Great Gifts for the Holidays

A Keyboard You Can Play

Depending on how you look at it, Creative's $100 Prodikeys is either a PC keyboard that plays music or a music keyboard you can type on. Either way, it's great fun for kids who are learning to play--or adults who never did.

The oversize unit plugs into your PC's keyboard (PS/2) port and sports both a standard 104-key QWERTY PC keyboard and 37 touch-sensitive, piano-style keys. (A cover protects the keys when not in use and doubles as a wrist rest.) Slick bundled software lets you practice songs note-by-note or simply show off with a mode that does much of the playing for you, in styles from Latin to hip-hop. Multiple voices mimic a piano (naturally), but also a clarinet, accordion, and other instruments, and you can record your performances for later playback.

The sound you get will depend on the quality of your sound system. I tested the Prodikeys using basic Altec-Lansing speakers and a Sound Blaster Live card (superior to the audio card bundled with the Prodikeys), and the sound quality was good. Once you tire of the songs built into the software, you can import any MIDI tune--thousands of Web sites offer them for free--and learn to play it. True music geeks can even attach a neck strap (not included) and play the Prodikeys guitar-style.

This clever keyboard's only real downside? A few of the PC key choices are peculiar: The Esc key is positioned off by itself, and it sits low on the surface. I found I had to stretch my hand more than usual to press both Ctrl and Esc at the same time, for instance. In addition, three keys exist only to take you to various Creative Web sites--you can't reprogram them. But all in all, Prodikeys is uniquely entertaining, and a good deal at $100--which includes a Sound Blaster audio card.

Harry McCracken