N95 + bluetooth keyboard - worth it?

August 7th, 2007  |  Published in Development, Mobile, Nokia, Nseries, S60, Thoughts  |  10 Comments

For my day job, I spend a lot of time on airplanes flying back and forth between the US and Europe. I don’t mind the travel and you’d be amazed at how much you can accomplish when you’ve got a laptop, a power supply, and a seven hour block of time with no distractions, no incoming emails or IM and no phone calls. A typical flight works like this:

  • Plane takes off
  • Flight attendants allow you to use electronics
  • Open up my laptop, plug in my headphones and start typing
  • Get lots of work done for the next 6+ hours with little distraction

At least it’s supposed to work this way. What happens is that tired people sitting in front of me lean their seat all the way back and I can’t open my laptop. No laptop means no fun, and I’m faced with six hours of bad movies, the inability to sleep, and the anxiety that I will have lots of work to do once I land and get off the plane. This experience is often referred to as Airline Laptop Syndrome. I’ve attached a diagram.

Laptop Seat Pitch Problem

So how do you fix this problem? If you’re lucky, then you have a seat on the plane without someone who leans back, but I’d rather not leave it to chance. So what I’m considering instead is buying the Nokia Wireless Keyboard. This way I can use the keyboard with my N95 and do writing, emailing, Python programming, you name it. I can still listen to my music, and the phone is so small that I can get lots of work and emails done regardless of how far the person in front of me leans back. Sounds like a plan, right?

Well, no. You see, the Nokia Wireless Keyboard is out of stock everywhere. Nokia is out of stock, Dell wants you to wait 3-5 weeks, Amazon doesn’t have it, Buy.com has it backordered. I can’t imagine that this is in huge demand, and it’s been in production for over two years, so my guess is that it’s being discontinued, or else they’re going to come out with a new one soon.

Anyway, in the meantime I’ve started looking for alternatives and am curious if anyone has a recommendation? The iGo Stowaway keyboard says that it’s still being tested with the N95, and I’m hesitant to buy an older bluetooth keyboard off eBay as I’m not sure it will work with the N95.

Thanks in advance for the help.

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  1. booyaa says:

    August 9th, 2007 at 7:11 am (#)

    It’s an ugly looking beast compared to the Nokia range, but I’ve got the Freedom Universal keyboard on my short list. This is mostly because I have two phones the Nokia N95 and Blackberry 8707.

    The Freedom forums have been able to get it to work on the N95 despite Freedom only supporting up to the N93.

  2. joebloggs says:

    August 11th, 2007 at 9:06 am (#)

    I use the Stowaway universal bluetooth keyboard with my N95 using their standard series 60 OS9 drivers. I’ve had no problems and I like the fact that the keyboard is rigid when folded out so you can use it on your lap.

  3. g-fav says:

    August 18th, 2007 at 7:12 am (#)

    I know I’m a few posts behind, here, but… oh snap!

    Hey, did you ever see those tiny mechanical gizmos you can wedge into the hinge of the guy’s seat in front of you that prevents it from leaning back?

    -g

  4. jonathan bell says:

    August 30th, 2007 at 6:07 am (#)

    Buy one of these: http://www.expansys.com/p.aspx?i=150080
    Dell-branded, but cheap and works a treat with my N95.

  5. corey menscher says:

    September 22nd, 2007 at 6:19 pm (#)

    I bought the new Apple bluetooth keyboard to work with my N800. It’s got a significantly better feel than the Stowaway I own, and it’s surprisingly mobile…about as wide and tall as a large-ish paperback, but only like 1/4″ thick (except for the end which is about as round as a AA battery). It doesn’t fold, but it’s thin as hell and totally solid. Don’t know if it’ll work with the N95, but you could probably test it at an Apple store.

  6. bManic says:

    October 30th, 2007 at 3:16 pm (#)

    It works with n95 as well, perfectly.

    the apple CMD keys equal the “soft keys” and Ctrl+Enter equals the joystick center button.

    Cheers!

  7. John Buckley says:

    November 23rd, 2007 at 8:25 pm (#)

    I’ve been trying with no success to get the Apple Wireless Keyboard to work with my N95 8Gb. It won’t recognize the keyboard at all in the Wireless Keyboard app. I’m stumped. Any one have a thought on this?

  8. Kishore Balakrishnan says:

    December 29th, 2007 at 5:57 pm (#)

    Seasons Greetings from Singapore

    Please consider updating your post with the latest status..

    Also advise laptop recommendations that work best with the N95

    Cheers, Kishore.

  9. InFlightHQ » Productivity Tip: Jam your knees into the upright and locked seatback position says:

    February 13th, 2008 at 5:12 pm (#)

    [...] this is called Airline Laptop Syndrome by some (ganked my hilarious image from this [...]

  10. xt says:

    February 21st, 2008 at 8:07 pm (#)

    check out the new apple wireless keyboard with titanium look.

    type very quietly, (typing beside my baby when trying to blog)

    good sturdy, easy to carry (i use a backpack, but it also fit into some of those half size bags.) it is only half of A4 size.

    small size, so i can really just carry around, do my computing anywhere that seem fit.

    i think symbian have grown to an OS that can compete with XP.

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