Review: Think Outside Bluetooth Keyboard
Posted by Chris Leckness on 02/28/05 in Mobilitysite Reviews
Developer/Vendor: ThinkOutside
Price: $149.99
Rating (out of 5): 
The Think Outside Bluetooth Keyboard is made to be a small, portable, yet very usable keyboard for your Pocket PC, Smart phone, or PC that is Bluetooth equipped. Being Bluetooth, you are not attached to your PDA or PC and are free to use the keyboard up to 100meters away from your PDA or PC (range depends on environment and range of Bluetooth Adapter being used).
The Think Outside Keyboard comes in a very nice looking retail packed blister pack. Inside you find:
- The Keyboard Itself
- A Padded Zipper Case
- Driver CD
- Manual
- 2 Batteries
Once I unpacked everything, the first thing I did was put in the batteries. There is simply a door that opens on the underside of the keyboard, then you insert the 2 AAA batteries. Next I opened up the keyboard to see what it was like. First you folder the stand up from the top of the keyboard. Then you simply push in the button on the left side of the keyboard, and the keyboard folds open and clicks into place.
The opening of the keyboard is very smooth, and once open all the keys line up perfectly. To close the keyboard, there is a small black slider on the top right side that you slide to the right to unlock the keyboard and then fold it up. When folding it up, note that you are compressing the keys so you do have to push a bit at the end to get it to click (totally normal, as compressing the keys saves space and lets the keyboard be smaller). Also when the keyboard is closed, it automatically turns off to save battery.
Now onto setting up your keyboard with your device. The first thing you will want to do is install the drivers off the included CD. Also make sure to check Think Outside’s website for updated drivers. The driver install is very easy and goes very smoothly. If you are using the keyboard with your Windows XP PC you do not need to install any drivers, they are built in. On my Dell Axim, I did have to install the drivers though. It installs the driver for the Mouse and Keyboard as they are built into the same package.
Once the driver is installed, you will see two icons on the bottom of your Today Screen on your Pocket PC. One looks like the keys of a keyboard and one looks like a mouse. To setup the keyboard simply click on the one that looks like the keys of a keyboard. You can also get to the setup screen by going into the Programs menu and clicking on the Think Outside Keyboard icon. Once in the setup program, simply press the enable button. It then asks you what kind of device you want to pair, click on Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard, and then press setup. It will automatically turn on the Bluetooth on your Pocket PC. On the keyboard you must put it into setup mode by pressing Ctrl + Left Fn + Right Fn until the light blinks. Then you can click connect to connect to the keyboard. If you want to Secure the connection and make it so you can easily reconnect, before clicking connect on your PPC, put a check mark in the secure box. It will then ask you to type in a password on your Pocket PC (YOU MUST USE THE ON SCREEN KEYBOARD TO PUT IN THE PASSWORD), then you go to the Bluetooth Keyboard and type in the Password followed by enter. Then the PPC and Keyboard will be Securely paired. Now when ever you want to use the keyboard with your PPC again, you simple turn on Bluetooth on your Pocket PC, Open the Keyboard, Press any keys a few times on the keyboard, and then you are ready to go! It all works great and I have had no problems pairing or connecting the two devices.
When using the keyboard with your PC, you simply turn on the Bluetooth on your PC, open the Think Outside Keyboard and put it into setup mode, then use the Search feature on the PC to find and install the keyboard. I have a 100 meter Bluetooth Adapter on my PC and I have been able to get up to around 200 feet away from my PC and the Keyboard still works perfectly.
Another neat feature of the keyboard is a removable stand for your PDA or Smart phone. The stand is what you see folded over the top of the keyboard in the pictures and it folds back to be used. Then there are two prongs that come up to support your device. The prongs move as once piece and can be put into two positions, one for using your device in landscape mode (they are lower down) and one for using it in regular mode (they are higher up). The prongs also are rubber tipped so that they grip your device and hold it in place. The bottom part is also rounded at the front to better hold the bottom of your device. You can either use the stand connected to the keyboard, or you can fold it all the way back to snap it off from the keyboard and use it separately. I personally love this feature as I can have the keyboard in my lap and then have the stand on a table. Below you can see some pictures of the stand in landscape and regular positions and attached and unattached.
The keyboard has the feel of a laptop keyboard with the flatter keys. Unlike normal keyboards, the top row (Qwerty Row) also doubles as the number row. You use the Blue Fn key to use the numbers and things in Blue, and you use the Green Fn key for Symbols and things in Green. It is very easy to get used to and over time you do not even think about it and it becomes easy to operate. I am a home row typer, and using the keyboard has been a breeze after using it for a few weeks. The keyboard stays solid on a flat surface and is very easy to use in your lap.
On the outside of the keyboard, the main material used is aluminum. It provides a sleek look, and also makes the keyboard solid and strong.
For traveling and storage, the keyboard includes a padded black zipper pouch. The pouch is made just to hold the keyboard and there are no extra pockets. This makes it nice and thin and easy to throw in your briefcase or bag.
The Think Outside Bluetooth Keyboard in my mind is an unbelievable device. It works perfectly and even had an unbelievable range. For traveling it folds to a very compact position, and it is made very well. If you are looking for a keyboard and your device had Bluetooth, you need look no farther! I have now even bought one of these for my father as they work so well! Both his and the one I used have had no problems and worked perfectly right out of the box!
Thanks to Think Outside for the Review Sample!
Written by Chris Leckness · Filed Under Mobilitysite Reviews
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