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gisborne is offline gisborne
2007-11-20 , 18:30
Posts: 147 | Thanked: 5 times | Joined on Jan 2007
#11
Originally Posted by Benson View Post
I'm using the Palm diptych here:
http://www.antonline.com/p_PalmOne--...rd-_317227.htm
Folded, it's exactly the width of my N800, though it's taller. I throw it in one jacket pocket, and the N800 (in it's sock) in another. It's quite ruggedly built for such a thing, so when folded, it doesn't really need to be in a case. I think I will be getting a hard case for the N800, but I don't need the keyboard to fit in the case. OTOH, this keyboard is big enough, perhaps I should make the case mount on the keyboard. (Not sure what I'll do when spring rolls around.)
Here's the thing. I have something similar to that. What I want is a way to use a keyboard walking around. Those fold-out ones are *great*, but not really suited to that.

The freedom mini duo looks really tacky and cheap. And I've read some less than favorable reviews.
 
dblank is offline dblank
2007-11-20 , 18:55
Posts: 465 | Thanked: 149 times | Joined on Oct 2007
#12
Originally Posted by gisborne View Post
Here's the thing. I have something similar to that. What I want is a way to use a keyboard walking around. Those fold-out ones are *great*, but not really suited to that.

The freedom mini duo looks really tacky and cheap. And I've read some less than favorable reviews.
Not a fan of the touchscreen keyboard?

I've been doing ok using my thumb nails, but tactile feedback would sure be nice, as would unobscured views.

I think that unreleased freedom slim keyboard (the blue one) looks great, but I can't see myself spending more than $20 or so on what's basically a thumb-board, and it'll probably be a heck of alot more than $20.

Picking up one of the folding Stowaways today, I expect it'll be nice when I have a place to actually set it down
 
rickh is offline rickh
2007-11-20 , 19:17
Posts: 171 | Thanked: 7 times | Joined on Mar 2007
#13
Originally Posted by gisborne View Post
Here's the thing. I have something similar to that. What I want is a way to use a keyboard walking around. Those fold-out ones are *great*, but not really suited to that.

The freedom mini duo looks really tacky and cheap. And I've read some less than favorable reviews.
I'm of the opinion that the onscreen keyboard will actually be better for this than any separate thumb board.

I don't have terribly huge thumbs, but I've had better luck with the onscreen keyboard than I did with the old Zaurus (5600 series) thumb board, which is basically the size factor you're looking at with these attatchable keyboards.

R.
==
__________________
* Nokia N800
* Nokia SU-8W Bluetooth keyboard
 
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johnkzin is offline johnkzin
2007-11-20 , 19:27
Posts: 1,878 | Thanked: 646 times | Joined on Sep 2007 @ San Jose, CA
#14
I have a freedom mini duo. I can't get it to work with my N800 (works fine with my mac, though).


Another one to look at, which has full-size keys, but is chorded to be a 1 handed keyboard, and is of similar dimensions, is the frogpad. (just realized that the thinkgeek link someone posted was to the frogpad)
Last edited by johnkzin; 2007-11-20 at 19:30.
 
ffarber is offline ffarber
2007-11-20 , 23:24
Posts: 180 | Thanked: 41 times | Joined on Mar 2007 @ Maine
#15
Let us know what you figure out. I have been wanting one of these as well and have been obsessing about the following three choices:

1) Just belly up to the bar and get an N810 (I will be in Chicago in a few weeks with time to head to the Nokia store, I hope they have one because I want to play with it before I decide what to do).

2) Go with the new freedom slim keyboard with the RAZR-like keys if they ever actually ship it. Every month it has slipped a month on their web site although the site is down right now maybe they are updating it.

3) Go with the Frogpad and climb the learning curve. This would basically be a leap of faith for me.

Cheers,
Fred
 
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johnkzin is offline johnkzin
2007-11-20 , 23:26
Posts: 1,878 | Thanked: 646 times | Joined on Sep 2007 @ San Jose, CA
#16
ffarber:

That's basically the choices I've been debating for weeks. Ultimately, I decided on the first choice, and ordered my N810 yesterday.
 
gisborne is offline gisborne
2007-11-20 , 23:38
Posts: 147 | Thanked: 5 times | Joined on Jan 2007
#17
Originally Posted by ffarber View Post
3) Go with the Frogpad and climb the learning curve. This would basically be a leap of faith for me.
The frogpad is an interesting design. But I think it's too thick for what I want.

My Dell folding keyboard has a stand thing built in. I'm starting to think that with velcro, I could attach the tablet to the keyboard for when I'm carrying it, and then I could velcro the keyboard to the extended stand when I'm wanting to type on it. The result would be a bit ghetto and ungainly, but I think might actually be solid enough to type on when walking around.

And there would be the tremendous advantage of having a (more or less) full size keyboard.
 
mobiledivide is offline mobiledivide
2007-11-21 , 00:15
Posts: 751 | Thanked: 522 times | Joined on Mar 2007 @ East Gowanus
#18
Sorry to chime in without a real suggestion but, I would recommend just getting better at typing on the touchscreen with your thumbs, trying to shoehorn in an alternative unless its specifically built for what you want I think will result in less than desirable results. I use a Thinkoutside folder and with a little forcing on the leather I can pack my N800 and the keyboard in the same carry bag (thinkoutside one) which fits nicely in a winter coat or suit coat pocket. If I need to type while on the bus or something I use the onscreen board.
 
ffarber is offline ffarber
2007-11-21 , 18:59
Posts: 180 | Thanked: 41 times | Joined on Mar 2007 @ Maine
#19
Originally Posted by mobiledivide View Post
Sorry to chime in without a real suggestion but, I would recommend just getting better at typing on the touchscreen with your thumbs, trying to shoehorn in an alternative unless its specifically built for what you want I think will result in less than desirable results. I use a Thinkoutside folder and with a little forcing on the leather I can pack my N800 and the keyboard in the same carry bag (thinkoutside one) which fits nicely in a winter coat or suit coat pocket. If I need to type while on the bus or something I use the onscreen board.
Yeah, that has been my approach all along but I have not been making as much progress on the full screen keyboard as I would like. In particular I can never get the letter 'o' to be responsive, could be the angle at which I am attacking it. I also have a Think outside keyboard but it is a little obtrusive to set up in a meeting and start typing on. Hence the desire for something that I could use one handed or in stealth mode.

Fred
 
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johnkzin is offline johnkzin
2007-11-21 , 19:09
Posts: 1,878 | Thanked: 646 times | Joined on Sep 2007 @ San Jose, CA
#20
Originally Posted by mobiledivide View Post
Sorry to chime in without a real suggestion but, I would recommend just getting better at typing on the touchscreen with your thumbs
I have been doing just that. But, the full screen keyboard is insufficient for my needs, because you cannot see the full application while typing. There are also cases where its return key doesn't actually get sent to the application in a manner which is useful (in VNC, trying to send the return key to my desktop IM application just never registers, so I can't send IMs from my desktop ... which is odd, because the return key does get sent to terminal windows).

My original goal had been to make a case for the N800 which incorporated a freedom slim keypad, thus making a sort of tiny laptop. But, freedom actually killed that themselves (by not releasing the device anytime in the last 6+ months that they keep delaying it).

I'm now expecting that the N810 will have killed the need for such an add-on thumb keyboard. When I need to see both the full screen AND type with my thumbs, I'll just use the built in keyboard. Hopefully it'll work well through VNC, too.
 
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