Creative Prodikeys Pc-midi by Creative
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Our Price: $199.98 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $49.95 (click here) Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Creative Prodikeys Pc-midi
Digital camera Review: Great concept, poor execution.
Summary: 2 Stars
For the price, I was happy with the quality of construction.
No where in the product specifications does Creative claim that it'll work with Windows Vista or MacOS X, and it certainly doesn't work with either; but it's almost 2009! They need to get their act together and write drivers for modern operating systems. (Most PC manufacturers aren't even shipping computers with XP anymore!)
If you've got XP, it's a fun device, and it works well with the software provided by Creative. It's been a little flaky for me when I try to use it as a MIDI device in more advanced, third-party software (like Reason), but that's usually cured with a reboot.
If Creative wrote MacOS X drivers, this thing would be fantastic with GarageBand... but alas, they do not (and as far as I can tell, based on the forums on their website, they do not intend to).
Digital camera Review: Great keyboard, lots of fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received my keyboard, and the fun started right out of the box, and once the USB plugged into my computer. Actually, it also works with a laptop, which is not mentioned in the description. The few fun things I did by now are: just play and record something, then save it. Explore different instrument sounds. Use my score writing softwares (ScoreWriter and Finale) to pull saved midi files into a new score sheet, and that works great! Play the keyboard directly in Finale, and see it type the notes in as I play, now that is cool, too!
The only thing I would criticise is the absense of a manual. Oh well, there is a Help file on the CD, and basically, one can't break much, so experimenting around when not sure what to do or how is not a problem at all.
For folks who play an instrument and want to have some fun while at work, or at home, this keyboard is IT! When the keyboard is not in use, the plastic cover doubles up as a very convenient wrist rest for the computer part of the keyboard.
For the price it costs: go for it! You'll never regret it!
Oh yes, and one more thing: for those of you who bought it and feel that the keys are not "so" responsive: well yes, you did not really expect to get a Steinway for 49 bucks, did ya? So, the keys are plastic, but I find they are more than satisfactory. Unless you seriously planned on using this little fun device for giving a piano recital... oh well, good luck, lol! (tongue in cheek!)
Digital camera Review: Love the Convenience
Summary: 5 Stars
I do a lot of music notation for our church music ministry and have really appreciated the convenience of just lifting off the wrist support cover to access the mini musical keyboard. It saves having to have and store an extra computer peripheral. It is not a full size MIDI keyboard, by any means, but to me the convenience and ease of accessibility were the deciding factors in purchasing this keyboard.Digital camera Review: No VISTA support
Summary: 1 Stars
Gosh this would be a really cool product -- except that it doesn't work with the Vista operating system and, guess what, Microsoft considers XP to be "end of life"! Come on, Creative, if you are not going to support your current products under the current Windows operating system -- well, that's pretty bad.Digital camera Review: Not Bad
Summary: 4 Stars
Great idea. I purchased this to be my office computer keyboard so I can sneak in a few ideas while I'm at work without having to wait to get to my home studio. I hooked it up, installed the software and it worked right away. The piano keys are small-ish and not weighted, so they don't feel like a Steinway but if that is what you were expecting at this price, well I imagine that you are disappointed quite frequently. They are also touch sensitive. The keyboard does not have a "pitch bender" which would have been a useful feature. I have not used the recording software as I prefer what I have.
The one problem I encountered right away and that almost had me scrambling to return it was the latency; almost 0.5 seconds between pressing the key and hearing the note. I resolved this by switching to ASIO drivers and it works reliably now. If you don't have ASIO drivers for your sound card, go here - [...] - and pick these up. Be sure to RTFM (Google that)and you shouldn't have too much trouble.
Other notes:
The QWERTY keyboard has a great feel and useful, programmable function keys. The keyboard cover make a nice wrist rest.