My Receivership work is requiring a lot of spreadsheet work…which is a pain on my laptop…Mac, Windows…it doesn’t matter. Numeric Data entry on a laptop is simply for the birds.
I picked up an external 10-key keypad at Staples tonight and plugged it into my Macbook Pro (Snow Leopard) and found Targus doesn’t know how to spell MAC.
I was almost ready to test its high impact wall resiliency and promise myself to never purchase a Targus product again, when I came across a solution on the MacRumors forum.
First, although there is a solution (below), Targus get a #FAIL on hardware compatibility.
Second, here is an excellent write up of the problem from Makosuke:
I just bought a Targus USB numeric keypad (the corded one without built-in calculator, but with a 2-port USB hub) for my MBP. Plugged it in, OSX (10.4) recognized it as a keyboard but couldn’t figure out the type since it was a keypad not full keyboard, but it works… almost.
End result it’s useless in Calculator (or the widget) since it hits clear after every number so you can’t input anything, and while I can input numbers into a text document the extraneous “clear”s slow it down and make annoying beeping (since there’s no defined action for that key in, say, TextEdit).
Targus’s website help is pretty much useless.
Luckily Shawn Levasseur found a solution in the reviews of this keyboard at Amazon.com posted by someone with the username, “The Wizard”: http://www.amazon.com/Targus-PAUK10U…R30E5W6AUBQKQK
Great job Shawn and The Wizard!!! You saved my wall from an unfriendly dent.
Here’s the solution:
This [Targus PAUK10U Keypad] doesn’t work with a mac unless…
Do exactly as I say and it will work fine:
- When your Targus keypad is disconnected press and hold the Num Lock button.
- Connect your Targus Keypad USB cable to your mac USB port (not a hub) while still pressing and holding the Num Lock key.
- When the Num Lock green LED light goes on, wait for exactly at least three seconds (count 1, 2, 3) then release the Num Lock Key.
- Now it shouldn’t Beep and it will work fine in programs like Excel.
Hi,
It worked exactly as advised by Shawn… i have a MBP, 2.8MHz, 160Gig Intel SSD and live in Excel. I bought the one sold at APPLE made by SMK… Well YUK !
Cheap, flimsy and por imitation of a Mac – I was actually saddened that I could not use my Targus – paid half the price and have been using it for years and years – never even changed the battery…. Hold the NUM LOCK, plug it in and release after three seconds… works instantly. Gald to see that Im gonna get my money back from Mac… besdies – Targus’ quality is much better than the SMK…
Fabulous!!! Although I dearly love my new MacBook Pro, typing numbers on a QWERTY drives me insane. The fix was instantaneous, well, not really, it did take three seconds. But, all is well! Thanks a million.