- Designed to complement the Apple Smart Cover
- Allows users to type accurately and comfortably
- Use to take notes, draw or turn a page; soft, durable rubber tip won?t scratch screen, 3/4 inch longer than most styluses on the market
- Works on all capacitive touch surfaces; use with iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone and other touch-screen devices
- Unit Dimensions: 5 1/8 inches
I learned that styluses tips are of 2 main types fuzzy fabric and rubber with some additional quirky ones made of metal (O-Stylus) or even sausage (supposed to work like your finger!).
--Fabric tips:
Pogo stylusalso used by Apple Geniuses have a fabric tip that's great for typing or selecting or gaming even but not so good for writing or sketching anything more complex than a smiley face.
Sock Stylus There is a seller on etsy who is selling sock styluses with conductive fabric "sock" stretched over a wooden quill which has been sawed off for the perfect length. I found that stylus a little less sensitive than the Targus and you have to hold it at a certain angle for best results. However, if you're writing pages worth of notes on iPad then it tends to make the hand less tired than the Targus as Targus has a squishy rubber tip that can cause some fatigue.
There are other fuzzy fabric styluses out there sold by small stores like the ones by the guy who has been advertising on all Mac forums and posting pictures of his store in competitors' item images. They claim that they have the best yet but I haven't tried those yet.
--Rubber tips:
The Targus in question has a rubber tip. Please check my uploaded pic for size comparison against some other styluses.
The rubber tip on this stylus looks pretty thick but is still thinner than our fingers. The problem is that it does block the view when writing or sketching just like our finger. There is also another 2nd gen ACase that has tried to eliminate some of that by creating a longer stylus and a thinner and longer rubber tip but failed to deliver as the thinner tip had to be held at certain angles to write well and became more squishy and less natural.
This Targus has been the best of the 4-5 styluses I tried so far (refer to the pic) overall as it is the most responsive of all and has a matte finish stem rather than ACase's smooth finish which makes it a little less slippery to hold. The iPad 2 is already so slinky, I don't want to worry about dropping the stylus too!! It performed well on Penultimate and UPad writing apps and SketchBook Express the sketching app and captured light strokes as well as the heavier strokes. The performance was a lot better than the Acase 2nd Generation Apple iPad / iPhone / iPod Capacitive Stylus (Jet Black) Newest Modeland a shade better than the Acase 2 in 1 Stylus + Pen for Apple iPad 16GB, 32GB, 64GB WiFi + 3G, iPad 2, iPhone, iPod, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy, BlackBerry Playbook (Black). And don't even bother trying the really cheap ones 3 Pack (Red + Black + Silver) of Universal Touch Screen Stylus Pen for Apple iPod Touch 2nd 3rd 4th Gen, iPhone 3G 3GS 4th Gen Generation, they're perhaps ok for tapping a little but not for writing or sketching. Although some people have suggested on forums that roughing up the rubber tip of the cheap styluses with a sandpaper makes them work better.
I've also heard good things about the Boxwave and Alupen but haven't tested them so I can't say if they're better than Targus.
So there you have it, Targus was the winner in writing and sketching on iPad but still not the perfect stylus as it is not as responsive as I would like. I'm still looking for that perfect stylus.I have been using a Pogo Sketch for quite some time and I can assure you that the Targus stylus beats the Pogo and every other stylus hands down! In fact, I recently was employed by one of the largest wireless carriers in their marketing department and worked closely with the person responsible for buying all accessories that are sold in our stores. She had tested and trialed dozens of styluses a d had determined that pogo was the best available stylus at the time. Last month, I visited her and showed her the Targus stylus. Like me, she was blown away. She is now going to contact Targus for samples to put through their tests. It works great with iPhone and iPad -and especially great with Penultimate. It is high-quality and feels great in my hand. It is as thick as a normal ballpoint pen, and the clip is made of sturdy metal (not cheap plastic like the Pogo). The tip is soft rubber, but not at all sticky like some other inferior rubber styluses). Using this on an ipad is so silky smooth and a pleasure to use. Buy this, you will not be disappointed!!Buyer beware! Genuine Targus products work well and are a good value so this is not a ding on Targus, didn't really want the product to have one star but wanted future buyers to be careful. Recently I purchase two of these for my wife and myself from Amazon and was surprised to find out they were actually shipping thru one of their retailers called Asecshop all the way from Hong Kong. They were in bubble wrap in a small manila envelope and no the Targus name was not on anything including the product. After a recent trip to to a big box store who sells genuine Targus items my suspicions were confirmed, what I received was in deed counterfeit. When my items arrived looking like something you would expect to receive from ebay not Amazon. I left a similar statement on the Asecshop feedback page as well and I was not alone with this type of behavior, lots of folks complaining about counterfeit goods being sold and described as the original article. look similar to Targus in shape but they are clearly not genuine Targus. I have reported this to Amazon and the are supposedly looking in to it, I hope they correct this and do a better job of setting up there retailers in the future. ebay use to be reputable too until they started letting everyone sell all their knock off products on there, now you never know what you are going to get. Just my two cents, but I will only purchase products in the future that ship directly from Amazon"s Distribution Centers. One bad apple.......This stylus is smaller and more precise than my finger, and keeps the screen cleaner. It also works with a touch screen mobile phone and easily distinguishes between a touch and a swipe. Best of all is when using Pages or Numbers on an iPad, as one can hit the small icons with ease. The hemispherical tip ensures contact over a wide range of angles so the stylus can be held as one would a regular pen.
The stylus has a quality appearance with a chrome accent and a metal pocket clip. The top of the pen has a small hole through which a lanyard may be attached. It is only available in black, but that does not detract from its functionality. It is an excellent and inexpensive accessory for the iPad.
Update: After six months of daily use, the rubber tip has perished and the stylus must be replaced. Its replacement will be a stylus with a longer lasting polymeric material and not one with soft rubber.
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At a staff meeting a couple weeks ago, we sat around comparing iPad accessories. Everyone agreed that a stylus was a must have for senior software architects with large and somewhat stiff fingers. (God only knows what we have done to stiffen them.) We passed around 3 or 4 different styluses. The general agreement was that the Targus was the best. The tip is has the right degree of softness and the clip is well designed. The electrical engineer who held out for a rolled up piece of raw bacon was ignored. I ordered a Targus stylus because it was sold out locally. It does work well. My only complaint is the silly string. The latch is hard to work and a stylus dangling on a two inch thread is wrong in many ways. The problem is easily and completely solved by throwing the string away.
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