I'm intending to buy a keyboard for my tablet - some advice needed

[duolingoer]

So the tablet is Prestigio PMP5080, OS android 4.0.3 and has one micro-b USB as far as I can see from here. I was thinking of buying a regular keyboard for tablet, but I have several questions:
-Tablet keyboards (such as this one) seem to require a female USB A port. As I mentioned, my one has only micro-b USB - so it looks like I'll need a cable adapter. Will this do the job? What is your experience with this?
-Do tablet keyboards require any drivers or software to work?
-Do they only ever have the standard keyboard layout? I'd like to be able to type in special characters like ?, ?, ?, ɠ, ʲ and to customize the layout.
Thanks in advance.

 

[FutureKix]

Re: I'm intending to buy a keyboard for my tablet - some advices needed

1) Yes, those will work. All you need is a USB OTG adapter. I HIGHLY recommend you buy USB OTG adapter that's a single solid piece, NOT a short 3" cable. These things are super cheap Chinese products, the cable version will kink within days! Also, shipping included, you should never pay more than $2 for a single adapter. Try to go for 50 cents, they are all the same quality. Make sure it's micro if you need micro, or mini if you need mini. Don't accidentally buy a mini USB adapter if you need micro.

2) No. Well, technically yes. 99.9% of the time it either works or it doesn't, and if it's a plug in then 99.9999% chance it will work. Bluetooth and etc are hit or miss, if it doesn't work then there is very little chance an app or something will make it work. Sorry.

3) I've never seen one with special characters like that, but I wouldn't go as far as to say they don't exist.

Hope that helps!

 

[duolingoer]

Re: I'm intending to buy a keyboard for my tablet - some advices needed

Thank you for the answers, I still have some questions:
1) So do you say no USB by itself is OTG and it always needs an adapter? If no, how can I understand if my one is OTG?
3) Is there to your knowledge a program that is able to input special characters based on standard keyboard input? There are many such for windows, but I dont know for android.

 

[FutureKix]

Re: I'm intending to buy a keyboard for my tablet - some advices needed

I believe all USB keyboards require an OTG adapter. If one didn't, then you would know by looking at the connector in the pictures online. If it already looks like the end of your charger that you plug into your phone then it doesn't need the adapter, but if it looks like the end you plug into the wall or a computer then it does need the adapter. Even if it says "Android ready" I would not trust that it has the adapter or correct end. Always look at the pictures or ask the store/seller.

I don't know of any. If such an app does exist it probably requires root.