iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard for PDAs and Handhelds
by Think Outside
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Our Price: $229.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $105.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard for PDAs and Handhelds
Customer Review: Best iPhone Keyboard! -- iGo needs to restart assembly line, pronto!
Summary: 5 Stars
Tested to work on iPhone now with iOS 4.0! It is amazing how that a discontinued 2007 product has suddenly become the perfect keyboard for an iPhone. This keyboard is great, because:
- It is very thin when folded, almost as thin as an iPod Touch.
- It has near full size keys with full laptop-style key travel.
- Touch typists like me, can type at full speed on these.
- It integrates very well with the iPhone.
- I can put the keyboard and iPhone in the same blue jeans pocket, keeping my other pocket free. (iPhone safely in its case, of course)
- It is almost half the thickness of competing products such as Freedom Keyboard.
It has some nice integration touches. Just open the Stowaway keyboard, and the on-screen software keyboard automatically disappears. Close the Stowaway keyboard, and the on-screen software keyboard automatically reappears. On the Stowaway key is the Windows key, but it can be treated like the Apple "Option" key. (Tested on iPhone and iPad)
(The Stowaway windows logo key behaves just like the Option key on the Apple Bluetooth keyboard that also works on the iPhone)
Option+Left/Right: Home/End keys
Option+Up/Down: Jump to Top/Bottom of page
Option+Backspace: Delete current line
Option+X/C/V: Cut/Copy/Paste
Option+Z: Undo
Shift+Arrows: Select text for Cut/Copy/Paste
One warning, some keys such as foreign currency symbols, as well as application launching keys, do not work, but this would seem to be a minor quip; considering that the keyboard functions perfectly.
The numbers row is accessed via the blue Fn key, which is not a problem because writing documents and email, only uses numbers occasionally, and it is not too difficult to adapt. The pocket size touch typeability is well worth it.
iGo needs to restart assembly lines to start manufacturing these keyboards again, they should now be able to make a profit not needing to spend expensive resources writing driver software, especially since the keyboard driver is built-in. iOS 4 now supports Bluetooth keyboards on iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 3rd Generation, and iPad. In short, this is one of the world's best pocket folding keyboard!
Customer Review: Pocket PC blows away laptop
Summary: 5 Stars
I have an awesome laptop. The screen size is perfect, it's not too heavy, it's got lots of RAM, etc. But when I travel, I hate being a laptop (L)user. I carry-on. Which means 1 bag and 1 personal item (e.g., laptop case). And you have to take it out of the bag to go thru airport security which is just a nuisance. Not to mention the glares you get from the people in line behind you. It's the modern day equivalent of check writers at the grocery store!
Anyway, I bet you're wondering why I'm talking about laptops and airport security in a review about a wireless keyboard. For all of you who travel frequently and bring your laptop for sending email or showing a powerpoint or just because "your life is in there:" consider a PocketPC with Think Outside's Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard. I have the Dell Axim X51v. This baby is the perfect companion! Initially I thought it was lame to carry around a keyboard and PDA. But try tapping out few URLs or use Mobile Word with your stylus and you'll think again. A usable keyboard actually turns a PDA into a real-world useful machine instead of just a neat gadget. Originally I bought an IR keyboard that Dell sells. What a piece of crap. Download this, line up the PDA like that, blah blah blah, inferior keys. What a pain! I sent it back.
I ordered this one from Amazon and everything worked famously. I visited Think Outside's website from my Axim and it automagically downloaded the latest drivers. Don't be fooled by the pictures though -- putting the Axim upright downsn't fly. But position it horizontally and WOW you've got a super portable, cool device that you don't have to take out of your bag to get thru airport security. The keyboard locks into place for lap-typing, the keys are big and easy to type with, it's small and has its own zippered pouch for protection. It also synced with my BT-enabled cell phone, so I could type really long text messages - but that's just getting carried away. The keyboard is really worthwhile in usefulness and is sturdy enough I don't expect any problems.
Customer Review: Excellent Bluetooth Keyboard from the Think Outside Guys
Summary: 5 Stars
I first bought a Belkin IR keyboard from Office Depot and it worked only part of the time. It felt cheap. The keys were poorly spaced and I couldn't get it to work with my Dell Axim X50. I paid $65 for the keyboard and and immediately felt ripped off. I returned it the same week I bought it.
The second keyboard I bought advertized it was made for the Dell Axim X50. This clearly was not the case. The second problem is that the keyboard was made for cell phones, NOT PDA's! I couldn't put my Axim on the stand without it falling over or leaning at an unusable angle without glare. The third problem was that I couldn't get it to connect to my PDA regularly.
I'm sure i could've figured out the third problem but the keyboard was so awful, I made the decision to return it after an hour of opening the box.
Then I ordered the iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard
This keyboard is what all the others advertised and then some.
The keys feel nice and they are well spaced. Opening the unit was a little stiff at first, but now slides open and closed easily with a satisfying "click" at either end of the process. The Axim fits PERFECTLY into the cradle that is built into the unit (I use the Axim in landscape position). I was also able to get this keyboard to work in about 30 minutes. Not plug and play, but reasonable. The keyboard sacrificed the number keys to make room for the larger key spacing, but I haven't found that it's a problem to type numbers by holding down the function keys. The best thing about this keyboard however is the quality. I paid $90 for it and I'd do it again in a second.
This keyboard is truly a bargain in Bluetooth compatible products!
Customer Review: Excellent addition for my Nokia N800
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered the Stowaway keyboard from Amazon based upon all previous reviews. I bought it together with a new Nokia N800 (Linux based PDA). I really worried if it would work with my new PDA. Indeed, N800 is not a Windows or Palm machine and there was a probability of some compatability issues.
However, I was able easily to pair both devices and start to type. You need to pair a keyboard and PDA before usage. Do not forget to press Enter key after entering a code on your keyboard. Forgetting this got me some troubles for about 5 minutes until I googled a solution. Now it is time to talk about the product.
It is just optimal. It is sharp, very firm keyboard which is still very portable. It has a better case than my PDA does! The keyboard uses two AAA batteries and they are lasting for long: at least for 1 month of a very agressive usage. The keys are full sized and very comfortable for typing. I do not like a splitted space button however you need to split one for folding the keybord. There are some trade off to make it portable of course (you need to keep a special button to be able to type numbers as an example) but it is still very nice. The mechanical support for PDAs is also very convenient and can be easily removed if unnecessary.
I highly recommend this keyboard for any actively used PDAs. Especially, if you type e-mails, stories, blogs or other documents on go. Comparing to other keyboard as far as I compared, the famous Nokia keyboard is twice more expensive and twice worse. Though, Nokia is a good company and has good engineers.
Warning: I could not get special buttons work properly with my PDA. I have however a root access to the N800 and hopefully will fix it soon.
Customer Review: Worked within a half hour
Summary: 5 Stars
I am really impressed with this compressed keyboard! It has a nice tactile feel and the drivers loaded straight over the internet. I had it working within a half an hour after I received it. The only bad thing about it is the instructions on how to open and close the keyboard came on a white sticky tape/adhesive, wrapping around the inside and outside of the keyboard. The adhesive was so strong, I scratched the cover and logo right off the silver-brushed casing. But I blame me for that.
The good news is that the keyboard still works, and the keys have an amazing amount of "travel" for such a small keyboard. The electronics itself is wafer-thin and it looks like it stands less than about 1/2" above the desk. The blue and green function keys are easy to get used to, as long as you don't scratch the lettering off the keys. The slash (/) and [Delete] keys are in the lower right of the keyboard and that is a bit awkward (the slash is to the right of the [Shift] key) but all other keys make perfect sense to me. The top row, QWERTYUIOP-=, shares the same keys as the numeric/punctuation keys. For example Q shares the 1 and !, W shares 2 and @, and so on; using the blue and green Fn keys. As long as you are not color blind and can't understand the difference between the Right-Fn-Key (blue) and the Left-Fn-Key (green), then I think you will like this Stowaway keyboard. Just FYI: I have a Dell Axim X51V, and like I said it was working in less than a half an hour. Here is another BTW: I have owned and operated a Belkin thumb keyboard with this same Dell Axim, and I stopped using it within a week of opening the package. I'd give the Belkin a two-star rating. Obviously I have a much higher opinion of the iGo Stowaway.