Windows Phone Thoughts: Freedom Bluetooth Keyboard: Extra Row, Less Money

The Interior: Time to Get Busy


Figure 5: Hungry for fingers.

This is what you’ll see when you first open the keyboard. There are a lot of little bits here, so pay close attention. Also, despite the title of this section, NO ONE is to yell "Hammer Time". :mrgreen:


Figure 6: Gratuitously arty full frontal shot.

The batteries are inserted into a raised compartment on the top left of the unit, which fits into a corresponding indentation on the right side when the keyboard is closed. The top middle of the keyboard features a slider that locks the two halves of the keyboard together. After the keyboard is opened, you slide the lock to the left, and then slide the keyboard to the right:


Figure 7: Slip sliding away!

This is the source of the one and only possible design flaw. While they do what they are supposed to do, ALL of the sliders in the device are practically flush with the surface. Because of this, it’s sometimes difficult to move them, and usually requires that I dig my non-existent fingernails into one of the grooves to try to drag the slider/switch over. Raising the surface of these sliders would go a long way to increasing the usability of the keyboard. It’s not a killer, and it does get easier over time, but it’s still annoying.

The top right contains a hidden goodie - a pop-out stand. To use it, pull it straight out, and then swivel it to the left.


Figure 8: Stand and deliver!

The left “foot” of the stand will snap into a small slot on the left side of the keyboard. To release it, simply push the slider to the right and reverse the process. You can also detach the stand from the keyboard completely! To do this, move the whole stand to the right instead of pushing it into the slot.

The stand is (rather flimsily) spring-loaded, but it gets the job done. There’s a grooved rubber “foot” on the top of the base, which does a decent job of holding your PDA steady at the desired angle. I’ve found that when the stand is detached, I need to lay my 4150 at a pretty steep angle to keep it from falling over backwards.


Figure 9: Not TOO laid back...

Fortunately, I could still see the screen just fine, but this may be a problem if you work under particularly bright lights, as you may get a reflection.

The power switch and indicator LED is located on the bottom left of the device.


Figure 10: Power switch. Exciting!

When it’s first switched on, it will blink orange, then change to a slow green blink.

Now we’re almost ready to type!