I’m obsessed with making the smallest setup I can for on location work.  I did an upright cart a few months back that had some challenges, but turned out pretty well.  The one thing I couldn’t find room for (and give access to other more important devices) was a typing keyboard.  So I started looking for a tiny usb keyboard.

Wired, as it turns out, wasn’t a thing I could find.  But there is a mini keyboard with a wireless receiver built in (necessary since I’m using an Apex Processing Unit instead of a PC) that is incredibly compact and even has backlit keys!  It’s cheap, well-built-enough and very easy to use.  For those of us of a Certain Age, it’s very similar to typing on an old Blackberry keyboard.  Battery life appears to be great as I haven’t yet had to recharge it and I’ve used it for over a month now.  Easy to buy on Amazon (click here if you like). 

So if you need a typing keyboard, and you don’t need to type super fast- this works great for me and has solved an irritating problem.

What compact little device have you found to make your life on set easier?  Hit me in the comments.

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Mark LaPierre is a programmer in film and television based out of Albuquerque.  He grew up in live entertainment and has been a designer/programmer for musicals, concert dance, live music, circus and corporate.  Mark is a proud member of IATSE, an ETC Eos trainer and an enthusiastic trainer of many other platforms and subjects.  If you enjoy his content, please consider commenting on his posts on the website to appease the Algorithm.