Add Touch to a Windows 8 Laptop with Targus Touch Pen

How I wished that my laptop (which is not touchscreen) could behave like a touchscreen laptop. I knew that this was probably just a fantasy and I would have to buy a new touchscreen laptop to fulfill my desire. But, Targus has offered an innovative solution and the new Targus Touch Pen will allow old laptops running Windows 8 to behave like touchscreen laptops.

The working of Targus Touch Pen is simple, yet elegant. The Pen consists of two parts: the receiver and the stylus. The receiver gets clipped to the side of the laptop screen and the user needs to only perform a one-time calibration to tell the device about the location of the edges of the screen. The receiver connects to the laptop via a USB cable. The device basically tricks your laptop into believing that it is a touchscreen laptop. The stylus looks like a regular pen except that it has soft bristles on its one end which make actual contact with the laptop screen.

The stylus offers three functions: slide, swipe and tap. The good thing about the Targus Touch Pen is that the stylus is pretty responsive and works effortlessly. However, you need to take care of one thing. The bristles tend to pick up the dust which settles on your laptop screen. So, make sure that you keep the laptop screen clean by wiping it with a soft cloth at least thrice a week. Further, one more feature worth noting is that the stylus can be attached to the receiver when the stylus is not in use as the receiver has a magnetic resting spot designed for this purpose only. This saves you the trouble of finding the stylus each time you return after going away from your laptop for a few minutes.

The Targus Touch Pen is great in one more aspect too. It does not require any special installation software or drivers for its operation. It is basically plug-and-play USB type of device. Further, Targus has already patented the technology for Windows 8. So, no other company can launch a similar product in the near future. The Targus Touch Pen can support screen sizes up to 17 inches. However, the Targus Touch Pen will not work with an actual finger because it is not capable of using capacitive or optical touch technology.

Targus has made the experience of interacting with a regular laptop pretty engaging. Owners of old laptops as well as of new laptops which are not touchscreen will find the Targus Touch Pen pretty useful. Further, the price of the Targus Touch Pen is also not much. You can have the touch experience for a mere $99 in the United States after the launch of the device. It is expected to be priced around Rs.5000 in India when the device becomes available for sale in India.