Matias Folding Keyboard

I got this because I was always looking for the smallest keyboard I could find with a 10 key to keep in my lap top bag for travel. I did not care for any of the roll-up soft keyboards, etc. that appeared fragile or not right for me for one reason or another. This keyboard was just what I was looking for and it works great. As some other reviews I have seen have commented it really would be nice if it locked in the open position so it stayed flat when open. But if you use it on a flat desk or table top it is OK. I wish they would have put the Caps Lock key in the standard position but what they have done works OK.One problem with mine when it came was the USB cord was damaged. The outer casing of the cord had been cut and it was seen at the factory or somewhere because someone bent the cable 180 degrees at the cut and put a piece of shrink tube over it to cover the damage.To the manufacturers credit they do not use a proprietary cable and I was able to simply replace the damaged cable included with the keyboard with a standard universal USB to mini-USB cable for about $2.00 from an on-line merchant.Despite the cable issue and the purchase price being a little steep for a keyboard I like the it and would buy it again.A word about Super-Saver shipping. If you use SS expect to get your item on the last day of the window they give you no matter how close to you the shipping origin point is. The keyboard was 500 miles from me in the same state and it did not ship until 2 days before the last day of the window they said it would arrive in. My definition of "Saver" shipping is it gets shipped right away just like any other order and it goes 3rd class instead of 1st class so it takes a day or 2 longer. Amazon's seems to be they offer saver shipping and then punish you for using it buy sitting on your item for 7 to 10 days and not shipping it until the last minute. Maybe we just have different ideas of how to do business.

I spend a bit of 'off work time' studying in cafes. Enough time such that using the laptop keyboard had gotten to become an obstacle. I wanted a fold up keyboard that was specifically meant to be used with a PC. There are plenty of folding keyboards that are targeted for use with phones and new tablets. I have no idea if my laptop has the 'HID' interface that these tablet keyboards say that they need and I didn't want to waste time with buy and return cycles if it turns out that they won't work for me.Everything about this keyboard is satisfactory so far. I will echo the sentiments of others that say that the only missing feature is a 'hold open' lock (the 'hold closed lock' is nice and robust).Mind that it's not a wireless keyboard, but that's fine with me.Update: 2015-05For some unknown reason, windows 'suddenly' can no longer download and install the driver for the keyboard.This renders the keyboard essentially useless.no driver, no keyboard..There's no direct download page available on the matias company website that I can find.My one attempt to download a driver from a suspicious download site (that McAfee rated as 'safe') ended up installing about 5 adware applications, but no driver.My handy folding keyboard is now useless...

This folding keyboard works well. It folds in half to a small size (about 4" x 7"). Best yet, the main reason I got it is because it has the number pad off to the right of the Qwerty keyboard. Yay! I hate typing numbers off the top line of the Qwerty!As far as negatives: As other reviews have mentioned, the zero key next to the fold line almost always omits keying onscreen unless struck firmly, and the p key just below it often does as well, although not as frequently as the zero key. Since I got the keyboard in order to have a number pad, I usually avoid the zero key issue by using the zero on the number pad. Another negative is there is no caps lock key. Caps lock can still be done by hitting the Function (fn) key + / key (caps lock), but is of course more cumbersome. The only other negative is that the keyboard doesn't lie totally flat, since it lives in stored position folded up. I've solved this with velcro: 2 strips of the felted side stuck on the keyboard back out at the short ends plus a long piece of the hooked side connecting the 2 felted pieces firmly enough to pull the keyboard flat. This works like a charm and stores with the keyboard.All in all, I'm very happy with the keyboard and take it with my laptop wherever I go.

While I was travelling for work I needed a portable full size keyboard, as I wasn't too keen on using a laptop keyboard. I purchased this keyboard since it fit my requirements. From first impressions this keyboard was great, it felt good to use and I thought it was pretty sturdy .. it allowed me to travel onto client sites with ease. Being able to fold the keyboard was great as it was able to fit in my laptop bag.The keyboard required no special software and was plug and play, just connect the USB into the computer and you was ready to go.Since I got this keyboard in September 2009, I was using the keyboard for around 7 months before I was no longer required to travel and put it away on my shelf.I decided to pull this keyboard out again from storage and now I've noticed that the keyboard is defective.I noticed that the keys, 1, Q, A, Z... are no longer working, I'm not even sure why this is happening.Sounds like a small part of the keyboard circuit board stopped working or something, I thought this keyboard was durable but after it stopped working obviously I have second thoughts.Maybe the whole issue of the keyboard folding made the item delicate within the keyboard case.I expected the keyboard to hopefully last at least a few years !!

Great little gadget. Works fine.