On 6/24/08, Jeffrey Mark Siskind <qobi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Based on my 'research' the Freedom UBK is the one for me. It seems to > me it has a good smallness/usability ratio. I found a blog post about > it (in Swedish only I'm afraid) from a programmer (=used to typing) > who praised it. He used it with a palm device. Also, I seem to > remember someone mention using it with a N810 here on the list so it > should work. > > That might have been me. I have been using a Freedom Universal Bluetooth > Keyboard with my N810 since about January. I am very happy with it. As far > as > battery life, I have never noticed any problem. I can type into Emacs on the > N810 for at least 4 hours, while it is on WiFi or has a bluetooth connection > to my cellphone and not drain the battery. I charge my N810 every night and > basically it lasts for a whole day of use so long as I don't do compilations > etc. on it. The Freedom UBK runs on a pair of AAAs. They last for several > weeks/months of use. I keep a set of spares in my pocket. > > The crucial thing for me is that I keep my N810, a keyboard, and my > cellphone > (a Verizon RAZR 2 V9m on which I have the broadband access plan) in my > pocket > all of the time. That way I don't have to carry a laptop around. I have > Emacs > installed and I have a Debian sid chroot with LaTeX installed. I have three > different pocketable bluetooth keyboards: the Freedom UBK, an Elektex cloth > keyboard, and a Freedom Mini Duo. Each has its tradeoffs. > > Freedom Universal - This is the biggest of the three. It is by far the most > comfortable to type on. It is the only one that comes close to a normal > keyboard. But you need to be careful if you carry it in your pocket. If you > sit in certain kinds of chairs (narrow ones that have arms, particularly > airplane seats) with the keyboard in your pocket, it will put pressure on > the > keyboard and break it. I am on my second keboard for this reason. I am now > careful to always take keyboard out of my pocket when sitting. I also > usually > only carry this keyboard when I plan to do heavy typing. This keyboard runs > in > both SPP and HID mode. HID works out of the box with the N810 and SPP works > with the kbdd driver. Obviously HID is much better. > > Elektex - The is the most sturdy of the three for carrying in in your > pocket. > It won't break. And it folds/rolls up really small and flexible. Also runs > on > a pair of AAAs which last for weeks/months of use. But it only supports SPP. > I > had to write my own driver for it. (It is a patch for kbdd which is under > the > GPL. You can get it from the authors of kbdd.) The catch is that this > keyboard > only reliably detects single keypresses. No chording of shift/ctrl/alt with > other keys. So shift/ctrl/alt operate as prefix keys. And you have to adjust > your typing accordingly. Not so great for Emacs. The other thing is that > there > is no tactile or audio feedback on keypresses. So you have to type quite > determinately. Good for short messages but not great for long typing. > Finally, > the major issue is that after months of use, it got uncalibrated. (It > detects > the wrong position of touch for some of the keys.) It comes with software > for > recalibration but it only runs on certain cell phones and maybe Windows. The > protocol is proprietary (and I don't know it) so my driver doesn't support > it. > I haven't yet been able to recalibrate my keyboard. Until the recalibration > issue came up, I had been carrying this keyboard when I didn't anticipate > heavy use and the Freedom Universal when I did. > > Freedom Mini Duo - This is the smallest of the three. It supports both SPP > and > HID. HID works out of the box with the N810 and SPP works with the kbdd > driver. Obviously HID is better. I now carry this instead of the Elektex > when > I don't anticipate heavy use. It is small and comfortable to carry in your > pocket. And it comes with a pretty thickly padded protective case. It is so > small that it is not comfortable to type on for long text. But it is fine > for > short text. The problem with this keyboard is that it is discontinued. I > believe that they had quality control problems in manufacturing. I'm on my > second. My first stopped working after a few minutes/hours. And some of the > keys didn't work even before then. And I returned it under warranty. My > second > works. But some of the keys, while they work, are not mechanically sound > (i.e. the oilcan mechanism is partially depressed when not pressed). This > keyboard has internal rechargeable batteries that you recharge using a USB > cable. My first keyboard wouldn't recharge. I haven't yet tried to recharge > my > second keyboard as it hasn't run out yet. > > The good thing about the N810 is that you can set up the bluetooth to > automatically recognize multiple keyboards. I can easily switch between any > of > the above just by turning one off and another on. (You also need a menu > click > to enable/disable the kbdd SPP driver.) > > In short, if you want a keyboard that you can carry sturdily in your pocket > and be able to comfortably type long texts, unfortunately there is no > current > solution. The above three come closest to various points on the tradeoff > space. > I've also looked into the laser keyboards by VKB and Celluon but these don't > appear to meet the needs either. The Frogpad doesn't seem any smaller or > more > sturdy than the Freedom Universal. And the CyKey won't interface to the > N810. > I played with the SU-8W and prefer the Freedom Universal. I haven't tried > the > Stowaway full size, the Stowaway Ultrasim, the original Freedom, or the > Tablet > Kiosk. > > Jeff (http://www.ece.purdue.edu/~qobi) > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > a. Nokia SU-8W > > http://www.nokiausa.com/accessories/item_details/1,8994,product:SU-8W|phone_code:N800,00.html > 5.24"x3.43"x0.75" 6.7oz 4row > b. think outside stowaway > http://www.thinkoutside.com/stowawaybt_product.html > 5.5"x3.9"x0.5" 5.6oz 4row > c. think outside sierra > d. freedom > http://www.mobiletechreview.com/tips/freedom-bluetooth-keyboard.htm > 6"x3.75"x1" 7oz 5row > e. freedom universal > > http://www.freedominput.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=32 > 5.7"x3.8"x0.75" 7oz 5row > f. tablet kiosk > > http://www.tabletkiosk.com/tkstore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=24&idproduct=155 > 5row > g. frogpad > > http://store.frogpad.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=FrogStore&Product_Code=BLMAC1500L&Category_Code=ALL > 5.6"x3.73"x0.66" 7oz > h. vkb > http://www.sforh.com/keyboards/virtual-keyboard.html > i. celluon > http://www.celluon.com/products/laserkey.htm > j. flexible > > http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/16/eleksens-new-elektex-bluetooth-fabric-keyboard/ > 5row > k. freedom mini duo > > http://www.freedominput.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=29 > 3.6"x2.8"x0.24" 3oz 5row > l. cykey > http://www.cykey.co.uk/ Thank you so much for this excellent overview! Very helpful indeed. I'm looking forward to get LaTeX installed and my keyboard up and running :) Your overview reassured me the Freedom Universal BT Keyboard is the one that best meets my demands. best, _______________________________________________ maemo-users mailing list maemo-users@xxxxxxxxx https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-users
