You would imagine that outer keyboards for tablet pc’s are ‘almost of a muchness’ by now, wouldn’t you? If only it was as simple as ensuring the keyboard in question is similar with your Operating system and then, oh, I don’t know, buying the damn thing…But it doesn’t seem to be that way, unfortunately.
Now, Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD is well-matched with external keyboards, but not with all of them. So you’ll probably be stuck rooting through an intensive list of keyboards (many of which do not seem to bother letting us know whether they are ‘Kindle friendly’ or not).
The ‘Amazon Basics keyboard’ doesn’t appear to work for every reviewer, either. Some like it, some don’t.
Frustratingly, opinions are often inconsistent when it relates to Kindle Fire compatibility, with a few claiming that individual products work and others angrily reporting sentiments similar to “do they b******s”.
However, all isn’t lost, gentle reader. Users on Amazon.co.uk have claimed that the following models are compatible (to varying levels) about the Kindle Fire HD:
The Advent Bluetooth Keyboard
The Perixx Keyboard
The Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard 6000
The Belkin Android Mobile Bluetooth Keyboard
Obviously, I cannot personally confirm these user experiences, but online boards are commonly a great way to see what’s around and what tablets other people have used without spending any of your own money.
As I’ve said in another place about the internet, it really does pay to shop about. I strongly recommend reading the reviews for every of those keyboards before you commit your heard-earned cash to one of them.
On another interesting forum, I discovered that there’s even a little debate as to if Amazon have locked out third party keyboards deliberately. Amazon are renowned for their (occasionally) restrictive hardware, so it is not really an enormous leap of the imagination to consider the company blocking out external keyboards. However, I can find no official statement from Amazon with reference to this one way or another, so your guess is as good as mine.
When you do decide to perform an internet search so as to discover more, please keep in mind that the Kindle Keyboard is really a type of eReader that is essentially unrelated to the Kindle Fire or Fire HD. Articles, reviews and forums regarding this product will obstruct any search containing the terms ‘Amazon+Kindle+Keyboard’. ‘Annoying’ scarcely does it justice.
Update: As it seems, there is an official Amazon keyboard that works with Kindle fire, however it doesn’t appear within the UK Amazon site. In my opinion, I’d suggest getting this if you’re a US-based customer. If Amazon guarantees that it will work, then it’ll probably work.
Within the UK, well, its in fact frustratingly vague as to what keyboards will work and what will not. Another suggestion is to go down to the local computer store and ask them if you are able to try one out. That typically works.
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