The
Samsung Galaxy Tab Keyboard Dock ($80 as of March 7, 2012) is designed to live
on your desk. It has a substantial, solid feeling on a desk surface. Large
rubber pads on the bottom keep it from sliding around no matter how hard you
pound away at the keys, and its hefty weight means the dock stays put when you
lift the tablet out.
The
dock for the 10.1 fits only the Galaxy Tab 10.1, but the similarly designed 8.9
dock also has an indentation in the tablet slot that will accommodate the 7.0
and the 7.7 as well. The slot where the tablet docks also has a bit of guide
plastic that sticks up in the back to hold the slate securely in place, but
that prevents the dock from being something you'd want to slip in your bag and
carry with you. Moving it from room to room is no problem, though.
For
a keyboard dock that seems more at home on your desk than in your carry-on, the
keys are unfortunately nothing close to desktop-keyboard size. Rather, they are
closer in size and spacing to netbook keys, feeling small, cramped, and springy
with wimpy feedback. For such a thick device, the key travel is very shallow. I
got tired after just an hour of typing.
It's
not all bad though; the tilt is nice, and it holds the tablet at a good angle
for desktop use. All of the Android-specific function keys are really
handy--you can keep your hands on the keyboard while adjusting settings,
navigating, and controlling playback. Regrettably, the keyboard lacks a
built-in pointing device, so you may want to add a Bluetooth mouse for the full
desktop experience.
Another
unfortunate omission: The dock has no extra ports, not even an SD Card slot.
The only thing you can plug into the dock is an audio cable for headphones or
speakers. I would have liked a device this thick, and designed to be left on a
desk, to have some USB ports, an HDMI port, and a few media card slots.
The
Galaxy Tab Keyboard Dock is solidly built, holds the tablet at a good angle on
a desk, and works fine for light typing. But it makes so many compromises that
something designed to live on a desk shouldn't have to make--and it still makes
me yearn for a true mobile-dock option for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab series.
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