Think Outside Working on New Windows Mobile 2003 Driver

[Jason Dunn]

I just got off the phone with Jeff Duncan, Senior Manager of Field Sales Operations at Think Outside, and I have some good news: they're aware of the incomparability with Windows Mobile 2003 devices. In fact, that current driver (v.1.7.5) isn't supposed to work with 2003 at all, and they never claimed it did. 8O The reason why many of you think it was is completely my fault. :oops: Here's what happened...<br /><br />When I tested the Stowaway XT with the iPAQ 2215, I installed the 1.7 drivers off the CD they gave me, plugged in the 2215, and it worked. Over the next few days while I was testing the device, I installed several other applications, not all of them noted for being Windows Mobile 2003 compatible. So when my 2215 started acting quirky (the power button not working to turn the device off or on), I had no idea what was causing it. I did a hard reset, and everything started working properly again. It wasn't until very recently I started receiving messages from people who were using the 2215 + XT keyboard and having the same power button issues as I did.<br /><br />So please accept my apology for misleading you into thinking the Stowaway XT was compatible with Windows Mobile 2003 right out of the box. I don't have a firm release date on the updated driver from Think Outside, but I think we'll be seeing it soon. My sigh of relief was profound when Jeff told that they knew about the problem and were actively working on a fix. There's nothing worse than hearing from a company, "Gosh, that's news to us!".

[kagayaki1]

Yes, it is good to hear they are working on it. Still, they're image would have been better if they had coordinated testing efforts with HP. It's slightly poor form to not be prepared for a major Pocket PC OS release.

[Jason Dunn]

Yes, it is good to hear they are working on it. Still, they're image would have been better if they had coordinated testing efforts with HP. It's slightly poor form to not be prepared for a major Pocket PC OS release.

I agree completely, but I also know that the desktop world hasn't figured this out yet either - I rememeber waiting MONTHS before I could use all my hardware with Windows XP... :|

[Ed Hansberry]

This is good news that they are working on it, but frustration felt by many would have been avoided with a simple blub on their site, responding to emails to [email protected], etc. In fact, I emailed them about 2003 in late June and got an email that suggested it did work, though I'll grant that might have been before they discovered the problem.

[kagayaki1]

Yes, it is good to hear they are working on it. Still, they're image would have been better if they had coordinated testing efforts with HP. It's slightly poor form to not be prepared for a major Pocket PC OS release.

I agree completely, but I also know that the desktop world hasn't figured this out yet either - I rememeber waiting MONTHS before I could use all my hardware with Windows XP... :|

Bah, how unprofessional. Good thing Spb was prepared...wonder if that has to do with you, Jason. :wink: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to introduce Mr. Jason Dunn, Chief Common Sense Directory, speading downloadable wisdom to the masses."

[skesler]

:?: I understand about the driver issue and, hopefully, that will be fixed. However, I have yet to find a source for the XT keyboard itself. I understand Fellowes is supposed to be offering the one for the iPaqs, but there is nothing on that site nor on the ThinkOutside site other than "Coming soon."
Are they actually available, and, if so, where?
Thanks!

[kagayaki1]

All you have to do is run a PriceGrabber search (http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=840171/search=stowaway%20xt/ut=3fff817e084a7a53). I bought mine from eCost and beyond the driver issue, it's awesome!

[bruceo]

Does the IPAQ version of the XT work with the 22xx models??

[Ed Hansberry]

Does the IPAQ version of the XT work with the 22xx models??
physically, yes but the driver isn't ready.

[skesler]

kagayaki1,

Thanks for the point in the right direction! I would've sworn I'd looked at PCConnection, because I use them alot; obviously, I didn't look carefully enough.
They're showing the keyboard backordered. I think I'll call my rep and see what the anticipated availability date is.
Again, thanks!

[achille]

[Ed Hansberry]

Ok, why in the world did Jason post that it's for "sale" and gave a pricegrabber search on it?So you can buy it from whomever you like.The Driver is not out yet, they'r working on it, who knows when they'll come out with a working driver?The driver works fine - on 2002 devices. Don't assume everyone has purchased a 2003 device yet.

[Jason Dunn]

Ok, why in the world did Jason post that it's for "sale" and gave a pricegrabber search on it?

You know, that's a damn good question. AUGH! I forgot about the driver issue again... :| I'll edit my post...

[Jason Dunn]

You know, that's a damn good question. AUGH! I forgot about the driver issue again... :| I'll edit my post...

Oh, I know why I did that! Because it works lots of other iPAQs. :-) I updated my post though to warn Windows Mobile 2003 users...

[Icekilled]

Don't assume everyone has purchased a 2003 device yet.
8O ?!#%& They Haven't ?! 8O

You mean ... like... they still have the WWII looking ipaq's?

:-P

[taxus]

Talking about the driver: I have a small favour to ask. I need to know if the driver supports accented characters (accent marks), such as "é" or "à".

I downloaded the user guide from ThinkOutside, but it appears to be 2 years old and mentions accent marks support only for Palm.

Usually, the way to make an "é", for example, would be to press the key combination Fn and ' (quote) then the letter "e" (according to the Palm section).

Could someone check this for me, please? :)

If it doesn't support it, my only recourse, I guess, is the HP iPaq foldable keyboard, which looks far less interesting.

[hamishmacdonald]

I've been using the keyboard, despite the shutdown hang, just installing and uninstalling the driver depending on what I need that day.

I can say that it now supports several more characters, including accented characters and international currency symbols. Unfortunately, there's no em-dash, but oh well. What's nice, too, is that the new OS autocorrects when I type words that are accented in English, like cafe, so I don't have to look up the accent. (Which, you can see here, I haven't worked out on the PC yet. That's just about the only thing I miss from my Macintosh days: easy, intuitive accent keystrokes.)

[taxus]

Thanks a lot for the information. :)

I'm not sure I'm willing to wait for a new driver though. But if I order the iPaq foldable keyboard with the 2210, I wonder how easy it would be to resell on eBay.