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Welcome to my next Gavin’s Gadget Review –
the Virtual Keyboard
Now before anyone asks, is this fantasy or fiction I will
state this is fiction and following my use of the keyboard it is no gimmick. In fact before I continue, I have been left stunned at how
well its works. Not to mention the “wow” factor. All my colleagues, friends in
the pub, new friends I have made showing the Virtual Keyboard cannot believe
what they are seeing. However, they are equally amused by the fact it work. So what do you get in the box.
The Virtual Keyboard, a lovely small case for it, some
instructions, the installation CD, and a whole host of adapters which connect
to Palm, Pocket PC, Smartphones and even a PC
(serial). The Virtual Keyboard uses the
latest infrared and laser technology to project a full size qwerty
keyboard onto any flat surface.
The actual device is quite compact. In fact it was a lot
smaller than I had anticipated. Loading the installation CD revealed all the different
operating systems. I chose Palm OS5 and installed the driver. Plug the charging into the wall and give the unit a 2 hours
charge. This should last for 2 hours continuous typing. So in reality you
should get a whole days worth of typing if you do a
bit here and there. Next it is important to configure the driver to your own
typing style and the various options as shown below.
Also when connected the driver provides a useful meter for
the battery level.
In addition there are a range of keyboard shortcuts which
make life a little easier. So what does it look like in use.
The size of projection is reasonable and easy to use. It is worth noting that the Virtual Keyboard cannot be used
in direct sunlight and must be used on a flat surface. Also, the keyboard
driver settings appear to be lost following a soft reset. So where in the world can you purchase this?
I bought mine from Simple Solutions (http://www.simplesolutions-uk.com/shop/
). This is the first time I used this company and I was very impressed at how
efficient and helpful everyone was in answering all my questions. Also, my
Virtual Keyboard arrived the very next day! Definitely recommended and a very cool piece of kit. Review
by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond.
Any
feedback/questions to gavin(at)pda247.com
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