Malcolm Owen On November 12, 2002 at 4:28 pm

Before I even start, I have to give these disclaimer:
The following review contains sections of text wherein contains dangerous actions. Do not try these at home unless in a perfectly controlled environment with all the safety precautions possible. You may damage the keyboard/other hardware/yourself if you try it
The product name is “True-Touch Roll-Up Keyboard”. Throughout the review it will be referred to as the “Floppy Keyboard”. This is because it is quicker to type, and allows me to type quicker instead of trying to remember to press dash or under using the shift key.

The Floppy Keyboard is a floppy, flexible, bendy full size keyboard that can be folded up to fit into your pocket. It has all the keys that a normal keyboard has, and is generally a normal keyboard, except the floppyness.

Installation is stupidly simple, being unplugging your old keyboard and putting this one on, using the standard PS2 connection. Just lay it flat, and start typing away.

The keys are really soft to press. You press the keys, and they go down and up in a squishy way, inside it’s own protective bubble. You could, at a stretch, call it everlasting bubble wrap that doesn’t pop, but you don’t want to pop at all. Typing with it is not advised for long and important documents unless you have the time, as it’s softness sometimes makes it’s reception of keystrokes to be a bit hit or miss. This is especially true with the spacebar (divided into 3 parts to ease any folding).

On the side of the box, I saw that it was “Dust and Moisture Proof”, so it must be slightly indestructible. So, strangely, I proceeded to try and destroy it in various ways that a normal keyboard cannot take easily.

With it on the table, I started punching and slamming the keys down as hard as possible. It’s probably hard to visualise it, but think of a grown man, pretending to be a big baby, slamming the table to get what he wants. It still worked afterwards. Time for something more extreme…

I put it on the floor, and played a game of Hopscotch, but instead of using a grid on the floor, I just stamped on it and launched myself into the air to cause as grievous an impact as possible. (As a side note, I weigh in excess of 22 Stone, so this is quite a pounding…). Still worked when I plugged it in afterwards.

Grabbing some hot coffee straight from the coffee machine, I threw a large amount on the centre. To add to the liquid, I poured some Coke, used some vinegar, yoghurt, flour, raw eggs, salt, and old coffee grounds (When I test, I really test!). Shoving it into every nook and cranny on the damn thing, I was hoping to jam up something. It worked even with all the gunk on. So I cleaned it…in the kitchen sink, completely submerging it for 5 minutes, and using a washing up brush to clean between the keys. Normal keyboards would be dead by now, but this one even survived the damn sink! I was slightly disappointed that it was still working.

For gaming, as a spare keyboard this is great. Possibly the best application for it is at Lanparties, where the softness of the keys will make you more comfortable for longer periods. As a general use keyboard, it could have done better, but if you are the kind of person who replaces keyboard regularly because of spilling coke, or looking at porn sites too much, then this is for you. For the rest of the world, stay with your normal keys, and save this for emergencies and Lanparties.

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