Customer Reviews

Seiko Thumboard Keyboard for Handspring Visor Deluxe, Neo, Pro & Platinum

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Alright, I have to admit that straight out of the box I thought I was never going to be able to use this thing! The keys seemed terribly small and my fingers aren't the most delicate things on this planet.

After a couple of days, I'm falling in love. This keyboard has a lot of advantages over other 'portable' keyboards.

Size: Truly portable. Comparing it my friend's Stowaway, this thing just takes the cake.

Location: If you don't know yet, you slip this over the bottom of your handheld (in my case Visor). It stays in place remarkably well. It's rounded sides and larger profile, makes typing easy because the handheld is easier to hold.

Construction: Yes, it's plastic, but it's well made plastic. Everything has clean finished edges. I flexed my in my hand and it creaked a little bit, but not like it was going to fall apart suddenly.

In conclusion, I give this tiny but powerful keyboard four stars. It would have earned the coveted five star rating if it's keys were just a smudge bigger, or spaced out a bit more. If you have small fingers and great fine motor skills, you'll be typing out page-long emails in no time.

I have been using my thumboard with my visor delux for about a week now, and am getting pretty good at typing on it, but the software has one major drawback. It automaticaly boots to the application screen when you turn it on. I would like it to go to the last application I was working on like the visor does without the thumbboard. It is a pain to have to keep restarting the application just because I turned the device off or let it time out while taking notes. Other than that, it works great!

1)When trying to install the software found it conflicts with the Targus Keyboard and hangs the Visor. Disable the Targus Keyboard driver before installing and the install will work ok.
2)The Thumboard program interferes with the working of the alarm function. The alarm will sound but the alarm display is suppressed and you won't be able to deactivate the alarm. The only way to deactivate the alarm is to disable the Thumboard and reset the alarmed item to activate again. Then both the original alarm and the reset alarm will display and can then be cancelled.

Out side of these 2 items it works as advertised. The Manual is Tiwanglesh but is still understandable.

The thumboard - I just received it today. You won't be able to type as fast as a fast touch typist, but you can do quite well enough.

The keys are responsive and quick - no lag time at all.

The portability is the biggest plus for me, as I walk everywhere, and am always trying to write things on my Visor using Graffitti.. I've gotten good at it, but it's still too slow.

But with the Thumboard, I can walk and type with my thumbs, plus just pop it off, and stick it in my pocket when I'm not using it.

That's the main thing I like about this: mobility. It also has an excellent balance to it.

The Seiko ThumBoard is a nifty little add-on. I've thrown it in my bag attached to my Visor, and I'm amazed it doesn't pull off or turn itself on. I have small fingers and thought it would be a snap to use. As it turns out, even my small thumbs feel oafish on the board. However, I believe setting the repeat-key setting to slow eliminates any typos. My only complaint is that, like on a regular keyboard, there should be a shift key (and perhaps an FN key) on both sides of the board. Also--I haven't figured out how to make selections from pop up menues. I end up tapping my choice and going on my way. This is still much more convenient than before. I use public transportation and I can't tell you how many times my grafitti markings were turned into jibberish on bumpy bus rides.
All in all--a good product. Could I live without it? Sure, but I'm still glad I got it and the price is right.

There's an annoying glitch when powering off my Visor Deluxe via the Thumboard half the time the unit goes into Hotsynch mode...I then have to physically pullout the Thumboard unit and turn the power off...no doubt this is probably not good for my Visor. I've contacted Seiko-Austin via email and they have yet to reply. Very frustrating!!! If I wasnt in Japan I would have returned this product back to Amazon. A friend of mine also had the same problem with his Thumboard...so be careful. If it wasnt for this pesky problem I would easily give the unit 5 stars as its works well otherwise.

I like this unit for my Visor Pro because it is big and my fat fingers are too thick to use the Treo effectively. Wished this unit would have worked with the Visor Pro right out of the box as advertised; instead, I had to go to the Seiko website and download a new driver...then it worked like a charm. What ever happened to the promise of "plug & play"???

I thought this product might make it easier and faster to enter data into my Handspring Visor but frankly it was wasted money.

First, the keyboard is harder to use than the touch screen keyboard. If you have 'average' size fingers you'll spend a lot of time correcting errors.

Second, it adds bulk to your PDA - and isn't that why you have a PDA in the first place, to improve portability? Just another thing to drag along.

Third, it lacks intuitiveness (is that a word?) - well, some things are just about impossible to figure out...

Overall, if you need to enter data into your PDA you're better off using your PC or buying a full size or folding keyboard (if you need portability a folding unit isn't that much bigger).

I'd really hoped this product would solve my spur of the moment input needs, but I guess I'll have to learn to use the stylus.

I'm not very good with the graffiti function on my Handspring, so I purchased this little gizmo to save myself the trouble. While the lure of the Targus stowaway (or something similar) may seem impossible to ignore, the Thumboard is ideal for "snap and go" people like me. There's no unfolding or need for elbow room with this little guy--it's near the size of a Gameboy and just as easy to hold. While typing may feel a little awkward at first, it's nothing that time and a little practice won't fix.

But! Be warned that the glitch that you've read about in other reviews is a rather common one. I have the same problem with the "On/Off" button sometimes activating my HotSync function. Other than that minor annoyance, it's rather a handy little piece of technology to add to your Handspring collection--and at this price, it's hard to pass up!

As already mentioned in other reviews - make sure you only have one keyboard driver activated - the targus and this one conflict.

One point that might come in handy is that this is NOT compatible with the VISOR PRISM (dang).