Bluetooth Keyboard Questions

[LandSurveyor]

If anyone has noticed the laughable typos I sometimes post, you won't be surprised that I'm considering a bluetooth keyboard.

Is there any difficulty in getting one to work with this Touchpad or, in the future, an Android (or maybe even Ubuntu) tablet? Does each device require some sort of driver?

[RickAgresta]

I *think* current BT software for devices (the stack on phones/tablets/etc) is much better than in the days of Palm , certainly their PDAs. Thats the case for my nearly 3-year old phone, at least.

[jigwashere]

You shouldn't have any trouble with most BT keyboards. I actually picked up an HP Touchpad BT keyboard on clearance last year and it works with my netbook, smartphone, and Nook Color. The keyboard does have a few HP Touchpad-specific keys and as I recall the arrow keys work a little backward to a normal keyboard, but it's a very nice one -- similar in design to the Apple keyboard, I think.

[r0k]

I have a bt keyboard I once used with my iPad 1. I bet it would work just fine with my iPad mini. There is talk of running Ubuntu on Android tablets and phones. A BT keyboard connected to a Ubuntu mobile device would be an exact (Linux) desktop replacement.

[LandSurveyor]

I like the idea but aren't most tablets limited as to processor "horsepower" as well as memory?

I would rather like to see a docking station solution with a hard drive and optical drive, plus extra USB ports.

[SGosnell]

Extra USB ports, yes, but the rest is, for me, irrelevant. I haven't used an optical drive in a long, long time. They're so limited as to be pretty much useless to me. I can put far more data, far more quickly, on a USB flash drive. I also have a couple of portable USB hard drives, which I can plug into anything with a USB port. That's what I use for storage on my personal server. I have a wireless keyboard/mouse combo, which also plugs into a USB port, and should work on just about anything. Bluetooth is fine, I guess, and I use it for lots of things, but I already have the USB keyboard, so I don't want to buy a bluetooth model at least right now. Provide the ability to connect several USB devices, and that's about all I need, other than a convenient way to connect a monitor. YMMV.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

[LandSurveyor]

I almost never use an optical drive for storage but I stubbornly insist on buying my music on CD's and then rip them for my devices.

[SGosnell]

I used to do that, but I quit some time ago. I don't find much music that I care for on CD, and it's much more convenient to buy mp3s online, download them, and save them to multiple places. I have my music on HDD on my server, on flash drives, and on Google Music. Ripping is just too much trouble for me, and I suspect most people. I predict that optical drives will go the way of floppy disk drives in the not-so-distant future. Sure, there are some people who still use both, but that number is rapidly dwindling. But like I said, YMMV.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

[jigwashere]

I've always disliked optical drives and use mine less and less (hardly at all for off-loading data). Owning CDs and DVDs simply result in too much clutter. Unfortunately, having an optical drive remains a necessary evil. Funny -- I recently purchased a printer that can print on (printable) optical disks.

[LandSurveyor]

If it gets ridiculous to hang onto this old tech (like those people who still buy vinyl), I'll drop it but it's still good for archival purposes. So far Amazon is working out well for books so I won't be a stubborn Luddite if need be.