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View Full Version : Keyboard for Toshiba e800/805


glaucobg
05-05-2004, 08:30 PM
Can anyone tell me a good keyboard to use with Tosh e800/805? I prefer those with USB connection (using the cradle), instead of those with IR connection (i read they use too much battery to work).

Thanks.

delfuhd
05-06-2004, 09:38 AM
Get the PockeTop keyboard. It is an IR connection but uses a single AAA battery, so it doesn't take up any of the PDA's battery. I have a pocketop keyboard, and it's awesome.

glaucobg
05-10-2004, 01:20 PM
Thanks for the sugestion. I liked the Pocketop keyboard. It has a good design. I'm realy going to buy it.

One more thing. Does it come with that thing to hold the PDA while we're typing?

delfuhd
05-10-2004, 09:10 PM
If you mean a stand to hold the PDA up, yes it comes with that, and it has a little mirror to reflect the signal if your IR port is on the top of your PDA. The mirror works more than perfectly with my 2215, and its nice to have a stand sometimes for my PPC without having to have a keyboard folded out, like you have to do with the serial port keyboards.

full-auto
05-20-2004, 04:09 PM
I have the Belkin. The keyboard is nice, but the IR set-up is a joke with the e800. You can't use the keyboard while the PPC is in its docking station because there is no mirror to reflect the IR signal. That, and when the PDA is in the Belkin stand you can't use your power cord because it plugs into the bottom of the e800. It's basically useless. Nice keyboard though, did I mention that?

The only thing that sucks about the e800 is the lack of Bluetooth. I'm going to buy an Bluetooth CF card and get a Bluetooth keyboard. There is no other useful way to use one.

Tim

yankeejeep
05-25-2004, 03:57 PM
I have found a couple of keyboards that I use with my e805.

I have the Targus Universal IR Keyboard, which uses a rotating arm to position its IR eye. One caveat: the IR eye on the Toshiba as at the extreme range of the arm's rotation. It is a good idea to have something flat available to put under the PPC in the mount to raise it about half an inch or so. That slight elevation works wonders. Otherwise, there are apt to be keyboard mistrokes. When working in landscape made, this is not an issue, but the keyboard clamps cannot be used to hold the device when it is placed landscape. This keyboard operates on batteries (button-type) and is great when power isn't available.

I also bought the USB host cable for the e805 and use this to connect a standard keyboard to the device. I would only suggest this when you have power available or expect the Toshiba's battery to drain fairly quickly since it is powering the keyboard. I have a soft spot for the Mini version of the VIK (Virtually Indestructible Keyboard). It roles up so it is easy to tuck in a briefcase and take along for the ride. I did not need to download any drivers as the native USB HID driver in Windows Mobile 2003 supports standard keyboards. Keyboard-specific keys won't be supported since they typically require additional software, but all the normal keys work without a problem, including the Windows and context menu keys.

Randy

leomac
06-02-2004, 09:07 PM
I'm absolutely new to this forum, so please have mercy. Here is my problem.
I would like to use my e800 for long text entry (I'm an university teacher and researcher), and of course there is no valid software-keyboard to help doing this (I tried almost everything, from Calligrapher to big-on-screen-keyboards).
So I finally decided to buy a normal win-compatible USB keyboard, as I can plug it into presentation pack. Now there comes the problem: Toshiba support says than ANY keyboard will be recognized as a "US / international layout", i.e. without "my" italian accented letters (à è ì ò ù ). I thought it could be easy to find some key-mapper to let my e800 use an italian layout.... buy I was wrong!!
Anyone can help, please???
Thanks alot!

Len Egan
06-05-2004, 12:15 PM
After a long search myself, I took the advice of a Tosh owner over at Tools and got the Think Outside Stowaway IR. I wasn't wild about IR, but this works BEST in landscape and folds very small. Check it out!

leomac
06-07-2004, 07:55 AM
Thank you for your answer, but my problem is still there...
I checked out Stowaway keyboards, end found out that NONE of these has an italian hardware layout... what I'm looking for is an hardware keyboard with an italian layout (and I probably found it in USB keyboards) AND an appropriate software (like a driver) to make my e800 recognize it.

yankeejeep
06-10-2004, 03:00 PM
I think that the best you will find in the US will be a keyboard like the Stowaway or Targus PocketPC versions that provide PocketPC software and have function-key combinations to produce accented characters (though you will still use an English qwerty layout). Most PC keyboard manufacturers are not interested in creating a driver for PocketPC (aka Windows Mobile) and, as far as I know, English language versions of the mobile OS are not going to natively support non-English language keyboards.

I haven't tried this, so does anyone know if standard ASCII codes sent from a USB keyboard will produce accented characters on the PocketPC?