Mini Review: Targus Slim Stylus

Having used Palm Pilots and Pocket PCs for nearly a decade, you can call me a styli junkie. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t miss them. But when I see one I become a bit curious. I tried a capacitive stylus a couple years ago and found it to be very unresponsive. Figured it was time to give it another shot.

The Targus Slim Stylus is a tiny thing, measuring 4.375” long and about 0.25” across, not including the handy pocket clip (to store in your geeky pocket protector). Being a capacitive stylus, the target area is not as precise as a resistive stylus or one of those Wacom digitizer thingies. As a result, its use is somewhat limited, but I knew that before laying down my cash.

This stylus is very responsive, working at least as well as my finger. So then, why not just use your finger. Note in the images below, the target dots that both my finger and the stylus tip create are about the same. But as you can see, it’s a lot easier to see where you are actually tapping with the stylus. My fingers are not as huge as Smith’s, but they are large enough to sometimes get in the way. This is especially useful for websites that have yet to embrace touch, offering teeny buttons and boxes to check. Sure, I can zoom in and out with touch, but depending on the situation, a stylus would be a good alternative.

Not something I do every day, but I tried drawing in Fresh Paint and One Note with finger and stylus. Again, the difference was not earth shattering. But I did find that the stylus gave me a little more control.

When pressing against a capacitive screen, the soft rubbery tip on the stylus depresses, but it only takes the lightest touch to get a response. The Targus worked equally well on my Lumia 900, Surface RT and ASUS S200. Certainly not a necessity, but a nice accessory none the less. The Targus Slim Stylus is available in five colors and can be found at most retailers for $9.99.