Absolute Gadget

Review: iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard

Written by Rene Millman Monday, 28 May 2007 12:40

An iGo Stowaway keyboard came into the offices here the other day and we thought that the best way of reviewing the device was to write this review on it.

The device is a Bluetooth keyboard that will work with a selection of Bluetooth-enabled phones covering the inevitable Windows Mobile phones, Palm and Symbian-based phones such as most of the modern Nokias, Motorolas, Sony Ericssons and Siemens. (According to the bumph on the setup CD anyway).

(At this point dear reader the smallness of the Nokia phone screen was too much for me to carry on trying to write up the rest of the review).

Setting up the phone from a Mac will take somebody a bit technical to accomplish as the setup program appears to only work for PCs. Luckily, as the iMac has Bluetooth, as does the Nokia we had to test the keyboard this was ok to set up. As well as that we knew to look for a SIS file on the CD (these are the Symbian installation files). We sent that to the Nokia and we were able to install the keyboard application on the phone no problem.

Review continues on next page...{mospagebreak}Getting the keyboard to connect to the phone was a bit of a problem. Looking at the wrong setup guide hindered us for a while, as it didn't seem to make much sense to us. We had to figure stuff out by ourselves and you have to pick a passcode on the phone (all numbers) and then type the same number in on the keyboard. Of course numbers on the keyboard have to be activated by pressing the function key first. Numerous attempts later and we were forced by time constraints to turn off the Bluetooth security and get the keyboard working. (Later on when we were less stressed we managed to get this working but sometimes you need to get things done in a rush and we found that even the right setup manual could have been a little clearer.)

The keys on the keyboard are about the same size as ones you would see on a laptop. Again typing on them is very good, no problem there. For us it was the size of the phone screen that put us off writing this entirely on the phone. Typing out a text on the phone is much better than using the phone's number pad. It was a lot quicker for this journalist to type out a text on the Stowaway.

Review continues on next page....{mospagebreak}One thing I wasn't impressed about was the huge sticker on the keyboard some of which is still stuck to the keys (Oh well it gives you something to do after typing out those text messages). Another thing that bothered us was the opening and closing of the keyboard itself. It is a bit tricky to do and sometimes you feel that you are about to break the thing before it snaps back shut. Again it seems to require a knack to get it shutting properly.

On the whole the keyboard action is pleasant enough for us to use for typing out a few texts. A bit more thought should have gone into making the setup a bit easier for the less technical (don't assume that Apple users are more technical than Windows users).

We found one here for £79. Alternatively there is an infrared version also available - ThinkOutside Stowaway IR Wireless Keyboard.

Rating 7/10