Think Outside's new foldable keyboard offers wireless text input, no strings attached - Jorgen Sundgot finds Palm OS and Pocket PC users alike are in for a treat.
Although the Pocket PC - or iPAQ, to be specific - compatible version of Think Outside's much-acclaimed Stowaway XT keyboard has only been available for a short time, a Palm branded version for Palm OS has been available for quite some time. The latter fared very well when placed under our merciless scrutiny; the former not quite so well. Thus, we're delighted to be able to kick off this review saying that the new Think Outside Infrared Wireless keyboard not only performs as well as the Palm OS Stowaway XT - it's also compatible with both platforms, and a vastly increased range of devices.
Somewhat thicker than the XT, the Infrared Wireless keyboard is still not inconveniently large - although it does push the limit of jacket pockets. At 13.9 x 9.7 x 1.7 cm, it is larger than most recent handhelds, but this is duly made up for through the concept of virtually universal compatibility.
With a chassis molded from plastic, the slightly intimidating contraption opens by releasing a hatch which allows the handheld stand to unfold, after which the right half of the keyboard is brought into place. There are several nifty details such as excellent anti-slide rubber pads under the keyboard itself, as well as on the main latch which doubles as a prop for the handheld stand. Briefly put, the keyboard will open and stay firmly in place unless what you're placing it on has just been marinated.
When opened, a full QWERTY keyboard, minus the number key row, is revealed - complete with full, laptop-sized key size and key pitch. The number keys, as with many portable keyboards, are doubled up on the top letter row. To initiate a connection, users will simply move the infrared wand into position and start typing, provided the infrared port is disabled for dedicated keyboard use. The wand offers 90 degrees of movement, and as such should be compatible with just about any infrared port placement, a boon for landscape mode users.
In addition to the alphanumeric keys, the keyboard also includes several dual purpose Palm OS / Pocket PC system keys, four directional arrow keys, and the usual assortment of Shift, Backspace, Enter, and so on, in most cases exactly where they would be on a desktop keyboard. The spacebar splits in half to allow the keyboard to fold. Because of the reduced key count, there are not one but two Fn keys, color coded Green and Light Blue. Many keys serve triple duty, with a normal, Green Fn, and Blue Fn function.
The Green functions map to punctuation characters usually found on the number keys, as well as others not common on US keyboard such as Yen and Euro characters. The Blue functions map to various platform-specific operations as well as common button commands such as Ok, New, Send, and soforth.
 | | Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard |
Tactile feedback and responsiveness from the keys proved excellent throughout our review period, and unlike the Pocket PC version of the XT model, the keyboard exhibited no delay in text input, nor did it rattle when typing. Power is supplied through two AAA batteries, which appear to offer quite extensive battery life.
The keyboard driver allows users to quickly and intuitively adjust key repeat rate and delay settings; configure hot keys to open any application or data file on the device; and adjust other minor settings. Unfortunately, charging handhelds while the keyboard is in use proved close to impossible, unless screen rotation software was employed to enable access to charging jacks.
Availability
The Stowaway Infrared Wireless keyboard is now available from the Think Outside web site and the palmOne online store, where it sells for $69.99 USD. It is compatible with a wide range of Pocket PCs, including HP's iPAQ h1900, h2200, h3600, h3700, h3800, h3900, h4100, h5100, h5400 and h5500 series; Dell Axim X5; Toshiba e330, e350/355, e740, e750/755 models; and O2 XDA, T-Mobile MDA and Siemens SX56 models. Of Palm OS handhelds, only palmOne models are supported including the m125, m500 and i705 models; the Zire, Zire 21 and Zire 71; and Tungsten T, T2, T3, E, W and C models.
Conclusion
The Stowaway Infrared Wireless keyboard is a perfect concept, bordering on perfect execution. Keys provide excellent spacing, travel and tactile feedback, battery life is great, the infrared wand ingenious for enabling close to universal compatibility and shortcut keys - configurable and otherwise - abound. The only drawback of this keyboard is the size, but at this price it's a steal no matter how you look at it: if you haven't got one yet, go get it. Now.
- What's positive: Keys; cross-platform compatibility; and generally everything else
- What's negative: Borderline bulky
Overall: 
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