kchin's Full Review: TARGUS UNIVERSAL PDA/KEYBOARD CASE - BLACK
I absolutely love my Palm PDA! You're gonna laugh at me, but I still have a Palm Pilot Personal (with the Palm III upgrade card though...). I use it daily for my calendar, contact list, to-do's... heck, why not take notes with it too?!?
When I heard about the keyboard from ThinkOutside, I can't tell you how many times I went to their website drooling over the Flash animated keyboard... I finally got to order it when it was available. I played with the folding mechanism many times, just oohing and ahhing at the coolness and cleverness of the mechanism. An engineering work of art.
I really love the keyboard.
First, the keyboard is small. Just a bit larger than a Palm PDA in a leather case. It's in a seemingly rugged composite case and feels pretty sturdy in your hand... Then you open it.
When you open it and unfold the keyboard you realize that underneath the tough exterior is what-looks-to-be a semi-fragile-looking accessory. The keyboard simply does not have any backbone to it -- and in all fairness to the product, it NEVER CLAIMS TO! Very clearly in the documentation, it states that the Palm Portable Keyboard is not designed to be used on anything but a flat, hard surface (like my abs -- J/K -- I wish!!). If you try to use it on your lap, you will see that it does not fare well. The keyboard does not maintain rigidity and bends upwards, making it very difficult to type. In addition, there's a "kick-stand-thingy" that your Palm PDA rests on when it's interfacing with the keyboard. This is also not strong enough to be used on your lap, and for the kick-stand support to actually be supporting anything, it really needs that flat surface.
I am an engineer by education, and I really appreciate all the small details that they've taken into account in designing this keyboard. Simple things like perfectly placed rubber contact points on the outside of the case that prevent the keyboard from sliding around the table, the small stylus-holder holes in the upper left/right corner of the keyboard, or the kick-stand-support that neatly and elegantly folds up and slides flush beneath the keyboard.
The keyboard comes with a slick, yet simple neoprene case that has a zipper closure to protect the keyboard. I'm kind of surprised that Palm did not take the opportunity to brand the case at all.
Now let me tell you about the functionality of the keyboard. It is cleverly thought out and key placement is good -- not perfect. The best reason to buy this keyboard (and the reason I did), versus the Go-Type Keyboard is that the feel of this keyboard is superior. Key spacing, key size, and key travel (the depth a key moves when you press it) are all exactly like a full-size laptop keyboard. I love the fact that there are no special power requirements to using the keyboard... simply install the keyboard driver into your PDA, plug the keyboard into your synch contacts, and start typing!! What could be easier? You don't even have to turn on your Palm first. Simply pressing any keyboard key turns on the PDA.
However, there are several other keys that have been added specifically for the sake of Palm devices. There are 4 keys set vertically on the right hand side of the keyboard (Date, Phone, ToDo, Memo) -- why they chose not to use the same pictographs that are on the actual PDA is beyond me... At least they kept the same order. By pressing one of these keys, the corresponding application launches on your Palm. There's also a helpful set of arrow keys (inverted T shape) and everything you'd expect in a typical PC-style keyboard (Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Del). There's also a set of Palm specific keys: Cmd, Done, and a bunch more that require pressing a blue 2nd Function key in conjunction with the key. The 2nd Function keys are (Apps, Menu, Calc, Find, OK, Scroll, Details, Show, Delete, Cancel, New, "loop-de-loop", and backlight on/off). There was obviously considerable thought put into designing the keyboard so you never have to take your hands off the keyboard to do 95+% of the things you want to do. The two keys I wish they had included are a Home and End key... oh well, what do you want? everything?
So what else do you want to know? I personally think that $100 for a keyboard (even if it folds) is a bit steep. I think a price of around $50-60 would have been more reasonable, but hey -- I also think BMW's should cost $15K!
In my wish list of features, I'd like to see a set of interchangable interfaces so that I can use the same keyboard with more than one type of Palm PDA. This version works on anything that fits the Palm III form-factor (Palm Pilot, III, VII). There's a separate version for the Palm V form-factor, and yet another for the Palm M100 (which means my wife can't borrow my keyboard). They should make the interface interchangable! I also wish they'd add in the option of using the keyboard as a hot sync cradle as well as an optional battery charger. Oh well, maybe next year.
Look, if you like typing meeting notes, but hate lugging your laptop, give this a try... Besides, how cool is it when you can "beam" someone your notes!?!?
Keeps Your Stowaway & PDA Safe and Sound Easy Access Front Compartment, with Loop Closure, Holds Your PDA and Business Cards Zippered Secondary Compar...More at Amazon Marketplace
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