POCKETOP WIRELESS KEYBOARD

February 15, 2003- When I received this keyboard for review from Pocketop Computer Corporation (www.pocketop.ca) , I couldn't wait to have a look at it, as I was extremely curious on two fronts. First, I wondered how a keyboard could effectively operate via infrared while still being able to view what was being typed on the screen, and the other was how close any type of portable keyboard solution would be to a desktop typing experience.

            The Pocketop keyboard arrived in a box that was nearly the size of a full keyboard, so I immediately wondered how portable it would be. As I unpacked the box, I could quickly see that it was all packaging, and the actual keyboard was impressively small. The packaging contained the keyboard, the drivers on CD ROM, the set up manual, and a whole bunch of little plastic things that turned out to be adapters for various models of Pocket PC or Palm OS devices. It also includes one AAA battery which is required to power the keyboard. Oh yeah, and by the way, did I mention the keyboard was impressively small. Folded up, it appears to measure just 3.28 x 4.68 inches, and it is incredibly lightweight. I am not sure what it is made of, but I can tell you at 4.2 ounces, it seems only lightly heavier than air. (Ok, maybe a slight exaggeration, but not by much!).

            Now I was really excited as the size and weight of this keyboard made it extremely portable. I was a little let down by my next discovery, which was that there was an additional piece needed for the unit to function properly. It is a combination stand/ reflector, and although it is fairly small in itself, it's another piece that needs to be dealt with. Having said that, they have done a good job at incorporating it so that it can be attached to the keyboard as one piece, although it does add some bulk to the width of the closed keyboard. I also believe it works as a cover on a Palm by attaching to the stylus insert, but I will leave that alone, as we do not discuss Palm's on this site. (Unless we are criticizing them of course.)

            The next big challenge was to discover how an infrared keyboard works. There is no doubt the set-up takes slightly longer than just simply attaching a keyboard to your PDA.  First you set up the stand for the PDA to sit on. You also need to pull a long plastic arm out of the top of the stand, and fold over a reflective piece of plastic that will sit above the top of your PDA. This was a very creative way of getting the top mounted infrared port to reflect down to the keyboard without having to turn the PDA upside down. You then have to line the keyboard up slightly off center to ensure the reflecting infrared is in line with the infrared on the keyboard. If it seems to be a little bit of an ordeal to set-up, it is.  This is the price you pay for not having to buy a new keyboard every time you change your PDA. That's right, since it works through infrared you do not have to worry about connectors and adapters, and the keyboard will work with any other device just by loading the proper drivers. At the rate that some people change PDA's this feature is a huge benefit, and is probably worth the minor inconvenience of a little extra set-up.

            Ok, the keyboard is now working and we are all set to start typing away. As I have a look at the keyboard I notice the middle row of letters appear to be fairly normal in size, and the top and bottom rows are about half of a regular key size. So that's how this thing got to be so small. They have tried to overcome the size of these rows by incorporating ridged keys that seem to give the half sized key a better feel. It just seems to be fairly easy to hit as the ridge acts as a bit of a backboard for your finger. I am going to qualify my next set of statements by telling you that I would consider my typing skills average at best. I say that because I seemed to have difficulty typing at a speed close to what I am able to do on a desktop. I don't think this had as much to do with the size of the keys as much as it did with how compact this keyboard is from end to end. Your keystrokes have to be precise, which with my typing skills they rarely are. Again, this is a bit of a trade off for all the great things I had to say about the size and weight in the beginning. I really believe the better you are at typing, the less of an issue it will be.

           All in all the design of this keyboard is ingenious. It doesn't take much to realize that there was an incredible amount of thought put into trying to find that perfect balance between portability and function. Combine that with the fact that it will work with any PDA that has an infrared port, and the Pocketop keyboard comes highly recommended. The keyboard sells for $99 US, and can be purchased directly from their website at www.pocketop.ca.

(Rating System 0-5 with 0 being worst, 5 being best)

Overall Rating-    (4)