Keyboard for BlackBerry PlayBook: the verdict
by Volker Weber
I have good and bad news for RIM. The good news is, you can have the keyboard back, after just two days. The bad news is hidden in my FAQ: it's completely useless to me. I am absolutely sure it would only collect dust and never be used again.
In theory this is a great concept. Pop in a PlayBook when you need to connect to a remote PC. With Citrix Receiver you have a physical keyboard, you have cursor keys, you even have a trackpad. Genius.
The bad news is, that this does not work at all, for a number of reasons:
- The folio is very heavy. With the keyboard it weighs more than the PlayBook itself.
- I simply cannot type on the keyboard without a typo in each and every word. The keys are too small and too close to each other. They are vertically aligned and I cannot get a German layout.
- When the PlayBook is in the folio, it's very unwieldily. I cannot use it anymore unless it rests on a table.
- Finally, the straps that hold the keyboard in place obstruct the on/off switch and the escape and backspace key.
What you get is a netbook without a lot of software, with broken hinges, and an unusable keyboard. The PlayBook is much nicer without it. Of course you can ditch the folio and use some other means to prop up the PlayBook, as I do it with my Belkin keyboard. In that case the keyboard would not have to be constricted to the small PlayBook size.
Not recommended. Misses the editor-refuses-to-give-it-back award my a mile and a half.