Pogo Stylus for iPhone / iPod Touch

Cool Yule Rating: 3 stars

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Cool Yule Rating: 3 stars

Price: $19.95

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Description: Those of us who got started with mobile devices like the Palm Pilot and Compaq (then HP) iPaq are most accustomed to a little plastic stylus that would help us navigate the icons on the screen, as well as to type out our messages. Now that the iPhone is a part of our lives, going back to using our fingertips for such functions seems awkward and unnatural. In addition, our big fingers tend to make more mistakes on the small iPhone screen.

The Pogo Stylus helps solve this issue – it provides us with a plastic stylus, but instead of a pointy end like with the early Palm devices, there's a soft nub at the end of one side, which reminds me of the old IBM (now Lenovo) ThinkPad navigation nubs. The Pogo also includes a plastic brace that snaps onto the back of the iPhone so you can store the Pogo Stylus with your iPhone (or iPod Touch) when it's not being used.

Using the Stylus did improve my typing errors on long messages, although I had to press down a bit harder with the stylus than with my finger. If you do a lot of text messaging or e-mail and prefer a stylus, it's a great tool. Some may balk at paying $20 for a basic piece of plastic, but it does what it says, so I'm not bothered by the price.

The only downside is that the plastic brace might not fit on the back of your iPhone if you're using an iPhone case, so you may need to make a decision about whether to protect your iPhone/iPod Touch with a case or use the Stylus.

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