at least come up something like "get the dongle-less set to us, then we'll configure a new dongle for you and send it all back to you so all you'll have to spend would be one-direction shipping and, say, 10 bucks for a new dongle."

Thank u for these great options that I would have never come up with such clever ideas on my own.

What this is about is not buying a new keyboard. I can do that even without the great tips.

It's about throwing away a 100€ hardware, because a 2€ dongle is a bad construction and it doesn't seem to bother Microsoft in any way and producing unnecessary garbage. i thought the keyboard was great, but it was definitely the last peripheral i bought from Microsoft.

I appreciate all the info in this thread. My story is frustrating in its tragedy and I feel like Microsoft should reference this page as a reminder that they can still fix this issue and will continue to loose customers if they dont. 

I received a Sculpt set after a car accident damaged my back. As a student, I was still at my computer much of the day and this helped me sit in a position where I mitigated further damage. Then, I was robbed of my Windows Surface...which held the dongle to this set. Today, I begrudgingly looked up what this robbery would further cost me, and how to go about getting my set working again. Evidently it is a whole lot more money than I can afford (a whole new set?!), so there's that. I'm sure with all the brilliant engineers at Microsoft, they could develop a secure replacement dongle. 

Thanks everyone for sharing. I guess I will sadly go and throw my remaining keyboard and mouse out.