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Targus Universal Wireless Keyboard

Targus Universal Wireless Keyboard

List Price: $79.99
Your Price: $50.77
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great design, compatability issues
Review: The design of this keyboard is great. It's a bit larger than others when folded, so of course it's a trade-off. If you want a great layout, get this board. If you want something tiny, get something else. The only problem I have with this board is compatability. There are at least three hardware revisions of this board. I got a version 1 board, and it is hardware incompatable with some number of handhelds. Be sure what version you're buying BEFORE buying it, and check the compatability list on Targus's site to make sure it works with what you want it to work with.

I've kicked e-mails back and forth with Targus for a bit now, and they refuse to even give me a hint as to why this thing required multiple versions. If anyone knows WHY this keyboard would be incompatable with a handheld beyond any hope of software fixes, please let me know. I'm not quite sure how that would ever be the case. I did find out, though, that NO revision will work with a Dell Axim X30, which is not on their compatability list at all. This is a great board if it'll work with your handheld. Just make sure it will first.

EDIT: please note that the compatability list on the Targus website is wrong on at least a few counts. My rev 1.0 hardware worked fine with store display units of the Tungsten C, T3, Zire 31, and Zire 72. All I know for sure is that it won't work with the Tungsten T. Unfortunately, there aren't display units of Axims, or I'd find out for sure about that one. Just don't assume the list is right, test things first if possible.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Poor design decisions and a bad Pocket PC driver
Review: The idea here is great. The keyboard has an Infrared transmitter on a very ingenious built-in stand, so it should work with just about any PDA. And the keys are fairly large comapred to competing IR keyboards from Belkin and Pocketop.

However, the designers made some mistakes so critical you have to wonder if these people type.

1) There's a big plastic space between the split spacebars -- RIGHT where my right thumb usually hits the space bar. Slows my typing to Graffiti speed because I have to use the wrong thumb for space.
2) No cursor keys.
3) On a Palm OS device, when you access the menus with the mouse pad thingy, there doesn't seem to be a way to access anything except the first menu.
4) Page Up and Page Down are mapped to Fn-7 and Fn-8? Ugh.
5) Only ships with Palm OS 3.x/4.x drivers, but the web site has OS 5 drivers. However, these OS 5 drivers for their "universal" keyboard don't work with Palm-brand OS 5 handhelds, just Sony.
6) The base won't hold an iPAQ unless you take off the expansion jacket.
7) Did I mention the lack of cursor keys?
8) Uses CR2025 batteries. Try to find those at the airport.
9) No cursor keys.
10) Noticeable delay between hitting the key and the words appearing on a Pocket PC. I can type an entire sentence at my fastest typing speed and when I finish the last 5 words are still appearing on the screen. It's as if there's a tiny elf in there repeating my keystrokes, but he's not as fast as I am. (The Palm OS driver doesn't have this problem.)
11) It would have been nice if they'd included cursor arrows.
12) It's about as thick as a club sandwich when folded.
13) Did I mention that it lacks cursor keys?

So much potential, but unusable by touch-typists. None of the IR keyboards are ready for prime-time. Go for a Fellowes Stowaway and just upgrade the keyboard if you ever buy a new PDA.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: IR beam arm is almost imposible to align on a Toshiba e755
Review: The rotating wand arm must be aligned to the infrared port of the PDA. The arm rotates 210 degrees but the sender can only point directly to the pivot point. The adjustable arms are laughingly flimsy. As a result I can only get it to work if I hold the pda in my right hand directly above the ir arm. Then it works great but it's an utterly unworkable solution. Instead of a rotating arm which makes the angle wrong. Why not a sliding arm so that it is always at a right angle?

Truly awful unworkable piece of flimsy junk

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: IR beam arm is almost imposible to align on a Toshiba e755
Review: The rotating wand arm must be aligned to the infrared port of the PDA. The arm rotates 210 degrees but the sender can only point directly to the pivot point. The adjustable arms are laughingly flimsy. As a result I can only get it to work if I hold the pda in my right hand directly above the ir arm. Then it works great but it's an utterly unworkable solution. Instead of a rotating arm which makes the angle wrong. Why not a sliding arm so that it is always at a right angle?

Truly awful unworkable piece of flimsy junk

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Product!
Review: The Targus Wireless Keyboard

Pros:
*NO CONNECTION PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER. My PDA recieved every letter I typed.
*Can touch-type, letters appear instantly.
*Full size keyboard is very easy to type on, >5x more efficient than typing with built in keyboard.
*Locks into place for travel.
*Programmable hotkeys give easy access to almost anything.
*Built-in mouse is nice feature to have.
*Durable folded form.
*Packs and unpacks relatively easily.
*Good and easy to use software.
*HIGH QUALITY. Do not expect to have to use the warranty.

Cons:
*Somewhat large when packed; hard to fit in pocket but easily fits into cargo/backpack pocket.
*Flimsy PDA supporters. Do not break but PDA slides around.
*Infrared arm reaches IR port but is not exactly perpendicular, flawless connection anyway.
*Contrary to claims, will not hold PDA in landscape orientation.
*Lock is not too strong and it is best to type on flat surface.

Overall:
It does its job very well. All cons are minor. You will be satisfied.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: works as well as it promises
Review: There has a been a lot of fuss over the universal IR keyboards among PDA users, and this Targus model is no exception. Even though there have been many bad reviews here regarding this keyboard, I bought it anyway, because if there's one thing I've learned about PDAs, it's that the same products will often work differently for different people.

Perhaps I am in the minority, but the Targus Universal Wireless keyboard works perfectly on my Toshiba e355. Because the e355 runs on the PPC 2003 OS, I downloaded the updated driver software (V1.25) directly from the Targus website and didn't even bother with the included CD. The installation was a snap; very quick and painless, and none of that "window on top of another window" business some users experienced. The keyboard itself works great on my PDA; there is no elfing -- the letters appear immediately after pressing a key. I normally type up to 70wpm, and this keyboard had no problems matching my speed. In fact, I typed this review entirely using the Targus unit.

The size of the keyboard is pretty comfortable; it has approximately the same width as a regular keyboard. The travel feels about right; it will provide the same tactile motions as that of a desktop. I do, however, have certain issues with the keys. One is that this keyboard is modeled after a notebook's, so the keys are flat rather than protruding. This requires adjusting, for sure, but I got used to it after about 30 minutes of typing. Also, the keys are not arranged quite like a regular keyboard; the letter keys are fine, but others like numbers, "shift," "space," "control," etc. are noticeably smaller and rearranged slightly differently. Particularly problematic is the "space" bar, which is divided into 2 smaller keys. However, these are not issues exclusive to this Targus model; all foldable keyboards have to be rearranged for them to be compact, and so require some adjustment on the part of the user. After a little practice, it really does start to feel like a regular keyboard.

Since the keyboard can be locked into the flat position, you can use it either on a desk or on your lap. (I actually find it more comfortable to type with the keyboard on the lap, because it's so thin when opened that it doesn't have the natural height of a regular keyboard. On the lap, you can manually create an incline more easily.)

The mouse pad function is cute, but it's not really that functional. For one, you have keep pressing the pad for the arrow to move across the screen; I could have just used the stylus and done the same thing in half the time. Still, it might be useful in situations, say, when you lose the stylus.

I do wish that this keyboard included cursor buttons, since I tend to rely on them to move between lines when working on a document. But a lot of other handy functions do make up for it. Things like "backspace," "cap lock," and the "delete" buttons are items that I didn't realized I missed until I had them again. Also, the programmable keys, that launch applications such as Excel and Word, magically work when pressed. If you are a big fan of shortcuts (i.e., Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, etc.), then you will be glad to know that they work with this keyboard as well.

The PDA holder slate has these three metallic, wire arms that are supposed to keep the handheld in position when the keyboard is in use. The Toshiba e355 is one those ultra-thin devices that will not fit too well; I find that mine can slide around if I do not use the keyboard on a flat surface. Alternatively, rubberized arms would probably provide more grip.

Although in the closed position the keyboard is a bit thick, it is still adequately small enough that I would want to take it with me when traveling or for meetings.

Overall, I feel that this is a great product; it does everything that it's supposed to do and connects to my handheld wirelessly. Despite minor issues, I would still highly recommend buying this keyboard if you want something that can work with multiple PDAs. At the Amazon price (I've seen this unit at Circuit City and Best Buy for almost twice the cost), its a steal.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Does not work with Tungsten T3 !!!
Review: This handy keyboard, full size, does NOT work with the Tungsten T3 in spite of "universal" lable and implications of its working with the T3 in some reviews. The T3 is too big for the holder's wire guides. I have always enjoyed Targus products but I was very displeased to find this product so physically inadequate, not just for the T3. The plastic is flimsy, the IR port is clever but poorly designed, and the keyboard has some funny layout aspects. It attempts to meet all specifications of both Palm and PC devices and overstretches.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: it doesn't work
Review: This keyboard does not work with my Toshiba PDA altough it says it is supposed to. Also, the software made my computer lock up.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Almost usable but not quite
Review: This keyboard was designed with no key where your thumb expects a space bar. There is a small space bar to the left, and another to the right. Totally unusable. What a waste of a device that was almost useful.


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