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Targus Stowaway Portable Keyboard for Cassiopeia E-125

Targus Stowaway Portable Keyboard for Cassiopeia E-125

List Price: $99.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another in the list of "Must Have" accessories
Review: If you use your iPaq as a "read only" PDA to carry appointments and phone numbers, save your money, but if you actually compose e-mail, notes, or anything longer than a couple of words this is an absolute must have.

Positive impressions: 1. Surprisingly solid construction, you really can't appreciate without picking it up. Lots of metal, not lightweight at all. 2. Better keyboard feel than my IBM Thinkpad, this is not an exaggeration. Nice long key travel with a positive feedback "bump" at the end of the stroke. 3. It's improved my text input at least a hundred fold. I touch type at about 60 words per minute, but my terrible handwriting (the reason I learned to type) had me spending more time making the "backspace" stroke than actually getting the right text down. My sanity alone was worth the $90. 4. About the same size as a Jornada or similar Pocket PC, so any case that fit them would do the keyboard nicely.

Negatives: the only drawback is the iPaq-keyboard connector does not go together easilly, and I'm concerned about breaking it. This is really an iPaq ding though, as it's the same with anything plugging into the connector.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: instant laptop
Review: This keyboard turns a PDA into a poor man's laptop. If most of what you need it for is document driven, it's fantastic. I can type almost as fast as on my desktop, and with Wordsmith (an inexpensive but pretty powerful word processing program), I can create full length documents to review. Niceties such as spell checking and grammar (etc) can be done after syncing with a PC. I've been using this as a substitute for a pad at some meetings.

A couple of caveats. I've seen some reviews that say that the Stowaway will work on your lap. I wouldn't advise it. The parts feel rather delicate--particularly the connection point. Use a table or, if you think you'll be doing lots of lap typing, go with GOTYPE. If space is a concern and you normally have meetings at tables, then this should be fine. (Moreover, there's a "gee whiz" factor to consider. The thing is just cool). Second, because of the small screen, one can write long documents, but it becomes tedious to read them. Bookmarking functions ameliorate this problem, but don't cure it.

Still, it's obvious that a lot of thought went into the design of this product, and it pays off. The keys have good tactile response, and the function and shortcut keys were well thought out. If you have the cash and the inclination, definitely worth the money.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Palmtop to Laptop
Review: I had first purchased the Targus Stowaway Keyboard when our office had been issued Handspring Visors to supplement our laptop computers. The Visor was loaded with report writing software, a database, and other programs. The only downside that I had quickly found was that writing with Graffiti or the on-screen keyboard was much to be desired.

The first time I pulled out my keyboard, unfolded it, and snapped the Visor in, I found that the intended purposes of our Visors was finally realized. I had nearly replaced my laptop for report writing. As the keyboard was nearly identical in layout to our laptop keyboards, I found absolutely no learning curve was needed, and could even hit all the Function Keys once familiar with them as a matter of course.

There are some things that I really like about the Stowaway, both at work and when I use my Visor Prism off the job. These include the device is rather small and compact. There are smaller devices out there, but none of them turn into a full sized laptop keyboard with a simple pull. There are "better" products out there, but not for the Handspring. The first, and original Stowaway is one of the best.

So, if I love this little keyboard so much, why four stars? There are a few problems with the keyboard, as to be expected with almost anything. They're small problems, and you learn to get used to them.

1) Docking Your Visor - Your Visor will dock using the underside serial connector, supported by a plastic flip-up clip which the backside rests against. This does not seem to have any issues with the springboard modules I use (None protruding past the battery cover). The main problem is that you have to snap the Visor into two prongs at the connector. You've got an expensive PDA in your hands, an expensive Stowaway on the table, and your afraid to break one or the other. Don't be. Just rock it against the clips, and push till it clicks solidly. It takes practice.

2) I can type faster than the Stowaway's keyboard can accept input. This is extremely minor, because the serial bus doesn't lose any keystrokes. But I frequently see my letters catching up to me... Every so often, I have to stop a moment and let the Visor catch up.

3) Almost Perfect Size - The Stowaway his small, for what its folding into. I consider it a perfect size at work because I can fit it into a cargo pocket, while my Visor rests in its holster on my equipment belt. It fits cargo pockets perfectly. It does not, really, fit normal pockets that well. You know its there, as its bulky in a coat pocket.

All in all, if your required to take notes, fill out information, or otherwise treat your Visor as a 'real' computer, this is a definate must-have item. I used to have to write the report on a laptop, then transfer it by USB to the Visor so I had a copy on the unit, away from my car. Now... Its the other way around.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great accessory for the iPAQ with one small flaw
Review: The Targus folding keyboard (they make one for just about every PDA on the market) is a must have addition for anyone who will do even moderate data entry on a PDA.

The keyboard itself is fantastic. When folded, it takes up about the same space as your iPAQ and weighs a bit less. When unfolded, it is just a wonderful feeling keyboard. The keys are nice and large, the layout is just like a normal desktop keyboard, and the key travel feels like most laptops. Touch typists and hunt/peck people should have no trouble adapting to this.

So why only give it 4 stars? Because I own a 3835 and the the 3800 and 3900 series iPAQs changed the connector on the bottom of the unit. Targus, instead of making two different keyboards, decided to make an adapter for the 3800+ iPAQs. The adapter is a 1.5" long thingy that is just begging to be lost. So, it drops a star for that. On the other hand, Targus has an extremely nice customer service department that shipped me three extra adapters at no charge.

In short, if you use your PDA for just about anything, get this keyboard. You won't regret it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Definitely A Good Buy
Review: While this keyboard is in no way a perfect piece of equipment, it certainly comes very close. I'll go ahead and start with the pros. Ease of use is incredible. Within minutes of unpacking it, I was typing happily away. Driver installation is a piece of cake, unfold this beauty, dock your Pocket PC, and you're set. Sure, it is not incredibly sturdy on your lap, but as long as it stays on something hard (briefcase, desk, airplane table tray, whatever), it feels just like you're typing on a premium laptop keyboard. There are gobs of shortcut keys built right in, Today, Inbox, Contacts, Word, Tasks, to name a few, and with the software you can create so many more to satisfy your every need. A lot of people feel that it is too flimsy, and while it does feel as such, it certainly isn't. The only thing that really bothered me is the dock for the actual PC, another reviewer put it very well, "feels as if it's a toothpick holding up an apple". No problems though, so I suppose that I really can't complain.When you're done, pull off your PC, stick the dock down, fold it up, and you're off to your next class, seminar, meeting, whatever. If you're looking for something to make data entry much faster and easier, then you definitely need to get this keyboard. Great piece of work here, Targus. Keep it up.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another in the list of "Must Have" accessories
Review: If you use your iPaq as a "read only" PDA to carry appointments and phone numbers, save your money, but if you actually compose e-mail, notes, or anything longer than a couple of words this is an absolute must have.

Positive impressions: 1. Surprisingly solid construction, you really can't appreciate without picking it up. Lots of metal, not lightweight at all. 2. Better keyboard feel than my IBM Thinkpad, this is not an exaggeration. Nice long key travel with a positive feedback "bump" at the end of the stroke. 3. It's improved my text input at least a hundred fold. I touch type at about 60 words per minute, but my terrible handwriting (the reason I learned to type) had me spending more time making the "backspace" stroke than actually getting the right text down. My sanity alone was worth the $90. 4. About the same size as a Jornada or similar Pocket PC, so any case that fit them would do the keyboard nicely.

Negatives: the only drawback is the iPaq-keyboard connector does not go together easilly, and I'm concerned about breaking it. This is really an iPaq ding though, as it's the same with anything plugging into the connector.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worth Its Weight in Gold
Review: What a nifty device. It turns my Visor Deluxe from an interesting toy into a writer's dream machine. I got the case that stores both the keyboard and the PDA, and compared to my old clunky laptop it is a joy to carry and use. The keyboard is sturdy and well made. The keys, while quite flat, are full size (VERY important) and reasonably quiet as well.

I can't stress its usefulness enough, but there's also the niftiness. It is hard not to feel a little like James Bond -- or, well, at least Miss Moneypenny -- when opening or closing it. My PDA is an older model, but when I use it with the keyboard it turns heads at the university.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Rebate Problems/Reliability Problems
Review: First complaint, I never received the rebate on a prior purchase. I did everything right, and kept my receipts, but they denied the rebate because the misprocessed it, and then ignore my re-submission.

Second complaint. On the prior product, often times some of the keys frequently don't work. And then they do work. And then they don't. Very unreliable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Durable, compact, great action
Review: I've had this keyboard for over 2.5 years now and it still works great. I used it to take notes on my Ipaq all through law school. It is compact enough to slip into a small pocket in my backpack. It sets up and docks in no time.

The best feature is the keystroke action. The keyboard is full-size and types beautifully. I would prefer it to most laptops I have typed on.

Having hotkeys programmed and programmable to launch individual programs is nice. The only improvement I would like to see would be support for MS Word type hotkeys such as Ctrl-U for underline and Ctrl-I for italics. Cut, Copy, and Paste (Ctrl-x,c,v) hotkeys do work, however.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: multi langwig
Review: can i write arabic inStowaway Portable Keyboard for Compaq iPAQ Pocket PCs i have 3600 modil


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