Targus Keyboard Stows Away, But Doesn't Pull Own Weight
Written: Oct 18 '01
Product Rating:
Pros: Snappy design and easy installation for the handheld killer app...
Cons: ...but it doesn't work well and is hard to return!
The Bottom Line: Steer clear of this unless you must have the latest gadgets or somehow get lucky and get a unit that consistently functions as it should.
Joubert's Full Review: TARGUS UNIVERSAL PDA/KEYBOARD CASE - BLACK
Please forgive any thumping noises emanating from your computer. Having fallen in love with my Jornada 540, I soon purchased a Targus Stowaway Keyboard that allowed my new Pocket PC to function as an uber-laptop. The keyboard remains a great idea, folding neatly and quickly, but is not without its problems.
Tap...tap...taptaptaptaptap
I thought that few things in a wired life are as frustrating as a sticky mouse. That's wrong, of course. A malfunctioning keyboard is a hundred times worse. The experience is not only maddening, but incredibly embarrassing when it occurs in public.
Whipping out the Jornada and unfolding the keyboard in flight from Atlanta to San Francisco, I was smug in my geekdom as fellow travelers slyly peered at the toys. Yet every hundred words or so, one of two maddening events occurs:
1) The keyboard stops working entirely leaving me to tap, adjust, tap, nudge the Pocket PC, tap some more and go through more contortions than a circus escape artist.
or
2) A key sticks, quickly filling the tiny screen with gibberish. Attempting to regain control requires still more tapping or jabbing at the screen with a stylus like a frantic Musketeer.
Both have happened on this flight, prompting knowing smiles from the once envious. Unfortunately, the problem isn't limited to thirty thousand feet. I use my Jornada for a few minutes after dinner very night to plan my upcoming day. During each session, a key invariably sticks. That has resulted on task lists or calendar entries that read aaaaa at least once per session. Shades of Epinions' bad old days when the Just-in bin was filled with reviews spouting such gibberish.
On a flight from Washington to Atlanta last week, I actually moved the keyboard from my laptop bag to my checked luggage. With Pocket Word's auto-complete function, I am actually able to enter data faster than using my keyboard - a sad state of affairs given that I type more than 100 words per minute. I remain unconvinced, however, that scraping a plastic stick against irreplaceable glass promotes system usability or longevity. And frankly, I bought this gadget to improve my productivity, not to become an expert in Graffiti and other pen-based languages.
The Ultimate Product Extension
Targus is known internationally as a manufacturer of laptop cases and other accessories. A folding keyboard seems a natural product extension given their product line. The design is ingenious; folding in thirds to create a compact solution and unfolding to provide a trim keyboard with standard-sized keyboards. Exceptionally light at only 8 ounces, the keyboard is nonetheless sturdier than one might expect. I’ve come to know this personally because the keys end up taking a heck of a beating when they stick.
The keyboard is the killer app for handheld devices. An “instant-on” feature and compatibility with email, task lists and calendaring made the Palm and its Pocket PCs cousins a must-have among mobile tech-folk. Packaging a $100 keyboard that supposedly enhances productivity makes the entire industry, but most notably, the Pocket PC segment, extremely attractive. What makes it even more attractive is the fact that there are no plugs or batteries required. The handheld device simply sits on a connecting pin that folds into a recessed area of the keyboard.
As an old-timer who first began using computers before there were PCs, I can now slip into my shirt pocket a light-weight PC with major software compatibility and even a modem slot. That PC has more processing power than devices selling for twenty times its cost twenty years ago. And now it has a keyboard to make it a truly mobile solution. Except the keyboard doesn’t work well, and my informal, unscientific polling shows that my experience is not an isolated one.
If I could get away with simply buying another one that worked, I would tell you that this would not only be the best thing since sliced bread, but maybe even the best thing since bread. Unfortunately, I’m still using my stylus for most work – a sad waste of money and effort.
So Just Return It Already, Right?
That was the advice from a friend several weeks ago. Unfortunately, I expensed the keyboard and no longer have a copy of the receipt or the original box so the retailer won’t accept a return. Even Targus’ own e-commerce web site requires proof-of-purchase and offers a phone number. My visions of a gate-keeping customer service rep trained in disallowing return authorizations keeps me from even bothering to place the call.
Besides, once started (for some reason, getting the keyboard to actually register input is sometimes the most difficult problem), the keyyyyybbbbboarddd works finnnnnnnnnnnne.
In all seriousness, I think this product now occupies the position held by speech recognition software several years ago. I can’t wait for the product to work as we all envision it will and have one around now early in the product life cycle because I’m a geek. Unless you’re a fellow geek who must have all the latest gadgets, I cannot recommend this product for you. Keep scratching on your PC glass and tell yourself that when you gouge it deeply enough, your MIS group will buy you a new toy.
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