Windows Phone Thoughts: The Universal Wireless Keyboard (IR 501) Reviewed

Installation and Setup
Installing the provided driver software went without a hitch (although interestingly it does not use the standard Activesync Add/Remove Program dialogue). The only thing to watch is that you need to turn off the “accept all beams” option in the connections settings tab. Otherwise the Keyboard driver reports that the IR port is already in use. The installation process puts a Keyboard shortcut in the Start menu, which brings up the following settings screen.


Figure 4: Main Configuration Screen.

Once the driver is installed and the battery inserted in the keyboard it is simply a matter of placing your device in the attached stand and typing away.

Performance


Figure 5: Keyboard set up for use.

In use I found this keyboard to take a bit of getting used to. One downside of the centre folding keyboard design is the space between the two sides of the keypad and the need to split the central “space” bar into two smaller bars. Another design element that took some getting used to is the slightly raised lip at the bottom of the keyboard. I also found that I needed to use fairly firm pressure on the keys – no light fingered typists here! Once I had adapted my typing style a bit, however, I found that I could type away at a pretty good clip – although not as fast as on my desktop keyboard or my original Stowaway Keyboard.

During my testing I did not experience any significant problems with dropped connections or slow response. I tested the keyboard in Landscape mode (using Nyditot Virtual Display) and found no problems with connection or slow response using the second IR receptor located on the left hand edge of the keyboard.

While I would like to say that this review was written entirely using the keyboard under review – it wasn’t! However, I have used the keyboard for some pretty extensive pieces of writing and found that the more I use it the more I like it. In particular I have found the ability to use it landscape mode is very useful.

Conclusions
Overall, the Universal Wireless Keyboard performed solidly, although I do not see it replacing my original Stowaway keyboard as my principal keyboard. To a degree I put this down to my largish fingers and a preference for the more roomy keys on the Stowaway – something that would apply equally to a number of other similar keyboards. In general, given the ability to use it with pretty much any IR equipped PDA (not just Pocket PCs) and the general ease of set up and use I would consider this keyboard to be good value and a worthwhile purchase.