Add-ons for your handheld
Published: 07 Nov 2003
Targus Wireless IR Keyboard
£60
Pros
Works with most Palm and Pocket PCs
Cons
Ugly and lacks cursor keys
Verdict
Lacks the purposeful elegance of the Stowaway, but gets the job done
Editors’ Rating
6/10
Targus set the standard for portable keyboards with the Stowaway -- a cunningly designed full-sized keyboard that folded away concertina-like into a form factor barely bigger than the handheld itself. This is the new wireless variation that delivers a typing keyboard of a similar size while reducing the overall footprint. It's thicker though, because of the cradle that’s designed not just to accommodate a wide range of different Pocket and Palm PCs, but also those that support a landscape mode. Small sprung bars hold the handheld in place and the infra-red connection is made courtesy of a plastic arm that can be rotated round the handheld until it's in the correct position. It lacks the simple, elegant design of the Stowaway, but works well enough.
More significant, though, is the other thing the keyboard lacks: cursor keys. That means the only way to navigate is by using the keyboard-based 'mouse’, an eight-way rocker that allows you to move the cursor round the screen (a Confirm button next to it takes the place of a traditional mouse button). The two are OK for general navigation, but much harder to use -- and ultimately annoying -- if you’re editing a lot of text.
Elsewhere, the keys have good travel, but it may take a while to get used to the space bar, which is split across the hinge with a ‘dead’ area in the middle, exactly the spot a proficient hunt-and-peck typist will hit every time. If you can get used to that and the lack of cursor keys, the flexibility offered by the Wireless IR Keyboard’s design may make up for its other shortcomings.
Targus
0208-607 7000
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