In Hand handy keyboard

This is a useful relatively low-tech device that increases the usefulness of your handheld. I will go over the advertised features.

Features

- Wireless: Infrared wand is easily positioned for landscape or portrait display devices
This device works wireless through infrared. This works well and uses less power than wifi or bluetooth.
- Compatible: Works with selected Palm-, HP, and Dell models
I have only used this with my Palm. I think that it is great that you can use this simple device with non-palm devices, but I haven’t tried it.
- Standard: Full English QWERTY keyboard
This is a very comfortable size for the keyboard. I find the key size to be very comparable to a full size keyboard. The keyboard is much smaller for two reasons. One is that the keys are closer together. The other reason is that there is no ten key number pad.
- Compact: 5 3/8 x 3 7/8 x 5/8 inches folded
This keyboard is pretty lightweight and it folds in half to fit into the lid.
- Easy typing
I like the key feel. There is a soft clicking sound when you type. I think that a good keyboard needs to give you some feed back so that you can type without looking.
- Lightweight: 7.4 oz.
It is pretty lightweight. The weight is no problem in my bag, and this will fit in many purses. I have a small leather fanny/belt pack and it fits in there very nicely.
- Self-powered: Internal battery lasts up to four months depending on use
I find that the battery does seem to last a long time. I ‘m not sure it lasts all of four months, but pretty long.
- Convenient: Application launch keys for common tasks
These launch keys are a little complicated. There are blue and white Fn keys. They are located in the lower left corner of the keyboard. The white Fn key has a white box to distinguish it from the white enumeration of each key. It takes a lot of practice to use them. Once you learn of the intricate workings of the function keys it is easy to forget them. The main use for these keys is to switch between applications without using the pointer (or your fingernail). There are also ctrl alt functions as well. I believe that it is hard to take advantage of all these functions without studying the handbook at length.
- Easy to setup: Comes with Windows setup software (requires the synchronization software that came with your handheld)
This is not difficult to set up. It is fairly intuitive to use after set up. I have put this keyboard aside for months at a time and it still is easy to get going.

Other Details

This keyboard can be used for all palms with Palm OS 4 or later. I find that sometimes the keyboard switches off when the power switches off. You can set the power or your palm to the maximum time, but this doesn't solve the whole problem. When I am typing a review for instance, I usually need to start and stop several times. I stop type to read specifications, do research, or just watch TV. Sometimes it switches off when I do something innocuous like save.

One advantage over a laptop is that the keyboard doesn't heat up. It is tough to put a laptop actually on your lap for any length of time. Of course this keyboard is tough to balance on your bare lap. I use a lap desk. It is small enough to balance on a notebook or clipboard.

As you should expect I am typing this review on my palm keyboard. I can use the device with all of the applications so far. One problem with this is that there is no grammar or spell check on my palm software. Dataviz has one for its Docs-to-Go but this is the premium version. This is not the fault of my handy keyboard but it does mean that I have to edit my reviews on my PC to get reasonably professional result. I have experimented with Google mobile docs but I wasn't able to open a new document. I think that it is important to note that you may have to buy more software to optimize your results.

I am very sad to say that I cannot use my palm to post my review. It has something to do with limitations on the amount of text that can be cut and pasted into the epinions review on my Blazer Mobile Web Surfer software. This is not the fault of my keyboard or epinions. I think that you could directly type a review onto the website, but any experienced epinion member knows that this is risky. If you lose your Internet connection, you could lose your whole review. This is especially important on your handheld; because it often drops the connection just to save power.

I do think that it make surfing the web easier. I use the stylus to navigate the page, but it is lot easier to log into websites by typing your username and password. I think this is comparable to surfing on a PC, using your mouse and keyboard together.

Overall

This is a handy tool that increases the usefulness of my palm TX. You can buy this from Palm for $50-55. If you hunt around you can get it as low as $37 new in box. I would like to use my keyboard to post my review but I will admit that I have to take my memory card and plug it into my PC to go over the spelling and grammar. I will also admit that I keep my stylus handy to speed through functions (like saving). I think this is a simple time saving device. It gives you the illusion of having a micro laptop.