Source: Tom's Hardware – Keywords: laser, keyboard
Categories: Consumer Electronics, Hardware
Accuracy And Typing Experience
On a normal keyboard I clock in around 80 wpm with a decent accuracy rate, while my speed with the VKB dropped dramatically. I got tons of errors/phantom clicks and spaces that didn’t register. When I was first got the assignment, I thought a neat test would be to type the entire article on the VKB. However, this proved to be impractical. My problems with error rates made the VKB relatively unusable. Instead, I’d rather use the onscreen touchpad or thumb board, both of which pale in comparison to typical data entry rates with conventional keyboards.
Playing with the sensitivity settings was frustrating; adjusting them too low meant key presses, such as spaces, weren’t registered. Adjusting them too high resulted in garbage/phantom characters that were dumped in the document.
The VKB projects a QWERTY interface but users will find some of the keys are in the wrong place. This requires modification of one’s typing style to suit the projection/setup. Tactile feedback a user receives from a typical keyboard is absent and takes some getting used to. At times I would find myself on the wrong keys and would have to look down in order to get the proper mount back. My typing did improve after spending some time with the unit but I found I had to constantly go back, edit and correct entries.
In an outdoor setting the projection is nearly invisible; a classroom setting is more manageable but well-lit areas can be problematic, even with the keyboard’s brightest setting. Projection at night is clear, defined and bright.
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Yes, the lack of tactile feedback is annoying - you can't touch-type. I find myself looking at the keyboard, and the projected key positions and where they register don't quite line up on my unit (I need to aim at the side of the key nearer to the device), but allowing for that, accuracy is reasonable. There's some lag in key presses reaching my mobile (Portege G900), so I'm reliant on looking at the keys rather than the screen, but it doesn't usually lose keys. Fortunately, I don't keep my fingers on the "home" keys on qwerty anyway - I don't look at the keyboard, but I only do the traditional touch-typing thing on dvorak.
It's nothing like as good as a real keyboard, but it *is* much smaller than the folding keyboard I own (which, to be fair, is much bigger than the Palm version which I also own), and I can't get the folding keyboard to work with my G900, so it's the laser keyboard or the integrated keyboard(/thumb board) on the device - and the laser keyboard *is* faster. It's a bit chubby, but it's small enough to leave in my bag for when I need it.
I've not had brightness problems, but I've not tried using it outside (I wouldn't be able to see the screen on my device anyway). I'd find it much more usable if the keyboard projected from the side (side-to-side space is much easier for me to arrange than front-to-back space - especially on a train or on a desk full of monitors), but I guess the fingers would shade each other much more; perhaps the best that could be done is to make the device thinner and have it project more closely to itself.
Yes, it's a gadget. I got it when I saw one on special, expecting it to be entertaining but almost useless. It's not brilliant, but it's much better than I was expecting - it *is* usable. So long as you're not expecting too much, you may find the same. I may change my opinion after I've got Emacs installed on my phone and I start to use it in anger.